EP 587: Lucas Solutions on Startup Lessons, 3PL Strategy, and Relationship-Driven Growth
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The New Warehouse podcast hosted by Kevin Lawton is your source for insights and ideas from the distribution, transportation, and logistics industry. A new episode every Monday morning brings you the latest from industry experts and thought leaders. And now, here's Kevin.

Hey guys, it's Kevin with The New Warehouse bringing you a new episode today. On today's episode, I'm going to be joined by Chris Lucas and he is the founder and CEO at Lucas Solutions. And Chris has been involved in the 3PL side of things, distribution, fulfillment for car

quite some time and now he has ventured into his own company and working on something pretty interesting, which he's been telling me about kind of periodically over the last year or so as well as he's been developing. And we're going to dive a little bit into his background today. And we're also going to talk a little bit about, you know, what he saw out there in the market and what's kind of led up to him now wanting to do his own thing and what he's kind of putting out there. So Chris, welcome to the show. How are you?

Pretty good. Thanks for having me, Kevin. Yeah, this is a, we've been talking about this for a while and I kind of wanted to have my books in a row before we hopped on and I'll probably never get there. I'm glad we're doing it now to have a conversation and give you some updates on things.

Yeah, absolutely. And yeah, I mean, I think that you never fully get the ducks in a row. And in my opinion, right, there's always one duck that's maybe just a little out there. But yeah, I mean, it's all over the place. Definitely, definitely. But, you know, it's great to get you on. I know you have a great network and connections of people in the industry and you've been in the industry for a while as in the 3PL space specifically. So I guess kick it off. Tell us a little bit about kind

kind of your background and how you got into the space in the first place. Sure. Yeah, I mean, I'm very lucky in the sense, like, career-wise. I get lucky when things fall into place, and then looking back, maybe you make things happen sometimes, right? You can't plan for everything. Even my first job and internship with KPMG, I missed career day when they were there on campus. And the guy...

came to my class by chance to speak, who was with KPMG. I sent him a letter apologizing for missing career day because I was busy working on a charity project. And that turned into an internship that got me started at KPMG in accounting and finance, which...

I kind of knew I didn't want to do it forever, but what better place to start a career? I mean, KPMG gave me the opportunity to work with incredible companies. When you understand the financial statements, you understand what drives companies and how they operate. So I was there for...

about five years in that space, went to Steve Cohen's hedge fund, Point72 for about a year and a half after that, followed a manager that I worked with at KPMG, probably the coolest person I ever worked for. So it was a no brainer to go work with him. And Point72 was amazing. Just for me, that was when I ran out of passion for the accounting

audit industry. It just, I knew I have to enjoy what I'm doing more. And Steve Cohen was so supportive of it and said, what do you want to be doing? Is there anything here? And I learned so much from him and that company and really just amazing people. So I've been fortunate to work at incredible companies in the first stage of my career in the accounting finance world. And then was fortunate to know Jim DeVoe for a

and was kept telling me you're not meant to be an accountant you need to be working with more people just come on board in the sales team when you're ready and i'll teach you the industry and you'll do well so i eventually took him up on that and man he put me to work he made me learn it he had me work in the warehouse i've worked on the receiving floor put away pick and pack he wanted me to know how the operations work before trying to sell anything

And I think that strategy paid off. I was hungry, young. He knew I could hustle. So the work ethic I think he saw was there. And there's so much more to it. It's not like he always told me, we're not just putting stuff in boxes and shipping. It's not boring like everyone thinks once you're involved in supply chain. And Jim DeVoe was just like ahead of his time in seeing things, long-term planning, understanding how the industry works. So I was so lucky that

He took me under his wing, taught me everything. And then I had an amazing team at Tailored Services. Chris Kearns and Brian Southwell were the two sales guys there at the time and took me under their wing as well and just

guided me through everything you need to know. And I had exposure to things that normally someone at my level wouldn't have. Like I was in meetings, not allowed to speak or, you know, knew I shouldn't, but listening to engineering calls, IT meetings, you know, on technology operations, the ownership group, board presentations, asking for, you know, whenever I could help. But I was able to like help with a slide, but I'm seeing the slide deck that they're presenting to the board.

And for me, it was, I learned that being a part of like a smaller midsize company is really fun when you can have your hands and all different aspects, because that's how things have to work. You have to do wear more than just one hat. So that's how I got into supply chain. Some crazy stuff happened along the way. Like,

I got us into a deal within a couple of months of being a tailored that was like one of the largest accounts that we want in the history of Taylor brand. And it was from, I probably sent a thousand LinkedIn messages for every thousand, you get five responses and one thing. And it just so happened, the CEO of this company was looking for a provider to help in the New Jersey area at the time.

