Coffee Break: Maureen Beal, CEO - Chair of National Van Lines, Broadview
Q: Describe your company.
A: One of the pioneers in the industry, National Van Lines has been relocating families for 90 years.
Q: What will your company's main challenges be in the next year?
A: The industry is experiencing a driver shortage, so recruiting and retaining drivers is a high priority.
Q: What's the hottest trend in your industry?
A: We're pretty old fashioned, but we're starting to adopt more and more technology. The mandate to use electronic logs has shown drivers the benefit of not having to do as much paperwork.
Q: Do you plan to hire any additional staff or make any significant capital investments in your company in the next year?
A: We have been working on some proprietary software for estimating moving costs as well as rating and auditing shipment charges.
Q: What is one funny thing that has happened to you in your career?
A: I spoke to a group of Northwestern University freshmen, and afterward, one of them came up to me and said that he had expected someone in the moving industry to be larger, gruffer, and possibly tattooed!
Q: Do you have a business mantra?
A: Count your successes not your failures.
Q: From a business outlook, whom do you look up to?
A: My father - he was so innovative and ahead of his time.
Q: If you had one tip to give to a rookie CEO, what would it be?
A: Find a good measure of your day-to-day success and follow it. I used managing the cash.
Q: What is one interesting fact about you or your company that most people may not know?
A: I'm a classic country music fan.
Q: What do you like to do in your free time?
A: Spend time with friends and family. I'm still connected with some of my high school girlfriends!
Q: What book is on your nightstand?
A: Halftime - Moving From Success to Significance by Bob Buford.
Q: What keeps you up at night?
A: I sleep pretty well!
Q: If you were not doing this job, what do you think you would be doing?
A: Working with animals - maybe at a rescue or shelter.
Q: What was your first paying job?
A: Switchboard operator at National Van Lines!
Q: If you could put your company name on a sports venue, which one would you choose?
A: A lot of my male co-workers would probably say basketball, but it's really not my cup of tea.
Q: Two people to follow on Twitter and why. (besides your company)
A: I try not to get too obsessed by social media, but I am an electric car owner, and Karl Muth has some interesting insight into the future of autonomous automobiles.
Maureen Beal
<b>CEO - Chair National Van Lines Inc. 2800 W. Roosevelt Road, Broadview, IL 60155</b><a href="http://nationalvanlines.com ">nationalvanlines.com</a> Industry: Transportation - Moving & Storage Annual sales: $128 million Number of employees: 138 Age: 76 Family information: Married, 3 children, 5 grandchildren, 2 great grandchildren Hometown: Broadview