Brent – 00:00:01:
Welcome to Freight Nation, a trucking podcast where we explore the fascinating world of trucking and freight management. We dive deep into the freight industry and uncover why the trucking industry is more crucial to our country now than ever before. Stay tuned to uncover the driving forces behind successful trucking businesses and hear from the hardworking truckers and leaders who keep the world moving. Let’s hit the road. Well, welcome back Freight Nation. I hope that whatever you did for the holidays was a great thing. We’re kicking off the 2025 year with one fantastic episode, an episode I’ve been waiting a long time for you to hear it. And so Freight Nation today is going to be a really fantastic episode because you’re going to get to hear from one of the people that inspired me so long ago. When I first got in to logistics in 2013, a person that inspired me to really understand the heart and soul of what logistics and brokerage companies are all about. And so that’s why I was so excited, Freight Nation. So just appreciate you coming back and joining us again. As we say at Truckstop, we just want Freight Nation, these podcasts to be a benefit to you and your business where you can hear a story about somebody else and their experience in their business, and you can take and apply that into yours. And if not, just hear a great story. And then maybe even you recognize the person. When you see them in a trade show or something, you can even glean more into what their business is. One of the greatest things about logistics is we really all do care for everyone’s success. And that’s one of the best things about logistics. And one of the reasons why I’ve been doing it for a little over 25 years now. Well, today, joining me on Freight Nation is one of my inspirations. I’m not kidding. Miss Kristy Knichel. Kristy, thank you so much. I like to say Knichel. So if you see her name, it’s actually Knichel. But if you hear me say Knichel, it’s just because I love her. So Kristy, thanks for joining me. I’m Freight Nation today.
Kristy – 00:01:51:
Thank you for having me back. I appreciate it.
Brent – 00:01:54:
You know it, man, every time. So everybody’s got such a great story in this industry. And yours is one that is so unique and yet not unique. You know, it’s a family-owned business. You grew up, you’re the daughter of the owner, and we’re going to get into that story and everything. But I want to talk a little bit about young Kristy. And so when she was a young lady and growing up and everything, what was it you said to yourself, that’s what I’m going to do in life? Where did you see yourself going before you ended up being the CEO of a logistics company?
Kristy – 00:02:23:
Well, a couple of things. So initially I was running a couple of pizza shops.
Brent – 00:02:28:
Pizza shops?
Kristy – 00:02:30:
Yeah, a couple of pizza shops. I was always a hard worker, working two to three jobs sometimes just so I could live on my own. I moved out when I was 18, but I really enjoyed doing that for whatever reason. And at one point, one of the owners was looking to sell. So initially I had approached my dad about that. And that was something that he basically talked me out of because he actually owned a pizza shop and bar back in New Jersey. Wow. Yeah. And I didn’t know that he did actually. So he’s like, you’re not going to want to do that. You’re not going to make that much money. And the guy I worked for made like $40,000. And at that time I was like, oh, this is great. So yeah, my dad definitely talked me out of doing that and coming to work for him at that time. But another story too, prior to that, I probably should have shared first, but I did go to school initially for criminology. I like it. Do you like investigating?
Brent – 00:03:23:
Criminology and pizza and they go right together.
Kristy – 00:03:25:
I know, right? But I love investigating. I think that’s probably like the problem solving skill that I have. Watching those shows on TV all the time just intrigued me of trying to figure out who did the crime, so to speak. So I did go to school for that for a little bit. I did have a bad experience at the school, so I did quit. And then I decided to go to another school for fashion marketing, totally different arena. I think I wanted to learn how to better dress, to be quite honest. Not that I was the fashionista. I’m still not today. But yeah, that was a short stint to about a year because then I was running that pizza shop like I just mentioned and was going to go that path and quit school and then went to work for my dad. So that’s where I’m at today.
Brent – 00:04:12:
So where did you get this independent attitude? And look, I know you’re from Pittsburgh area. And so you’re giant, by the way, Freight Nation, she’s a giant Pittsburgh Steelers fan. She loves her football. You know, I live in the South. I’m a big SEC football guy. So that’s a good thing. She and I have that in common. But where did you get this sort of independent, I can go do that, spirit about you? Because usually, you know, that comes from a certain place. And so where did you get that from?
Kristy – 00:04:39:
I mean, I think part of it was from my dad and like watching him and how he not only just worked, but how he was with the family and just always getting us to do things and sometimes forcing us to do things. I guess you could say. He wouldn’t
Brent – 00:04:54:
He wouldn’t be a dad if he didn’t force you to do things.
