OUR FOUNDER'S STORY
Personal narratives are powerful. They are developed through a mixture of experiences & personality and they create the lens through which we see the world. Our personal narratives tell us what we can and cannot do. They determine how we treat others, how we do business and how we view we see the future. Shaun Taylor's story is a powerful testament to the opportunities America holds as well as men and women that preserve those opportunities every day.
Shaun Taylor grew up in Merced, California, the son of two ambitious parents that taught him the value of a day’s work and the satisfaction of creating happy customers. Shaun’s mother ran Kiss One Hour Photo for many years and worked closely with the local police and coroner’s offices. Shaun remembers discovering his mother’s connection to the local coroner by accident when playing in her shop after school.
Shaun attributes his sense of community pride to his mother who was a Girl Scout Troop leader, held a position with the City Council and worked running a free carnival for the children in their community.
Shaun caught his father’s manufacturing bug. Shaun’s father was in manufacturing most of his life including 30-plus years managing Keller who specialized in creating ladders, aluminum lawn chairs, and lounges. After a shake-up at Keller, the company was consolidated under Commonwealth who organized Keller’s operations under their aluminum tube mill (Tube Enterprises.) Tube Enterprises would reorganize and assume manufacturing operations in TN, where Shaun’s father was required to relocate in 2001.
Tube Enterprises in TN was not very successful, it would run for just 2 years before closing and relocating mill operations to Kings Mountain NC, again requiring the family to relocate. Tube Enterprises began manufacturing an ADA cot amongst other lawn ornaments in the late 90s, but there was very little success with the initial models. In 2003 Dad was informed that the Tube Enterprises division was going to be disbanded and he was ordered to liquidate all equipment/inventory / and pack his bags, yet again.
At this point, Shaun believes his father was fed up with moving and thought that he could turn the ADA Cot into a stand-alone business, but he needed help doing so. Dad got with his director of sales (Robert Wright) and presented the idea of going into business for themselves. Mr. Wright was on board and together they went to Commonwealth Aluminum with an offer to assume the lease and buy all inventory and machinery at the KM plant. Commonwealth accepted the offer which enabled Mr. Taylor and Mr. Wright to get to work, in spring of 2004. Tube Enterprises Incorporated launched in 2004 with the Westcot product line. In 2006, dba Integrity Medical Solutions was brought online to better market offerings.
Shaun’s brother relocated from Southern California to help get Tube Enterprises Inc dba Integrity Medical Solutions (IMS) off the ground. Alex Taylor was a recent graduate of Humboldt University and was not happy in the finance world. He would become a key person in the growth of the business with his strict finance background.
Shaun graduated high school in the summer of 2000 and worked as a busboy at a steakhouse while attending junior college, where Shaun displayed a mild interest in Archaeology. Most of Shaun’s free time was spent skateboarding around town. Four of Shaun’s friends decided to join Shaun in renting a house close to the college with big dreams of big parties.
Shaun quickly realized rent was expensive and too much partying made college extremely difficult, so Shaun moved back home around mid-year 2021.
Shaun Taylor was a different person at 19 years of age: a kid with long stringy hair and a skateboard.
Shaun’s buddy Chris Rogers was hanging around the pool with Shaun talking about skating down to the local Raley’s Grocery Store, where they loved grinding the curbs near the racket ball club, because all the cute athletic girls would attend and if they were lucky, they would catch a smile.
As the two were passing through the house to grab their decks out of the garage they turned and watched in disbelief as the news was breaking about the first plane hitting the world trade center.
Together they watched this attack unfold in real time. Shaun remembers growing angry almost immediately. He remembers becoming overwhelmed with emotion and how difficult it was to remain calm and stoic. As Chris and Shaun discussed what they had seen, Shaun asked Chris if he still had his hair clippers.
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“Cut it off. All of it”, said Shaun.
Chris proceeded to shave the stringy long hair. Once the haircut was complete, Shaun jumped on his skateboard and headed home to find the phone number for the local recruiter.
In February of 2002, Shaun arrived at Fort Benning GA to attend 11B basic training. After basic training Shaun was assigned, by choice, to Fort Drum NY, home of the Darby Rapid Deployment Facility. The young soldier was attached to the 4th of the 31st Light Infantry Battalion (Polar Bears.) After a short introduction to his new brothers, he would deploy to serve alongside them for a 12-month tour in the Iraq conflict.
