Entrepreneur Turns Salvage Into Success

Mary Lou Jacoby, founder of Warehouse1, joins host Kelly Scanlon on this episode to talk about her entrepreneurial journey. Warehouse 1 got its start when Jacoby saw opportunity where others saw trash. When Jacoby approached the owner of an auction company who had a building full of old, used equipment in Kansas City, Jacoby offered to buy the building if the owner would allow Jacoby to finance it by selling the contents of the building. Jacoby thought the retail shelving, storage cabinets, conveyor belts, fork lifts and other items that hadn’t been already sold at auction could be resold to other companies if they were just cleaned up a little.

Jacoby sold the used inventory in just 60 days, and repaid the loan in 90 days. Warehouse1 was born, and Jacoby has been turning salvage into success ever since. Recently, Jacoby shared that success with her 49 employees by leading Warehouse1 through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP).

Listen in as Jacoby shares her story, advice and future plans.