How they did it: Sisters rebuild a family business

Nerre: Welcome back to Building More Than Business, a podcast from First Citizens Wealth where we explore how founders and CEOs navigate the intersection of business and personal wealth. I’m Nerre Shuriah.

Ann: And I'm Ann Lucchesi. We were just in Boston recently putting together a live podcast at the Boston Athenaeum, and I have to tell you, it was so fun gathering a bunch of friends, founders, clients together in one room to listen to a live recording.

Nerre: We invited two guests to the show. They’re sisters, their names are Andi Shaughnessy and Danielle Carter. They lead ExpressIt Delivery, a family-owned company their father started more than 40 years ago. When he passed away unexpectedly in 2012, Andi and Danielle stepped in to lead the company even though they really had no plan, no idea how to do it. But they stuck together and with determination, they figured it out.

Ann: And as you might guess, it was an emotional conversation but also a very uplifting story about how these two women came together and succeeded as a family. The conversation started off with Dwight Mathis introducing all of us. Dwight is our regional team head in Boston. It was his idea to bring some clients in and do this show live, and I have to tell you, it couldn't have been more fun. We loved it. I hope you do too.

Dwight: All right, good evening and welcome. My name is Dwight Mathis. I'm the Regional Managing Director for First Citizens Wealth right here in Boston. This is really a special night, and it's a rare privilege to be at the Boston Athenaeum. Tonight I'm especially proud to welcome some of our associates that are here, our private bankers and our Wealth consultants from First Citizens Wealth that are in the room.

And I'm really also thankful to have our guests tonight, our podcast hosts. First is Ann Lucchesi and Nerre Shuriah. The podcast is called Building More Than Business. They have a particular gift of meeting with founders and CEOs, business owners, and drawing out the stories that move beyond the balance sheet.

You know, some of you tonight are long-term clients of Boston Private that we acquired a few years ago, part of our organization. Some of you came to us from First Citizens Bank, and some of you are here tonight from colleagues at Silicon Valley Bank. However you got here, glad you're here.

Tonight, what you're going to hear is a great example of a client who has a great story. And this is a journey of two sisters, co-CEOs of a really fascinating company called ExpressIt. And this company has its roots in same-day delivery service here in the Northeast and in the Mid-Atlantic, and they've expanded across the country out west in Colorado. And so with no further ado, I'll introduce Nerre and Ann.

Nerre: Thank you, Dwight. I'm Nerre Shuriah. I'm here visiting from Raleigh, but I have a soft spot in my heart for Boston. I went to BU and BC here and worked for some years in this city, so it's beautiful, and I'm glad to be back visiting.

My background is as a tax attorney, and I've been in the estate planning and tax field for more than 30 years. At First Citizens Wealth, I'm the director of the Wealth Planning team. So my job is to get planning resources out to clients of all of the bank, not just Wealth. It could be the general bank, commercial bank. Whenever a client needs financial or wealth planning or tax help, my team usually helps them with that. And I'll pass it over to Ann. She can introduce herself.

Ann: Thanks, Nerre. I'm Ann Lucchesi, and I'm a Certified Financial Planner and a Certified Equity Professional, and really spend my time with private company leaders. And so I love to talk to them about their private stock, about equity compensation, about liquidity events, and all the things that kind of matter to them. So that's where I take a lot of joy, and we get to spend a lot of time with founders here at First Citizens. As Dwight mentioned earlier, Nerre and I do a podcast that talks about this intersection of business and personal wealth.

And tonight, we are really honored to be able to do this live with a couple guests. So this will be a lot of fun. We have our two little celebrities next to us, Andi and Danielle, and they are local entrepreneurs. They're sisters, and we're going to explore their journey and can't wait to hear about some pearls of wisdom they'll deliver to all of us. So maybe we can start by having you guys talk a little bit about yourselves and ExpressIt.

