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Joe Myers - Lighthouse Transportation Services
23 Plays1 month ago
Joe Myers is the president and partner at Lighthouse Transportation Services, an asset-based freight brokerage headquartered in Covington, Kentucky that has been in business since 1987. Joe grew up in a trucking family, and though he never planned on entering the industry himself, he fell into a dispatcher role through his brother-in-law and never looked back. He spent his first five years out in the field with drivers, tarping and chaining loads in the rain, which gave him a ground-level understanding of what carriers actually deal with day to day. That experience shaped everything about how he leads. When Joe joined Lighthouse in 2017 after a long run at TQL, where he rose to leadership within his first year, the company was doing around $15 million in revenue. Today they're on track to hit $70 million.
What sets Joe and Lighthouse apart in a deeply saturated brokerage market is a stubborn commitment to honesty, even when it hurts. Joe's philosophy is simple: answer the phone, tell the truth, and treat drivers the way you'd want a family member treated on the road. He's built a 4.4 Google Review rating, rare for a broker, doing right by carriers and customers alike. He's also not above picking up the phone and cold calling himself, even as president, because he believes that's what the business needs. His approach to managing people is equally adaptable: some team members need tough love, others need an arm around the shoulder, and Joe figures out which is which. He gives his people flexibility on hours and remote work, but holds a firm line on self-motivation and grit as non-negotiables for anyone who wants to thrive in this business.
Beyond the day-to-day, Joe is actively working to expand what Lighthouse looks like culturally. He's pushing to bring more women into leadership in an industry that remains heavily male-dominated, and recently launched his own podcast to shine a light on life inside brokerage and give voice to perspectives that don't often get heard. When he's not working, Joe keeps it simple, tossing a football with his two boys, playing board games, and watching Thursday night football with the family. He credits his tireless 79-year-old mother as the model for his work ethic, and describes his leadership style as humble above all else. For Joe, the whole thing comes down to a line he's lived by: hard work beats talent all day long.
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Transcript
Introduction to Gritty Leadership Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome to Gritty Leadership, the podcast where we celebrate the leaders who make and move America. We're diving into the untold stories of resilience, innovation, and perseverance of the leaders in the gritty industries that keep America running.
00:00:13
Speaker
I'm Brian Smith, and together with my co-host Angie Jones, we're on a mission to honor the leadership that's often overlooked but makes all the difference. So let's get into it, because real leadership gets its hands dirty.
00:00:25
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Gritty Leadership Podcast. I'm Brian Smith. I'm here with my co-host. Angie Jones. Hi Angie. Hey Brian. How are you? How are things on the dairy farm?
00:00:36
Speaker
Things are good. Things are good. It's nice out today, which is weird for Iowa in November. I know. It's going to push 70 in Minneapolis today. Yeah. November 14th. So yeah, it's
Joe Meyer's Career in Trucking
00:00:47
Speaker
awesome. It's crazy. So we are very excited to have Joe Meyer with us today. Joe, thanks for joining us. How are you?
00:00:53
Speaker
It's my pleasure, happy to be here, doing well. I'm in Cincinnati and think it's gonna be about the same, almost 70 here today. Yeah, is that weird for you this time year?
00:01:04
Speaker
a little bit, yeah. Yeah, awesome. Well, Joe, welcome. ah Tell us who you are, what you do and let's get into your story. So I am the president and partner at Lighthouse Transportation.
00:01:17
Speaker
We are an asset-based broker out of Covington, Kentucky. ah We've been in business since 1987. I've been in transportation since 1996. So next year will be my 30th year.
00:01:34
Speaker
I started out with a trucking company. and then after 9-11, I um I got laid off and went to work for a company called TQL, which was only about 15 people when i started. Now it's a six or $7 billion company.
00:01:52
Speaker
Oh, worked there for a long time, went up the ranks and had an opportunity to come over here in 2016, with my contract, I had to non-compete, so I had sit out for a year and then started work here in 2017.
Influence of Family Background on Joe
00:02:09
Speaker
We were pretty small back then, think this year we will be, don't, I've probably grown this thing with the help of, you know, some people we've brought in previous leadership
00:02:27
Speaker
probably I think maybe somewhere around from 15 million to about 70 million. So we've had some good growth. um Never satisfied. You know, we got a lot of room left to grow and keep going, but we're on the way. That's awesome.
00:02:44
Speaker
So Joe, we talked a little bit, you were telling me you're from a trucking family. What is it, you know, tell us a little bit, what's it like coming from that trucking family? What did that instill in you growing up and kind of how has that played for you throughout your career and what you do and influenced you?
