Hiring For Good Ep 32 – Michael Eshelby, Founder & Chairman of Michael’s Messenger Service
Hiring for Good is a podcast exploring the transformative power of leadership and what happens when the right person takes the job. Thank you for tuning in to this episode with our guest Founder and Chairman of Michael’s Messenger Service.
About Michael Eshelby: Initially, Michael ran most of the routes himself. However, MMS Courier quickly grew as he established it as one of the fastest, most trusted couriers in the region. Today, Michael’s vision has taken us from a one-person startup to premier medical courier company with a team of more than 200 independent drivers across the country, working with the top pharmacies, hospitals, labs and businesses.
Michael Eshelby’s Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-eshelby-7284a847/
Hiring For Good Website: https://www.hiringforgood.net/
Podcast on Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast…
Tanis Morris: Director of Business Development at Acumen Executive Search Email: tanis@acumenexecutivesearch.com
Suzanne Hanifin: President at Acumen Executive Search Email: suzanne@acumenexecutivesearch.com
Acumen Executive Search Website: https://www.acumenexecutivesearch.com/
Hiring for Good Transcript
0:00 well good morning and hello everyone Welcome to Hiring for Good podcast I am
0:05 Tanis Morris of Acumen Executive Search and with me as usual is my lovely co-host Suzanne Hanifin Well good
0:12 morning Tanis Hello Suzanne And boy are we excited to have our guest today
0:17 Michael Eshelby I’m going to say just a few words about you Michael and then we’ll uh get get rolling So Michael is
0:25 the founder and president of Michael’s Messenger Service a courier company based in Dallas
0:30 Oregon The company was established in 2010 and it provides delivery services to a diverse clientele including
0:37 hospitals medical centers long-term care facilities laboratories banks credit unions utilities and a variety of other
0:45 businesses Under Michael’s leadership MMS has expanded its operations across
0:51 Oregon Washington and Idaho partnering with other logistics firms to enhance service coverage Despite the company’s
0:58 success Michael remains humble and approachable and always down to earth Michael’s commitment to agility accuracy
1:05 and accessibility has been fundamental to MMS’s reputation for reliable and responsive service His leadership style
1:12 emphasizes the importance of listening transparent communication and building strong and meaningful partnerships with
1:19 both co-workers and clients Michael welcome to Hiring for Good Yeah thank
1:24 you Yeah So um one of usually we start off these interviews by asking our
1:31 guests kind of just tell us a little bit about how they got to where they are today But I think before we even do that
1:39 is there anything that I missed describing your business or service
1:44 because we want to we want to be sure that before we explain how you got here that people actually know what you’re
1:50 doing Yeah you’re spot on Okay perfect Well then with that we’ll go ahead and
1:55 ask you to tell us your what I know is a very fascinating story and go ahead and
2:02 just go deep because it’s really good Okay um started in uh
2:10 2010 Um it was more out of a survival
2:15 um situation where I’d gone through a divorce and uh ended up with just a
2:24 two-door Toyota Yaris hatchback vehicle as the only thing left in my name
2:31 um lived a good part of the last half of
2:36 2010 and a chunk of 2011 at a rest area in that car
2:44 Um and um observed every vice you can imagine that
2:50 happens at a rest area and uh had two little kids couldn’t support
2:58 them um overdrawn bank account
3:04 um you know every every rock bottom thing you can probably imagine So
3:11 um I was asleep and I wish I could
3:17 recall exactly when it was but it was at the restaurant in the car And I woke up and I said “Look you got to figure out a
3:23 way to make this one asset make you money.” And
3:29 um I had a friend that I would go and crash at um from time to time and ask
3:37 the friend if I could borrow the money to get a box of 500 business cards made
3:43 and and um after that happened just went walked
3:49 around Portland and Vancouver and anyone who would give me the 20
3:55 seconds of time to give the quick spiel of hey if you have anything that you need delivered and will fit in my little
4:03 tiny car I’d be happy to do it for you And I got some you know oneoffs here and
4:10 there Um I went to churches on Sundays
4:15 same thing spoke to the pastor said “If any of parishioners you know have anything that they need to be delivered
4:22 happy to do it.” Um again got nibbles but nothing that
4:29 really stuck And um in the fall of 2011 went into an
4:37 unmarked class A office space just you know single story brick It had a lot of
4:43 different tenants in it and um gave this spiel to the receptionist there And
4:51 there was a gentleman standing behind her making copies And he turned around
4:57 and uh he says “Let me see your car.” And at the time of course I’m thinking
5:04 “Oh god hope he doesn’t want to see inside because that’s where all my belongings are It’s a mess.” Uh so no he
5:10 just he eyeballed it um and asked if I could show up that evening at 8:00 at
5:17 night And I said “Well what exactly for It seems a little odd but um he explained you know this is a long-term