I was honest with them. That's maybe what resonated. I was like, look, I'm very new to the industry, very new to this company, but it's amazing people. I think you should have a conversation with them. And called my cell phone, led to us the next weekend, helping them with their returns, which is where again, like Tom McCormick, the CIO for tailored at the time, put a solution together over a weekend. Like it was all hands on deck when the client needed something. It was like,

And for me, the big switch was I was auditing financials and looking back at what was done, a successful quarter, a successful year. Now I was impacting a company and their financials. And I was part of what's going to, you know, when the auditors come in and look at Taylor's financial statements next quarter, I'm going to have, I did something that impacted the financials. So that was, that always tied in the accounting and thinking of financials, but I like being on the other side of that, making something happen.

Good or bad. Right. So then that company apparently was trying to raise money. They were a great account for a few months.

huge, did a ton of revenue just in a few months alone. And then they went bankrupt. We got stuck with some inventory. And then he asked me to sell the inventory and figure out what to do with it. Like that situation, you always, it's in the contract, right? That happened, all happened so fast. I went from like hero for closing this, hero because I went bankrupt. And it's still a break. I look back and like, they were ahead of their time. They were doing try before you buy at home before you buy.

before anyone and didn't have the right i don't know there were some things that were missing but they were they were on to something and i saw that in them and still close with the folks that were at that company um but yes when i had to go out and i'm like okay now i'm selling inventory and it worked out like we actually sold it for way more than we thought to a partner who had the right infrastructure to sell they could afford to pay like we almost

Sold it for what we were owed, and I think everybody, it worked out pretty well. But what a crazy way to start. Yeah, yeah. Things in between that happened where I found that the, this is probably, I shouldn't say this confidentially, but I found the proposal, like their proposal review of all the providers that we're looking at, I found it in the garbage outside their building.

when I went to throw out a piece of gum. I was like, oh my God, I know what our pricing is at. I was like, I don't know what to do with this. I shouldn't have this. I ended up telling them that I found it, but it turns out our pricing was the most competitive anyway. Yeah, that's like...

It's like finding a, it's like the finding the sports almanac and back to the future. Right. Almost. You can't make these things up. Like I found it. I called the CFO. It was like, I think I found something that might make sure we know where we're at with this account and how to help them. Yeah. And he was like, right, let me call the, all the executives. Everybody's coming to the office and we're meeting on this. Um, so just really cool people, cool experience. And I was there at Taylor for five years. Dude,

did well, learned a ton. And then I went to dot-com distribution where I wanted like more of a niche focused e-com sort of just, I don't know. I got a good vibe from Rob Kuhn and Maria Haggerty on our calls initially. And it was a pretty easy decision. I was like, this is a place where that's more important to me. I have to feel like I get along with the team, the culture, we're going to work well together. Yeah.

forget compensation like that that all works out in the in the long run if there's a fit and you you like what you're doing um so yeah that led to three awesome years at dot com and then they were all of these companies have had successful exits which kind of was part of in in my brain of

I think I want to do something on my own and be the owner, not just supporting that happening. You know, Taylor was sold to use and eventually not while I was there, but they were sold to use and successful exit there and seem to be doing amazing things together. The two companies and then dot com was acquired by Ryder and

And there was another company along the way where we sent leads to that weren't really a good fit for dot com. And we just knew they would have a good home at another small 3PL in Jersey. And they ended up selling last year to private equity. And the owners called me. They said, just so you know, 90% of our new business came from the leads you sent to us over the three years. Yeah. So he was like, it's only a good idea to do your own thing. It works out. Yeah. Interesting. So yeah,

Yeah, that was really it all. The stars aligned for me. I was 35 single and I figured, let me build my own company for a year and walk away from dating relationships. And then, of course, nothing goes according to plan. Two days later, after I went to one thing, I met my now fiance. You can't make this stuff up. It's like.

And that's probably the best thing that's happened in this whole journey of meeting her. When you look back, I'm like, everything could fail, everything I try to do. And I have someone who's been supporting me doing it along the way. Yeah, yeah, that's great. And, you know, congratulations to you on the engagement as well. But yeah, I mean, I think it's very interesting that that journey because, you know, I think so many people in our industry, they don't necessarily...

Yeah.

