From waitress to CEO: the rise of Carolyn Gable
Carolyn Gable graduated from beautician school in the early 1980s, and then found herself working as a waitress at the revolving restaurant atop the Chicago airport. She liked watching the high-powered businesswomen she'd see come through the door.
"They used to come in carrying briefcases and wearing those power suits with big shoulder pads," Gable recalls. "And I thought, "I can do that.' "
Carolyn Gable
As it turns out, the people-watching was inspiring. Gable today owns and operates New Age Transportation, Distribution & Warehousing in Lake Zurich, Ill., a freight brokerage business that racked up sales of nearly $18 million in 2004.
New Age manages traffic and distribution for small and midsized manufacturers and producers that are too busy creating products to worry about moving their wares to market. On any given day, Gable has hundreds of contracts with air and trucking carriers around the country, sometimes storing freight loads in her warehouse.
"I didn't have any supporting family or education," says Gable, who has overcome that and has been recognized for her entrepreneurial savvy — in 2004, she won The Right Award for workplace excellence from the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, and in 2002, the Ernst & Young Midwest Entrepreneur of the Year award for outstanding customer service. "If I can do it," she declares, "anyone can."
Taking risks — and reaping rewards
Gable got started by refusing to take no for an answer — a trait entrepreneurs will recognize. She decided she was meant for sales, despite a lack of experience and training.
When the O'Hare Hyatt at the Chicago airport restaurant was closed for repairs for a few months, she registered at an employment agency. A few days later, she lucked into an interview at a trucking company in Elk Grove, Ill., that had trouble retaining employees because of the long commute from downtown Chicago. The recruiter cautioned Gable to avoid talking about sales. This was an inside service position, no more.
Gable got the job. She kept waiting tables at the Hyatt, just in case, working 70 hours a week. And she began asking her trucker boss for a chance to sell. When he gave in, she proved to be pretty good at it.
"It's all about the relationships," she says, "whether you're selling widgets, food or freight."
Driving success as a salesperson
Gable's luck, and eye for an opening, stayed true. Soon afterward, when her trucking company went out of business, Gable was called in for an interview with Carolina Freight, one of the nation's leading carriers. It seems some of Carolina's customers, who had seen Gable in action, had mentioned her abilities to Carolina management. "It was the opportunity of a lifetime," she says. Gable was then married and in her 20s.
With Carolina's reputation and training to capitalize on, she soon turned into a top producer.
Characteristically, Gable's next moves were to take on more risky challenges. In the mid-80s, the freight industry was roiled by consolidation. Gable, who by now had two kids and was divorced, jumped to a startup, and then to a larger, regional carrier. In 1986, she remarried.
"That probably prompted me to go out on my own," she says. "I wanted more kids and it gave me a bit of a safety net."
She began working out of the basement of her home as a commissioned rep for several trucking companies. By 1989, when she realized her commissions were being lost because her hard-won customers were placing orders with the company instead of calling her, Gable decided to set up shop for herself. And the business took off. "It was unbelievable," she says. "I was billing over $100,000 a month. I hired three employees and they'd arrive at 7:30 in the morning. I'd still be in pajamas."
Changing venues and business models
Gable rented an 800-square-foot office in nearby Schaumburg. "It was a beautiful corner office with many windows, full of light," she says. That turned out to be a prescient move.
In 1992, her largest client consolidated all its freight business. "Overnight," she says, "I lost 40% of my commissions."
She went to work on a new business model. "Most carriers had contracts with clients that charged a standard 5% to 7% of their revenues on all accounts," Gable says. Instead, she calculated that by brokering and customizing freight services, she could offer innovative discounts. She could take a percentage of the fee while saving clients money.
"I decided to become a broker and take over billing," Gable says. The handsome office turned out to be just the ticket to impress new clients. "I stopped working on commission and that beautiful office made me look legitimate. I got the pricing I asked for."
Nowadays, Gable is again divorced with five more kids, for a total of seven, ranging in age from over 30 to under 10. In 2000, she landed a lucrative contract to distribute AOL Time Warner's cable TV equipment, just about doubling her revenues. "That opened the door to the cable industry," she says. She then signed up Cox and Charter, too.
She credits her success to a passion for selling, and to never taking any deal, any customer or any account for granted.
"You have to always be in position," she says. "You can't sit back or go golfing two days a week. I can go in Monday morning and find I lost all my big accounts. It might have nothing to do with me. You must have new accounts. You must focus on keeping that level of service you've always had."
The New Age sell
When asked for her secrets for success, Gable provides these seven tips:
1. Never say anything bad about a competitor. "When I first began working for Carolina, I saw a model truck from another carrier on a new client's desk, and I made some comment about how they couldn't be as good as Carolina. Turned out he had all his business with them and got really mad. I tell my salespeople now that we all say stupid things some times."
2. Always follow through. "People come in and promise things all the time. You have to walk the walk. When I get in front of people, I say, 'You don't have to worry about freight anymore,' and they believe me."
3. Hire positive employees. "When companies get big, they lose that caring service, the spending a few more minutes on the phone. The New Age employee must be happy to come in every day. I believe in the power of energy." In fact, twice every workday, all 50 New Age employees get up and do an "Energy Dance" to disco music for 10 minutes or so, Gable says.
4. Take care of your accounts. "Too many companies are not looking at what they have. New clients are just one part of the business and they get caught up in the thrill of the sale. But look at the accounts and see if there are other ways to service them."
5. Be creative about rejections. "The secret to selling new business is getting in front of people. It's hard to keep calling and be frustrated. What I've done is call and say, 'I don't want to be a pest but I want this opportunity and I want your business. When's a good time to call back?' Then, a few months later, I call back, and they say, 'Oh, she remembered. That's really sharp.' It's the follow-up [that seals the deal]."
6. Be personable. "It's really about building relationships. Everyone with a big title is still a person. Whoever it is will enjoy it when I ask about his daughter. Share your life. Get to know clients as people. Relationships put you over the top."
7. Have a life. "I'm a mother first. The business can be gone tomorrow."
In 2003, Gable moved into the gleaming 100,000-square-foot facility she had built in Lake Zurich, having outgrown a 20,000-square-foot warehouse in Elk Grove. But already, it looks like the business is outstripping the space. She's currently bidding on 10 more acres nearby.
What's next? "I'd like to tell my story, do public speaking," says Gable, now in her 50s. "I'm thinking about writing a book."
What would the title be? She replies, not missing a beat: "Everything I know as a CEO, I learned as a waitress."