John Corcoran 10:01
Did you bring in someone who could help advise you on those pieces?
Andy Plank 10:05
tYes, yeah, yeah, I heard it. I heard from a gentleman, Tristan Lawrence, who’s working here today, and, you know, he’s got a background in supply chain. That’s, that’s what he went to. He’s a financial guy. He went to school for supply chain. And he’s been a very, very solid addition to our company. And, you know, he’s about systems and processes. You know, sales guys are about, oh, make it happen, you know, right?
John Corcoran 10:34
And allow you to focus on your superpower. It sounded like, right?
Andy Plank 10:38
Yes, exactly.
John Corcoran 10:42
Did you go through kind of figuring out, you know, what your lane was, what your niche was, any of that kind of, you know, figuring that over time, yeah.
Andy Plank 10:52
And I would say that’s where, that’s where EO helped me tremendously. Who was, you know, my forum mates who were able to help, you know, they were like, Andy, you’re, you’re really good at sales and marketing. What are you doing? You know, and, and, and they really kind of pushed me in that direction. And it’s paid off tremendously.
John Corcoran 11:26
Yeah, now 2019, 2020. The pandemic. How did that affect your business? Tell me back to the king of the beginning of the pandemic. You know, what were you thinking?
Andy Plank 11:35
So I was, I mean, I was, I was scared and nervous going into it, I came to work the next day, and we had a letter from the Department of Homeland Security that said, you will operate. And will operate, yes, because you’re and you’re an essential business, so keep running.
John Corcoran 12:00
And that must have been reassuring.
Andy Plank 12:03
It was reassuring because, you know, surviving a shutdown would have been, you know, would have been questionable, and touch and go, and then, you know, PPP came along. That was a tremendous help. So we had about a, I can’t remember the timeline. Seemed like it was mid March. We had about an eight week period where shipments just dropped, but by July 1, we were back to our normal shipping levels, and so PPP allowed us to retain all our people because we were able to compensate them and retain them and not lose them. And then by July 1, we were pretty much running back to normal. We did, you know, everybody was going remote. The number of laptop computers that came through our building was mind boggling, because everybody was trying to get a laptop to work from home. We also did clinical trial medicines into the New York hospitals.
John Corcoran 13:14
Wow, running must feel really meaningful. Yeah, it must have been kind of rewarding to think about that your essential business and that you are serving this kind of critical role as the country is trying to, you know, navigate, navigate its way through the pandemic.
Andy Plank 13:33
Yeah, yeah. They were trying, I don’t know what they were trying, but they were trying all kinds of things to figure out how to fight it, right, and, and so, yeah, we, we played a part in helping to make that happen. And that that was, you know, that was satisfying as well. And then, you know, because nobody was going on vacation and everybody’s sitting at home, guess what? Everybody fixed up their backyard. We were delivering boatloads of patio furniture and big screen TVs. And, you know, everybody took that vacation money and plowed it into their house. And, you know, we so by the end of the year, we were running at a record pace, and that continued to 2021.
John Corcoran 14:18
Now a lot of companies are having trouble with hiring, recruiting, and getting workers. Has that been a challenge for you?
Andy Plank 14:27
We’ve, we’ve done well with drivers. Our drivers have referred other drivers. We have a driver referral program where, you know, they, they hire, you know, we hire somebody, and they, they stay here for a certain period of time. We’ll give them $500 as a reward for helping us to recruit. We’re still struggling with customer service people. We need some customer service people in here because our businesses are growing very quickly, and you know, it’s, it’s. Somebody who can be nice on the phone, answer emails, you know, provide status, shipments, you know, things like that. That can be a grind. I mean, each individual call is not difficult. But when you know when three phones ring at once, it can be stressful. So, we’re still working on that piece of it.,
John Corcoran 15:27
Yeah and you mentioned EO Entrepreneurs Organization, which we both belong to, talk a little bit about the role that that has played for you and your development. You know you, you have been in the corporate world for 25 years, and then start your own company. And then about five or six years into it, you join EO. How did that help with that particular growth stage with the company?
Andy Plank 15:49
Yeah, so the Entrepreneurs Organization, you know, particularly through forum, just you know, gave me another set of eyes, of people that were able to just, you know, size me up, give me candid, you know, candid experience shares for what they’ve been through, and, yeah, just kind of keep me grounded. It was also helpful too to realize that, oh, gee, they’re worried about that too. I’m not like losing my mind. You know, all my contacts in my previous life were corporate world people. So when I go to them and talk about a cash flow thing, they’d be like, Why don’t you talk to your CFO? And I’m like, I am the CFO.
