“He needed a bigger vehicle, so he took my mom van every day after I took the kids to school, and had to be back by three so I could pick them up,” Cheryl Stuller recalled. “We were taking car seats out and putting car seats in.”

While Brian handled the technical work, Cheryl answered phones, sent invoices and kept the business running behind the scenes.

“Through reputation and showing up when we say we're going to show up and doing a good job, our name kind of got out there,” she said. “One person would refer, and then they'd have a good experience, and then somebody else.”

Today, the Hendersonville-based company specializes exclusively in generator sales, installation and service. The business has grown far beyond its garage origins, but the family remains at the center of everything it does.

“Our daughter worked for us for several years and now our two boys work for us,” said Stuller.

While the nuclear family is central to the business’s identity, the Stullers also view their employees as a type of family. 

“We don't just care that [our employees] are working and punching a time card,” she said. “We care about you and care about what's going on in your life, and if there's ever anything we can do, we're there.”

As the company matured, its focus shifted from simply building a customer base to investing in employees and the broader community.

“Our focus is more on the community and our employees, because we kind of have the business side of it down,” Stuller said. “Now we just focus on what we are doing with and for the community.” 

A recent upgrade of the company’s headquarters included the addition of a gym for employees, a clear demonstration of the Stuller's belief that investing in the team ultimately strengthens the business.

“When you're happy in your work life, which you spend 40 hours at, it helps you in your personal life,” she said. “It helps you with your personal health. It helps you with your mental health.”

For the Stullers, investing in people extends beyond their employees. The same service-minded approach that shapes the company culture also informs its work in the community—a role that became especially important following Hurricane Helene.

“It showed people the importance of having power at the ready when you need it,” said Stuller. “It's not just about being able to turn the lights on and off—having power is part of your existence and your life.”

The storm also unexpectedly shaped the company’s future. For years, the Stullers’ sons, Kyle and Alec, worked in the business but had not necessarily envisioned themselves leading it someday. During Helene, however, both gained a new perspective on the role the company plays in the community.

At the time, the brothers were traveling in Peru. Because they still had internet access, the company routed customer communications through Kyle, allowing Stuller Power Solutions to continue helping customers maintain their generators despite the breakdown of local infrastructure.

“That experience,” Stuller said, helped them recognize “the importance of this. That it isn't just a luxury, this is part of your life.”

Today, succession planning is underway. Kyle manages information technology systems, software implementation and marketing communications for the company, while Alec serves as a lead installer specializing in electrical work. Cheryl and Brian hope to retire around age 70 and have begun preparing their sons for future leadership.

“We're giving them 10 years to get their license, take extra classes, including business classes, electrical classes, anything they can get their hands on,” Stuller said.

Cheryl and Brian settled in Hendersonville because of the mountains, outdoor recreation opportunities and strong schools. Decades later, they still feel at home.

“We just love it so much, and we love the people,” she said. “It just suited us. We fit in. We were accepted.”

That sense of belonging helped build a business. Now, as a second generation prepares to take the reins, Stuller Power Solutions remains committed to serving the community that helped make it possible—and the people who have become part of its extended family along the way.

Learn more at StullerPowerSolutions.com.