Andi: Sure. Thank you so much. Thank you for having us. I feel like we really don't belong here, but it's really nice to be a part of it. I'm Andi Shaughnessy. Danielle and I co-own ExpressIt Delivery. We're a same-day delivery company. It was started here in Boston in 1981 by our father, and he passed away in 2012, and we had no plan to even take over. We had no plan when we took over. And here we are today, 13 years later.

Danielle: Yeah. I'm Danielle Carter, Andi’s sister, co-CEO, too. Andi's the boss, though, we just like set the tone for the night. But yes, we're in it. Once you start asking our questions, our story, you'll see maybe why we should be up here, but maybe why we shouldn't. But yeah, it's been a ride, but we're honored to be here, so thanks for having us.

Nerre: So I'll kick it off. Usually when we're doing planning, we're helping people set their goals and start taking some actions to plan for an ultimate transfer, whether that's transfer of the business or transfer of your wealth, but that's our long-run highway.

But with you two, I think we have an interesting perspective in that you can talk about that from the receiving end, and then as you start to go on your journey of figuring out what comes next with the business and ultimately where you'd like to go with it.

And I know this can be a little bit emotional for you. Can you talk a bit about the transition from your dad and the plans that he made and the decisions that you two both made to take over the business?

Danielle: It's a simple answer. There was no plan. And that was really hard. Our dad was given a year to live, and at the time, Andi was at her dream job at the NHL. I was home raising three kids under six and just sort of living our life. There's no other sibling, it's just us, there's not a brother. And so we sort of made the decision, okay, well, we'll come back to the family business.

And the goal at that time really was that he was going to live, right? So we stayed in the moment of hope, and it really didn't—we didn't have time to plan for the business. We were just planning that he was going to outlive it. And so there wasn't a plan.

Nerre: And that's actually pretty common. I mean, we've had clients say to us, "Oh, you know, they'll figure it out." And it's not that nice sometimes to have to figure it out.

Danielle: No, you can chime in. But no, it wasn't nice. No, it was hard. It was a struggle. It was really hard.

Nerre: And what was that like for you? I know she said that you were in your dream job.

Andi: Yeah, I mean, when he passed, about 2 weeks later, an employee tried to take the top five customers. They ended up taking the top three. So I was still at my job at the time, and I went to my boss and I said, "I don't know if there's even a company to go home to." And they said, "Well go try, and you can always come back."

And so, you know, we had lots of family meetings, lots of phone calls with our mom, and it was always, I was going to regret not trying it. The fear of failure was there, but the fear of regret outweighed it. And so we said, "Screw it. Let's give it a whirl." And here we are.

Ann: I'm wondering, like, in that, it shapes a little bit of vision about how you now think about what we call succession planning. Not anticipating that you guys are leaving the business anytime soon, but you must think about it and even think about whether your children are incorporated in that.

Danielle: It’s real now, that conversation. What do we want to do? I'm, you know, 10 years older than Andi, and, you know, I don't know how much longer I really want to play ExpressIt Delivery. And Andi, you know, so we talk about this, but we, I don't know what the next generation, the third, is there going to be a third generation coming in to ExpressIt? Do we sell? Do we walk away? Do we finally finish what we started, you know?

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, but now with the growth that we've had, these are real conversations that we have to have as a family.

Nerre: Do you want to talk a little bit about the growth? Because you have more than one company now.

Andi: Just some background. So when we took over, you know, we went through the challenging time and we were in survival mode, and we had zero business experience. So just for some context, like none. I didn't know what the P and L stood for in P&L, like, that's how—I knew hockey, right? So it was like, we had to learn. So for 3 years, it was wild.

But that being said, we had 12 drivers and two operations managers who are still with us today. We inherited them, and we wouldn't be here without them. But now we have a leadership team of 15 and growing, and we have 200 employee drivers.

So that's the growth. But to your previous question about succession planning—ExpressIt was very small then. And now we're, even just knowing, like coming into a company there was only two people, no one knew everything about the business. Now we put systems in place and we're proud of the hires that can run the company. And that just goes back to those early days of like, we had no one. And so we never wanted to be in that situation again.

