Keith Eidschun is the owner of Freedom Metal Finishing in Clearwater, Florida, as well as co-owner of Analytical Specialties Incorporated. The shop was originally known as Dixie Plating and has been in business since 1944 across three generations. Eidschun has been the owner of the Nadcap shop since, which is when he changed the name to Freedom in 2009 to include their painting, silk screening, and powder coating capabilities.
How did you get your start in the finishing industry?
I’m in a family business and am a 3rd generation owner. I started plating when I was 15 years in the Florida summers with no A/C; it was painful sometimes.
What do you enjoy best about the industry?
The passion and energy of the people that are in it. It seems like everyone who works in it at any capacity for a while loves what they do.
If money was no object, what would you do all day?
Teacher or play poker.
If you could go back in time, what year would you travel to?
I would love to see the roaring 1920s.
How would your friends describe you?
Loyal, decisive, and blunt.
What are your hobbies?
Golf, watching football, poker, and sports gambling.
What is the best gift you have been given?
Nintendo; as a kid, my brother and I played all the time.
Aside from necessities, what one thing could you not go a day without?
Coffee.
Two pet peeves.
People that don’t respond to emails, and people not taking ownership of their actions.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
Still working.
If you were a super-hero, what powers would you have?
Telekinesis, the ability to move objects at a distance by mental power.
What would you do if you won the lottery?
Travel the world.
What's your favorite zoo animal?
A Florida panther; true story, just seen one at 4:30 a.m. on my drive out of my subdivision. I did not know how rare it was in Pinellas County, and was in such shock as I drove a quarter-mile and stopped my car and said to myself ‘that was a panther!’
If you could go back in time to change one thing, what would it be?
1999 to my economics class would force my family to buy the stocks I picked out.
Would you rather trade intelligence for looks or looks for intelligence?
Looks for intelligence; you can be the smartest person in the room, but no one is looking at that person.
What's your favorite holiday?
Halloween.
What's the most daring thing you've ever done?
Jumping off a roof into a pool.
What was the last thing you watched on TV?
Tampa Bay Buccaneers destroy the Green Bay Packers.
What's your favorite type of foreign food?
Sushi.
Are you a clean or messy person?
Clean; I’m allergic to dust.
Who would you want to play you in a movie of your life?
Kevin James; I have a lot of people say I look like him.
What's your favorite fast-food chain?
McDonald’s is still my favorite.
What's your favorite family recipe?
My mom’s chocolate chip cookies.
What is your favorite childhood memory?
Skiing with my parents.
What's your favorite movie?
Fight Club; the movie is a metaphor for punching through the insulation that you put around yourself. "It's about experiencing pain and experiencing life as you finally start to connect with the world around you. It's about fighting the notion that you are defined by the things around you.”