00:03:01
Speaker
Yeah, so my dad was a truck driver and pretty much every uncle I had was a truck driver. So I was around it a lot. You know, I just kind of thought it was pretty neat to kind of see the big trucks, you know, and be able to climb in the rig and see the sleepers. and all the things, um, never dreamt about getting into trucking ever.
00:03:27
Speaker
I can't drive of my car, let alone drive truck. So I kind of fell into a trucking role with, uh, with my brother-in-law who I guess he was like a general manager of a, uh, uh, heavy haul trucking company. They were getting pretty busy here.
00:03:45
Speaker
So he hired me as a dispatcher and I kind of just, fell in love with it, you know, talking to people. And, you know my first five years, I spent a lot of time with the drivers as far as going out, helping them tarp loads and strap and chain loads. So I always had an understanding of what carriers and drivers went through, but that really opened up my eyes of like tarping a load in the rain or how heavy tarps are, chaining them in the you know, with the binders and just how difficult it was. And it really helped me when I got into brokering because I was able to establish a rapport with drivers, just talking to them because they're out on the road.
00:04:28
Speaker
Sometimes they just want to chit chat for a little bit. And I've tried to do my best doing the right thing by drivers because I've always kind of felt like this could have been a family member of mine. And, you know, so, um,
00:04:44
Speaker
You know, it's really helped me deal with what they deal with. And I'm sitting behind a desk and they're umpteen miles away sitting in their tractor, just frustrated.
00:04:55
Speaker
So it helps when you pick up the phone when they call and talk to them and say, I understand you're going to be compensated. Maybe not what they want to be, but try to make them happy and just listen, you know, like, Hey, I understand.
00:05:13
Speaker
You know, you're sitting in Kearney, Nebraska right now, you might be there all weekend and you had it. get back home to Charlotte by Monday, they're not going to unload you.
00:05:24
Speaker
And those are difficult conversations. So you to be sympathetic and understanding and try to work something out them. been to Keirin, Nebraska. I've never been, but... Probably not the kind of place you want to be stuck for... week We do deliver there. They do have a cool museum over the highway. I might have to check it out someday.
00:05:44
Speaker
I relate to that, Joe. So like my favorite book when I was a little kid, like the golden books, you know, that we had when we were, my favorite book was a big Joe's trailer truck. By far my favorite book. I made my parents read that book to me over and over and over. And it was literally like about a guy who drove a truck.
00:06:01
Speaker
like for a day there was like no more story than that than like he drove he went and had breakfast with the guys and then he drove a truck and then he went home like that was the story but i just loved it because of the art and the art of yeah like all the trucks and they had like they had a cutaway in it of like the engine and all the stuff in it like just the you know the intricacies of ah of a of a machine like that. And, you know, so I think there's just something about the size and power of something like that and that ah a single person can just operate that and make it happen is for a little kid is kind of amazing.
00:06:41
Speaker
Yeah. mean, I'll have to add that to my Amazon wish list. the They're 80,000 pounds, you know, I mean, they're hauling that and they're, know, almost everything that you have in your office that you have around you has been transported on a truck.
00:06:59
Speaker
Yeah. It's pretty amazing that, you know, truck drivers and the trucking community really makes everything the ones and it's been yeah good The ones that really get me are the ones that like ah make deliveries in Manhattan and stuff like that. Yeah.
00:07:18
Speaker
Or I'm like, I don't know how you do it, guys. Like that's and I have a CDL. I used to drive buses and like so I just don't know how they do it. It's crazy. Yeah. Anytime we get something going on the island, i immediately just tack hundreds of dollars on top of it because it's hard to get people to go there.
00:07:37
Speaker
Yeah, and because they deserve it. Yeah.
Empathetic Leadership Style
00:07:39
Speaker
So thinking about that experience as a growing up in that world, how do you think that's differentiated you as a leader and as a company owner in this industry? You know I don't know about the customers, but I definitely have a softer side for carriers and drivers. And I felt like that's been a way for me to connect with them, try to do the right thing by them.
00:08:00
Speaker
And I've brought that over to Lighthouse. And, you know, we... Like our Google reviews for us, like a 4.4. Like that's pretty unheard of in a logistics role, especially for brokers.
00:08:12
Speaker
We always try to do the right thing. Now you can't always make everyone happy and things happen. But as far as like a leadership, I'm honestly of pretty quiet, reserved person. Like if we're at a, you know, like a social gathering, I'm kind of,
00:08:31
Speaker
I like to observe, you know, I don't like to be the guy on the middle of the dance floor dancing. But when it comes to this I don't mind getting out of my comfort zone and trying to rally people around me because I've had a lot of success doing this. I'm very thankful for the opportunities I've had.
