“Ignore Naysayers” The 5 Lessons I Learned Being a 20-Something Founder

I had the pleasure of interviewing Matthew Brosious.

Jean: What is your “backstory” of how you become a founder?

FreightCenter is a spinoff of my father’s packing and shipping retail store. In my twenties, I was a reluctant entrepreneur and perfectly content earning a salary. After serving in the US Military as an Army Ranger, I had a healthy sales career in Seattle. So, when my father called me up one day to ask if I would move back home to Indian Rocks Beach, Florida, you can see why I was reluctant. My father needed me to manage one of his packing and shipping stores. I had zero experience in the matter and quickly grew bored selling stamps and packing supplies to foot traffic.

Around that time, e-Commerce was struggling after the dot-com market crash. There was little to no competition for freight shipping services on the Web. There was also little to no confidence in the Internet as a sales channel. I took the leap and built a website in Frontpage. I launched American Freight Companies, which ultimately became FreightCenter. The name change helped us differentiate as a global company, allowing us to expand into international markets.

Jean: What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?