Building More Than Business: For Boston-based courier service, it's all about family

Balancing personal and business wealth in a family-owned private company takes authenticity, grit and the right team of employees and advisors. For sisters Andi Shaughnessy and Danielle Carter—co-CEOs of ExpressIt Delivery—discovering the right combination to reach this balance has led them on a remarkable 13-year journey, learning new lessons in humility, building deep business relationships and, yes, even starting their own podcast.

From left: Nerre Shuriah, Ann Lucchesi, Andi Shaughnessy and Danielle Carter

Andi and Danielle shared their unique story during a live recording of First Citizens Wealth's podcast, Building More Than Business, at a curated, private gathering of business owners at Boston's historic Athenaeum.

Hosts Nerre Shuriah and Ann Lucchesi—along with First Citizens Wealth's New England Regional Managing Director Dwight Mathis—spoke with Andi and Danielle about the humble beginnings of ExpressIt Delivery from the family home in nearby Dorchester to a multi-state, same-day delivery and trucking services company that's become more than just a business for the sisters.

The start: A spare-bedroom business

Andi and Danielle recalled how their father started ExpressIt in 1981 out of the family's home after driving a taxi for years.

"It was a wedding gift," Danielle said. "He had a friend who had a small courier company—one account, two accounts—and he gave it to our parents as a wedding gift." Their father quickly saw the potential and quit his job as a taxi driver to begin running ExpressIt. He used the family's spare bedroom as his office.

After growing ExpressIt into an established private company, Andi and Danielle's father passed away in 2012, leaving the sisters to decide the company's future direction.

When the time came to decide what to do with their father's business, Andi make the difficult choice to leave her dream job with the National Hockey League. Danielle, then a full-time mom, agreed that the sisters would regret not trying to continue ExpressIt's story—together.

"We had no plan to even take over. We had no plan when we took over," Andi said. "And here we are today, 13 years later."

"The very beginning—when we would meet with the accountant—he would say, 'Let's just give it 30 more days,'" Danielle said. "We would leave that meeting every time in tears. It was hard. That lasted probably close to a year, where we really weren't sure if it was sustainable."

Despite early setbacks in the first 3 years, ExpressIt grew and expanded—fueled by the shared values of the family and an experienced team that focused on service first and above all. "When we delivered on service, [customers] would just keep calling," Andi said.

Today, ExpressIt operates in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. More recently, the business headed west, beginning operations in Colorado. The family-owned company employs 200 drivers, with a 15-member leadership team.

The importance of advisors

Andi and Danielle realized early on that they needed to look for and listen to qualified advisors and mentors.

"Those early years, we were feeling in the dark," Andi said. "We were craving [advice], searching for it." However, a solid team of advisors didn't pop up right away for the sisters, so they had to learn by trial and error.

"Usually when people start out in a new company, we tell them to get an advisory board," says Nerre, Senior Director of Wealth Planning and Knowledge, who also leads the First Citizens Business Planning team. "Look for mentors who've done what you've done. They already have a business—maybe they've transitioned out of it and sold it—but they've gone through and maybe made some pitfalls and mistakes."

Getting—and staying—personal

Ann, a Senior Director at First Citizens Wealth, asked the sisters about how to build and keep a work-life balance that also considers succession. "We talk a lot about this personal space, but how do you find some time in there and still know what keeps running?"

"It's the people," Danielle replied. Andi agreed. "We put systems in place, and we're proud of the hires who can run the company."

Having robust systems in place also makes planning for future succession easier for the family. "Is there going to be a third generation coming into ExpressIt?" Danielle wondered. "Do we want to do mergers? Do we want an acquisition? But these are the real conversations that we're just starting to have because before, there wasn't really much to talk about. You know, we were in survival mode. Now, with the growth that we've had, these are real conversations that we have to have as a family."

Finding the right banking team

From the start, Andi and Danielle needed a solid banking relationship and found a long-term partner in Boston Private, which would eventually become part of First Citizens Wealth via its acquisition of Silicon Valley Bank.

"We were grateful because seven or eight banks had turned us down," Danielle said. "They didn't believe in us or believe in the [profit-and-loss statement] at the time. Boston Private took a chance on us, and that moment, that chance changed the trajectory of our company in every way possible."

Today, Andi and Danielle work with the First Citizens Wealth team of financial partners dedicated to helping ExpressIt navigate change and implement sound financial solutions.

"The support is so real," Danielle said. "They're like our cheerleaders, and I couldn't imagine going to another bank and not having that."

Wrapping up the event, Dwight emphasized this same theme when it comes to the relationship between a wealth team and clients.

"It's about people who don't quit, who just keep going, who have doubts, who push through," he said. "But it's really inspiring to me to see. [ExpressIt Delivery] is everything about logistics, but as much as it's logistics, it's about partnerships and family and dynamics and building networks."

Andi Shaughnessy and Danielle Carter are current clients of First Citizens Wealth. They weren't paid for their testimonial. They aren't currently related to anyone who works for First Citizens Wealth or its affiliates.