Ann: What do you think during that journey was maybe the toughest point in time where you're just like, "We have to grit it out to get through this." Like what was that point in time like?

Danielle: The very beginning, I think, when we would meet with the accountant and he would say, "Let's just give it 30 more days." We would leave that meeting every time in tears. And it was, I'm getting like, emotional. I'm the tough one. But it was, you know, it was hard. That lasted probably close to a year, where we really weren't sure if it was sustainable.

Nerre: So usually when people start out in a new company, we tell them to get an advisory board, look for mentors that have done what you've done—they already have a business, maybe they've transitioned out of it, sold it. But they have gone through and maybe made some pitfalls and mistakes, and having that advisory board can help you avoid making some of those mistakes. Did you have anyone at all that served as kind of a mentor to you during those years? Or were you just both, you know, feeling in the dark on your own?

Andi: No, those early years we were feeling in the dark. We were craving it, searching for it. We would take help from anyone, you know? But we didn't have a network. We just learned by fire. Like, our mistakes were our advisory board. And it got to the point probably 3.5 years in, right?

Danielle: Yeah.

Andi: Where we, we sought out. It was the best networking we ever did. And, he's our advisor, he's on our board. And that shifted the company at that time. But no, in those early days we would have given anything.

Nerre: How did you meet him? You said you found an advisor?

Andi: I mean, we were doing anything and everything at that point. So I was driving to Nashua to a BNI networking event. I never heard of BNI. I didn't know what I was doing, and it taught me public speaking. But anyway, someone, I was there for 2 years and they said, "Oh, you should meet ..." And we went up for a meeting and it was like, "Okay, we need him."

Danielle: We needed him.

Andi: And like, this is perfect.

Ann: And so now that the business is a little more mature, how do you guys think about—because we talk a lot about this personal space—like, is it still 24/7? I know you guys, for instance, have a podcast on the side, but how do you find some time in there and still know what keeps running?

Danielle: It's the people, and it's really the team that we've built. We have the best team that we've ever had at the company. And that allows Andi and I to have the other conversations. You know, do we want to do mergers? Do we want an acquisition?

You know, we're trying to buy another company, you know, this is big-picture thinking that we finally can get to that place that that's where we can focus our time. We're not in the day to day. We're in it, we're involved in everything, but we're not, you know, it's not occupying the entire day. So we're really able to kind of see the company from up here now.

Nerre: Some of the things that you've mentioned are things that we'd love to talk about. I think when we say we do business advisory, it might seem like we're only planning for you to leave the business. It's not. The dynamic that you just mentioned—we kind of call it independence from owner.

Can you take a break, leave for a month and go on a big vacation and the company can still run itself? If you're still involved in every single decision, then that's something we work on: having a next-level management team that you can trust that knows the processes. All of those are key and things that we like to discuss with business owners so that you can obviously plan in the future, but in the meantime, make sure that your company runs well and you enjoy running it.

Andi: Yeah. We didn't have a bank relationship in 2012. We were like, can we put money in for payroll? Like, we needed you guys.

Danielle: Yeah.

Nerre: So let's talk about your banking relationship. How did you start with First—you started with Boston Private?

Danielle: We did. We did. This has been our longest relationship at ExpressIt, and when we came together with Boston Private, we were there and it was the day we were closing on a line of credit, and Vicky at the time, she said, "Can we just take a moment and appreciate how maybe eight, nine," she said. "There's eight or nine women around this table right now." And she said, "You know, let's just take a moment and appreciate this."

And for Andi and I, we were grateful because seven, eight banks had turned us down. They didn't believe in us or believe in the P&L at the time, you know, whatever it might have been. But Boston Private took a chance on us, and that moment, that chance changed the trajectory of our company in every way possible.

