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Quinetta McNeill
Ruby.
Ben Walter
Every boss knows that a call after hours rarely bodes well.
Quinetta McNeill
If my phone rings after six, I get nervous.
Ben Walter
That's especially true in Q MacNeil's kind of work. Her company, House of Logistics, has 35 trucks on the road. One day, one of her drivers took the truck. Well, a little off roading.
Quinetta McNeill
I received a phone call telling me one of our drivers just hit a tree. The first tree he made contact with took the side mirror off, broke the glass, bent the driver's door.
Ben Walter
The truck was totaled. The packages were scattered. The driver, fortunately, was fine, but he was shaken up.
Quinetta McNeill
My ops manager, he's standing there with his hands on his hip looking at me because he's waiting to see me just explode.
Ben Walter
They called the police, a tow truck, and medical services to make sure the driver was safe. After they had all the photos they needed from the scene, everyone was sent home. The next day, Q and her ops manager caught up about the accident.
Quinetta McNeill
He was like, Ms. Q, you were so calm out there at the scene of this accident.
Ben Walter
Good managers know how to solve problems, even when others get emotional. Great leaders know how to solve problems while they manage their employees emotions and their own emotions at the same time.
Quinetta McNeill
So you asked me a question about what do I do to keep it together. That is when you want to go into a moment of silence and solitude.
Ben Walter
By this point, Q was well practiced. House of Logistics was only six months old, and she had already dealt with an inventory of challenges. Staff had turned over, some trucks had run into trees, and most notably, her business partner had left just a month into its operations. And there's more to it. Just wait. House of Logistics was all on her. Fortunately, Q is a masterclass in resilience. Welcome to the Unshakables from Chase for Business and Ruby Studio from iHeartMedia. I'm Ben Walter, CEO of Chase for Business. On the unshakeables, we're sharing the daring moments of small business owners facing their crisis points and telling the stories of how they got through it. This week we're heading down to Alabama, but before we get back to Q's story, we're also joined by Dr. Gia Wiggins, founder and CEO of Auditocity, a SaaS platform helping businesses with their compliance and HR processes. Gia, welcome to the show. Thanks for coming.
Dr. Gia Wiggins
Thanks for having me, Ben.
Ben Walter
I'm really happy to have you on today because, I mean, you're an expert in hr, which a lot of businesses, particularly small businesses when they're starting out, overlook. So I can't wait to have you weigh in on this story. And you're also from Mobile, Alabama. Not only am I from there, but there's still a store on Dofen street which was opened by my great grandfather around 1907.
Dr. Gia Wiggins
That is fantastic. Well, we welcome you to come down, especially during Mardi Gras.
Ben Walter
Yeah, I know.
Dr. Gia Wiggins
Come on down.
Ben Walter
All right, let's get into this show. This is House of Logistics from Birmingham, Alabama. Now, I have some personal ties to the state, so I'm really excited to do an episode about Alabama. We were lucky enough to find an incredible business owner, Quinetta McNeill. The first thing I learned about her when we met was that no one calls her Quinetta. Quinetta, it is so nice to meet you. I understand that most people call you Q. May I call you Q?
Quinetta McNeill
Absolutely. Everyone calls me Q.
Ben Walter
The second thing I learned was about the name of her company. It's House of Logistics, spelled H A U S House.
Quinetta McNeill
The foundation of the company was established to keep my team fully informed around a transparent operation. And typically, transparency resides in your home. Right. And so I have my leadership team that I developed from the start of my operations, identifying them as drivers. They became the heart of the house. So we want it to be a little different. And the street version for a house means someone that does things ridiculously well.
Ben Walter
Q has a ton of experience in business and entrepreneurship, so it was no surprise to hear that she does her job ridiculously well. She bounced around a bit at the start of her career. She joined the military. She worked in hr. She taught business to seventh graders, and then started a virtual assistant company supporting small businesses and individuals, an opportunity that took her all the way to the Caribbean.
Quinetta McNeill
I loved traveling and started helping couples with planning their special occasions, such as their anniversaries, weddings, all across the Caribbean market. And while I was in Jamaica, I was approached by Pepsi Cola to do contract negotiations for them in the hotel industry.
Ben Walter
There, she'd made so many connections with vendors, hotels, and decision makers across the island that another beverage company saw huge potential in her.