Kristy – 00:04:56:
Right, right. So I really looked up to him. But I think the other part of it, too, is my mom was really strict and I lived with her for quite some time. I might bounce back and forth between my dad and her from, I think, the age of like 15 on. They divorced when I was real young. But my mom, I feel like, never trusted me. And I was a good kid. I actually wasn’t doing anything I shouldn’t be doing because I was so afraid to do something. What would happen? So I think that independent, too, getting the job when I was a teen, to be quite honest, like I did a work release from high school. So I leave high school around noon and go to work. So. I wanted to live on my own. That’s why I moved out when I was 18. As soon as I could move out, I moved out. But I had to work like two jobs and go that path because I wanted to do what I wanted to do and not have to deal with what my mom had to say or where are you going? What time are you going to be home and all those type of things. So.
Brent – 00:05:50:
So. Well, fantastic. Well, you will get to the being a mom, sort of like the influence maybe of the struggles you have with your mom and how maybe you’re getting over that a little bit as a mom going forward. But I don’t want to ask you that. We’ll wait a minute on that question. Okay. So we’ll get real personal. We’ll talk about that because it all adds to who you are as a person, you know, those experiences in life. So first off, if you worked at pizza shop, did you have a favorite pizza? I got to ask, did you have a favorite pizza?
Kristy – 00:06:16:
I’m just plain. I just like cheese.
Brent – 00:06:18:
What? Yeah. You’re like still back in like fourth and fifth grade when you just like cheese pizza? Is that what it is?
Kristy – 00:06:24:
Yes, but I will say pierogi pizza was actually pretty bomb.
Brent – 00:06:29:
Okay. All right. Yeah. All right. So when you were young and you were 18, you were trying to, you said, I think I’d like to own a pizza shop. So you’re working there. You’re not just an employee. You’re trying to figure out how to run the place. I’m asking Kristy this just because I want you to kind of glean into like, what’s the learning process? Because the learning process starts early and then it just kind of matures the rest of your life. It never just stops, you know, but you actually started much earlier. I mean, at 18, I’m out like just wasting my time. You’re actually being productive, which I admire again, Freight Nation. Why I admire Kristy so much, Ms. Knichel so much, you know, so she’s always been purposeful about what she’s doing. So as you’re like working at the pizza place, what was kind of going through your mind at 18, like on how I want a pizza shop?
Kristy – 00:07:13:
I mean, I think the thing was I was initially working there, making the food, then I would deliver pizzas. Then a few years later, because I started there sooner than I was 18, but probably by 18, 19, it was really just being left on my own and the owner really wasn’t there and having to at night close down the cash register, having to go through all the receipts and add them all up. It was all manual process. But I was just always this hard worker mentality. I would do whatever needed to be done and I just wanted to learn everything about it so I could just be a team player. So I think that’s really where some of the steps came in there, especially when the owner wasn’t there as much. You had to step in and take things over and it’s not like he asked me, I just did it and he saw that. So I think he felt he could do his own thing and not necessarily have to be there all the time. I would open the shop, I would close down the shop and then I had a second job I would go to and I’d work 11 to 7 at a gas station. At night.
Brent – 00:08:12:
Wait a minute. Were you like pumping gas and doing oil changes or tire changes? What do you mean you worked at a gas station? Was it a convenience store or was it a legit gas station?
Kristy – 00:08:23:
Well, it was a convenience store or a gas station. Yes. So I wasn’t outside doing those things, but I did have to empty the trash. It was running the register. It was cleaning all the machines at night. It was next to a police station. I mean, I never thought about that because sometimes it’s not safe, especially for a woman to work a night shift. Didn’t really think about it at that point.
Brent – 00:08:43:
Never crossed your mind. I love it.
Kristy – 00:08:44:
No.
Brent – 00:08:45:
We’re just tripping, man. You’re like, this is what I’m talking about, Fraynert. Christy’s focused. She’s always been focused on the things that she’s going at. At least she does it with a smile, as you can see right there. But she’s been focused on this. So yeah. So what are interesting things? So how did your experience at 18, 19, I don’t know, how old were you when you transitioned to working with your dad?
Kristy – 00:09:05:
I was 19.
Brent – 00:09:07:
19. So you had that experience from like 17 to 19 on kind of doing it on your own. And then how did that experience that you had in the pizza place and the C-Store with the gas station, did that hinder you or help you when your dad said, hey, sweetheart, my daughter, I’m just paraphrasing, of course, because I have three daughters myself. And that’s kind of how I talk to my lovely daughters and very talented young ladies. So what did that play into your decision on whether or not you even wanted to do that?