Andi: Yeah. It was a very critical moment of working capital—or lack of working capital. And so it was just, it was like divine intervention. We met Vicki in PO Square, and she was having coffee.

Ann: Yeah, and hopefully now I think we're moving forward and you're seeing some transition where maybe we're going to have more conversations around the personal side now that you are in a spot where you can have that conversation.

Danielle: Yeah, absolutely. It's been great.

Ann: One of the things I love to kind of talk about—and Nerre and I have certainly talked about—is the idea of family dynamics. Because whether if you're transitioning business to children or whatever's happening, family dynamics are fun. You guys have managed to do something super interesting, which is as sisters stay together for a long period of time as co-CEOs. I'd love to have you guys talk about, how do you do it? How do you keep family first and make decisions and decide who's in charge of what?

Danielle: Well, it's family first. And I mean, for me, if we're being honest, like I could walk away tomorrow, today from ExpressIt if that meant anything with Andi and I's relationship. So I say that with complete honesty. And I just think that we had been through so much together that there's so much love and respect.

We talk about the story of ExpressIt, and I said this about a month ago on a podcast, but there really is a love story between Andi and I because you have to just take care of yourself so that I can be a better partner to Andi and vice versa, and the growth and all of that. But I just think it's, for me, it's just, it's family. It's Andi, and it has to be.

Ann: How about you? How do you feel about it? As long as you're making the decisions, you're good.

Danielle: Well, yeah. She is looking for me during the week, and I'm like, "Oh, she's calling me."

Andi: No, it's the same from, you know, our mom was sort of like our sounding board. She is still, but even in those early days when we're trying to figure out, and then we kind of came up with a—if we're not in agreement, we're not going to do it. And that wasn't like this profound thing. It was just—it kind of happened. Or if I'm feeling a certain way—I like, recently, I had to like drive to her house and say, "All right, let's talk about this, and here's why I think X, Y or Z," you know?

But we needed to be on the same page with whatever decision. And that's something, it just came natural. And then to Danielle's point, and I think it's more than just sisters, it's leaders, owners, you have to continuously work on yourself, know what your triggers are, know how you react, you know? You have to show up a better version of yourself than yesterday. It's just not going to work if you don't. It’s not going to work if you don't evolve—as a leader, as a sister, as a mom—and we both subscribe to that. And so we're both doing it.

Nerre: That's wonderful. So let's bring the setting into this. We've talked about how beautiful this Anthenaeum is, how great Boston is with its unique history. How has your business being based in this city affected your success?

Danielle: It literally was born here. Third floor of a triple decker. Our dad was a taxi driver, a yellow, red and white? I forget. It was a wedding gift. And he had a friend who had a small courier company, one account, two accounts, not even. And he gave it to our parents as a wedding gift. And my father quit being a taxi driver, and he ran the company out of the third-floor bedroom. And that's where it started.

Ann: But who else would know the streets so well as a taxi driver?

Danielle: I know, I know. Oh, I know.

Ann: It makes perfect sense.

Danielle: We would get in a taxi with him and he would tell the taxi guy how to go. And I was like, "This is so embarrassing, Dad." He was like, "Take a left, go right."

Andi: I think the support of our community, of our network, of our clients, you know, a lot of our clients have been around for a long time. So you feel that. This is home, too. But at the same time—and not to go negative, but like, it has its challenges—but like as an employer in Massachusetts, it can be tricky. However, that has really educated us and allowed us to go to other states and look at things differently and prepared us for the growth and the future. And so I love that about Boston and Massachusetts. It's home, and it's taught us so much on every different level really.

Ann: Where all do you operate today besides the Northeast? Because when your father had it, it was strictly here, correct?

Andi: Yeah, it was Eastern Mass and a little bit of southern New Hampshire. When we took over, I think it was 2018, we went down to New Jersey and then Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania. You know, 3 months ago we went to Delaware, and September 8th we went to Colorado. So yeah it’s been a good year.