Quinetta McNeill
Eventually, Heineken came into the Jamaican market, and they recruited me to come over and maintain relationships that I had established with the hotel industry. I worked with both the manufacturing and distribution side of the business.
Ben Walter
Now we're only about four minutes into this episode, and Q has already used the word relationships several times. It's key to her business story, and.
Quinetta McNeill
I think that's what keeps me alive. It tickles me. I do not meet strangers.
Ben Walter
A lot of folks tend to think of connections as a soft skill, perhaps less Important than other things when running a business. I disagree. And Q does too. Her ability to create relationships has served her exceptionally well, both personally and professionally. So much so that it led to what was likely the most important professional call of Q's life.
Quinetta McNeill
So I got a call from a large US retailer and they gave me an opportunity to return back to the us. I came in in the corporate space as a senior business coach supporting other small businesses that were also launching their delivery service partner. These were small business owners that had been contracted out to do their deliveries from their warehouse to customers door and to commercial spaces.
Ben Walter
Interesting because I think of them as doing their own deliveries, but it sounds like they don't do all their own deliveries. It's a mix.
Quinetta McNeill
No, they do not. They use third party contractors to facilitate the last mile of their delivery.
Ben Walter
So Q is coaching small business owners in what's called last mile delivery. This is what those in the business call it when packages are picked up from a main distribution center and put on the trucks to get to your door. And a funny thing is happening when Q is coaching these folks. They tell her that she should get in the game too. This is people who would be your competitors encouraging you to come compete.
Quinetta McNeill
Yes, the small business owners would encourage me to start up my own operation.
Ben Walter
Q loved coaching the small business owners, but really wanted to own her own business. So she decided to apply. This process is a little more involved than when you click Easy apply on LinkedIn.
Quinetta McNeill
Well, it starts with the application process and while you're applying, you really have to be developing your company. Like you have to get into creation mode at the same time because you have to be able to present your idea in terms of how are you going to run a logistics company, how are you going to overcome the challenges that are going to come your way, how are you going to deal with your fleet, how are you going to do your recruiting? You kind of have to be developing and thinking about all of this while you are in the application process.
Ben Walter
Q turned to the small business owners to pressure test all of her ideas. They offered up a lot of advice.
Quinetta McNeill
And all of them have a different strategy. You have a lot of strong business leaders that have mastered their way of what success looks like for them. I had an opportunity to learn from many of them in terms of what work and what does not work. I also saw some of them have partners, such as their spouse for example, that are in this with them. I was very impressed with their ability to share the load. Being in the, in the, in the weeds with Them every day helped prepare me for what was coming my way.
Ben Walter
Gia, I want to bring you back in here because Q's story is already diverging from a lot of what we've heard on this show so far.
Dr. Gia Wiggins
Yeah, I think to work for a company, particularly to be in the area where you are helping other businesses to be successful within that company and then to have the opportunity to actually be a vendor and a partner of that company. Oftentimes when people think, okay, I'm going to start a business, one of the questions that we often ask is, do you have any expertise at all inside of that industry to be able to look at the business and the way that the business operates from behind the curtain and to look at the challenges and then to say, hey, I think I'm going to do that. And then to be able to execute it so quickly and to be able to ramp up so quickly because you have that institutional knowledge of what it looks like to be successful in that role, that's a fantastic pathway.
Ben Walter
Thank you, Gia. I want to pivot a little bit to Q for a second. Now she's an employee, but she still has to go through this whole application and vetting process. So she works there, but she has to make a case for why she should be one of their last mile delivery vendors.
Quinetta McNeill
I was successful with the application process, and they extended a contract to me to leave the business and start my own logistics company. We launched on the 30th of August.
Ben Walter
Wow. So just over a year ago. About a year and a month ago now, because it's early October. So not that long ago.
Quinetta McNeill
Not that long ago.
Ben Walter
All right, so Q, armed with tons of knowledge from others in the same industry, launched House of Logistics on Aug. 30, 2023, in Birmingham. She returned home, CEO of her own company. And of course, it was smooth sailing from day one.
Quinetta McNeill
Oh, no. It is a lot of work to start up a logistics business. They want partners that are willing to accept the challenges and a partner that is willing to grow.