5:24 care pharmacy We provide medications to long-term care facilities and I have a
5:30 current courier service that has delivered the wrong stuff to the wrong
5:35 facilities on a regular basis We’re about to lose a handful of care facilities because of it
5:43 So I went to the same buddy’s house that loan me the money for the 500 business
5:49 cards dropped all my stuff um took a nap shower came back at 8:00
5:58 went through the the the process of of you know it it
6:06 was very simple after it was explained You know these these are totes of medications They’re clearly marked And
6:11 they’re labeled Each tote is labeled where it’s supposed to go to I couldn’t understand how in the world this was the
6:17 mistakes were happening because they were very very clear And um everything fit thankfully
6:25 and um proceeded you know to just go over to make sure the steps
6:31 um you know the nurses are going to check the stuff out They’re going to sign everything You bring the paperwork back when you’re done they’re going to
6:37 potentially hand you um medications that need to come back to the pharmacy
6:43 Um and we just went over I I believe there’s maybe a dozen stops that were
6:50 started south of Portland and Eugene all the way to Ashland and uh back up and
6:57 um gave me a cell phone number said if you have any issues whatsoever please
7:04 call me I don’t care if two o’clock in the morning 3 o’clock in the morning doesn’t matter So
7:12 um as I was just triple checking to make sure
7:17 that I didn’t miss anything because it just it just in my mind seems so simple
7:23 And um he asked he goes “Oh by the way you know what what would you charge to do
7:30 this?” And I had no idea I you know um I said what what’s the current service
7:36 charging you and he said it’s $300 a night
7:42 and I can see it like it happened yesterday Uh I had to turn around cuz I
7:48 was tearing up I thought I just won the lottery I could not believe that something this simple
7:55 um and all of a sudden um you I had an opportunity to make that kind of money
8:02 which at the time in my mind was I mean mind-blowing So and it was more than
8:07 just one night right It was how many how many nights a week they Well at the time this was just a one night opportunity
8:14 try to see how well I did and so no issues got it done got back I believe
8:22 around oh 6 maybe 7 o’clock the following morning
8:28 um and he was there you know we just we I kind of debriefed on how it went and
8:35 um and then he he asked he goes can you do it again tonight and went into this
8:41 is seven nights a week and I just you know I’m fairly decent at
8:48 doing math and so my quick math in my head of 30 days in a month at 300 bucks That’s n grand I just went from being
8:54 overdrawn in a checking account to you know making over 100 grand a year on
8:59 doing this run in a vehicle that’s really tailor made for it I got great gas mileage I mean everything
9:05 just it was the right equipment It was the right time It was you know um so
9:12 that’s how I got started And um you know the funny thing is is that
9:17 that that uh pharmacy has been purchased three times
9:23 since Um and they’re now owned by a national long-term care pharmacy
9:28 uh private equity group still have them as a client Wow um the gentleman still
9:34 works there and he has no idea um of the story I hope he does not see this to be
9:40 honest with you I want to keep it that way um but yeah that’s that’s how I got
9:47 started And where are you today because today to be in Washington Idaho Oregon how how
9:55 large are how many cars do you have going Well we we use an independent uh contractor driver model So we have about
10:02 any given day a couple hundred drivers running around in eight states Um and
10:07 it’s all similar small parcel you know they’re using their own vehicles um type
10:13 of thing So Michael uh you know one of the reasons we started this podcast is
10:19 because the work that we do in executive search always begins with sitting down
10:25 with a company leader and understanding you know not just who they’re hiring and what you
10:32 know what they’re looking for but kind of where they came from And your story is hands down my my I think the probably
10:40 the most impactful story related to how someone began their business that um
10:46 that I’ve heard honestly and I’m so happy that you’re here because I love it How how did you scale from you in your
10:56 Toyota Yaris to hundreds of cars going out every single day and operations in
11:02 all these states and the whole warehouses and all the Yeah I mean it was um you I just do a lot by feel you
11:10 know gut intuition there’s I mean I every I’ve made probably more mistakes in the
11:16 process than any human can possibly make Um you know I’ve started using family
11:22 and friends uh because they started offering me you know more and more
11:27 routes to run at the same time A lot of their stuff releases in the evening So
11:33 um so I would ask family I would ask friends you know um and then you know
11:39 I put an ad on Craigslist um of all things Um found a few folks that way
11:49 Um and then started doing more you know conventional you know I reached out to
11:55 you and you know we you found some folks for me and you know but uh when I started it was very you know shoot from