- You know, I think it's very interesting too, you know, that I love that when you went to Tailored that they put you on the floor first before you could sell anything. I think that's such a-- - Yeah, and not just before I was selling anything. Anytime I closed an account, I would have to go work there. Not have to, but suggested and made sense to go work their operation. Learn it while we're doing it. - Yeah, yeah, and I think that's so important.

to be able to, to understand that. And, you know, cause, uh, you know, people ask me sometimes as well, because they're just coming into this space. Right. And they don't really know much about the industry and,

You know, that's what I said. I will go on the floor. Right. And just, you know, work on the floor for a little while and you operate on those parts. Yeah. People, because they've done it on the floor, they know what goes into it. And without being an operator prior, that was the closest I could come. Yeah, absolutely. Definitely. So so very interesting there. And obviously, you know, definitely a good amount of time in the space to see kind of what's what's going on.

So you mentioned you're starting your own thing or you have started your own thing and you've been building it out kind of. And I know we've been in touch talking about it a little bit, but I guess tell us first, I guess, what kind of, what did you see in the industry that was like a pain point or that was missing or lacking in a sense that's kind of propelled you to go down the avenue that you're going down now?

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So I don't want to say that there was one area that I identified a gap and said, let me go build something to solve it. It was a mix of what I enjoyed the most about what I was doing. And for me, working with the smaller brands or startups, people that were building something just got me more excited. And I loved working with them, listening to their stories, helping however I could.

So when I left, the initial plan was I can just start a small 3PL and service the smaller brands, give them the attention they deserve, try to offer them more technology and resources than they normally have at that stage that will hopefully propel them to grow. And then the long-term plan and strategy behind it was not only do I enjoy that more, but I think I'm pretty good at identifying the ones that can make it and do well. And at the same time, if

If those small brands grow, I'm going to grow with them. And that journey will be the most fun because I've seen it over the years. Now I've been in the industry long enough. I think it's like almost 10 years. I've seen brands that have reached out as a startup or free revenue or no volume and just really can tell when the founders are on something, they're on a mission, they believe in themselves, they have a good plan.

And I'm pretty good at identifying the ones that are, you know, betting on the ones that are likely to succeed. I've seen brands go from zero to a hundred million in revenue in a couple of years or, you know, just even in between go from no volume to $10,000 a month pretty quickly. So I figured that's how I want to grow. I want to grow with the brands. I don't want to,

go after the midsize or larger brands that are established, that there's providers out there that can do a better job than me trying to build something from scratch. But if we do it the right way, and I was fortunate, I realized when you leave to go do your own thing and build something, that that network of other founders out there

is incredible. And you meet so many cool people. And I had the time to, when I thought something was interesting, I could take a call or go to a meeting and learn about something that I just maybe saw value in or like the person. So I've now accidentally discovered some things that are out there that I never had time to really look at before, whether it's cool technology, cool software, just amazing companies doing amazing things in our space.

And now I feel like that network is just so valuable. Like if a brand comes to me and needs anything, I probably have a solution for them. And that's, that was part of it too. I, the funny story, the first company I named it, I had no idea how to form a company. This is all. Yeah. Yeah.

man, the amount of mistakes I made. It didn't go as planned or failed. I think I named it like LF Logistics from like something my buddy and I tried to do, I don't know, 15 years ago.

our last names were L and F. So I named it LF Logistics thinking maybe he'll come work with me one day. But that, even that name entity didn't work out and it failed. So I call that Lucas failure number one. That was like right out of the gate. That entity never got officially formed, even though I did it through legal zoom properly. I thought,

So then my mom suggested Lucas Solutions when we were at dinner in the city one night. And to me, that made sense. Like that's always the goal is trying to find a solution, whether it's for a brand, for the 3PL I'm working with, or just in general on anything, you know, identify a problem or if it comes your way, you try to find a solution. And I'm pretty good at that. And that's, it resonated with me. So whatever I do, it's probably everything will be under the Lucas Solutions umbrella. Yeah.

Gotcha. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Very interesting there. And I think that, um, you know, that's kind of the way, the way you learn in a sense, like just, you know, try and do it, try and figure it out and then it doesn't work. Well, I know that that doesn't work. So let me try it this way. Yeah.

Yeah, I mean, as long as you can learn from them, I think it's a good experience, right? So now, I mean, tell us a little bit too, because you went to start 3PL in a sense, right? And then you ended up starting some, started to build and I think are still building in a sense to some software as well. So tell us a little bit about kind of what that software is solving. What is that problem in the industry that you're solving?