00:08:51
Speaker
I've worked really hard for it. And I guess maybe that's a psychological thing where Maybe I don't feel like I deserve or something. don't know, but I try to give back as much as I can with people. And I love seeing people's success.
00:09:06
Speaker
That's probably one of those my favorite things to see someone come in, not knowing what they're doing, picking up a phone, calling them, talking to them for weeks or months or whatever, and then getting them to trust you and say, you know what, here's this $40,000 load of steel.
00:09:28
Speaker
And i want you to take it from, you know, Lancaster, California to Boise, Idaho. That's pretty remarkable. If you really think about it, like you wouldn't get in an Uber with somebody who you didn't know, but I'm able to call someone, talk to them and then have them give me shipment.
00:09:48
Speaker
And then, you know, you build trust by doing, by answering the phone, by communicating. And next thing you know, they're calling you every day saying, I've got two more shittings for you. ah So I love the whole,
Honesty and Communication in Business
00:10:03
Speaker
you can build this business on your own back.
00:10:08
Speaker
We don't micromanage people and they can all do whatever they want, but they can be successful as they want or not. But my biggest thing that I say that helps me as a leader is my ability to adapt.
00:10:21
Speaker
to each person. Not everybody. And I think that comes from playing sports when I was younger and then through you know high school. Each person's different. Some coaches could really yell at someone and they could fire them up. And then other coaches knew like, hey, this person doesn't take well to that type of coaching.
00:10:40
Speaker
It's the same lot way here. you know Some people have got a guy who's just he's doing so well. I'm so proud of him. And goes, don't tell me that. Tell me You're not proud of me.
00:10:51
Speaker
And I'm like, so I'll tell him how proud of And then when he leaves, I go, you're the worst person I have. And he goes, thanks. I needed that. And then you have other people that need to be, they need your arms to be put around them and say, it's going to be okay. Like, I know you made a hundred cold calls today and you got hung up on and people told you you were the worst and this and that, blah, blah, blah. But it's going to be okay.
00:11:17
Speaker
And they need to hear that. I'm that one. Yeah. Yeah. They need the positive reinforcement and that's fun. You know, I'm the youngest of four and my mom still babies me. So I'm curious. um You talked, you started as a ah dispatcher. Yes. And so what was, how did you go from that to like, what was your first foray into leadership?
00:11:43
Speaker
So there was a guy I worked with who probably so saw something with me. He was like the vice president of this company. Asked me move North Carolina. And then i kind of just took to it. I started at one thing and then i got moved to another thing and then kept moving. And, you know, I was very detailed, organized, kind of just like a go-getter. You know, i just liked the hustle.
00:12:06
Speaker
Got home sick, moved back and started at TQL. And then at TQL, I kind raised up the rankings pretty quickly. Became a leader there within maybe my first year.
00:12:17
Speaker
And then just kind of kept going from there. And I learned a lot from there. And then after a while, know, you kind of just, you read, you think about things you did, andre like, hey I could probably handle that better. And you just, you know, read books and do things to kind of just figure out your management style. But a lot of it, it's just, I've been where they've been and it's a lot of understanding.
00:12:44
Speaker
So I don't ask anyone to do something that I'm not willing to do. You know, it strikes me it's got to be a tough business in brokerage because really like to become a broker, all you really need is a phone and a computer, right? Like how do you differentiate yourself? How do you, um especially starting with new customers, how do you convince them that you're different and how do you how do you actually be different in that market?
Differentiation in the Brokerage Market
00:13:12
Speaker
That's a great question. it's It's extremely tough right now. I've been through a lots of different phases in this business where when I originally started cold calling, people were kind of, you know what's a broker?
00:13:30
Speaker
What's, what is this? What do you do I only deal with trucks. And then as brokers became more proficient in the industry, the market really saturated. So you have a ton of people cold calling to where I talked to some of my customers. It's like, I get more calls from truck brokers than I do anybody else.
00:13:51
Speaker
And then people started creating just emails, like, you they got gatekeepers. So you email or just lines that you leave voicemails that probably no one checks.
00:14:03
Speaker
So. It is extremely difficult now. try to do some social selling, but I still think the best bet is to cold call.
00:14:14
Speaker
And my thing of this is you you just got to be genuine and hopefully that you catch someone at a good point. But I still, as long as I've been doing it, I still have terrible calls, you know, where people just like,
00:14:30
Speaker
Sorry, I don't want to talk to you, hanging up all the time. And it's like, if i could just talk to you and figure out what some of your pain points are. don't have any pain points. And then hang up. It's like...