So, you know, so, so it’s been great to just share stories and realize you’re, you know, the world of an entrepreneur is very different than the world of working in the in the corporate world, where the corporate world, you stay in your lane, and entrepreneur, you’re in all the lanes, right? And need to be able to be educated and make, you know, guide the company as best you can, and whether you have a team member there who can do that decision for you, or you know you’re the buck stops with you.
John Corcoran 17:13
So, yeah, yeah. And it looks like, looking at your LinkedIn page here, you’ve gotten your MBA, you’ve gone and studied at Duke University, The Fuqua School of Business instead. So you’ve, you’ve kind of continued to educate. You also are involved as strategic alliance, alliance partner chair. What? What does all that do for you? Talk a little bit about the impact and why a busy entrepreneur would do those things.
Andy Plank 17:44
Well, I just, I just think, you know, as a thirst for learning, to me, you know, the day you stop learning is kind of the day you start withering away. I just think there’s always something new you can learn or experiment with or try to improve either yourself, personally or professionally, the top line of your business, the bottom line of your business. So I just, I just, I think that’s one of the things my father just kind of, you know, you just want to keep getting educated all the time and and and so I think that’s important. As far as being the strategic alliance partner chair, I felt like, for all the good things I’ve gotten out of EO, I felt like that was where, as you called it, I could use one of my superpowers and help support the chapter by getting, you know, because we got hurt, you know, everybody’s on Zoom during covid. So if you’re a sponsor, how do you really network on Zoom? Yeah, it’s almost, it’s probably impossible. So we had to rebuild. We had a lot of rebuilding to do, and I felt like that was one of the ways I could get back to the chapter and give back to EO so we could do cool events in Philadelphia.
John Corcoran 19:07
Yeah, I do want to ask about your son, 2018, your son, Samuel, took his life. Talk a little bit about your son and what that experience is like.
Andy Plank 19:20
Yeah, Sam was, Sam was a hard worker. He was working in restaurants and in our town, Hellertown, next door to where we live, trying to make money. He wanted to buy a car. He was going to Kutztown University. And, you know, we just but I think he was also, in some respects, a typical teenage boy, you know, he, you know, just doesn’t want to talk about what’s bothering him with his parents or or even his friends. And, you know, it’s clear looking backwards, he was suffering from anxiety. And depression. And, you know, he had a lot of things going on in there, and he just didn’t know how to, you know how to express it. And you know, it’s that’s a regret that, you know, my wife and I have that we couldn’t have helped him to figure out how to, you know how to speak about that. But, yeah, on March, March 5, 2018 he, you know, he took his life. And you know, it’s, it’s a, you know, biggest event, negative event ever happened in my life.
So, yeah, now we, know we have we’ve been working my wife and myself do work with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. My wife goes to colleges almost on a monthly basis, where they will host out of darkness walks. And out of darkness, walk as a fundraiser for a the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. But it also gives her an opportunity to talk about, talk to young you know, young teenagers and young college students about, hey, you know you need you know help is available. You know, be comfortable. It’s hard, but be comfortable talking about it, because, you know, you can get help, whether it’s just talking with, you know, sometimes just talking to a friend and listening is the most powerful thing somebody can do for somebody suffering from anxiety and depression, just hearing their story and acknowledging but you know, some people need more help than that.
They need counseling, so maybe even need, you know, medication. So, yeah, so my wife’s very active in that, and then I’ve been involved on the political front with getting the 988 phone number launched here in Pennsylvania, and so I call on politicians 988. Was put in place about a year and a half ago. So it’s a functioning system, but it needs to get funded by, you know, which is going to take each state to pass probably some sort of a tax on your phone bill or your cell phone bill in order to get that funded.
John Corcoran 22:31
And the idea behind 988 is that the police and firefighters and first responders behind 911 aren’t really equipped to be the ones to deal with mental health issues, and so 988 is something that either someone that suicidal could call themselves, or I imagine family members could call in order to get that kind of specialized help. That’s
Andy Plank 22:54
exactly right, that you’d have trained people on the other end of the line that could help somebody who’s having a mental health crisis,
John Corcoran 23:03
yeah, I didn’t even know about that, that it existed. So clearly, not that I know everything. But I mean, hopefully people will start to get the word out and be aware that that resource is developing.