Sure. Yeah, I'll give you, I'll, I may save diving into the software details. Sure. And just, it's still something we're building. So the way it worked out, the plan was not to build software or anything like that. Like I said, it's always, you identify a problem and try to come up with a solution. So when I started the 3PL, I,

Part of it was I really wanted to tie in Beauty Connect, the industry conference. It's just been going for a few years now, like four years. That conference is amazing. The team is amazing there. So I literally just had Lucas Solutions gear made, like a couple of hats, a couple of shirts. This was one of them. And yeah,

Picked it up right before going to the airport to fly out to Beauty Connect LA. And that was really day one of Lucas Solutions. Just had no idea what I was doing. But I put a hat on and said, this is my company. I think we're going to be a 3PL. I'm going to try to open a warehouse.

And we gave it a pretty good effort. I didn't think it made sense to go take my own space. Otherwise, that's something that was missing and going to found something. The stars aligned as far as timing of wanting to do it. And I think I had enough experience, but certainly didn't have enough funds in the bank to go build a company, lease a warehouse. So I tried to get creative with it. We ran into some obstacles where the building wasn't ready and

landlord situation. Nobody's fault or anything like that, just things you can't see coming. When a client's been in the same building for 25 years and then you implement a WMS for a couple months and you're ready to go and the landlord decides to sell the building and not renew the long-term lease that's been negotiated, you just have to laugh at it. 25 years in the building and

Now we're ready to put a couple of brands in there, a couple of small brands. Yeah. The space we're created and that's where the software comes into play. This potential client at the time when we looked at their operation and I, I,

called in a few friends and resources in the industry that just there's so many people that are smarter and better at everything than me so i think the most value i can ever bring is i probably know somebody who can do do whatever it is and we identified that we could build some software to minimize their footprint reduce labor and then that would create additional space where we could support other brands and become go from in-house fulfillment to being a 3pl

So all those plans were going great. We built some really cool software. And I think that's sometimes looking back, I'm like, we built the software for what this client needed with the plans of all the other cool things we could do with it. You know, the architecture, the foundation of it is built to do so many other things as well that we just said when the time's right, when the client needs it, we'll go build that.

So what's happened since like the landlord situation and not having those space for those brands and I'm the type that like, yeah, I probably could have put those brands in and then had to move them four or five months later, but I didn't feel right to me. And that's,

started to maybe I'm not meant to be a free deal and maybe we should focus on our software and, you know, who else in the market can benefit from what we've built already for this client? And then what else can we do with our plans for future development to accelerate them a bit and make it even more valuable to the market and for more potential clients we can serve? So that's kind of the phase we're in now. We're taking our time, building it out.

happy to speak on it more when it's ready. I think that's a better time to put compliance-focused software in the supply chain. So it's kind of across the board. Interesting, yeah. Compliance software. And there are some different verticals that we can support. And, you know, we're in the middle of a pre-seed raise, my first time ever trying to raise funds. And that's back to that founder network I mentioned, like people just come in

come to support you and give you advice and just take the time out of their lives. And I know these are some of the busiest people ever, but they're willing to tell you how to make a pitch deck or what, Hey, practice your pitch on me and I'll give you a feedback. And to me, that's just incredibly valuable and learned a ton and then met some really cool partners along the way that I'm excited to start working with.

in the last month or so. You know, when you identify something, I thought there would be no way I'd ever walk away from building or doing my own thing. But then you discover some cool technologies and realize you can bring some value to them. And I think that's the stage I'm at. I'm like, it would really take a lot for me to give a lot of my time to something that someone else is building. I see the value in something that,

And I get that excited feeling that doesn't happen very often at that level. So there's some cool things in the works and cool technology I've identified. And all of this is just back to what the original goal was of supporting those smaller brands. I still think I'm going to be able to do that even better than I would have imagined. So for me, it's I like keeping all those relationships and just tracking and staying in touch and always being willing to help however I can.

Yeah, absolutely. And I think that's great. I mean, you know, our industry is such a relationship based industry, I will say it's like, you know, the industry is so big, right? Because there's so much movement of goods in a sense, right? But at the same time, like from a

perspective, it also feels like very small, right? It's like, you know, there's all these people to know, but they're like, do you know this person? Yeah, yeah, I know them. I just was talking to them last week or something, right? So it's very connected in that sense, which I think is a great thing. And it's interesting too to hear, you know, how...

you know, going after doing kind of what you, you knew in a sense, right. A 3PL, right. And, and trying to do operationally that, that type of business led to the discovery of, Oh, we could do something from like a solutions perspective on the software side. Um,

instead so so definitely you know we'll be curious as that fleshes out more and gets out there further into the the market and stuff to to learn more about that here on the podcast as well but let's talk a little bit about because you mentioned you you have some involvement with beauty connect right the the conference there so i guess tell us a little bit about that how that came about and i i'd be curious too i mean for people that are listening like you know

having involvement in a conference like that, like, you know, how does that add kind of value to what you're trying to do or just value to be within the industry itself? Sure. So yeah, with conferences, I,

Now it's 10 years in the space. And I, it's funny, at Tailored, I was going to all the conferences that they asked me to go to, or that were sponsoring or attending. I was the guy like shipping the product, the booth there, setting up the booth, standing at the booth the whole time, breaking down the booth. And it was exhausting and like a whole different view on it. But at the same time, a couple takeaways from conferences. Yeah.

