Submitted by Blue Grace Logistics
May was a big month as we awarded our 50th franchise in Washington State, BlueGrace Olympia. New franchise owners Stacey Harold and Logan Plassman stopped by our Tampa office for their new franchise training and sat with us for a few minutes to talk about their new journey with BlueGrace.
Harold and Plassman are originally from Michigan, lived in Tennessee and eventually found their way to Olympia, Washington in 2006. They describe Olympia as a “very environmental and beautifully landscaped” city where everyone is friendly, laid back and easy going. It’s a wonderfully situated smaller town.
They aren’t your average business partners. They are a mother and son team who have decided to join forces and take over the freight and shipping world with BlueGrace. Plassman wanted to build a legacy for himself and eventually for his children. His passion and determination inspired his mother to partner up with him. They have no sales background, but Harold previously worked in transportation factoring. Together they researched different franchise opportunities, from food related franchises to cleaning ones, eventually finding the perfect business opportunity with BlueGrace Logistics.
50 is a big number and a giant step for our company. Both Harold and Plassman are honored to have been awarded our 50th franchise. They are ready to be in business for themselves, and hire new team members and to build their own success. They love our unique value proposition as a franchisor: how we stand behind each franchise and customer, and how we have a proven model that works.
“We have high end 5-year goals: looking to expand to an office and gain employees – Gain Traction,” says Logan-Plassman, BlueGrace Olympia Franchise Owner.
We asked what the most important thing to them was as a new franchise owner. ”Everything is important,” says Plassman “but getting out, networking and building rapport with customers is the most important thing we’ve learned.”
Of course, there are many challenges when operating a new franchise. They’re aware that at the beginning they will make mistakes, but they’re ready to face them head-on.
“We will make mistakes and learn from them, turn around and attack them again,” says Plassman, “we’re looking forward to this awesome opportunity. Looking forward to making it work and making it successful. We’re going to be partners and include ourselves in outside sales.”
“Learning to walk and not to crawl” – Plassman
When asked if they could give any advice to someone who is considering applying for a BlueGrace Logistics franchise, Harold said
“If considering it, go for it. I have never seen a culture or company so welcoming and supportive. Your success is their success.”
They have already started following the BlueGrace culture by embracing social media. They are already on LinkedIn and Facebook. Twitter is the next one in line, so keep your eyes out for two other great twitter handles to follow very soon!