00:14:42
Speaker
It's very frustrating, but it's it's a law of averages. If I make enough calls, I'm going to talk to someone and I'm going to learn to figure out what their needs are and then try to help them What I don't do is try to over-promise and under-deliver, saying we're the best, you know, because these people have been dealing with trucks or assets or brokers that they like, just like my customers.
00:15:05
Speaker
So, you know, and I don't want my customers giving all of my freight away. So I listen and see if they have a need. And then I say, hey, here's what we do, which we can't control much. You know, I'm dealing with a driver who's in right now, Washington.
00:15:23
Speaker
He's in Warden, Washington. And have no idea what he's doing. You know, all like, I don't know if he's empty or he's telling he's empty, but I don't know for sure. So the only thing I can control is how I communicate with with people and then I'm honest.
00:15:41
Speaker
And even when it's bad, like, hey, Brian, you know that truck I told you that was going to pick up in Warden? Yeah, he's not going to pick up because he took another load that paid more and don't have the truck for you.
00:15:52
Speaker
That's difficult to talk about with people because they need that product and they depend on you. And if you've been dealing people for a long time,
00:16:05
Speaker
You become friends with them. And so now you just let your friend and you lost, they probably lost business, you lost business and it's not a good feeling. But the worst thing I could do is not tell not answer my phone when they call me, not return an email and say, Hey, where's this truck at?
00:16:23
Speaker
Oh, I don't know what happened. i talked to them. They were there. And then knowing your line. I'm not like that. I'm going to tell you how it is, good or bad.
00:16:34
Speaker
They want to work with someone that. You know, sometimes I think we try to make our businesses so complicated and try to... differentiate ourselves on all kinds of different technologies or all kinds of different things or products or flashy things or whatever. And, you know, it comes down to just sometimes doing the right thing, being straight up, taking care of people and not being a jerk.
00:16:57
Speaker
It's sometimes not much more complicated than that. I just love your approach. You know, it's, it doesn't have to be, you know, we have the biggest AI dispatching system on the planet or whatever. it's It's like, we're just going to run through a brick wall for you and make, make sure this happens. And if things get messed messed up, we're going to run through two brick walls.
00:17:18
Speaker
That's a great way to put it, Brian. I mean, you know, I'm the guy that's going to answer the phone at 2.30 in the morning when my truck is at Aldi's and he needs a lumper or they're rejecting the load.
00:17:31
Speaker
That's just because that's how my mom has a tremendous work ethic. She was ah like a home. you know She was a stay-at-home mom that that she would go around and clean people's houses, apartments, and just...
00:17:45
Speaker
But she never gets tired. of I mean, she's, she just turned 79 and she still comes to my house and cleans it. Or does my, like my kids lunch?
Real-time Tracking and Client Preferences
00:17:56
Speaker
Like she just, her work ethic is something that i wish I had, but try to imitate that or mimic her work ethic. And that has been the, you know, ah a big part of it. Like, yeah, my dad is a truck driver, but my mom just, my mom works circles around people and she works circles around me. Well, I'll be doing something with her. I'm like, mom, can we take a break?
00:18:22
Speaker
You know, like you get tired and she just works. and So I get a lot of that from that. But, you know, you're right, Brian. Like it's not I'm not telling you, like we have the greatest technology or we never do this. We never do that. Like it's a lie. We are we're only as good as that truck driver who I might not have never met who I'm relying on being honest, telling you the truth to pick up this shipment.
00:18:49
Speaker
Now we do have a lot of visibility. we have tracking and it's real time tracking so we can see where they are. And if they're moving in the right direction, we kind of know it. and we share that with our customers if they want it. But other, lot of customers are like, just pick the load and deliver it.
00:19:07
Speaker
Like, I don't care. Tell me if there's problem. And other people want to follow that chipping along like they're playing Oregon Trail. See if, you know, they're going to make it Right. um And that's a cool feature we offer. just the millennials and the Gen Zers there. Yeah.
00:19:24
Speaker
Look it up. And shout out to my Gen X friends out there who just are worried about getting dysentery. and I was just going to say everybody's now thinking about dysentery. Yeah. Yeah.
00:19:34
Speaker
um Yeah. Joe, I'm gonna push back a little bit on and something you said earlier, right? when when i When I asked you about your relationship with drivers and your understanding of drivers, and I said, how is that a differentiator for you? And you said, well, for customers, and you kind of said, no, it's not, it's just a differentiator for drivers.
00:19:52
Speaker
But I think your ability to develop these relationships with drivers is a huge differentiator for your customers because of those relationships.
