HSCHS graduate Enoch Hart

In our latest spotlight for our Where Are They Now? series, we are highlighting Hot Springs County High School graduate Enoch Hart who shared some of his adventures in life, starting with his childhood here in Hot Springs, through various business ventures, and to where he is today leading Wyoming Signs of Casper.

Hart was born in Worland in 1979, grew up in Thermopolis and graduated in 1998. His father grew up in Battle Creek and his mother grew up in Grass Creek. Hart went to Lucerne school and then moved to town, where he attended junior high and high school.

Regarding his time growing up in Hot Springs County, Hart said, "I couldn't ask for a better place to have grown up. From going to school at Lucerne and riding the school bus. I had a ton of amazing coaches, played junior high and high school sports, played football and basketball and track and rodeos. Rodeo was my main thing that was important to me."

One period of time that Hart remembers strongly was when he was getting into trouble. He said, "Probably one of my favorite memories was when I was in junior high. I got into some trouble with the law. The thing that I love was the whole town, guided me through that and got me headed back in the right direction. Whether it was family, whether it was people I knew, whether it was teachers. That was probably the biggest thing. There was a point in time in their life. I was about 11, 12 years old. I was starting to head in the wrong direction. But everyone got me headed back in the right direction."

Regarding Hart's perspective, he said, "I think growing up in a small town taught me that anything's possible. I never thought that the world was too big, if that makes sense. I knew the world was big, but I never thought it was too big to make accomplishments. Because you could make accomplishments and make a difference in a smaller town at a smaller scale."

After graduating, Hart went to school in Mitchell, South Dakota, to play football. He then realized that a football career would make him "on the verge of starving to death." So, he had a sister who lived in Oakland, California and he moved out there in early 1999 to do work in heating and air conditioning and sheet metal. He said, "Best boss I've ever had in my life. Jim Davis."

After working for Davis, Hart said, "I began to realize that there was a seed inside of me, that I wanted to be an entrepreneur, that I wanted to be in business for myself. Loved working for him, but it didn't take about a year and a half, two years and I realized that there were maybe too many people around in California for me, that I needed some space." 

Hart then visited Wyoming in 2000. He said, "I was driving over South Pass and I rolled down the window and I could smell the rain. And I was like, why did I ever leave? But I think I had to leave to realize those little things that I appreciated."

Hart told his boss, "Jim, I hate to say this. I said, but I don't think I want to come back. I feel like my soul belongs in Wyoming. And he said, 'When you left, I didn't think you were going to come back. I could sense that this place didn't fit you real well.'"

After returning to Wyoming, Hart worked for a construction company in Worland. They build a community health center, some cabins, and school work. In the next three to four years, Hart worked in Gillette, Nevada, Lyman, Wyoming and did rodeo because he wanted to become a world champion bull rider.

In 2003, Hart moved to Casper to work in welding at a shop for about four and a half years. During this time, Hart married his first wife and stopped rodeoing to raise a family. From there, he worked at Wyoming Machinery for eight years. He moved from being a welder to manage the training department and become a product support sales rep in 2014.

After a conversation with a friend about a sign shop that had been foreclosed on, Hart took money from his 401K and put down a down payment for 10% of a sign business and used that for six months to show that he could get the business running profitably. Then took this data back to the bank as a business plan where he bought 40% of the business and he was partners with the other owner. These events occurred from 2015 to 2019. In 2019, the business had "expanded tremendously. It gained a ton of value." Also, in that year, Hart bought the remaining half of the business.

Five years later, Wyoming Signs is the largest sign company in the state. They do work all over and regionally, from Las Vegas, Texas, Oklahoma, Iowa and Nebraska. Hart concluded his reminiscing about the part his life took and said, "I think that grit always pays off in whatever it is in life. That's probably the thing that growing up in a town like Thermopolis taught me is whatever it is, just keep at it."