Ben Walter
Okay, now, you had something personal going on in your life at the same time, right?
Quinetta McNeill
Yes, the personal side of my life. I mean, while you're doing this, life still happens, right?
Ben Walter
Yeah, life happens all the time. Just before launching her company, Q got married. She and her partner went into the marriage as they launched this company together.
Quinetta McNeill
We were married one month before we launched. We didn't have a honeymoon. The business was our baby. You know, we had conversations around the challenges that's going to present themselves. It was a very intense period. It did require both of us to be very committed to what was necessary to get the business up and off the ground running, but led to, you know, this tension.
Ben Walter
They had decided prior to launch that Q would handle the business part of running everything, and he would manage the fleet and their operations. She asked him to give six months to get the business up and running, and then they could properly celebrate their love. To Q, this was a sacrifice she was more than willing to make.
Quinetta McNeill
I absolutely loved my job, and I think when you're doing something that you enjoy, when you're doing something that you're passionate about, I think you come to the table differently. I kind of felt like I wasn't thinking about myself, to be honest, because this was part of who I felt like I was, if this makes any sense. I love people so much that I felt like I was investing in myself by investing in other people. And I felt like at some point I was going to reap the reward of it. And so, for me, I believe I may have come to this totally different, with a different mindset.
Ben Walter
Her husband, though, didn't share the same passion for the business.
Quinetta McNeill
You have to have your own drive. I can't give that to you. I don't know if the challenge was that I knew more when I was training my team, I was also training him. I don't think we ever really sat down and absorbed and talked about, how are you feeling about this? Unfortunately, my marriage did not survive that.
Ben Walter
Two months into the life of their company, sadly, their marriage fell apart.
Quinetta McNeill
I had to get up and be at work the next morning and carry on.
Ben Walter
Wow.
Quinetta McNeill
You know, by the business being so young, I literally had to go in, I had to dispatch, I had to carry on operations as business as usual. I really didn't have that room to figure out what just happened.
Ben Walter
Right. You could. You couldn't grieve, essentially.
Quinetta McNeill
No.
Ben Walter
Wow. And. And you also lost a business partner and someone who carried some of that load.
Quinetta McNeill
Correct.
Ben Walter
I mean, that's a big moment, food for you, for the business, for everything. Tell us how you got through that.
Quinetta McNeill
And even my staff, you know, and even managing, you know, who they interact with every day, I have to remind myself whenever these challenges come up, why did I start this? The good thing is that part of my business plan that I had written, I did put my heart and soul in this document. I was able to remind myself why and when things was not working out. Personally, I had already got this in motion. I stayed true to the plan.
Ben Walter
This is really interesting, Q, because we've had some people on the show who sort of have more of the Mike Tyson approach to life, which is everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face. Right. And then you just have to sort of wing it. Whereas you've taken quite the opposite approach, which is, I have a plan, and when I get punched in the face, I'm gonna go back to the plan. I'm gonna stick with the plan. So that's really interesting. People have different approaches to this.
Quinetta McNeill
This is what I needed to do. This is what I needed to stick to. Now, we have also had to make changes, because as we've grown as a company, I also had to adjust, but the core portion of it remains the same.
Ben Walter
And do you still own 100% of the business?
Quinetta McNeill
I still own 100% of the business.
Ben Walter
Gia, I think we have to take a moment here. You know, people generally take time off to deal with personal emergencies. Of course, I encourage my own team to do the same. Family comes first. But entrepreneurship can be a different beast. You don't have a safety net. There's no one else to call or show up and take care of the business if you're not there.
Dr. Gia Wiggins
Right. That's very true. It's another sort of relationship, kind of like a marriage, one that absolutely requires 100% commitment in order to succeed.
Ben Walter
I'm really stunned by her commitment. I mean, she talked about it a lot. But that commitment to a plan and clearly, like, what she thinks of as a plan is not what a lot of people think a business plan is. A lot of people think a business plan is a few notes on a page.
Dr. Gia Wiggins
Right.
Ben Walter
She thinks it's a lot more. And I. It sounds like from what she said, if she hadn't had that, she'd have been in real trouble.
