Tiki Bar with Zach McFarland | Warehousing, Leadership, and Building in Logistics

5 Key Takeaways

• Zach McFarland did not enter the workforce with a straight line in mind. After starting in an insurance internship, he discovered he liked helping the sales team more than the original path he had signed up for.
• His early packaging-company experience was hands-on and operational: a trainee program pushed him through different departments so he could understand the business before trying to sell anything.
• A memorable customer-recovery story in the episode makes his point clearly: relationships matter, but they are not enough if the product, service level, and price do not actually work for the customer.
• At 1880 Warehouse and Transfer, Zach describes operating inside an intentionally lean business where he is not just the sales leader but also deeply involved in operations, customer service, and finance.
• He talks about growth with discipline, using capacity, ancillary services, and systems integration to expand the company while still being selective about the business that is worth taking on.

Episode Summary

In this episode, Kevin Davis talks with Zach McFarland about building a career in logistics and warehousing without pretending the work is glamorous. Zach explains how an early detour through insurance and packaging sales taught him that he liked the commercial side of business most when it was tied to real operational understanding.

That perspective now shows up in the way he runs 1880 Warehouse and Transfer. Zach describes a lean company where one leader may touch sales, operations, service, and finance in the same day, and where growth has to be matched by clear thinking about systems, customer fit, and execution.