Kristy – 00:09:36:
I mean, honestly, I think I played a lot into it because obviously I was thinking about I want to own a business. I want to have my, I don’t want to say freedom, but like my independence to truly make my own money or that ceiling or whatnot. But the fact that my dad’s like, you’ll never make as much money as you’d make working with me. And I think him just laying out the opportunity of knowing that I could make more money, move up in the business. I really didn’t even know completely what he did, to be quite honest. When I did work for him initially and came on board, I don’t even think I cared. It was just coming in and having an opportunity to do something different and make more money. So I was all for that, knowing I was going to make more working for him. And again, even though he’s my dad and I spent weekends with him and trips and whatever, working with him was a whole nother journey for sure.
Brent – 00:10:26:
For those of us that have done it, and I’ve done it, it changes your relationship with your father. But before we get to that, you disclosed before that you struggled with the relationship with your mom. Would you say that you had a closer relationship with your father than your mom? Obviously, I’m going to guess yes, because you were listening to him, which is really, really big. He was trying to give you some wise counsel on saying, I think your future might be bigger and brighter if you worked with me for a while or something along those lines. So what was it in your dad that made you trust what he was saying?
Kristy – 00:10:56:
I think my dad was just a true standout guy. He was always helping everyone else, so he was a very successful sales guy. No matter what career he was in, I remember him taking us to some of the other companies he worked for in the past, like MCS or Fort Pitt Consolidators, just watching how he carried himself with everything and how he was just so structured, I think, as well. He knew what he wanted out of life, and he just had no problem going for it. But where my mom, on the other hand, she was that stay-at-home mom. She got remarried and stuff, but she wasn’t ever trying to encourage me to do anything or to try to be better. Where my dad, I think he was always about that. I think he wanted to see us all be very successful and talk about my brother and sister as well, just succeed in life. And I think he knew he had an opportunity that could become something. So yeah, I mean, my dad was just… He was a great… He was a great dad, stand-up dad, would do anything for anybody, but he was very, I always say this, militant, structured. His expectations were…
Brent – 00:12:03:
Hang on a second. It said, does militant and structured work well with Kristy?
Kristy – 00:12:06:
Yeah. But I will say the other part of it too, is like, even though I had the terminal oil between my mom and my dad and just to be very transparent at one point, my mom even kicked me out of the house when I was 16. Yes. My dad came and picked me up and, but I would go back and forth. But my dad was like always the more naive one when it came to certain things of like going out, I’m going here. And he just, not that I was lying to him, but he just believed me and didn’t question me where my mom, on the other hand, was just always thinking I was lying. They were listening to my phone calls. It was a little craziness growing up, but I get it being at that young age. So it was interesting, the two sides that my dad had there.
Brent – 00:12:49:
Yeah, for sure. So Freight Nation, take away from this, encouragement goes a long way. Parenting’s hard, but encouraging your children is really, really key to the development of who they are. So all right, let’s move forward just a little bit. So you’re 19 years old. You’re a very young person, but that wasn’t yesterday. That was a few days ago. So no longer at the pizza shop. And this is my dad now who is telling me, and I’m bringing this up for Freight Nation because so much of trucking and logistics is family related. And everybody kind of goes this thing of like the transition of like working with a parent and then how does that work? And then over time, transitioning into being of equal sort of like experience and talent, but they’re still your parent and that sort of thing. And so you’re in a family business. And so talk a little bit about when you first started and kind of what was going through your
Kristy – 00:13:38:
Yeah, I mean, there was only, I would say, five people that worked there. One of them was my dad’s second wife’s sister-in-law. She was actually the office manager in that situation. I would say I came in super excited to learn. My dad, I do talk about this quite a bit, but my dad was very insistent on how things needed to be from a process standpoint.
Brent – 00:13:59:
So he was kind of militant, yeah.
Kristy – 00:14:01:
Very militant.
Brent – 00:14:02:
Powered restructuring, right.
Kristy – 00:14:03:
Yes. He would stand behind me to watch that I’m doing something properly, I mean, for a long period of time. Wow. We had to fax out our tracking reports by like 8.30, and everything was manual at that time. So obviously it took quite a bit of time. What year
Brent – 00:14:18:
Was this? What year was this? This was when? 97. 97. Okay, fantastic.
Kristy – 00:14:23:
Yeah. So everything, even tracking the rail containers was all via the numbers on the phone. Nothing was dumped into systems and stuff like that. So yeah, he was definitely very on top of us with that as far as just making sure we’re following the process. If we didn’t have those reports out by 8.30, he would start yelling, why aren’t they out yet? This is what we need to do, or we’re not going to have customers type of thing. And I just got in a routine of, okay, this is what he expects and I’m going to do it and get it done because I don’t want to be yelled at. Not very fast, though. The tune in the office changed as well because I think she was my aunt, technically, but the sister-in-law of my father that was running the office, I think she knew my dad brought me in eventually to take over her roles. So not long after I came on, within the first six months, she left the company.
Brent – 00:15:12:
Wow. Okay.