Shaun served in both Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, where he would focus on disarming the hostiles via covert support missions and brute force. Shaun’s battalion was responsible for liquidating massive hordes of weapons and apprehending 100s of arms dealers. These arms dealers would sell weapons to hostels who would in turn attack US troops on the ground.
The plan was to become a member of a SWAT team after the service but as Shaun exited the military, he chose an advanced automotive technical college and worked as a technician for some time. Shaun then attended Chaffey Junior College in Rancho Cucamonga CA where he obtained his Associates degree before transferring to the University of LaVern to complete his Bachelor’s in business administration.
Shaun fondly remembers the comradery of the service saying it was always “about the guy to your left and the guy to your right.”
As Shaun wrapped up college at the University, he took an internship which led to a full-time position at MEDomics, a NextGen Sequencing lab in Azusa CA. Shaun’s primary role was as their Administrative Assistant, but he did well with collections and was able to recover tens of thousands of dollars in lost revenue. MEDomics suffered some financial losses and getting paid was becoming a challenge but Shaun was offered a position with a competitor, which had more stability for his growing family. Shaun was working at Ambry Genetics when his brother called and asked him if he wanted to come to work at KM.
After the two brothers discussed the Operations Manager Position with IMS and Shaun accepted.
Shaun packed his pregnant wife and oldest son into their 1979 Dodge Jamboree (camper) and drove it straight across the country. From 2012-2014 Shaun worked as IMS’ Operation Manager.
As the Operations Manager, Shaun delegated the employees’ daily activities, introduced SOPs, created easy-to-read product build sheets, and displayed performance under pressure. In 2014, Shaun began to display interest in the sales activities of the business, primarily because he felt the business needed improved direction on the sales front.
In 2015, Shaun’s focus turned to sales and marketing activities.
Shaun took enjoyment from listening to client’s problems and working towards solutions with them, taking on each customer as a personal mission.
Shun shares, “Over the years I’ve made hundreds of friends, that I care about and respect,”
After Mr. Wright’s retirement, Shaun took on the Director of Sales and Marketing position which quickly became , the Director of Product Development position. Within 2 years, Shaun, along with help from agency partners would bring online multiple variations of the Westcot flagship model, Speciality Deployment and Recovery Carts, and an entire line of Rapid Deployment Bags. The new products were geared towards reducing sheltering footprints, addressing all displaced populations equally, and improving standards and practices.
So how did XBomb come about?
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“In 2018 I launched Integrity Veterans Solutions LLC, a SDVOSB to enter the reseller market for medical supplies, Shaun says. “I landed a few projects with IVS, but nothing to write home about was produced. In 2018 I was delivering products to the Carolina Coast in response to Hurricane Florence. One of the delivery points was an EOC that was a manned trailer in the parking lot of a prison. After we ate some chow and unloaded the hundreds of Westcots by hand I was given a peek into the Mobile Command Unit. After seeing this unit I started researching the market and found that I could build these trailers at a much better price point. In 2022 I filed my DBA as XBomb modified trailers and began marketing conceptual models to agencies in need.”
The rest is a short history, but there is just one last unanswered question. How did “XBomb” get its name?
“In the military we had a crew of about 10 who hung around regularly in the barracks and around the local college towns”, Shaun explains. “We started a band called Accidental Discharge (AKA AD). We started assuming nicknames for each other and they were getting creative. In the barracks one night myself and my military brother Mickey Martin were getting in some reps before heading out on the town. I put way too much weight on the bar, but had a spotter so felt I could get it. I knocked out 2 reps and on my third rep, I about killed myself pressing, Mickey yelled so loud “Explode, Explode T-Bomb” and I crushed the final rep. We about died laughing and went to parade the new nickname “T-Bomb. I tweaked this to XBomb as it was more attractive”.
Presently Shaun is the father of five children and considers himself the luckies man on earth. Shaun believes that the grace of God permits life and that happiness is only achievable with a commitment to Christ and the consistent rejection of sin. In the industry of Emergency Management, Shaun believes reaction is only as good as our foresight to prepare and that XBomb is the perfect bomb designed to address specific needs or an array of needs.
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As for the future, Shaun believes XBomb is a “time bomb” waiting to go off, the lit fuse that awaits activation, when the wick drops Xbomb client’s will burst into action. XBomb will deliver innovative quality products at affordable prices.
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In Shaun’s words?
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“I will shake this industry to its core.”
