We recently connected with Heather Powell and have shared our conversation below.

Heather , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Innovation comes in all shapes, sizes and across all industries, so we’d love to hear about something you’ve done that you feel was particularly innovative.

Our Women’s boutique, Cargo Room, started in 2014 out of a 12ft concession cargo trailer. At the time the food truck industry was booming in Oklahoma, but there were no such thing as a “shopping” truck. This was such an innovative concept in our state that when I would call to inquire about permitting and taxes, most agencies had no idea what to do with my business, this was a first for them!

When the time came to officially hit the streets with my rolling boutique, I was terrified about how our community would react to shopping from inside a trailer. However, my fears where eased immediately when customers began to pour in and were amazed with what they could find inside.

In 2019 when our company decided to establish more permanent roots, we knew we could not just open up shop inside a commercial strip mall and call it good. We would need something as unique as the trailer. Luckily, some friends of ours were moving their company out of a converted pink shipping. They called and said they believed this container would be the perfect fit for our business, and boy were they right!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I always love the question of how did you get started, because for me, it took a trip across the world to truly jumpstart my passion…

I was a girl working a dream fashion job in NYC, but kept having this uncontrollable desire to do something for myself. The calling got so loud that when the time came to renew my lease in NYC, I decided to return home instead and start the next chapter of my fashion career.

Upon my return home, I didn’t immediately find myself opening up my dream business; instead I landed inside the corporate world, scared of pursuing my dreams and deeply unhappy. Thankfully, I found my footing in the Entrepreneurship program at Oklahoma State University and started my pursuit towards my Master’s Degree in Entrepreneurship. Through that program I was offered the opportunity to move to Cape Town, South Africa for 6 weeks and work with emerging entrepreneurs. That experience truly changed my life! This program not only gave me the confidence to start moving forward towards my dreams, but also allowed me to see how a small business could really be anything I wanted it to be.

Returning to the states, diploma in hand, I felt more equipped to start down the path of entrepreneurship. I stumbled upon an article in the Washington Post about a woman who transformed an old box truck into a mobile boutique. It was at that moment that I suddenly realized what I was meant to do!

From there the search began, box trucks, RVs, trailers, etc. When all the sudden a craigslist ad (remember those) led me to my destiny, a 12 ft. concession cargo trailer. I meet with a guy whose passion was converting trailers into food trucks. When I told him my plans for this particular trailer he didn’t quite understand. A boutique inside of a trailer…okay…

We bought the trailer that same day and then the work began. Evenings and weekends, my parents and I worked hard transforming an empty trailer into my dream boutique on wheels. Six months later we were ready to launch, July 15th, 2014.

Today our business has transformed many times since those early trailer days, but I am always proud that I was willing to go outside my traditional views of what a business looked like to try something new.

Any advice for managing a team?

It was always important to me to create a “team” mentality from the beginning. We use the terms “we” or “team cargo room” when referencing our business, and when all the employees hear me or management using this term it becomes the company norm. When running a company from a team standpoint all the employees feel like they are a part of something bigger than themselves, and internally want to strive to do their best.

As a more fun incentive we love the concept of special treats. Hit a sales goal, get a sweet treat. Have to come in early to set up for an event, bring coffee or donuts. Busy days like Black Friday/ Small Business Saturday, bring in pizza for lunch. Also surprise your employees with a Venmo for coffee one day for no reason. Even the littlest things like this will go a long way with your employees.

I didn’t realize prior to having employees that employee management would consume a significant portion of my schedule. I will not lie, managing employees is complicated, they all have distinct personalities and unique schedules. Your best way to navigate is to talk with your employee and know how they function best. If one employee functions best on having exact directions and to-do lists, while another is self- motivated, then knowing these facts will save you a lot of time in the long run.

It is best to set the standards and expectations early on. Also, practice your standards/ expectations yourself. If you don’t want employees texting on the sales floor, then lead by example and follow your own rules.

Sitting down with your full team at least 2-3 times a year is also crucial. This is a very difficult task to achieve, especially if you have a larger team, but getting everyone together, mingling then training can not only build the team bond, but also address any questions that might arise. We try to do this once early in the new year to set goals, plan for the upcoming year. We also do this again in September to prepare everyone for the 4th quarter. We always supply dinner, mingle, go over upcoming events, set goals, and then answer any questions.

Last but not least, delegation is key. Learn to trust your team. Show them you trust them too. This is my hardest advice to actually follow as I always want to jump in to help, but after talking with my team about this I learned that when I jump in to help it makes them feel as if I don’t think they are capable. I am still a work in progress on this one too!

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

We are embarking on a pivot at the moment in our business. As our business stands today we have two locations: one dedicated to our women’s boutique and one dedicated to our baby boutique. We had separated out the two product categories in 2023 and hoped that they could both sustain themselves, but unfortunately with lower margins on our baby products we are finding it harder to turn a profit. We are in the midst of absorbing our baby boutique back into our women’s boutique, and although painful to see this happen, it was a necessary decision.

Sometimes in business your heart wants something to work out so badly, and it still can, with the proper pivots in order to make the numbers work.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://shopcargoroom.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shopcargoroom
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShopCargoRoom

Image Credits

Meg Rose Photography