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Harvey was living his dream job, and actually running a company was as far from his reality as windmilling a guitar in Wembley Stadium would be from yours and mine. His wife, Mindy, though, was back home in St. Louis, working as a sales manger for a large office equipment supplier and looking for a change. She was the only woman on the sales force and was unhappy with the boy's club mentality. A former model who had once spent her nights at Studio 54, Mindy had more or less been on her own since the age of 16, and was taken with the idea of running a small business.

The Harveys were entrepreneurial novices, but they believed that rock star support meant the proof was in the product. "I love Ultimate Ears; they're nothing short of incredible," says Alex Van Halen. And if an exacting musician like Alex Van Halen approved, there was an untapped lucrative marketplace and only one thing to do.

Might as well jump.³

To set the stage, here's a quick story about Jerry Harvey and his Trans Am. In 1980, the Grand Slam Superjam tour, starring April Wine, Judas Priest, and Sammy Hagar, stopped at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Harvey's hometown. The Red Rocker wanted to make a memorable entrance to celebrate his anthem "Trans Am (Highway Wonderland)." Hagar's people scoured the streets until they found Harvey tooling around in his 1978 red Pontiac Trans Am. They pulled him over. He gladly turned over the keys in exchange for tickets to catch Hagar driving his car onto the stage.

It was the beginning of Harvey's music career. He landed a job as a gopher with the local promoter of that show. That led to a gig humping gear for a local band called the Agents, which saw him becoming the light, and ultimately the sound, guy. "I was underage at the clubs knowing I wanted to be in the biz," says Harvey. "I was so in awe of the big rock show."

His career ultimately proved the old Journey axiom that the road ain't no place to start a family. What Steve Perry neglected to mention, however, is that it can be a great place to start a business.⁴

Shortly after founding the company in 1995, the Harveys dedicated themselves to establishing the brand by sacrificing their marriage. Unlike the Van Halen-Roth, Van Halen-Hagar, Van Halen-Cherone (don't ask) divorces, the Harveys' breakup went smoothly and was honestly better for all parties involved. They had met in 1985 at a Knack show that Jerry was mixing, and wed in 1990. Jerry was supposed to slow down, but he lives for the thunder and couldn't stick to the plan. Mindy decided that she didn't want a rock-and-roll husband anymore.

A rock-and-roll business partner, however--that could be a very good thing. "Ultimate Ears is the child we never had," says Mindy, "and in the big picture, getting divorced was the only way to spread the word about the company." To be close to the action, the Harveys moved themselves (separately) and the company to Las Vegas and ran Ultimate Ears out of Mindy's house.

After the Balance tour wrapped up, Jerry joined up with K.D. Lang on the All You Can Eat tour and later with Motley Crue for Generation Swine. He was messianic about spreading the word band by band, although--every marketplace has its points of resistance--he usually had to work to convince rock stars their Ultimate Ears wouldn't look like a couple of hearing aids. To make the monitors, Ultimate Ears contracted with Westone, a Colorado Springs manufacturer of custom-fit earpieces. All the artists had to do was get a couple of ear impressions and send them along to Westone. A few weeks later they'd have their Ultimate Ears.

Back home in Sin City, Mindy handled marketing, finance, and rock star relations. "It worked great," says Jerry. "Mindy and I were able to run Ultimate Ears without having to see each other every day. That never would have worked."

A custom pair of Ultimate Ears went for $700 to $900. The money was collected up front, so the company never ran a day in the red, even if it didn't make a significant profit until 1998 with the introduction of Harvey's fifth-generation model, the UE-5. Artists took to the earpieces because of the dual drivers and because they can take a beating. And not only do Ultimate Ears eliminate onstage monitors, opening up more room for martial arts moves and backup dancers, they also provide much-needed audial safety by reducing volume and stress. "I've lost 60 percent hearing in my left ear and 30 percent in my right," says Alex Van Halen. "I absolutely wish these things had been around in the beginning because you don't get dizzy or noise drunk." By 2000, Ultimate Ears was becoming as central to the rock-and-roll experience as pyrotechnics, groupies, and gratuitous bass solos.⁵ Acts as varied as the Rolling Stones, Faith Hill, Enrique Iglesias, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers were fans and customers.

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