12:03 the hip Um whatever I could figure out you know uh I’m a just a figure it out
12:10 type of person And it may not be the it’s it’s one option It may not be the best option but it’s one option and then
12:15 I’ll refine it I think that’s pretty much what I’ve done for the last 14 years is you know I’ll figure out a
12:21 solution and then I’ll figure out that it’s not the best one We’ll refine it Um but it’s you know now you know I have
12:30 think I have some pretty efficient processes and finding talent and you know um drivers and administrative
12:38 support staff Um but I’m I’m driven by the fact that I
12:45 never want to go back to that rest area Yeah And since it’s a very common one
12:50 along I-5 I almost see it every single day Um and so that’s very motivating to
12:58 me Um but there is a lot that that went into it You know when you were sharing
13:05 your story the first word that came to my mind was perseverance you you made a decision and
13:12 you said “I’m going to do it.” You got the 500 business cards I can’t imagine how many nos you had Yeah The one thing
13:20 I think I do wish I would remember is how many cards were left It had to be
13:26 less than 50 Oh my gosh I mean I was you know you were knocking on a lot of doors
13:31 Yeah There was you I heard no all the time Um but you know when you do hear
13:37 that yes for me it just okay there’s one there I know there’s got to be another
13:43 one Um do you know how long it took from from
13:49 when you made that decision This is again I’m going to utilize my
13:54 one asset Yeah I’m going to do it to that first one Was it just days or
14:01 months or You mean the first like oneoff No no When you got when you something regular regular yeah um it was a year It
14:10 was It was because the late summer early fall of 2010 is when I
14:16 started and I didn’t get that that nighttime run until the fall of 2011 Wow
14:22 So it was a year of um just here and there Yeah Wow So you’ve you’ve already
14:30 kind of acknowledged the the idea that you’ve had some mistakes along the way
14:36 and learned from them That’s kind of the next question that that I have is what
14:41 would you say are the most formative experiences aside from the you know your
14:47 experience at the rest stop um you know along the path to growing your company
14:52 and and scaling what would you say are really you know things you’ve gone
14:59 through that have kind of shaped either who you are as a leader or as a business person I think the one thing that I’ve
15:06 realized is um finding talent
15:14 is a enormous key to making my life
15:20 easier Um and being able to relinquish the constant hands-on of
15:29 everything every system every process and just trusting the talent Um that’s
15:36 really hard I think I took a another leap in the business when I just when I
15:41 finally put the trust in the people that I bring on and and I do that a lot now I just
15:50 find someone I’ll say “Tannis find me this person We’ll get them.” And I just tell them what I need and get out of the
15:56 way and um you know but but it has to be so when
16:01 you’re looking at talent and talking to people are there certain characteristics that you look for in that person Yeah I
16:09 ask them all about their family I don’t ask them anything about the actual task of the job I just want to know about
16:16 give give me uh we talk a lot about their personal life because I want to
16:22 know what how they’re built Um and what do you look for Like is it uh same type
16:28 of thing someone who’s got fire and perseverance and self m–motivation and
16:33 you know willing to do whatever it takes And usually your your family or your
16:38 personal life is going to really test you Like I don’t think there’s anything professionally that can test you as much as what goes on in your personal life Um
16:46 Oh no I I get that because I hired my son once in when he was in high school
16:52 and had to fire him and it’s brought up every holiday for my other kids Very
16:57 impactful Uhhuh So um that’s what I talk about the most when I’m you know
17:03 interviewing Um is I want to know about you like how you’re how you’re built Mhm And um I you
17:11 know and I’ve made poor hires um but I’ve made I think the best ones
17:17 are because of I I felt that they were really put in tough spots and
17:23 they persevered Yeah So we say you know the the culture of an organization
17:30 really does begin with whoever’s at the top And of course every manager I people
17:36 bring their own flavor to that culture um throughout an organizational
17:42 structure but whoever’s at the top has a a tremendous amount of impact and sets
17:49 the stage for the culture So um when you’re thinking about your
17:58 personal values and your mission how do you operationalize that at MMS you know
18:05 h how do you translate those values throughout your teams and throughout operations
18:12 Well the because of the industry that we serve uh which is primarily healthcare
18:18 related um it’s pretty easy for me to say “Hey
18:24 we’re we’re doing this for you’ll never meet probably the recipient of whatever it is that we’re moving um for the
18:30 client but that patient or um you know whoever the person is um that’s related
18:38 to the object that we’re moving could be your mom dad brother sister uncle aunt
18:44 grandma grandpa Um and the stuff that we move it’s critically vital It’s you know