Kristy – 00:15:13:
Yeah, because my dad started making that, I think, known because he was really working with me and teaching me and training me. And I would say even early on, he started taking me even on sales trips with him.
Brent – 00:15:24:
So you learned the operations part, the data inputting, even though it was kind of rudimentary at the time. That was your first introduction into the logistics business. Did you take quickly that? Was this something that you like said, oh, wow, I can be good at this.
Kristy – 00:15:39:
Yeah, I loved it. I learned it really fast and it was something I was really good at. I think it was the challenge of making sure we could find a carrier to pick up a shipment. My dad had a lot of freight out of California and he used one carrier. So during peak shipping, I would have to call like 60 to 100 carriers to start covering our freight because we would have 30, 40 pick up the day and one carrier couldn’t handle it. So I think it was really that challenge of getting someone to do something for me that I needed them to do, which I was really good at doing, but it got to the point too where I had to start to move business off that carrier and really get my dad to understand why we had to do that. It took a little while to convince him because of his relationship he had, but I think that’s a part of the business that I’d love. I’d love the problem solving, finding solutions, doing something when you feel like you might not be able to do it, but I did it.
Brent – 00:16:36:
Right. Well, that goes back to your kind of desire when you pursue criminology for a while. By the way, I love criminology as well. And just find any law and order type show and I’m probably watching. Presently, I’m going through the elementary version of Sherlock Holmes, which is on Hulu. I’m enjoying that because I love the resolution. I always love finding the solution to the problem. So you’re there with your dad, you’re learning operations. How soon did it happen with you where you felt competent at logistics? It took me like three years to start really understanding everything Truckstop did because we do such a broad scale of things. And I had been 15 years in trucking before this. So how long did it take you to get there? And then what did you learn along the way with that?
Kristy – 00:17:18:
I would say probably within six months, but we mainly did intermodal. There was a few truck shipments that we’d have. I really didn’t touch that side initially, but I did get into that at some point. But I would say I felt pretty confident pretty fast because my dad threw me into whatever was needed. If I had to collect money from the customers, if I had to do like eventually like get involved in some HR stuff, interviews. I remember sitting in an interview for one of the girls. She actually did work for me for 20 years. She’s no longer here. But I remember I was wearing bibs, overalls. And my dad was like, and this is not how you come to an interview. Like as I’m interviewing this.
Brent – 00:18:00:
Wait a minute, your dad used you as an example of what not to do?
Kristy – 00:18:03:
Yes.
Brent – 00:18:04:
Or how nice.
Kristy – 00:18:05:
Yes. I was more laid back clearly at that age. And my dad was more, he worked for the railroad at one point, so it was three-piece suit and tie. But eventually he sided with me on a little bit of the dress down. But yeah, I mean, the interesting thing is I was always asking for more. What more can I do to help? Because if we covered all the shipments for the day and whatnot, I didn’t want to just sit there. Like what else can you teach me? What else is there to do? So I think that was part of the journey of where my dad saw like, well, if she’s wanting to do all this, and he just started teaching me all different parts. So eventually I did get to do a little bit of everything in the company, from HR to collections, to claims, to payroll, the traveling, the sales. I remember being on sales with him like in California and still having to work with the dispatch team back here to get stuff done, which meant I had to train them up a little bit better to be able to handle things. Things like that.
Brent – 00:19:02:
Right. Yeah, for sure. So you’re learning the operations. And I think it’s interesting. This is what’s really interesting. So Freight Nation, take this away from things. When your desire to want to keep moving things forward helps you just say yes to things and take on more responsibility, you usually move up within the business. So how did your dad take that with you when you were like, hey, dad, just keep feeding me, just keep giving me more and more? How did your relationship change with your dad at that point? And then what new things did he give you to do?
Kristy – 00:19:32:
I mean, he would throw anything he could at me. And again, that’s why he made me go on trips with him. I would go to conferences with him, things like that. So it was definitely not challenging until maybe a few years into the relationship, probably three years of us working together, maybe go into the fourth year because after the fifth year, then we went out and he opened Knish Logistics going into the sixth year. But I think by then, you know, you make mistakes. Mistakes. Things happen. And shipping to misrouting a shipment, you feel bad because it might cost a couple thousand dollars, three thousand dollars. And it just got to the point with him where he would start yelling. Other people in the office, he would make them cry. Obviously, I would cry at times like because it’s like, I already feel bad. You don’t need to yell at me. Let’s talk about how we fix this going forward. And my dad was a great sales guy. But when it came to everything else, I feel like not that he couldn’t do it. But the way that he looked at it and the way he just treated people at times, it’s interesting because I talked about how he would do anything for anyone and he was a great guy. But on the other hand, the way he just managed people, he was definitely not a good people manager whatsoever. But I think that was his way of getting across to you that this is how it needs to be done and you need to pay attention. And I mean, it got to the point where when we did split off to open the company, we were an agent for Cornerstone at the time. I actually put my resignation in. Because of how difficult he was with me and the constant yelling and it’s like, I’m working my ass off. Like, what more do you want me to do? Like, but at that point, I think he realized this is the one and I’m saying this now because of where I’m at today, but this is the one that he knew he had to keep in the company to succeed him and he needed to tone it down. So he did tone it down and then I just kept telling myself, if I just put up with this long enough, 20 years from now, this will be something big. And I remember saying that to myself.