Dr. Gia Wiggins
Yeah, it did sound that way. I think that her having the understanding that you've got to have that strategy somewhere where you can look at it. Sometimes when you get in the weeds as an entrepreneur, particularly when you're going through challenges and you're in a growth stage, it's really easy to get distracted about why you're doing something and why you made the decision to do it in the first place. And so I'm sure that inside of that business plan, she had all the other components that are more traditional with the business plan. But having that mission and that reason why and the reason why you get up every single day, particularly on tough days, I mean, I think that's critical. And I'm pretty sure she probably shares that with her employees as well, to keep them motivated.
Ben Walter
It was sort of implicit in the story. But clearly she went into business with family. In this case, it was her fiance slash husband for a period of time. Family businesses have their own challenges. But talk to us about what the dynamics are that are different about family business and, frankly, what kind of protections people might need as a result of that.
Dr. Gia Wiggins
The first thing I thought when she said that was attorney, attorney, attorney, attorney. Like, making sure that the details of that arrangement are, like, etched in concrete. Right. I have a tendency not to hire people that I can't fire. If I can't have a performance relationship, and it's going to impact the way that we can address each other at the dinner table, then we probably don't need to be in business together. Having a really good legal framework and a great relationship with an attorney where you can be really frank about protections in case that relationship doesn't work out is really, really critical. It seems like she was fortunate she still was able to keep ownership of her company, but everybody's not so lucky.
Ben Walter
So Q had made this plan on ambitious goals that she had set for the company. But her business partner had just walked out, her relationship had sadly ended, and now her entire livelihood was on the line. Tell me, then what. What were the subsequent six months like? I mean, was it just mayhem? Was it? That sounds like a yes.
Quinetta McNeill
Oh, yes. We continue to have a lot of challenges. Growth brings challenges. Right. And you have to be prepared for it. We went into November with over 35 trucks on the road. You also have 35 opportunities for something to go wrong.
Ben Walter
Yep. No texting and driving.
Quinetta McNeill
No. We have challenges out there on the road. Flat tires, somebody tore off a bumper, somebody hit somebody's mailbox to a literal collision with community members or with a tree.
Ben Walter
The tree. I just had to ask about it. Sometimes accidents happen, but not usually with a stationary object in front of you.
Quinetta McNeill
I. I received a phone call from my Dispatch telling me, Ms. Q, one of our drivers just hit a tree, and they sent me photos. And I'm trying to make sense out of this. I went to go pick up my fleet guy. We call the tow truck, get out to the location, and there's a stop sign. There's a. Like, a T. So he's coming up to the stop sign, and you can only turn left or right. He made a left turn right into a tree like this. Kept going and continued continuing to turn. We checked to make sure the driver was safe. He was safe, but he was red. He was walking around, like, wondering what Ms. Qfin to do to me, you know, like, okay, so if you're okay, how did this happen? Was there a community member that drove out in front of you and you had to veer off and defend yourself? None of that happened. He claims he stopped at the stop sign. He claims he was trying to stop a package from sliding and that's what made him go into the tree. He actually hit two trees. The first tree he made contact with took the side mirror off, broke the glass, bent up the driver's door, and then he nosed into the last tree, which stopped the vehicle from going any further. And on the way, driving back to our station after we got everything under control, that is when you want to go into a moment of silence and solitude. And I did that the entire ride back to the station. And my fleet manager knew this is not the time to have a conversation with Ms. Q. And that's when you have those moments of solitude.
Ben Walter
I want to talk a little bit about where you find the energy to do what you do. Because you talked about you've done a couple of things that I think we should all be in awe of. You applied for a business serving the business that you were working for as a full time employee, did your business plan while you were a full time employee, and then were able to summon the energy to build your business in the middle of a personal crisis. I mean, that's an awful lot for anyone to bear. So talk to us a little bit, Q, about where you find the energy to plow through all that.
Quinetta McNeill
Ask myself the same thing, Ben. I believe, honestly, my passion for people has been my driving force. My network has been very influential in terms of positioning me to be able to do what I do. From those that recruited me, those whose teams I worked on, they were such a force of encouragement. The small business owners that I worked with, that positive network was critical.
Ben Walter
When it all feels overwhelming, where do you dig deep? Where do you find that push?
Quinetta McNeill
I revert to my faith at that point. I do value quality time with myself. And sometimes it's at awkward hours. My staff tease me and tell me. They swear I don't sleep, but I do. I always make sure to find an opportunity to retreat and to have those moments of, you know, just quiet.