Unknown Speaker 23:16
Yeah, yeah.
John Corcoran 23:20
I want to know for the parents out there, I’m a parent, are there any particular signs that you would recommend for parents to look out for?
Andy Plank 23:34
I think you know, the students keep themselves isolated. I, you know, I have a particular which may be an age related bias, but, you know, I just, I think parents have to be careful about a kid who’s locked in his room all day just on the phone, you know, on texting, on the phone or on the computer all day. I do think they need the socialization that I don’t think is the same as being on the, you know, texting back and forth, yes, your Snapchat or, you know, whatever the Tiktok videos, you know, the was it the social dilemma was a fascinating movie on Netflix about the impact, particularly on teenage girls, about body image and and some of the effects that, you know, social media can have negatively. And I think we need to talk more about that and just, you know, I think, I think family time with no electronics is important. I think that’s how you get your kids to be talking and communicating about what’s going on. The price stages strike at first when, if you impose this.
John Corcoran 24:57
I found it, so you know, with me. an 11-year-old in order to get him to talk. You know, I found what works for us is just finding what works for him. So, you know, like, if we can get him out of the house and get him to go on a walk and get his body moving, then he starts talking. You know, he starts opening up more than he would if you sat on the edge of the bed next to him and tried to get him to open up, right?
John Corcoran 25:27
You know. And we like getting out on bikes and stuff like that as well. That works. Speaking that sort of thing, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that caddy Dorgie introduced us, and you actually connected with her on a trip during lockdown, September 2020. Yes, you know, relevant to the discussion about getting out, getting fresh air, talk about that, that trip, and the impact that had on you.
Andy Plank 25:52
Yeah, so they chatty, the rocky and who else was there? Why? Why did Rustand and Brian burrow all put together this couple’s retreat, and so my wife and I went up to Red Horse Mountain Ranch in Idaho, and I remember I told my wife and said, Hey, do you want to go on a horseback riding trip with EO? She’s like, Yeah, I love horses. And she starts getting the emails of homework to prepare. She’s like, Hey, what’s going on here? I said it’s a Couples Retreat. We’re going to be able to talk about a relationship and we learned, we learned some things about each other. Communication styles was, was one in particular that, you know, we it was like some little things in a marriage that can get in the way and and so we, we saw some of those issues and understand each other a lot better having gone to that retreat. It was a fantastic experience. And I know they do that trip every year, so I encourage any hours to figure out a way to get up there with your spouse. Yeah, I know it’s well worth the time.
John Corcoran 27:13
I think I interviewed Brian A while back, and I think he mentioned it. So I think they are planning on doing it again, or they have happened on the roadmap. We’re almost out of time. I want to ask my gratitude question. So I’m a big fan of gratitude. I’m a big fan of expressing gratitude, especially for peers and contemporaries and others who’ve helped you along the way. Who would you want to just shout out and thank for helping you along the way?
Andy Plank 27:41
I go back to when I had a boss named Fred cheer Alonza, and he, he was, you would so I had, you know, I had bosses that were kind of like the old school, we’re just going to pound this into you. And Fred was the first guy who kind of listened to what I had to say. And, but he kind of turned some things around on me, as far as, hey, you know, well, why do you think that? And, and kind of challenged me too on, you know, you’re good, but you’re not that good. And how are you going to get better? And so he was, he was a great, great part of my life. He challenged some of my assumptions that looking back were not correct or accurate. And, you know, knock some of the chips off on my shoulder and help, helped allow me to grow as a person and get me to where I am today.
John Corcoran 28:43
That’s great. Blue Eagle Logistics is the name of the company, Andy. Where can people go to connect with you or learn more about the work that you do and learn more also about the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention if I if I said that correctly?
Andy Plank 28:58
Yeah. So, yeah. So, I mean, blueeaglelogistics.com. It is our web page. I am also on LinkedIn. That’s my preferred social media channel. And then AFSP.org has a ton of resources related to suicide prevention and how to get help or how to get help for others, and it’s a very good resource.
John Corcoran 29:24
Andy, thanks so much for coming here today.
Andy Plank 29:27
Thank you. I appreciate it.
Outro 29:32
Thanks for listening to the Smart Business Revolution Podcast. We’ll see you again next time, and be sure to click Subscribe to get future episodes.