Brent – 00:21:36:
You do really?
Kristy – 00:21:38:
I do. Oh, wow. I remember saying that to myself because it’s like, do I want to continue to go through this torture of working with him? Because at points, I mean, just to be honest, I hated him.
Brent – 00:21:47:
Hey, Freight Nation, this is how I got introduced to Kristy. Was on stage in front of thousands of people talking about this. And I’m like, this is a person that really is open and honest about herself and about her life. And you have to be very confident to do that.
Kristy – 00:22:02:
Yeah. And I like sharing that because a lot of people don’t talk about that, but they’re going through the same thing. But yeah, I mean, there’s a lot of times I hated them. I didn’t even want to go to the family get togethers anymore, but I would go. Right. And then they would start talking about business and it’s like, I don’t want to talk about business. And I would get shitty with him to be quite honest at times. And but then my dad would call me every day. He’d give me a kiss every day, even at the age being a 40 year old.
Brent – 00:22:29:
How old were you when, when, okay. So you guys, when did y’all start initial?
Kristy – 00:22:35:
In 2003.
Brent – 00:22:
2003. Okay. So, 97 to 2003. So, that’s six years of y’all sort of figuring out the old business and then you transitioned into a new business. By the way, what motivated the new Conditional Logistics? What motivated that?
Kristy – 00:22:51:
So my sister and my brother had come aboard and…
Brent – 00:22:54:
Oh, all four of you were there. Okay, all four were together.
Kristy – 00:22:58:
Yeah, family affair. My sister actually worked for my dad on and off prior to me coming on board. She’d work for him and I think she couldn’t deal with him and would leave and then she’d come back and then leave. My brother came on in the pricing department. So he really wanted to be able to leave a legacy for his kids because if something happened to him, no, the company we were with were going to allow us to keep operating or what would happen to us. And I think he felt that this was his way to control what was going to happen in the future.
Brent – 00:23:28:
Right. Kind of every father’s desire to want to help their children.
Kristy – 00:23:32:
And it doesn’t always go the way you anticipated.
Brent – 00:23:35:
Yeah, that’s right. That’s right. All right. So y’all started Knitial in 2003. And so I’m sure it was all smooth sailing and everything right from the beginning, right? So you get a little bit of, you’re going to get a little taste here from Kristy on what does it really take to fundamentally start a business with your father or your parent and your brother and sister? So you got to bring in all that forward. So what was it like getting that started and getting it going and kind of give us the detail?
Kristy – 00:24:05:
Yeah, it was definitely challenging. My dad actually remortgaged his house. Sure.
Brent – 00:24:10:
Not uncommon in small businesses. Yeah.
Kristy – 00:24:12:
Got $600,000 to put in the bank account to start the business. He was able to secure the real contracts, which typically you can’t do that today. I mean, there have been some exceptions, but it’s very rare to be able to do that. So with that being said, he didn’t have like a bank line of credit. I think he thought $600,000 was enough. He had a system that he actually built himself. He customized the system with another guy that we were using initially when we started Knitial, and it had no finance backend.
Brent – 00:24:44:
This was a TMS type product.
Kristy – 00:24:45:
Correct. Yeah. And pretty fast, it was like, hey, how are we going to do the finance side, the invoicing and all of that? So pretty soon after we did open, we had to look into systems and putting a system in place because I don’t even think my dad thought of that. To be quite honest, because I think he thought his system, I built this system, he was so proud of it. But sometimes you don’t think about all the different pieces that go into the business and what you need. And I would say within the first few months, too, we ran out of money pretty fast.
Brent – 00:25:17:
First few months.
Kristy – 00:25:18:
Yes.
Brent – 00:25:19:
Oh, wow. What an hour total. Cash flow is super important. Chrissy, talk a little bit about that cash flow challenges when starting a business.