Nerre: That's exciting. So you mentioned when you were at the table with the other bankers, there were about seven or eight of you, and you were all women, and there's four of us here. How has being a woman in your industry been different for you?

Danielle: Yeah, I think, well, we're a minority with other owners, for sure. But I think Andi and I really just didn't pay much attention to that. In other words, like, we didn't conform to sort of be one of the guys or run it how they did. We just sort of did what we knew how, which was how to treat the drivers and how to run the business from just a personal aspect. I don't think we paid much attention to it.

Andi: I think we just saw really quickly how we could be different and use it to our advantage. So it was inspiring on that front.

Ann: I want to pick up on that theme. You guys have somehow—I have no idea how you do this—but in addition to running the business, you have a podcast that's called Unlikely Bosses. Tell us a little bit about it, about what you talk about and about your experience on that.

Danielle: So that's it. Well, it's brand new, and there's like four followers, but, no, so anyways, we have really kind of been under a rock for like the past 12 years, saving the business and then growing the business. And what Andi said earlier, we really kind of craved in the beginning days, like, anyone who sort of could identify with what we were going through—advice or just any sense of even humor in it, the bad times too.

And so, we decided to sort of put ourselves out there, like, we are two unlikely bosses. Like, we should not be in this position. We didn't ask for it. I don't know how we did it. And so we're just kind of sharing the reality, the truth of it, like the imposter syndrome of it, the self-doubt, all of that sort of stuff. And it's just who we are and finding the humor even in the very difficult times.

Ann: Yeah. And by the way, a lot of fun to listen to for anybody who wants to listen to it.

Nerre: So how do you deal with your clients or customers? Usually that's a big part of helping people document that they have value in their business. We usually use a net promoter score, which is, "Are your clients or customers likely to refer you as a business?" How have you built relationships with your clients or customers? What's that been like over time?

Andi: In the early days, I was so afraid. I was just trying to be something I wasn't, right? I don't know, this confident person that knew experience, knew what they were doing. And we weren't. And you couldn't hide that. So we found out real quick you had to be yourself. And Danielle and I are authentic and genuine, just that it comes naturally.

So we were never trying to be someone we're not. And maybe it was a breath of fresh air for our clients, but it was easy. The conversations were easy because I couldn't BS because I didn't even know what I was talking about, you know? Like, it was just, these are the facts because this is all I know. And maybe they just heard that and felt it, you know?

And the same with our employees. It was more, tell them what you can do and then do it in a way that just shows you care. It's so cheesy. I'm like at a loss for words right now, but service is all we have. And so when our, when we delivered on service, they would just keep calling and they were getting Danielle and I, they were getting the same level of service, and it's like, "Okay, these guys are like a true partner," you know?

And that's why we got the opportunity to go to New Jersey. It was, "Are you guys there?" And, no way, no way can we go to New Jersey. Like, we're in Boston. That's it. And our advisor at the time was like, "Well, you can, this is how you can do it." And so we said, okay. And so it was that trust and open the market. And, yeah, it's a true partnership.

Ann: So oftentimes at First Citizens, when we're sitting down with business owners, we're wanting them to do a little—especially once you've dug out of the day to day, there's nothing else—is, "How do you think about the vision going forward and what does it mean to me and my family?" Have you guys spent some time, like, do you have this idea of what you think of a 5-year plan and not necessarily set in stone, but are you beginning to see that vision now that you've come up for air?

Danielle: Yeah, I think so. Yeah, I think where it stands today, we see an exit. And I think we need to hit certain goals in order to be at that comfort level of, "Okay, we can go now." I think in the early days, it really was just finishing what he started, and then when we sort of experienced the growth—and even as recently as Colorado—it's like, "What can we do? How big can we get, to go, for when we leave"?

Ann: And you feel you're both on the same page about it.

Andi: Yeah. That was, I mean, totally honest, we have not been on the same page about it.

Danielle: No.

Andi: We would always say, "Oh, we just need options in a few years if Danielle wants to leave and I want to stay."

