Today we’d like to introduce you to Anton Rudjuk.
Hi Anton, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I come to Houston looking for a fresh start and got a job offer working in a warehouse that was just starting out to manufacture the Flexitanks. I fell in love with the concept and soaked in as much as I could learn. I worked my way up from the warehouse to installation to customer visits and then to sales. After the initial position, I moved to another company and continued my journey and in 2011 got the idea to start FlexiPlus. Then later that year met Monica and we hit it off personally and work wise. We then started ROWL Trucking as we where tired of poor service on the trucking side. Even though we are from different parts of the world, her Colombia and me, Russia, our values align and we kicked ass. We worked 100-hour weeks for years to establish the companies and truly did it together. We always made the commitment to be 50/50 on everything and it has worked for us as we were able to continue to be open and work on issues without letting them linger.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
People without problems live in the cemetery. We certainly had issues but we overcame them. There are too many to name but one specific one that I believe made the biggest impact is shaking out a small company mindset. Even though it does not seem like a physical issue, like cash flow or no customers it haunted us and kept us thinking small.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
We specialize in bulk liquid packaging, transportation and logistical services. It does not sound very sexy but it’s an amazing and fast-paced business that has gone through a major upswing and demand in the last 10 years.
Developing our strong culture from the ground up is what makes me feel proud. We still have a long way to go but seeing our managers and warehouse people increase their part in life and responsibility is amazing. We meet weekly and really focus on our people’s development. Since also learning and getting better our jobs have become more about guiding our people rather than doing tasks, at first it was hard to do but we are getting there. We are a tight group and continue to evolve and get better.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
For the longest time, I could not believe that I was a business owner and always thought things would end in a fiery end. I thought I was just lucky. Working on my mindset and my phycology really helped me break out of it and understand that in the long run you may have lucky days and some unlucky days but as long as you put in the work it will always be better in the end.
Contact Info:
- Email: anton@flexirowl.com
- Website: www.flexirowl.com