Kristy – 00:25:27:
Yeah. So working with the railroads, they take your money in 14 days. And by the time the shipment delivers, you’re looking at probably about that time, by the time you get paperwork to even bill your customers. Now you need another 30 plus days to collect payment. So we went gangbusters at first. My dad had brought on a sales guy as well. And we just had a lot of freight that was moving. So when that happened, it was a very challenging spot where we had to call back then Pacer, Stack Training. That was one of the main providers. But we had to call the rails and ask them if they would give us some time to get money in place to get them paid. And I was shocked that they actually allowed us to do that. Wow. Yes, because it doesn’t happen pretty fast where you’re able to get that cash in place at any kind of bank within a week or two. It usually takes a month to two months to get something in place. So my dad then had to put a full blown business plan together, which he did not include me in that. But he had to put that together to go to a bank to present.
Brent – 00:26:30:
You just said you didn’t include me in that. Tell me about that situation. What do you mean by that?
Kristy – 00:26:37:
Yeah, so he put it together and that was something he didn’t include me on as far as this is the plan of the business. This is how we’re going to execute the accounts that we’re going to go after. When you want to get money from a bank, they want to know, well, what’s your plan? What are you doing now? What do you plan to do? How much money do you need and why? How are you going to get there? Who are your customers? All these different things, the verticals that you’re in and commodities you’re shipping and just learning about it because sometimes you don’t know which bank knows about supply chain because typically the way that, especially with the railroads, when they hear that you got to pay the money in 14 days, they know how much money they have to give you up front just to run the business. So that was something actually I never even got a hold of was the plan that he put in place until actually after he passed away. And I was going through his stuff and found that along with other stuff. But that was something that was really crucial to us. Getting the business continuing to go because, again, you could have went out of business just like that. And then not to mention at the same time, the company that we left. And I will tell you, my dad did leave the proper way, but we did get sued by that company and my dad was in the lawsuit. So that dragged on for quite some time. And I can tell you that cost my dad over $600,000 as well.
Brent – 00:27:57:
Oh, okay.
Kristy – 00:27:59:
The only ones that won were the attorneys at the end.
Brent – 00:28:00:
Right, right. So I got to ask you this question. So your dad didn’t share the plan with you.
Kristy – 00:28:05:
Correct.
Brent – 00:28:07:
So your father was acting pretty independently.
Kristy – 00:28:10:
Yes.
Brent – 00:28:11:
I remember somebody said in the beginning of this podcast that they were pretty independent too.
Kristy – 00:28:17:
Yes.
Brent – 00:28:17:
So.
Kristy – 00:28:18:
Yes.
Brent – 00:28:19:
I got to ask you this question because I think this is a really fundamental question. I have a similar experience. I’m just like my father, but I learned a lot from my father’s mistakes. And I try not to repeat them and I try to learn from them and do it differently to maybe create a better outcome. Does that apply to Kristy? And if so, tell me how.
Kristy – 00:28:40:
Yes, absolutely. I will say I speak a lot about this, that my dad taught me what not to do.
Brent – 00:28:46:
Yeah. Talk a little bit about it because I think people that have done family business, especially multi-generational, need to hear this. What do you mean by taught you what not to do and how’d you apply it?
Kristy – 00:28:55:
Yeah. So for example, my dad made everyone my manager, so we did have to pay them over time. He basically told me if I paid anyone over time, he was going to fire me. And I said, go ahead, fire me because it’s the law. Things like that are just, he put me in a role, obviously as president, CEO, and I technically wasn’t really able to do that role because he still controlled everything. Anything I wanted to do, I had to find a different way to get it done and go about it. Not sharing the financials for a long time. And now I share the financials with everybody.
Brent – 00:29:31:
Yeah, open book.
Kristy – 00:29:32:
Open book. Doing everything by the law, the right way that you’re supposed to do, and training people and teaching them. And I think the biggest thing is treating people with respect because I kept thinking, why does anyone want to work for him when this is how he treats you in this environment? But outside the environment, he was a great guy. So it was definitely crazy, but it was… Important, I think, for me to go through it as much as I hated it and as much as I despised it.
Brent – 00:29:58:
Congratulations. Worked for you, yeah.
Kristy – 00:30:00:
Yeah, it made me a stronger, better person. And because I knew a lot of the things that he was trying to do or didn’t do, like I knew it wasn’t right. I knew that we couldn’t grow this company if people saw these things that he was doing or how he was doing it. And part of that, too, is just taking money out of the company, too, and not being responsible with the cash in the business. And because he was the owner and took everything out of the company, God forbid you have a bad incident and there’s no cash. And he wanted to actually, he did bring my stepmother’s son into the business at one point because he was an accountant. And then it was like he was tattling on me to the mom about paying claims and things that my dad did teach me, right? Like customers that bring in $30,000 a month margin, you’re going to eat a claim here and there, eat pension, like certain things. And then she wanted to quit her job and come work at the company because she thought I was throwing away all this money. And I’m just thinking, oh, my gosh, like this is insane. So I had told my dad at that point, too, if you’re going to bring her into the company, I’m out. Like I’m done because this is just ridiculous. I’m only doing what you taught me in this area. And ultimately, my stepbrother, he got escorted out of the business on a certain day. And I think that’s what caused them to get divorced, to be quite honest.