00:20:04
Speaker
When things get tough, when things go south, those drivers are going to come through for you in a different way than they do for other brokers. And that is a direct benefit for your customers. Those relationships, that is something you bring to bear for your customers. And and so I wouldn't discount that as not being a benefit. It's it's it's not maybe as evident to you because maybe you take it for granted a little bit because you're just that's just something that's in your DNA, but for another broker who might not have those that commitment to the relationship to their drivers, um when things get rough, those drivers are not gonna go to mat for them, like they might for you.
00:20:46
Speaker
And that's a benefit to your customers. And I think you should you should take credit for that and and know that that is something you're bringing to the table. That's very fair. I appreciate that. I just don't know how to sell that. I think I just did it for you.
00:21:01
Speaker
I think you did. Maybe I'll just keep this clip for everyone. <unk> for everyone we can send you that willll send you the Copyright b Brian Smith, You just start cold for me. i appreciate yeah it. commission.
00:21:17
Speaker
But I mean, think about the think about those times when the drivers come through for you. I mean, those are the anecdotes you want to tell people. those are it's It's a big deal, you know, and and those how you treat people matters.
00:21:28
Speaker
of A hundred percent.
Professional Drivers and Brand Representation
00:21:30
Speaker
Carriers are the greatest resources ever. You know, some of the drivers I've met have, they'll call me and say, Joe, I just picked up here in Denver.
00:21:38
Speaker
This guy's got 20 dock doors and, you know you should give him a call. Or he's like, i just... So I've made a lot of good friends and a lot of good dispatchers that have helped me. And it's been a huge help with giving me warm leads or even introductions with, you know, I've had trucking companies help me with, hey, we can't haul their freight, but here's Joe. We we use him a lot when we're in California. I've been very grateful and blessed with with those relationships. And I, you know, I don't take them lightly.
00:22:13
Speaker
It's much appreciated. Yeah. but We were doing some customer research recently for one of our distributor clients that Angie and I work with. And it was really interesting what the customer said was, is, you know, when our distributor delivers um and whatever the truck driver is from the distributor, our customer doesn't know that that distributor is not our employee.
00:22:39
Speaker
And so how that driver behaves is a reflection of our brand. And so we want distributors that we work with that have professional drivers that show up and are polite and you know don't park their truck in the middle of the yard and cause problems and et cetera, et cetera. And like that is a part of our value set that helps us decide what distributors we work with because their professionalism directly reflects on us.
00:23:11
Speaker
Right. So like that stuff matters. and And I think a lot of times we just think we're just trying to ah in the logistics business, you're just trying to get from point A to point B, but there's more to it.
00:23:22
Speaker
So, you know, I think having good, good drivers and and good professional people there, that stuff matters. 100%. Yeah. And it all starts with being honest and upfront telling them what they get they' get about to get into. And panic. You're probably going to load. You're probably going to wait for a couple of hours. So get yourself something to eat. Get yourself a shower. I'll pay you detention after two hours or whatever it is.
00:23:47
Speaker
Don't promise them like, oh, you're going to get in and get out. Everybody does. It just doesn't happen. we each have We all have companies that we work with that we notice a pain. sometimes but back in the day when when i was in corporate uh marketing and we used to trade shows and those poor truckers would take our trade show stuff down and the queues to get into those expos yeah horrible i mean they'd sit there for eight hours sometimes trying to get in there to drop our trade show booths and stuff yeah i had an employee who just did one in vegas they did a uh they did some spas like hot tubs and they had to go to field wait
00:24:24
Speaker
And then they go get loaded or go get unloaded. So we took it out and back. The guy was very happy with our service. He was like, it ran flawless. And it was because we gave each driver the expectations of you're gonna be waiting.
00:24:40
Speaker
Yeah. Especially in Vegas when you're when you're paying the Deemsters 200 bucks an hour to load your truck too. Yeah. You wanna make sure they're there on time. No, it's... We are very fortunate. It went well. Awesome. We were lucky. well And if you set that expectation too, it's almost like in customer experience when you tell somebody their package is gonna be there in, you know, two days and it comes in three, they're really mad. But if you tell them it's going to be there in five days and it comes in three, they're really happy because the expectation is different, right?
00:25:10
Speaker
hundred percent. I wanted to ask more about the cold calling because I feel like that is like, how do you find people who are willing to cold call and also how effective is
Cold Calling Challenges and Strategies
00:25:24
Speaker
it? Cause I feel like I did this, you know, probably 15 years ago, i did a lot of cold calling and it was it was tough then. So I can't imagine how tough it is now.
00:25:34
Speaker
It's extremely tough. In our interview process, we're very open about it. It's almost like we're trying to talk someone out of the job. We we we kind of tell them like, you're going to to make calls. It's not as bad as you think.
00:25:48
Speaker
but you're not going to have overnight success. you know i always tell people it takes about 18 months to kind of maybe see the fruits of your labor. Even then, it's nothing's promised. You've got to work. You got to be self-driven. You got to have a lot grit.
