Transportation Mobility: A Spotlight On FTH Transportation Group
Member Spotlight: An Interview with Carlos Hernandez of FTH Transportation Group
The transportation industry has traditionally been one rooted in tradition. It stresses 40 hours a week, 5 days a week, 9-5 jobs. One would think that an industry centered around mobility could stand to be a bit more, well, mobile. That’s exactly what Carlos Hernandez of FTH Transportation Group thinks too. We sat down with Carlos to talk about his industry, his team, and his time working at Office Evolution.
To stay up-to-date on our most recent business tips, follow us on https://www.youtube.com/user/officeevolution.
About Carlos Hernandez & FTH Transportation Group
My name is Carlos Hernandez, and I’m an owner and transportation planner with Fox Tuttle Hernandez Transportation Group. Our company disrupts transportation.
We work on the leading edge of redesigning a really outdated transportation system that we inherited from our grandparents. So we work on roadway transit planning, bike planning; integrating kind of more complete streets into our current roadway network.
What set you apart from your competition?
What sets us apart is our unique team structure. We joke that we work like a bunch of millennials. We have this great coworking opportunity that we have through Office Evolution that allows our team to disperse around the Front Range and work from home, but then get back together to meet through various opportunities that OE has. I don’t know many other companies that are set up in our industry like we are, and the reward of that is pretty significant. It allows people to be flexible with the current lifestyles they have, and work when they need to be working and are creative; when they’re not creative, they’re doing other things that help them stay happy and healthy and fit.
We have a really different team and structure compared to most people in our industry. We’re not making anything…we’re selling ourselves, we’re selling our people, we’re selling our staff.
Our number one resource is our team and people on our team. When they have the flexibility to say “hey, I want to come together and collaborate,” they can do that, but they’re not forced to have social interactions at the water cooler every half hour. The structure that we have with our team and having Office Evolution allows us to grow that and do that. It’s really different than anyone else, and it’s one of the biggest strategic advantages I think we offer.
Best Business Tip
Business Tip – Listen
My business tip is to Listen to your clients and customers.
We live in a world where everyone wants to tweet and communicate and we miss listening. So I like to start meetings by just saying “What’s going on?” and then be quiet for five minutes. We try to do our best to listen. If more people in sales take the opportunity to just listen and maybe ask a couple key questions, they’d make three times the sales. At least that’s been our experience.
Carlos Talks About Office Evolution
Office Evolution has been absolutely key to our company’s growth and success.
We’re entering our second year with Office Evolution, and we use the resources throughout the region. The best part of OE is there’s a lot of different plans and packages, & that have allowed us to grow over time.
When we first started, I had an office suite, and that was great for the time when we had three people. As our team grew and we recruited [more talent], we needed more than one location. It’s absolutely critical for [our team] to know they have the flexibility of going into an office. It’s funny how when you get the right people, how quickly having a safety net like OE, the flexibility of it, allows them to see that they have a better quality of life.
I was a part of other coworking spaces and opportunities before this and what I felt about Office Evolution is it’s more organized and more accessible, and the environment is more professional. I used to joke that when I go to the other places, I was the only guy in the room without a Star Wars t-shirt.
The environment that’s here, when you’re bring clients in, Beth out front is remarkable…she’s just so organized and puts out the right sense of professionalism that fits our business model. I appreciated the more organized kind of corporate message that comes from Office Evolution. It’s kind of like the difference between the record store and Nordstrom.
The other advantage of having dispersed offices, some days I have a meeting in Fort Collins, and some days I have meetings in Cherry Creek or in Golden. Instead of sitting in a coffee shop, I can go drop into the space, connect to the Wi-Fi, and print something. It’s like I have offices I can drop into throughout the region, as someone who travels throughout, it’s really helpful because there’s only so much you can do in a coffee shop.
For more information about Office Evolution and how we can help you get an office for your business, visit our website at https://www.officeevolution.com/locations/louisville/office-space or call 303-447-6863.