Brent – 00:31:19:
Oh, wow.
Kristy – 00:31:20:
The whole tension with the business and everything, because I think she was the one getting all that money from him. And at some point, what I learned from that was when I got the control from him, the 51%, I had a plan. I truly did. And it’s.
Brent – 00:31:33:
Yeah, I’m waiting to get to that because to me, that’s the most compelling part of your stories is when the transition went from, and Freight Nation, listen to this because you listen to all these experiences that Kristy went through. And I’ve been through them. And I’m sure that if you’re in a family-owned business, you go through this. These are somewhat normal things because personalities drive businesses. All right. So there was that day that came that you got the 51% ownership and you started assuming full control or controlling interest in the company. Talk about that transition because we’ve got about eight or nine minutes left. I want the Freight Nation to hear from you and these listeners and watchers to hear from you all. What was the experience and what did you learn and what would you have done differently and what would you have done more of?
Kristy – 00:32:11:
So I had a reason why I did it because I knew I had to get control of what was happening because I didn’t have control no matter what title I had. So I convinced him to give me the 51% when he gave all of us 25 initially. We all had a 25% day, but we had a year that we lost money. And I said, well, if we were a woman, we could then get the supplier diversity side, maybe get in the government. So I did convince him to do that. But one of the first things I did, though, was put a stop on him taking money from the company. He wasn’t allowed to take loans anymore.
Brent – 00:32:44:
The waiter, he gets the 51% and you cut him off.
Kristy – 00:32:48:
No, well, he got paid his income, but anything above that, like he would take loans from the company. He’d walk in and say, I want a $36,000 check to buy a Harley. Like he bought three condos. Well, not bought, but like the mortgage was some other owner of another company and the company was paying for it. And I, within a year, got my husband to help get them all up to date. We sold them. I got them off the books. I’m like, why do we have three on the books? So it was a process going through that was challenging. I mean, the other thing was his third wife at this point also wanted an agreement in place to pay her money when he died. And initially he had something in place prior to all this. He took it out of place thinking he was going to divorce her, but then he got back with her. And the next thing you know, he was trying to force me to put this back in place and I refused to.
Brent – 00:33:37:
Right.
Kristy – 00:33:37:
And that was the beginning of a turmoil that lasted until he died, unfortunately.
Brent – 00:33:44:
Wow, okay.
Kristy – 00:33:45:
Yeah. It was a crazy situation where his wife was constantly after the cash and the business. Up until the day he died or maybe four months before he died, he continued to fight me on whether it was selling the company, putting the agreement in place, doing something in regards to her, even when my dad was sick in the hospital. That’s the only thing she asked me about in the hospital. I can’t take care of him unless I know I’m going to have money. And that’s a whole story because she wasn’t a great woman, but it was definitely a battle that I knew the company couldn’t absorb. I’m not going to work this hard to give some person that was an evil person to my father this kind of money. So I think what I would have done more of was get some more advice and some more people in my corner early on to really help me with this because I really had to make tough decisions. Even at one point, we bought my sister out of the company too. She no longer worked for us. She actually was sick at one point and I said, why don’t you just work at home? We’ll cut your salary down and whatnot. And eventually she was just, but my dad wouldn’t take her off the books. So I had to take her off the books. She had a company car, bought it out and said, you’re not getting another car. It was your typical family business where they use it as a bank account. And I couldn’t allow that to continue to happen because they knew people weren’t going to work hard to get us to another level as they knew the company was bleeding that way.
Brent – 00:35:05:
So Kristy, I’ve got some questions for you. You’ve had to learn to make some pretty hard decisions, like some really hard decisions. And by the way, that’s called leadership, right? You have to make decisions sometimes that will make you very unpopular. And some of the decisions you had to make made you unpopular with the dad you love. So let’s take the next few minutes and just kind of wrap it up with you kind of talking about hard decisions and then family hard decisions. Just give some advice to the Freight Nation watchers and listeners about how you navigate those things, because that’s the hardest part of business.
Kristy – 00:35:40:
The thing is, I always knew in my head, you have to do what’s right.
Brent – 00:35:43:
Amen. Yeah.
Kristy – 00:35:44:
Yes. And I had people that I could reach out to. At one point, I did involve a consultant that was an older gentleman. And we had a plan to even talk with him or him talk with my dad because an older man to an older man, look at what you built.
Brent – 00:35:59:
To get a third party that emotion was taken out of.
