Start Where You Are

Some ideas hit you in the middle of a strategy session and some hit you at 30,000 feet. I had just wrapped up consulting for a restaurant supply company, helping them optimize their warehouse operations - flow, slotting, labor planning, all the things that make a building run smoother. I boarded the plane tired, replaying the project in my head.

Somewhere over the country, staring out the window, it clicked: “I should start my own third-party fulfillment company.” Not someday. Not when the timing is right. Now.

That spark turned into a plan. The plan turned into action. And the action turned into a company that grew far beyond the original idea. What started as an idea at cruising altitude became a nationally recognized fulfillment business, with locations on both coasts, a base of incredible clients, and a team that cared as much about operational excellence as I did.

We built it the hard way - with scrappy know-how, real warehouse experience, long nights and weekends, countless process maps, and the relentless belief that great fulfillment is a competitive advantage.

Looking back, it wasn’t luck. It was clarity. It was timing. It was the compounding effect of saying yes to the idea and not talking myself out of it.

Some moments change your career. Some moments change your life. Sometimes, all it takes is a seat on a plane, a problem worth solving, and the courage to build something from scratch.

To anyone sitting on an idea right now: don’t wait for perfect conditions. Start where you are - even if it’s 30,000 feet in the air.

To round out this story: I led that business for nine years before it was acquired. I look back on that time with fondness.