Danielle: And I'm like, "I'm out, I'm leaving."

Andi: Which I mean, literally, this is like maybe 60 days ago, it kind of shifted. But no, I think I'm in acceptance of what happens in the future, and I'm okay with it. I think there was a little bit of like letting go and working through my fear and this is how I am. I'm a very emotional leader, but like of my emotions. So we're on the same page now, and it's a good place to be because those conversations, though, can get a little tricky.

And you feel the energy, you know, Danielle's like, "Well, no, I want out," and I'm holding onto it. And so I was like, "Well how's that going to go when that time comes?" So that just takes a lot of communication, a lot of honesty, and a lot of self-reflection too, on where I want to be with my family in 5, 10 years.

Ann: What do you want to have your legacy be from the business?

Andi: I always struggle with legacy, and it's way more personal for me. My legacy—I want to be an example of how you can just constantly change for the better. So whether you are the employees of ExpressIt, the people that we work with, a client of, it has nothing to do with money. It has nothing to do with, you know, leaving a company for someone. It's really just about evolving as a human for the better. That's my legacy. That's my answer now.

Danielle: I think mine is probably just if I were to go today, I would be really proud. And I think that that would be what I would want my legacy, that I was proud of what we did. And I was proud that we stuck it out and we fought the hard times together. And, you know, we just came out the other side. So if I left today, I would be really proud of what we did.

Ann: And I'm sure both of you know, your father would probably be super proud of what you've been able to do.

Danielle: Oh yeah. He would be like up here wanting to talk.

Ann: He would a hundred percent.

Andi: It's so wild. It's still wild. You’re like "Oh, here's ExpressIt." He would be proud, and it's great.

Ann: And that in of itself is a bit of a legacy, so. We'd love to get some audience questions for our guests if we could. Does anybody have a question?

Audience member: So were you involved in the business as kids, and were you active around the business? Do the employees know you? And it's not supposed to avoid the Tommy Boy component of being the owner's kids coming in to take over. So how did you work through that process?

Danielle: Well, we are Tommy Girl. Everything that could have happened, we've done it all. But no, we had odd jobs through the years, you know, but they knew we were coming back. But I don't think they had a lot of—no one was worried or concerned. I think they were concerned for the company maybe, but I think they didn't know what to expect.

Andi: I don't even know why they stayed, honest to God. They should not have. I said like a couple weeks. We should probably just re-ask that question, because maybe we did in the early days. They knew who we were, but only, "Hi, it's Andi. Is my dad there?" You know, I did like a PowerPoint for him. Nothing. I wasn't really involved. Danielle was a little more, obviously.

Danielle: Yeah, yeah. A little more.

Ann: Any other questions?

Audience member: Oftentimes entrepreneurs they deal with imposter syndrome and feeling like they don't belong. You mentioned, you know, feeling like you like creating someone that you weren't, right? How long did it take you to get over that hump and say, "You know what, this is mine, and this is what we're doing."

Andi: I still struggle today. Like even tonight, you know, it's like, "Do they really want to hear us talk? I don't know. My heart's racing. Like, what am I even saying? I blacked out." No, I'm just kidding. No, it's real. And in those early days, I did so much damage to myself about what I had to be or what I thought I had to be. I just stressed myself out, and then it just clicked that I could be myself. And so you still have the moments—and now we're 13 years in, so they're less and you can handle them different—but no, I don't. It's still there. It's just not as strong.

Ann: I think that's the standard. At least when I talk to entrepreneurs, they all have a little of that.

Andi: I know. Yeah, doesn't ever go away.

Ann: Anybody else? Great.

Audience member: What were some of the teachings that you learned from your father that you think all the business owners could benefit from?

Danielle: We learned what not to do.

Andi: Yeah.