Kristy – 00:36:02:
Yes, because it got to the point too, where, I mean, he would call in and if I was on the phone with a customer, he would tell the receptionist, I don’t care, get her off the phone. I need to talk to her. I mean, it was just some crazy stuff. And I refused to, because I knew what was wrong. Like he can wait for me to talk to him. And then we would just battle it out on the phone. Like, listen, I got to the point, I told him, I don’t have time, Jordan, to talk to you. I’ll call you after work. So I think it was just my intuition my gut, just like you have to do what’s right. And you can’t just give in to him because he’s my dad and he’s demanding me do this. And I wasn’t doing it to be a bad person or daughter or employee, whatever. I just knew it was right for the business. I did eventually go and take that class through WVN on how to run a business. I went to Sandler sales training to learn some of this stuff. And as I learned it, it helped me do this. Like as much as I didn’t want to be out speaking publicly. And putting myself out there, I knew I had to. It was going to help me be stronger to make those decisions. And you just have to do what’s right, not cave in to the situations. And I know my dad probably felt like I swindled him into this 51%. And in a sense, I did, but it was only for the better of the business, not for me personally of what I could get out of it. But I don’t think we would have a business today if it didn’t happen the way it did. We definitely would not be here today. That’s for sure.
Brent – 00:37:26:
Yeah. Sometimes we can’t get it our own way. So all of this time, we got the pizza shop, all the way into working with your dad, the struggles with mom and dad. And by the way, all children, we all have struggles with our mom and dad. We love them and they love us, but it can be very difficult sometimes. And then you’ve involved business and revenue and those things that makes it even harder. And then you’ve got a very independent dad and he has an independent daughter who’s trying to do the right things. All that fast forward from 97, starting with your dad to today, here we are in 2025. So that’s a long, it’s almost three decades of time, of period. Where are you today? And what are you most proud of today? And let’s just, let’s end on that.
Kristy – 00:38:08:
Yeah. You know, where we’re at today, we have 55 employees from five when I first started. We’re just under 100 million in revenue. We’ve been hovering under there for a couple of years trying to get over that hump. But I feel like as a person, I’ve truly grown into a great leader that I didn’t think I could be. But I pushed myself to be uncomfortable this whole time. I don’t think I’ve ever been comfortable. So it’s really gotten me into a space where I look back now and I’m like, I really did this. It’s really hard to see because I feel like I’m just doing a job, right? I want to do the best I can and be a hard worker. And it’s just very interesting to see where I’m at today. And I never thought I would be here. But I think a lot of it is the discipline that I did learn from him, but continue to fight the things that didn’t need to happen that would have killed the business. And just treating people the best that you can that are actually working for you, making your money. My dad used to go around and tell people, you’re here to make me money. And I used to say, why are you telling them that? They know that. But he made it very clear.
Brent – 00:39:13:
Make them my ace.
Kristy – 00:39:14:
Yeah. Like I said, we could talk all day about this, but it’s definitely, I will say as much as it caused a lot of issues with my dad and it was a truly love-hate relationship, I’m thankful for the opportunity that he gave me. And I would not be the leader I am today if it wasn’t for how hard he was on me.
Brent – 00:39:30:
Yeah. Wow. What good words to end on. I’ll tell you what. Thank you so much for telling the Freight Nation your story, Kristy. I know, Freight Nation, you got something out of this because every time I hear it and I get a little more nuance on it that I learn and grow and I grow more inspired. I grow more respectful of Christy’s desire to want to create excellence in the business and do it the right way. She said, you know, sometimes navigating things with a family can be very difficult. And she stuck in there. She was loyal and respectful to her family and loving to her family, even when it was hard. And when you do those things and you continue to operate in that sort of manner, it’s hard not to find success. Kristy, congratulations on your success with Conditional Logistics. And I’m lucky and proud to be your friend. And thank you so much for telling your story to the Freight Nation.
Kristy – 00:40:21:
Well, thank you for having me. I appreciate it. I love telling the story.
Brent – 00:40:24:
Yeah, man. Well, that’s great. I’m glad you do. Many benefit from it. Well, Freight Nation, that’s a super wrap for the beginning of 2025. I hope that yours started off as well as ours did. And it’s always a good, because we’re in logistics and it’s a great industry. And so thank you so much for giving us your time and effort and your energy. So don’t forget, as we always like to say, don’t forget to work hard, to be kind, and to stay humble. Thanks a lot, Freight Nation. We’ll catch you at the next stop. On behalf of the Truckstop team, thanks for listening to this episode of Freight Nation. To find out more about the show, head to truckstop.com forward slash podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure you hit subscribe so you don’t miss any future episodes. Until then, keep on trucking and exploring the open roads with Freight Nation, a trucking podcast.