As a middle-class couple who hated their jobs, Angie and Terry Ballantini, wanted a change. In the spring of 2012 Angie and Terry finally figured out just what the change they wanted was.

When Angie and Terry met, they knew they wanted to make their own happiness. But, throughout the years, Angie and Terry found that their jobs were no longer fun and exciting. They began to think of things that could make them happy. That’s when they sat down and began the start of their future.

The Ballantinis thought of many things, like getting new jobs or starting new careers, but the one thing they really wanted to do was to create their own business. With the help of an article, “Forbes 100 top list of promising companies”, they found what they were looking for. What caught their eye was CPR, (Cellar Phone Repair), a national company that fixes phones. To get more information about the company Terry called CPR to learn about what they do and how to buy a franchise from them. After discussing what they should do, Angie and Terry knew they could do it on their own. With Angie’s experience in finance and human resources and Terry’s experience in sales and marketing, the two of them together could make a successful business on their own.

Wanting to know more about owning their own business, Angie and Terry found a school that would help them make their dream become more of a reality. The Ballantinis flew to Gilbert, Arizona where a class for Cellular Repair School was held. The school was a week-long class that went from July 16^th to the 20th and the Ballantinis learned how to assemble and disassemble electronic devices. This School offered not only technical skills but also the skills to help grow a business accurately. While attending this week long class the Ballantinis learned how to own a business, keep a business, and especially how to repair cell phones and other electronic devices. At the end of the long week class, both Angie and Terry knew this is what they wanted to do, that would make them happy.

After visiting Arizona, the Ballantinis started making a business plan. They knew what they wanted and they knew what their business could be. After, looking over the plan and making sure everything was perfect to them. The Ballantini’s took their plan to the bank to get a small business plan and a loan approval. “The bank loved us.” Terry explained while sharing his excitement about remembering the start of their company. But, in the end, the Ballantinis never need the loan from the bank because they were successful enough to never ask for the banks money. They were profitable from the first week on. “But it was nice to have a cushion because we knew if something happened the bank would be there and we were thankful for that.” Terry says.

With that, Normal Gadgets was born. The idea behind the name, Normal Gadgets, is not only that the Ballantinis live in Normal, but also the fact they want to make everyone’s broken electronics “normal” again.

Now that the business is even more successful than they ever imagined, the Ballantinis plan to grow this business and their goal is to have more locations to help others make their broken electronics normal.

“I just wanted a change and I wanted to make others happy, and this company is everything I ever could imagine and more,” states owner Angie Ballantini.