Ben Walter
Whatever she's doing, it's working. House of Logistics just celebrated its one year anniversary. Q now has 75 drivers and a devoted leadership team who she's cultivated to fill the gaps. She's also changing Birmingham while she's at it.
Quinetta McNeill
This first year, in terms of us looking at our impact across Birmingham, we have at some point provided persons with the ability to pursue their education. We've had people get their cdl. We've had people pursue total different industry credit, counseling, medical billing. They have taken up the education benefit. We've helped single mothers and I think we have had some single fathers take advantage of our child care stipend that we offer to help them offset some of their cost to come to work by, you know, putting their children in daycare or help paying for after school care. They are now taking advantage of our medical and dental plan that they did not have before. We have some people that are investing in 401k that I had to explain what is a 401k? They're now saving for something that they've never saved before. I challenge my people at the interview table that how I meet you today is not how I want you to be two months from now. I want to know if you have a dream or a vision outside of my company. Great. Let me hear about it. I get excited today. Know that people in my house is doing things different from when I first met them.
Ben Walter
Q is the perfect example of why we love small businesses. One of the first things we said when we launched this show is that we celebrate small businesses because they're on the ground across America. They make up large parts of your town or city. They create community and they have the power to affect real change on a local level. It's amazing stuff. It seems Birmingham is thriving under Kew. Oh, and before I forget, there's something else that's thriving. House of logistics under Q's leadership.
Quinetta McNeill
Within the first six months of operation, we grossed in over a million dollars.
Ben Walter
And were you cash flow positive?
Quinetta McNeill
Cash flow positive. Month over month.
Ben Walter
Wow. I mean, not a lot of people can say that. You know, most people start a business, it takes them a while to start generating cash. It's mostly. It tends to. Maybe it's the nature of that business, but a lot of businesses tend to be cash flow negative for a long time.
Quinetta McNeill
Correct. You're right.
Ben Walter
I think a lot of people listening today would love to be able to start a business that could grow that fast. Congratulations on all your success. Thank you for being so generous with your time and so generous with your story. We appreciate it.
Quinetta McNeill
Thanks. And I appreciate the opportunity.
Ben Walter
Gia, now that we've heard all of Q's story, I'm just, I'm kind of overwhelmed by it. She probably used the word relationship, I don't know, 300 times in that interview. And you could tell number one, she really means it. But two, when you have people saying, yeah, we think you should come into our market, you know, you don't usually see people inviting others to come into their competitive set, but they did.
Dr. Gia Wiggins
I often tell people, you know, when they say that they're good at something, I say, yeah, well, you know, does somebody other than your mother tell you that? Right. And so that was a great example of people being able to see somewhere that she would be really talented. And I think that's truly a testament to her ability to build really solid relationships where people wanted to stand side by side with her, even if that was going to possibly impact their revenue. I mean, how impressive is that?
Ben Walter
I want to get a little more into the HR side of things. I mean, that's your background. It's what you and your company. Auditosity does. And Q talked a lot about these HR issues with an ease in a facility that is unusual, I think, for companies that young. You know, how do you think young companies should think about that?
Dr. Gia Wiggins
That's one of the areas that I think people struggle with the most. The Department of Labor is very specific about what the requirements are for companies, and I think that most people would be really surprised about how many employees you need to have to be under the Department of Labor. There are multiple regulations that are compliance related in HR where having one person outside the owner is enough to trigger the Department of Labor for that organization. It's really important to have all of those things worked out before you bring the first employee in and then be just absolutely dogged about the way that those things are played out and the way that they are managed.
Ben Walter
So, gia, let's get real brass tacks for our listeners in the general HR space. Give me a checklist of the things they need to make sure that they need to think about and then maybe some tools they can use to go find out what they need to do.
