Seventeen Years, Three Kids, and One Crazy Ride: The Story of MTC Radio

If you had told Richard and Christine back in 2009 that a little side business started out of their home would eventually become a full-fledged ham radio store serving customers all over the country, they probably would have thought you were crazy.

Then again, they probably should have known better.

Crazy things have a way of happening around here.

And if you really want to understand MTC Radio, you don’t start with a business plan.

You start with radio.

Because for us, radio was never just a business—it was life.

Richard was born into it in a way. “I was born on Field Day, so you could say it was already in my blood.” Christine jokes that she “married into radio,” but the truth is even simpler: we both just loved it.

It Started With a Job Loss

MTC Radio—originally Main Trading Company—didn’t begin with a big investment, a fancy building, or a carefully crafted business plan.

It started because Richard lost his sales job during a struggling economy.

Looking for a way to make a living, he began buying surplus and closeout merchandise and selling it on eBay. Trips to the Dallas–Fort Worth area turned into truckloads of inventory coming back to Paris, Texas.

At first, it was manageable.

Then it wasn’t.

Boxes filled the house. Then the patio. Then every available space.

At some point, it stopped feeling like a house that had a business in it and started feeling like a business that had taken over a house.

And honestly… the neighbors probably still have stories.

That’s when we knew it was time to move.

In June of 2009, we opened a small storefront in downtown Paris, Texas.

And MTC Radio was born.

Then Christine Joined the Adventure

Richard wasn’t the only one whose career took a turn.

Before MTC, Christine worked in radio as an announcer and DJ. When that chapter ended, she stepped right into the next one—this one.

What started as Richard’s eBay hustle became something we built together.

And that’s when everything really changed.

Because now it wasn’t just “a business.”

It was our life.

From Surplus to Ham Radio

Richard was already an avid ham radio operator, so it was natural that amateur radio equipment started showing up alongside the surplus gear.

That one decision changed the entire direction of the company.

We started importing radios. We started buying and selling used equipment. We started attending hamfests.

Then we started attending a lot of hamfests.

At one point, nearly 30 a year.

And somewhere between the hotel parking lots, folding tables, and early morning setup lines, something important happened:

We found our people.

We Have Traded for Just About Everything

Over the years, we’ve handled an incredible variety of equipment.

And that’s not just a figure of speech.

If it had anything to do with radio, we have probably traded for it. We have traded for tons of items that had nothing to do with radio too.

Estate cleanouts. Shack upgrades. Silent key stations. First radios. Last radios. Entire stations packed into boxes and brought through our door.

Some trade-ins are simple.

Some come with stories you’ll never forget.

And that’s the part most people don’t see.

Every radio that comes through here has a life behind it. A reason it’s being moved on. A new chapter waiting somewhere else.

That’s what we’ve always loved about this side of the business.

We don’t just move equipment.

We move stories forward.

A Business, a Family, and a Whole Lot of Radios

One of the things people may not realize when they walk into our store or visit our site is that this isn’t just a business for us.

It is our life.

We raised three children out of this ham radio store.

There were long days, early mornings, late nights, hamfests, truckloads, shipping runs, and more cardboard boxes than we could ever count.

Our kids grew up watching their parents build something from nothing. Our youngest spent many days under a hamfest table on a blanket watching videos. Most customers never knew she was there.

And they grew up around radio.

Selling radios wasn’t a sideline—it was part of the rhythm of our lives. Radios weren’t just products—they were always on, always being tested, always being talked about.

We didn’t “go to work” and then come home to real life.

This was real life.

And like any real life, it wasn’t perfect.

We made mistakes. We changed direction. We adapted more times than we can count.

But we kept going.

30,000 Trade-Ins Later…

Over the years, we’ve handled tens of thousands of trade-ins.

And what we’ve learned is simple:

There is no such thing as a “typical” radio.

And there is definitely no such thing as a “typical” story behind one.

Some people are upgrading.

Some are downsizing.

Some are getting back into the hobby after years away.

Some are letting go of a station that meant everything to them.

And some are just getting started.

We’ve been lucky enough to be part of all of it.

We Eventually Outgrew Ourselves

MTC moved locations more than once over the years—always growing, always adjusting, always trying to keep up with what the business was becoming.

In 2024, we made another big move into the building that had previously been our warehouse, bringing retail, inventory, and shipping all under one roof.

It made everything more efficient.

But more importantly, it made everything more connected.

By then, MTC had become something we never could have imagined in 2009.

Not just a store.

Not just a business.

A hub for people who love radio the way we do.

And Then Something Changed

After 17 years, something else became clear.

We were empty nesters.

Our kids were grown.

We had reached a point where we could finally make some choices about what we wanted the next chapter of MTC to look like.

And for the first time in a long time, we could finally see something we hadn’t had much of:

Time.

Time to travel. Time for hamfests without rushing back. Time to visit family. Time to see our daughter in college. Time to just… breathe a little.

So we made a decision.

We’re not walking away from MTC.

We’re just changing the pace.

Slowing down enough to enjoy the life we built while building it.

What Comes Next

That’s the funny thing about our story—and about life in general.

You don’t always know what’s coming next.

But if there’s one thing 17 years has taught us, it’s this:

Trust God. Treat people right. Work hard. And don’t be afraid to change when it’s time.

That’s carried us through everything.

From a job loss… to a living room full of boxes… to a storefront… to a warehouse… to a radio business that has touched thousands of people.

And through it all, one thing has never changed:

We love radio.

We always have.

We always will.

And we love the people who love it with us.

So to everyone who has bought a radio, traded one in, stopped by the store, met us at a hamfest, called for advice, or simply followed along on this journey:

Thank you.

You’ve been part of this story in ways you may never fully realize.

And we’re grateful for every single chapter.

— Richard & Christine
MTC Radio
Paris, Texas