Danielle: And I say this lovingly—he was a very, very smart guy, but he would be easily distracted. So the company would be doing well, and he would say, "Oh, I think I'll go invest in this" or "I think I'll do this." And I think for Andi and I, we came into this like, "We're just going to stay the course." And so to answer your question, I think we learned what not to do, but for us it was just focus on the business and not, "Oh, let's go start this," or "We could deliver mattresses in Michigan." Which we did, and that failed. But we really just tried to focus on the business.

Andi: And he was very, he was authentic too. That was his personality. And so I think just seeing that he never tried to be someone he wasn't. And he treated everyone so well. And like, you just you felt the light from him and people loved him.

Danielle: And I think too, honesty with the customers.

Andi: Yeah.

Danielle: We learned that from him. Just be honest. If we're not going to be there in 90 minutes, we're just going to tell you we can't be there in 90 minutes. Not, "Oh, no, we'll be there," and then, you know. So I think we just were honest with them. And that goes back to your question on, you know, customer satisfaction. And a main thing is just Andi and I—we tell the team, just be honest. You know, we're running late, or we can't do that because we know we can't do that well.

Ann: I think we had a question over here.

Audience member: What daily habits do you do to help you succeed for both of you?

Danielle: Well, mine is probably just prayer and meditation. Like some quiet time or going for a walk or the gym or whatever it is, just releasing whatever it might be—the stress, the anxiety, the energy, you know, moving the energy out.

Andi: We do the same. Spiritual, emotional and mental health first before I start my day.

Audience member: Anything you'd share about things you guys have done or taken part in? Any groups or organizations that have helped you? First of all, even before I ask that question, phenomenal story and really just awesome stuff. Thank you for sharing all this stuff.

Danielle: Thank you. We were horrible networkers.

Andi: I think we still are.

Danielle: Yeah, we are. We're not great. We're not good. We tend to find like one high top and stand there, and then like we leave and I'm like, "That was great. We didn't talk to anybody." But we're trying to get better. We’re really trying, right?

Andi: Yeah. I think the bank has been a big help with that too.

Danielle: Yes. It's forced networking as a client, which is good. You're getting us out of our comfort zone.

Ann: Any other questions? I think there's one back in the back.

Audience member: Just curious about the podcast. I'm your fifth follower, by the way, but I'm curious, like what led you to a podcast, you know, how you got it started, that sort of thing.

Andi: We met with someone and they said, "You guys should do a podcast. Tell your story, get out there. You guys are the face of the company." And so then that meeting turned into, "Well, you guys should write a book." And so we were like, "Okay, but who's going to read it, and why?" And then it was "With the book, we could do the podcast for you." And so ultimately Danielle said, "Why don't we just try it on our own?"

And so we just kind of dabbled in it. And then the ideas, once you kind of put it into motion then the ideas start coming. And I think it was really to—everything Danielle said about it—but putting other people's unlikely stories out there as well and giving back and hearing it and like building that community of "we were them, we still are." And there are so many other people out there doing the same thing, but are successful. And it's like, it's so inspiring and you just, you want to hear it and it's feel-good. And that's sort of where that came from. And so we're having fun, but we're also telling other stories. And it's the best of both worlds.

Danielle: Yeah. It's in our car, by the way.

Andi: It's a budget operation.

Danielle: It's not like a studio. They come in the backseat. We'll drive to them, and they like come out of their house.

Andi: We did one today.

Danielle: We did one today in a parking lot.

Andi: But we did get GoPros, so the technology is getting better.

Danielle: Yeah. But, so it's high end. It's a high-end podcast.

Nerre: Everyone should listen to it. Andi Shaughnessy and Danielle Carter, we want to thank you for joining us tonight.

Andi: Thank you.

Danielle: Thank you.

Nerre: You two have been delightful. Ann and I are really excited to talk with you. And this has been great. I'm going to call Dwight Mathis back up here.

Dwight: As you wish.

Nerre: Our fearless leader to close us out.