Dr. Gia Wiggins
Okay, that was a love letter to me. Thank you. I love you too. So I think that one is a couple of the compliance things that I see a lot. If you have more than one employee, you're supposed to make sure that they have an i9. If you're in one of 22 states, you have to also do e verify. When we go into organizations and we do i9 audits, the fail rate on that is normally about 70% of the companies. Number two, the equal pay act, which says that men and women are supposed to be paid equal money and money for the same type of work, with a couple of additional conditions People think that that's something that, you know, just happened, like in the 2000s when Obama was in office. That was actually passed in 1963. 1963. Along those lines, having job descriptions makes a ton of difference. If you're able to do job descriptions, you have an opportunity to really kind of grade out what those positions are and see if those positions are truly supposed to be hourly or salaried. When we go into support companies and we ask them questions specifically about their salaried employees, we find that quite a few of the positions that they have set as salary really should be hourly. And then once they realize that they've misclassified them, they don't know what to do in order to fix it really quick. By the way, it's easy to fix. All you have to do is go ahead and make the correction, do a memo, send the person another offer letter, then do a reclassification and explain and show them how they're supposed to clock in or to change the job description and possibly promote them. And then inside of hiring, making sure that the position is established and the skill set is established in advance. So exactly what is this opportunity? Why do I need this person, what do I need them to do, and what are the qualifications that they need to have in order to do this work? And so if you decide that you're going to hire somebody specifically for culture, I really like them. We get along well, you better make sure that that's not an immediate need, because you're going to need to give them time to be trained and learn the organization and all these things in order for them to be really effective inside of that role. However, if you have an immediate need where you need somebody to come in in day two and make a tremendous impact, that you need to really hire for talent and look at the talent composition that you have and make sure that you're bringing someone in that has the skill set that is absolutely required to do that job. And so that would be like my top five on my checklist. I literally have thousands of things on the checklist.
Ben Walter
I wish we had time for thousands, but I think those are five really useful ones. So thank you, Gia. Now, one final thing before we go. Can you let listeners know why Alabama is such a great place for small businesses?
Dr. Gia Wiggins
The thing that's really unique about being a business owner in Alabama is the quality of life. We're right next to the beach. We have access to go to, like, larger areas when we want to. But the thing that's really interesting about being a business business owner here is that you have an opportunity to really build a relationship with with your potential customers and clients. The whole thing about 6 degrees of separation, it's closer to like 2 degrees of separation in the state of Alabama. If you are able to go out and, you know, become a part of things like the chamber or to join an incubator or be a part of an innovation space. 2 degrees. You can absolutely meet anybody that you want and have an opportunity to really build a meaningful relationship so that you're not only servicing customers, but you have an opportunity to build services alongside them. That is one of the most wonderful uniquenesses about being an entrepreneur inside of our state.
Ben Walter
Thanks so much for listening to this episode of the Unshakeables. And thank you to Q. McNeil and Dr. Gia for speaking with us today. If you liked this episode, please rate and review it. If you know someone who may like the series, tell them about it. Next episode, we'll hear from an entrepreneur whose city was in a big mess and she was the only one able to clean it up. We'll be speaking with Tia Johnson, CEO of Fresh Bloom Bins out of Columbus, Ohio. I'm Ben Walter and this is the Unshakables from Chase for Business and ruby studio from iHeartMedia.
The Unshakeables: Delivering Success – House of Logistics
Episode Release Date: November 19, 2024
Host: Ben Walter, CEO of Chase for Business
Co-Hosts: Quinetta "Q" McNeill, CEO of House of Logistics, and Dr. Gia Wiggins, Founder and CEO of Auditocity
In this compelling episode of The Unshakeables, host Ben Walter delves into the inspiring journey of Quinetta McNeill, affectionately known as Q, the CEO of House of Logistics based in Birmingham, Alabama. The episode also features insights from Dr. Gia Wiggins, an expert in HR compliance, providing listeners with a comprehensive view of the challenges and triumphs faced by small business owners.
Q McNeill’s path to establishing House of Logistics is a testament to resilience and strategic relationship-building. Before founding her own logistics company, Q amassed a wealth of experience across various industries:
Military Service and HR Expertise: Q began her career in the military and later transitioned into human resources, where she honed her skills in managing people and operations.
Entrepreneurial Ventures: She taught business to seventh graders and launched a virtual assistant company that supported small businesses and individuals, expanding her reach to the Caribbean market.
Corporate Contracting: While in Jamaica, Q negotiated contracts for Pepsi Cola in the hotel industry, fostering connections that later led Heineken to recruit her for maintaining critical relationships in manufacturing and distribution.
Q McNeill [04:27]: "The foundation of the company was established to keep my team fully informed around a transparent operation. And typically, transparency resides in your home."
