What was it like being the youngest portable toilet rental company owner at 23 years old?
The waste industry is an advanced field, and when I entered it, I was one of the youngest, if not the youngest, in the United States. I named it A1 Portable Toilet to blend in and make it look like an older company not run by a 23-year-old.
What is one of your worst moments in the business?
The worst moment was when a local police department had officers calling my phone requesting portable toilets for an emergency that had occurred. An officer was on duty, and their vehicle was swept into an overflowing river. The police department needed portable toilets as soon as possible for the hundreds of people on site for a search party for the officer. This was one of the worst memories in business because this police department had a past due balance with us, and I couldn’t dispatch a driver to make the delivery. It wasn’t only the past due balance, but it was also one of the three towns that we do not send vehicles into as it is a safety concern. This incident occurred in the year 2020.
What is one of your best moments in business?
The best moment happened yesterday. I was taking an Uber to pick up a work vehicle that was at a country fair for a 15,000 people event we serviced the previous weekend. The Uber driver said, “Wow, I was just at the winery up the street; didn’t think I’d find another ride for a long time.” I said, “Did you go to Hawk Ridge Winery?” He said yes. I said, “Awesome, that’s a customer of mine.” Then he asked where we are going. I said, “To the rodeo, from the last weekend, my other customer.” My phone rings, I answer, “A1 Portables.” After the phone call, the Uber driver asks, “You own A1 Portable Toilets?” I said yes. He said, “Wow, I’ve heard all about you; my friend rents one from you for his annual party, and you sponsor my other friend’s kid for dirt biking.” That was a great moment. No one understood the free things I was spending money on, but three years ago I started a 10% community reinvestment budget, which takes 10% of my business’s revenues and puts it back into local communities in a variety of different ways. This one moment made what I have been doing make sense to me.
Lastly, where were you when you typed these responses?
I typed these responses at Charleston International Airport before boarding a plane to go North to a Chamber of Commerce meeting I am a member of.
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