My father started Nussbaum Transportation in 1945 with one truck. He had an eighth-grade education, but his intelligence and extraordinary work ethic led to expansion and success. If my siblings and I wanted to spend time with my dad, we spent time working in the family business.

I tell people that my involvement with the business truly started at ground level—I cleaned bathrooms, performed maintenance work, washed trucks, and worked the dock throughout my teenage years. I loved it all: the physical nature of the work suited me, and I loved working with the big and powerful trucks. I learned a lot as I worked alongside my dad, but his most consistent message to us was: “If you take care of your people, everything else will take care of itself.”