Dwight: Thank you. Thank you, Andi and Danielle, and thank you, Nerre and Ann for being here. Thank you all for spending the night with us for this conversation. What struck me about your talk. By the way, I love working with business owners. We talk about this a lot at First Citizens Wealth. We're so happy that this is kind of a place where we spend our time and expertise because business owners—whether it's innovation economy, which is a significant part of our business, or more traditional economy businesses—the stories are very similar. It's about people who don't quit, who just keep going, who have doubts, who push through, who, you know, it's not always pretty seeing the podcast made or the sausage made or whatever analogy you want to use, but it's really inspiring to me to see.

And what struck me about their story is it's not as much, I mean, it's everything about logistics, but as much as it's logistics, it's about partnerships and family and dynamics and building networks. I appreciate your comments unscripted, believe it or not, just about the confidence in our banking team and the loyalty. That's something that we know about you and appreciate that. And that's how this continues to grow, and we continue to build something special. My name's Dwight again, and I look forward to knowing all of you, and so does our team.

Ann: I have such fond memories of that night. It was just amazing to listen to Andi and Danielle talk about how they were in this moment of crisis with their father with his health failing, and that they decided to come together as a family, step in and try to take over this business when they really had no idea how to do that, Nerre.

Nerre: I agree, and I think what struck me most was how honest they were about not having a plan. They didn't set out to be CEOs. They already had things going on in their lives. Andi had her dream job in the NHL. Danielle was a stay-at-home mom for three young kids, but you know, they made a pact together as sisters and as a family to carry on their dad's legacy, figure it out, and they kept learning as they went.

Ann: Yeah, I think it's just such an amazing story about what you can do if you just step into something, embrace it, and then really, you know, take it to that next level because that business has really grown in the last few years.

Nerre: That's really the enjoyment of being an entrepreneur. You can take something small or nothing, maybe just an idea, and build it into something huge and successful like ExpressIt Delivery.

We hope you enjoyed this episode. Please subscribe to Building More Than Business on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube Music. And share their story—you never know who might benefit from this. Thanks for listening. We'll catch you up on the next episode of Building More Than Business.

Disclosures

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

The views expressed are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of First Citizens Bank & Trust Company or any of its affiliates. This material is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be an offer, recommendation or solicitation to purchase or sell a specific investment strategy, any security or insurance product and should not be construed as legal, tax or accounting advice. Please consult with your legal or tax advisor regarding the particular facts and circumstances of your situation prior to making any financial decision. While we believe that the information presented is from reliable sources, we do not represent, warrant or guarantee that it is accurate or complete.

Many companies referenced in this content are independent third parties and are not affiliated with First Citizens Bank & Trust Company. All third-party trademarks, including logos, trade names, service marks and icons referenced remain the property of their respective owners.

Your investments in securities and insurance products and services are not insured by the FDIC or any other federal government agency and may lose value.  They are not deposits or other obligations of, or guaranteed by any bank or bank affiliate and are subject to investment risks, including possible loss of the principal amounts invested. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Estimates of future performance are based on assumptions that may not be realized. This material is not a solicitation of any offer to buy or sell any security or other financial instrument or to participate in any trading strategy. Diversification does not guarantee a profit or protect against loss in a declining financial market.

First Citizens Wealth™ (FCW) is a marketing brand of First Citizens BancShares, Inc., a bank holding company. The following affiliates of First Citizens BancShares are the entities through which FCW products are offered. Brokerage products and services are offered through First Citizens Investor Services, Inc. ("FCIS"), a registered broker-dealer, Member FINRA and SIPC. Advisory services are offered through FCIS, First Citizens Asset Management, Inc. and SVB Wealth LLC, all SEC-registered investment advisors. Certain brokerage and advisory products and services may not be available from all investment professionals, in all jurisdictions or to all investors. Insurance products and insurance are offered through FCIS, a licensed insurance agency. Banking, lending, trust products and services, and certain insurance products and services are offered by First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company, Member FDIC, and an Equal Housing Lender, and SVB, a division of First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company. icon: sys-ehl

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