18:51 we’re not moving reams of paper for Office Depot Um we are moving critically
18:57 vital stuff Some for many many patients it’s life preserving stuff Um and so
19:06 I that’s the type of driver that we look for to partner with Um you know just
19:15 make sure that you have that compassion You know I can we can teach you how to
19:20 make sure you have the proper proof of delivery but I want to know that if something gets in your possession you’re going to move heaven and earth to make
19:26 sure that it gets there when we promise the client it’s going to get there um
19:32 that is critical and you know it’s if you use uh that example I’ve been
19:39 fortunate to where that weeds out a few folks And you know
19:45 you again you can’t bat a thousand Um you know some people will say all the
19:51 right stuff and then their performance doesn’t back it up But most of the time it you know you can you can vet them
19:58 fairly well and and when they hear that oh okay I I I get what you mean So no I
20:05 think that’s that’s amazing And and again you you’re starting it at the higher You’re setting those expectations
20:12 that you’re going to deliver period you know and again it goes back to that
20:19 perseverance You’re going to make it happen Are you self-motivated you know and really having that clear
20:27 understanding of those values as you hire people throughout the organization
20:34 Um so as you look back again what an incredible journey Michael and very
20:41 impressive and but when you look back what advice would you give your younger self
20:51 Oh that’s a good question uh you know I didn’t I think a lot of
21:02 people say you know do what you really love to do and then you know you can figure out how to monetize it Well shoot
21:09 I didn’t learn you know I’m 55 years old I didn’t learn how to I didn’t figure this out till I was 41 So I mean
21:17 sometimes that’s half of somebody’s life Um I I will say it’s really easy though
21:25 to wake up at 5:00 in the morning uh when you love what you do Um and
21:33 so I can see that that’s a a good piece of advice you know
21:41 So I guess that’s probably what I would you know I’m I probably would be along
21:47 those same lines Um I think you’re too humble I mean I I
21:52 feel like you’ve told this incredible story that
21:57 like when you feel like you’ve hit a brick wall in your life you can like take stock of what you have and and
22:04 create like an amazing solution and build a future on that I mean it’s it’s
22:10 pretty impressive Maybe I have some advice from you the the motivation I think you know when you have two young
22:17 kids that you cannot take care of Yeah Um you know I I think generally speaking
22:23 in guys you know we have that we’re born with the protect and provide you know
22:30 traits And when you can’t do either I think it really you know and if you have
22:37 to thankfully I was able to battle you know cuz I I very easily I can’t tell
22:43 you guys how many times I could turn six feet to my left or six feet to my right while I’m sitting in my car and I can
22:49 see I could watch people put needles in their arms Gez I mean I must have watched that happen hundreds of times
22:55 Wow So that was always an option Mhm And but
23:03 thankfully I was able to you know keep a clear enough vision like look that’s not
23:08 going to take care of your kids right Um so I think that was my big motivation is
23:14 you know I have an obligation and I’m not meeting the obligation and you better figure it out So So I have a
23:22 question really fast it So it seems like some of your motivating factor is fear
23:29 you know like absolutely It still is to this day You know I don’t want to lose clients cuz they’ll they help not only
23:36 now take care of myself but essentially about 250 other people and their families Yeah Um which is super
23:44 important to me So So what’s your wisdom or advice surrounding fear I’m just
23:50 curious because it’s a strong motivator but it can be a harsh master too
23:55 Absolutely It’s a very fine line Um you know and if you can harness it in
24:02 the right way um it can be super powerful in a positive way So how does one do that I don’t know I
24:14 mean I guess looking back I was able to do you know do it and manage it in a
24:20 positive manner Um I think you have to have the why are you doing anything in
24:27 the back of your mind you know Um and you know my kids were my why always They
24:33 always are even now Um so as long as you have that I believe
24:40 that’ll help keep you down the right path May not always How did your how has
24:46 your story affected your children Well um I think they have benefited in ways now
25:00 Um I don’t think they really know the detail of my story It’s not something I’d like to I’m proud of broadcasting
25:08 You know when you’re living in a rest area it’s not exactly you want to put that on a billboard anywhere
25:13 Um but I think what came of it um you know turned out okay and
25:21 um but yeah they’ve they’ve benefited it now you know greatly from it They must
25:27 be really proud of you Well I don’t think they really that’s what I’m saying to this is I’m not sure because I haven’t I have not sat down and and
25:33 given this much detail to them uh nor have they asked Um
25:41 but I find it I find it inspiring very and hopeful amazing that that you could