00:26:04
Speaker
You have to learn how to take rejection. So is it's tough. I bet three out of 10 people are pretty good at But you have to you have to, you know, bring those 10 people in, though, to to find out because you tell them and then they're like, i didn't know was going to be like this. You know, I didn't know there would gonna be so much rejection.
00:26:26
Speaker
I kind of have this term, which is not, it's embrace the suck. And it's not fun. It's, this you got to climb that mountain and, you know, enjoy every step of it.
00:26:38
Speaker
Because anything you ever wanted to do is hard work. If you want to be good at anything, like if you were to open up your own business or start your own company, how much time and effort you put into it.
00:26:50
Speaker
And that's the same thing, you know, they're under the umbrella of lighthouse, but it's technically their company. And we're very forward thinking about, we let people, know, we don't have BTO.
00:27:02
Speaker
If they want to take off to go see their sister or their brother or cousin or their parents or their whatever. Yeah. Okay. That's fine. Like, go ahead. Like, I get it. Like, we want to work life balance.
00:27:14
Speaker
um And once people are very successful here and have been here for three, four years, their hours are not eight to five and working all the time because you can do so much from your cell phone nowadays that we allow these people to kind of, you know, work from home when they need to.
00:27:31
Speaker
if they have a kid's soccer game at 3.30, who puts a soccer game on a Wednesday at 3.30? But yeah, I mean, for sure, go be with your family. I understand it.
00:27:46
Speaker
There's nothing easy to tell you about the cold calling, though. There's no blueprint. I can't tell you how to make the perfect call. it You just got to make them.
00:27:57
Speaker
I'm surprised you even get anybody on the phone anymore. It's tough. I actually ask everybody. that i ask a lot of people that, I should say. But I would say out of 100 calls, you're you're getting about 20 to 40 people.
00:28:09
Speaker
And out of the the decision makers, you're probably talking 5 to 15. Okay. So that's, I mean, that's about what I would have expected when I was cold calling 15 years, 20 years ago. See, when I started cold calling, felt like I talked to everybody.
00:28:23
Speaker
I talked to a lot of people. And then when I came here, they hired me as president. And when I got here, i go, you guys don't need a president. You need revenue. So I picked up the phone and started calling again.
00:28:35
Speaker
And i saw the difference in it then, but it wasn't as bad. And then i built up a ah good account in 2017. And then in 2020, I handed it off and did it again during COVID.
00:28:48
Speaker
And that was even harder. And now I'm kind of like back on the floor, trying to make some more calls. And it's, It's pretty bad to get someone on the phone. And then once you do, once you get through that first like introduction and you catch them off guard and you kind of just say, Hey, I just want to have a conversation to see how you arrange your, your trucking. You know, if you're having any issues and they realize that you're not the worst person in the world, they kind of open up a little bit and then you build from there.
00:29:19
Speaker
It's almost like when you go look at furniture, yeah You know, and they run to you as soon as you go through the door door, like, what are you here for? I'm just looking. And then they follow you and keep asking.
00:29:31
Speaker
And then you got the one guy that's like, Hey man, I'm here. so you have any questions, like here's my card, just find me. It leaves you alone. Like that's the person I want to go find and say, Hey, I think I've seen a sofa that I like. Can you tell me more about it?
00:29:43
Speaker
I try to take that approach and I try to teach that approach. It doesn't always work, but... It used to be a car dealer I bought several cars from back in the day, and I would go out to their site. I'd find like four or five cars on their lot that I liked, and I'd go in and I'd tell them which cars I was interested in. He'd come back with a carabiner of all five sets keys on them.
00:30:05
Speaker
and give to me and just say, come back when you're done. It's the best. You know? Yeah. Like, just like, that's what I want. I don't want you to ride with me. I don't want you to talk to me about them. Like, I don't need you to tell me about them. Just give me, leave me alone. That's really interesting. I just had my oil change from a car I bought. It's a new car and you take there to get service to whatever for warranty.
00:30:27
Speaker
And they text me every 15 minutes. Like we did your 15 point inspection. We are treated like, i don't know if you guys are anything like me, but I would go and sit there for an hour and a half and have no idea. Like they could be taking the transmission. now i don't know what they're doing back there. But this place, they gave me like five text message updates. Like, you've done this inspection. We're doing this. We're doing that.
00:30:54
Speaker
the So when and people were calling, like, hey, what's going on? Like, when think you're gonna be here? Can we meet? Can we have anything? They're supposed to be down with my car 1220, and I should be back in the office at 1. Like, I loved it.