Shortly after launching House of Logistics in August 2023, Q encountered significant challenges that tested her leadership and business acumen.
Early in her tenure, a major incident occurred when one of her 35 trucks veered off-road and collided with multiple trees, resulting in the truck being totaled and packages scattered. Thankfully, the driver was unharmed but understandably shaken.
Q McNeill [00:24]: "I received a phone call telling me one of our drivers just hit a tree."
This accident not only disrupted operations but also placed immense pressure on Q and her operations manager, highlighting the unpredictability inherent in the logistics industry.
Simultaneously, Q faced a personal crisis as her marriage unraveled just two months after launching her company. The intense focus on building her business left little room for nurturing her personal relationship, ultimately leading to its dissolution.
Q McNeill [12:31]: "You have to have your own drive. I can't give that to you."
Despite these setbacks, Q demonstrated remarkable resilience. She adhered strictly to her business plan, which she had meticulously crafted, ensuring that her company remained steadfast in its mission even amidst personal turmoil.
Q McNeill [13:30]: "I stayed true to the plan."
Her ability to compartmentalize personal grief and maintain operational continuity was pivotal in steering House of Logistics through its early, tumultuous months.
Q credits much of her success to the robust network of relationships she cultivated over the years. These connections not only provided moral support but also practical advice that was instrumental in navigating business challenges.
Dr. Gia Wiggins [08:45]: "Having a really good legal framework and a great relationship with an attorney where you can be really frank about protections in case that relationship doesn't work out is really, really critical."
Under Q’s leadership, House of Logistics has flourished, achieving significant milestones within its first year:
Expansion: Grew to 75 drivers with a dedicated leadership team.
Financial Performance: Grossed over a million dollars and maintained positive cash flow month over month just six months post-launch.
Community Impact: Provided employees with educational opportunities, childcare stipends, and access to medical and dental plans, fostering a supportive and growth-oriented workplace.
Q McNeill [22:12]: "We have some people that are investing in 401k that I had to explain what is a 401k? They're now saving for something that they've never saved before."
Dr. Gia Wiggins offers crucial advice on HR compliance, emphasizing the importance of adhering to Department of Labor regulations to avoid common pitfalls:
I-9 and E-Verify Compliance: Ensure all employees complete I-9 forms, with E-Verify required in 22 states.
Equal Pay Act Adherence: Guarantee equal pay for equal work, avoiding gender-based pay discrepancies.
Accurate Job Descriptions: Clearly define roles to prevent misclassification of employees as hourly or salaried.
Strategic Hiring Practices: Prioritize hiring for necessary skills over cultural fit when immediate impact is required.
Comprehensive Hiring Process: Establish clear qualifications and roles before bringing new employees on board.
Dr. Gia Wiggins [26:42]: "Having job descriptions makes a ton of difference. If you're able to do job descriptions, you have an opportunity to really kind of grade out what those positions are."
Dr. Wiggins highlights Alabama’s unique advantages for entrepreneurs, including a high quality of life and a closely-knit business community that fosters meaningful relationships and collaborative growth.
Dr. Gia Wiggins [29:27]: "You have an opportunity to really build a relationship with your potential customers and clients. In Alabama, it's closer to like 2 degrees of separation."
Ben Walter concludes the episode by celebrating Q McNeill’s extraordinary achievements and the vital role small businesses play in powering communities across America. House of Logistics stands as a beacon of perseverance, leadership, and community impact, embodying the essence of The Unshakeables.
Ben Walter [23:33]: "Q is the perfect example of why we love small businesses. They make up large parts of your town or city. They create community and they have the power to affect real change on a local level."
The episode serves as an inspiring narrative for aspiring entrepreneurs, showcasing how determination, strategic planning, and strong relationships can overcome even the most daunting challenges.
Notable Quotes:
Q McNeill [00:24]: "I received a phone call telling me one of our drivers just hit a tree."
Q McNeill [13:30]: "I stayed true to the plan."
Dr. Gia Wiggins [26:42]: "Having job descriptions makes a ton of difference."
Ben Walter [23:33]: "Q is the perfect example of why we love small businesses."
To listen to more inspiring stories of resilience and success, subscribe to The Unshakeables on your favorite podcast platform.