Brian Johnson was starting to hate his job. He loved the work he did. But the company was growing faster and that meant more meetings and planning sessions and less time on the work he enjoyed — building relationships between freight owners and carriers.
So in 2014, Johnson left C.H. Robinson Worldwide — the Eden Prairie-based Fortune 500 firm that is the largest third-party logistics provider — to start ProServ Logistics with co-worker Dave Buhl.
They set up a modest office in the front of an Eden Prairie warehouse owned by a friend of Johnson's and did the office build out in startup fashion — with their own labor.
Like most midcareer entrepreneurs who venture out effectively, he had to rely on financial savings and the support of family. Johnson's wife, Jenny, could tell he was losing his passion for his corporate job, so when he presented her his startup idea, she told him to go for it.
"We weren't buying a job, we were looking to build a $100 million a year company some day," Johnson said.
Johnson, who started at C.H. Robinson in 1989, was adamant about honoring his former company's two-year noncompete agreement that is typical in many industries, including logistics.
"The most challenging part was enduring that noncompete," Johnson said. "The hardest part was the uncertainty."
Johnson helped bridge the gap by taking a six-month consulting contract and spending previously earned equity awards from C.H. Robinson. During the next 18 months, as stresses and uncertainties mounted, he found solace in going to yoga with his wife and spending time at their family cabin.