00:31:06
Speaker
And I even told them, hey, that's great customer service. Like, i really appreciated it. Instead of just sitting in the lobby hoping they come back and say, you know.
00:31:17
Speaker
And i knew there was going to be no upcharge either because they're like, hey, we did all the things. You don't need anything. Perfect. You know, i knew the guy wasn't going to come out like, here's $180 air filter. You need this. Like, oh, okay.
00:31:31
Speaker
You say so. Well, Joe, and I love your just roll your sleeves up attitude, right? Like, this is what needs getting done. Yeah, I'm the president the company, but I'm going to go cold call or... You know, i I can see you going and like deciding that the plants out front suck and you're going to go like, you know, plant hydrangea out front or something like, you know, that just seems like the guy you are. Right. Where do you think that comes from? Is that your DNA again?
00:31:57
Speaker
Probably my mom.
Hard Work and Humility in Logistics
00:31:58
Speaker
You know, my mom is probably the hardest worker I've i've ever known or ever seen. So, If something needs to be done, going to do it. And the fact that like i also am very humble. you know and I'm not an educated person. i never I was never good at school. I never graduated college.
00:32:16
Speaker
I grew up lower middle class probably. And and just um I appreciate everything that I've been working forward and getting. And it's pretty cool to see kind of what we've accomplished here. And I'm looking forward to seeing how far we can go.
00:32:32
Speaker
Yeah. So, and yeah and I like coming into work. You know, I don't see myself retiring any day soon. You're a great example of just, there's just no substitute for hard work. No. Hard work beats talent all day long.
00:32:45
Speaker
Yeah. Unfortunately, i learned that the hard way for a long time. Angie, does your mom come to your house and do your laundry and clean your house? ah She's an hour and a half away. so no, but she's also like, like she has a lot of energy like that too.
00:33:02
Speaker
Like I'll talk to her and she's cleaning out her closet. So I'm like, didn't you just do that? Like yeah last month? My mom's a super hard worker too. Like she had three jobs all of me growing up and she's like, you know, like Joe's mom, but she's out gardening and, but, but she's not come over to my house and doing it. So I tell her all the time, like, don't, and what are you doing? She's like, my house is clean. I literally have nothing to do today.
00:33:27
Speaker
And I'm like, just come over and hang out. but she'll come over and she'll see dishes or she'll say, hey, I'm just gonna do this real quick. My wife and I just kind of look at each other and just leave note just to let her go. You know, so. Yeah.
00:33:41
Speaker
Don't argue. It's best not to argue. Yeah. Like even when we have like birthday parties or stuff, she's over there doing the dishes while everyone's like sitting around the table.
00:33:52
Speaker
I mean, it's just, she doesn't relax much. Joe, how do you relax? Oh, my kids. Like, you know, when i I try to turn everything off when I get home, but it doesn't happen all the time. like i still take some phone calls at night. get a lot of joy in my two boys.
00:34:12
Speaker
They're both so much different, but they're fun. I have a 13-year-old, a 10-year-old. Just try to connect with them. Like every day, you know, like yesterday when I got home and we went outside and tossed football for a little bit.
00:34:26
Speaker
And that's yard work. But that's it. i'm I'm a pretty boring person. I don't, I'm not a drinker. I don't go out a lot. I like to just sit at home, play board games with my kids or or watch, you know, I watched Thursday night football game last night. So we're all in a family fantasy football league.
00:34:42
Speaker
So there's a lot of trash talking going on there. Love that. So yeah, just spend time with family. So there's nothing boring about being a great dad? No, no. But I mean, you know, I have people like, hey, let's go to this.
00:34:55
Speaker
I'm like, I got I'm the worst friend ever. kind of Yeah, I'm just good. I'm good here. Come here and hang Yeah. I got some beer in my fridge. It's, you know, it's probably four months old, but you can have it. Yeah.
Diversity and Representation in Logistics
00:35:13
Speaker
I just wanted to ask about the the podcast because you have your your own podcast as well. Yes. So I'm trying to scream it at the the the hills about how I just, I love the company. I love the people and I want people to hear about it.
00:35:29
Speaker
We hired a marketing guy and he has said, hey, why don't you start giving out some advice and just take yourself?
00:35:40
Speaker
So I did. i did that like once a week. And then he said, why don't you invite someone on and talk to So I've had four episodes now. um I got my fifth one next week.
00:35:52
Speaker
um I enjoy it I think it's fun. I think it I hope it helps some people who are getting into the logistics of brokering. So I talk a lot about cold calling.
00:36:04
Speaker
I just had a our CEO on my partner and a lot of people got to know him a little bit. And then this next episode, I'm having a young woman on who's gonna talk about you know the how difficult it can be to be a woman in logistics and trucking. I wanna see, we wanna hire everyone or anyone.