25:49 be at a place that you are looking to your left and your right and saying you
25:56 know I’m not going to stay here and that’s it’s easy to give up It’s easy to
26:04 succumb to whatever but what you said of always having that
26:10 why and then again perseverance it it’s I’m not
26:16 going to quit It’s very very empowering powerful story and I think a lot of
26:23 people resonate from it There’s times that you know in my little privileged life
26:29 I’m like h I’m exhausted I’m tired Oh wow Wow You know like you know knock it
26:37 off Get up and do something And And Well the first time you told me this story I was like you have to write a
26:47 book You have to you need to tell this story And you did say and you were said
26:53 oh no one needs to know about this someone else said that to me one time so first of all thank you I’m so glad that
27:00 um after two years almost that um I’ve got you and and that you are telling the
27:07 story because just like that day today I am I believe this is an tremendously
27:13 impactful story that will be really inspiring to our to our audience And
27:19 maybe if anyone that you that didn’t know the story that knows you hears it I
27:24 I would bet they’re going to be blown away cuz I know you’re a pretty humble reserved guy and you don’t you know walk
27:31 around broadcasting Uh what I consider to be a a tremendous um accomplishment
27:40 Um you know you can ask the last question Suzanne So so Michael you know the podcast is called
27:47 Hiring for Good and this is going to be really insightful What does hiring for
27:53 good mean for you I mean you said it You have 200 plus people relying on you
28:01 their families So what does hiring for good mean
28:07 Well I think um I think what we do collectively um as an organization and everyone that’s you know directly or indirectly
28:22 involved I think we do some good stuff Uh we may not realize it Um you know when we’re in the heat of
28:36 the battle fighting traffic and you know road construction and inclement weather and anything else that you know we
28:44 um you know some of our nuclear medicine deliveries that you got to yank off of a
28:49 plane and you know drive three states away to get it delivered in 12 hours and you really
28:56 your your you know GPS tells you well you have a it’s going to take you 11 so
29:03 hopefully you don’t have any hiccups along the way and the patient sitting there uh in an oncology office you know
29:09 counting on you and there’s a shelf life a real short shelf life on the product
29:16 um you know that’s that’s some good you know that’s good that’s really
29:23 good for a complete stranger of whom you’ll never meet Um but you can if you
29:30 can get one or two of those in a year you count yourself lucky Like that’s doing good stuff I hope I answered your
29:38 question Um that’s what that means to me Like that I think is what very it’s motivating I didn’t realize even on
29:46 getting the initial work what the work was Um and then in
29:54 experiencing you know some of the indirect great benefits which is you
29:59 know and again this is super simple like what I do is not complicated Uh anyone can do it Um
30:06 it’s you knock on someone’s door you don’t realize they’re a hospice patient and you have no clue what in the little
30:13 bag you have in your hand cuz it’s all sealed up and they happen to be physically able to still answer the door
30:19 cuz there’s a nurse there waiting to administer whatever it is you have And you hand it to them they know what it is
30:25 They start crying like you a complete stranger They just start crying like you haven’t even asked them “Hey I what’s
30:31 your name?” Blah blah blah It’s like okay that’s rewarding like whatever it is that you have you
30:38 had no idea what it was You know you’re just making a delivery I mean I know I’m I’m dumbing it down but honestly it’s
30:44 that simple Um you know that you if you can get that
30:49 once a year you know that’s that’ll motivate should motivate the right person uh for the rest of the year um
30:58 tool to to do that And it happens it happens more frequently than you think
31:03 And um you know that’s it talking about doing good What is good to me that’s
31:10 good Yeah Um I can’t think of uh anything better than to help a complete stranger I mean I saw these strangers
31:17 just destroying themselves and it’s like you want to you know help someone and
31:23 who’s willing to take the help and so anyway I think that’s doing good Oh I agree And we talk about it in our job
31:30 all the time We change people’s lives Yeah You change people’s lives Yeah It’s
31:36 powerful Yeah it is Yeah Well thank you Thank you so much for coming Thanks for
31:42 telling us your story and sharing your thoughts and wisdom And I’m going to say I hope your kids see this I’m sharing
31:50 this with my kids I’m sharing with yours Hopefully your kids don’t know mine
31:57 Thank you so much Michael We’re honored that you are a guest today No thanks for having me It was a pleasure Thanks for
32:03 joining us today at Hiring for Good If you were inspired by our conversation don’t forget to like follow and
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32:15 at www.hiringforgood.net or our company website Acumen Executive Search Thanks
32:23 so much and don’t forget to join us next time for another in-depth conversation about transformational leadership Until
32:28 then have fun