Michael Lutz is the CEO of Compass Benefits Group, where his mission is to wake up, educate and improve the health care industry, one client at a time.

How did you get started in the benefits industry?

I started my career at Ford Motor Company, where I went through an amazing apprenticeship over four years as a journeyman millwright skilled tradesman. I spent 12 years there, helping with a revitalization project for the Rouge Complex in Dearborn, Michigan, which is four square miles of industrial buildings. When it was done in 2003, all of us young people were laid off–they didn't have enough work to sustain us. I was put in a substation on midnights for the next three years and then in 2006, they offered me a buyout. I took it, worked for another company for a few years and then started my own machine and rigging company. I specialized in taking apart, moving and fixing the presses that stamp parts for cars–hoods and doors and that kind of thing.