00:36:27
Speaker
But it's a boys club. you know And yeah I don't always necessarily think that's a good thing. So she's been here for, she's been in the industry 10 plus years.
00:36:40
Speaker
And as I talk to younger women, they kind of tell me like, it's not a level playing field or this and that. So I was taken back by that, you know, when I had some real conversations with them. And I hope that by doing this, some women out there might kind of find some common ground and maybe speak up, you know, like not saying that trucking or anything is, is bad it's just not what You kind of think, I think I asked a question to my team, like, what's the average percentage of, like, female truck drivers? And it's 9%. It's down from 12. In some cases, like, you know, I think it was 1.7, it's 9.5%. So trying to see some some growth. we and We had a discussion about that on our one of our...
00:37:30
Speaker
intro things that we did, Angie, we should send Joe that those articles that we used for that. There's some really interesting ones about... Yeah, like the female TikToker. Yeah, there's a woman that's doing some interesting TikTok stuff. Oh, i have a TikTok now, too.
00:37:44
Speaker
Oh, awesome. I have 30 followers, so get in line. 31 have right now. Slow down. I'm trying to do anything I can to grow this company and grow this brand and do everything.
00:37:58
Speaker
And going back on the female thing, you know, when we have a young woman come in here to interview and it's 40 guys and three women or five women or whatever we have down there, 10, it's intimidating. I want to change that. yeah You know, we we need some growth. We need some some women leaders. And our our CFO is ah is a woman.
00:38:18
Speaker
to So the young lady I'm interviewing next weekend, she's in management too. So trying to do my part. Well, if you're looking for guests outside of Lighthouse who are in trucking and logistics, i have a I have a contact I can send you, a friend of mine. would love that. Yeah, I want to keep adding new people on, trying to get you know a point of view from everybody.
00:38:40
Speaker
So for people looking to get into logistics, into this industry, what advice would you give them if they're thinking about being in this business.
Advice for Newcomers in Logistics
00:38:50
Speaker
You need to be able to deal with rejection and you need to be able to, you need to be self-driven.
00:38:54
Speaker
What I love about this is it doesn't matter what your background is. It doesn't matter what your education is. If you can work hard and you Want to push yourself and you make some good money? Commission can be uncapped. And that's what it is here. like I know people are making seven figures brokering free.
00:39:11
Speaker
And if you don't want to work next to someone who you're out working and making the same per dollar, this is a good industry to get into. But you have to be driven or you're just wasting your time. And Joe, if you were to be able to talk 2001 Joe, just getting started, what advice would you give that Joe?
00:39:32
Speaker
I was a lot different back then. That's why I asked the question. We hear that a lot. Yeah. I was lot different back then.
Personal Growth and Advice to Younger Self
00:39:39
Speaker
I was a prick back then. i was probably a pretty cocky person back then too, because I just started to kind of, well, i was getting ready to go into sales. And once I hit sales at first, I probably not the best person to be around sometimes.
00:39:55
Speaker
Lower your ego a little bit and be more humble. But I mean, I still wasn't walking around like, I'm the greatest this and that, but I was probably not the best person. Not this version of myself, at least. So how would you have coached yourself to get better?
00:40:09
Speaker
and You're not that good. You know, you're not that good. You're actually pretty terrible. This is, yeah, you can be way better. I think for me, I would have said, ask more questions, you know, be more curious and not assume my new shit.
00:40:24
Speaker
I was so arrogant to think I just knew things that I didn't and that I understood things I didn't. In that, there were a lot of things I needed to fix, but I think in what you're talking about, like, that's what I probably would have told me of like, just...
00:40:39
Speaker
Slow down and ask more questions. Yeah. I just made so many assumptions back then because I just thought I was so f freaking smart. We definitely thought we knew everything. Joe, anything we should have asked you about that we didn't?
00:40:51
Speaker
No, I think you guys covered a lot of Angie, anything else you want to cover? I don't think so. That was great.
Closing Remarks and Commendations
00:40:57
Speaker
Joe, we are super grateful for your time today. This has been a joy and we are rooting for you and for Lighthouse. And I just am so, always so excited to hear and talk to somebody who just inherently does business the right way.
00:41:13
Speaker
And i think your approach to being a ethical standup person who approaches things with a commitment to honesty and clarity is just super awesome. And I can't wait to hear how things go and check in with you in a couple of years when you're five times bigger than you are today or 10 times or wherever it is, but I know it's going to be awesome. So I appreciate it I enjoyed myself.
00:41:43
Speaker
Thanks for having me. Awesome. Take care.