If you're going to go to a conference, I think you have to plan to invest three years. This was Jim DeVoe advice and he's right. I've seen now that I've seen it over the years, you have to really be at a conference for at least three years to build the presence as a sponsor, having a booth or even just attending. And then what I've identified is when you find a conference where it just feels right and maybe not everyone does, I just really hit it off with the beauty connect team and

And I identified it as a possible good conference to go to. They paid for me to be an attendee. And even just as a first time attendee, that team at beauty connect was asking me ahead of time, like which brands do you want to talk to? We'll bring them over to you. We'll make sure it's a good conference for you. And plenty will say that, but they actually did it like,

I felt like a celebrity on arrival. They're like, Oh, so-and-so brand. This is chrislucas.com. That's like usually takes me hours of strategizing and planning and like pretending to go get a drink at the bar to talk to this person. And they're just making it like a warm intro. It doesn't really go a long way. So I saw the value in that conference for so many reasons. And then when again, the next year, just as good, if not better. And it built a great relationship with that team and what they're doing and

And it kind of, they've been a major part of doing my own thing, regardless of where we end up. Cause in November of 23 was beauty connect LA. And I went out there, I told you Lucas solutions gear, but I just picked it up at the airport. We didn't have a company. I figured, let me just talk to as many people as I can and see what I, where I can add value, whether it's consulting for brands until I have my own warehouse or

getting more resources or talking to brands that might need a warehouse in the future because I'll be ready at some point. And probably the coolest thing was just the support from folks. So if you're honest, like, yeah, Hey, I don't really know. This is the first time I'm wearing this hat. I just picked it up at the airport yesterday. So I met Steve Edelstein and I had known him for a couple of years prior, but he just like,

listened to what I was doing and was like, I'm going to introduce you. He knows everybody in the space. What a cool guy. Become even closer of a friend than we were at this point. And he just like took me around that conference along with the Beauty Connect team, but Steve doing it as well. I met so many people and they were such valuable conversations and it made me feel like

I don't know, confident that, yeah, I can build something. A guy like Steve Edelstein, the king of beauty, is willing to introduce me to contacts because maybe he sees some value in me. So that was the start, even though it was expensive to fly out there. And then you start realizing, oh my God, the companies in the past, I wonder if they were

really budgeting hard on which conferences to attend and make sure there's ROI and value because it's expensive when you travel, hotel. I brought someone out there with me as like my support system. So it was, that was cool. Great start. And then crazy stuff happens, right? I met, I was at dinner on Long Island and I met Jose Quintana by chance. Didn't know who he was at the time and we kind of just hit it off and became friendly.

And then I started watching Mets games more and texting him like when he had a great performance. And this all does tie together. So after I got engaged and was just kind of celebrating that, I think I'm going to have fun doing my own thing. It's working so far. Maybe definitely too early to celebrate, but I was having fun going to Mets games. Felt like there was a lot of cool things happening. So I bought a suite.

for a Mets game. I was like, I'm by friends, family, business contacts, whoever, just bring cool people together and have a good time in a Mets game. Watch Jose pitch maybe. Yeah. So we had like 40, this is all last minute. I had like 45 people ready to attend, which was pretty cool for like a week's notice. I gave people. Yeah, that's good.

And even the beauty contact Christian was flying in from the UK. His girlfriend was flying in from Atlanta. Most people were local that were coming. And the game got rained out and postponed. Yeah. I was like, oh, my God. It took all the people to get 45 people, their information, their tickets electronically, like all of it. And these are the two that are flying in. And they're already in town. And the game was canceled. Yeah.

tickets to the next night just with like a smaller group to go since they were in town and it worked out like because of the rain out jose was pitching that night and i call him jose wintana because he typed his name wrong in my phone the q and w are right next to each other and he typed w just by accident and i started calling him jose wintana obviously pretty fitting uh

And then I've been a Yankees fan all my life, but I started having more fun watching Mets games. Oh, boy. Oh, interesting there. Yeah. I've always been there for both teams. Grew up a Yankees fan, but it made it more fun when you're somehow connected to the team. Even though it's very minimal. Like, yeah, okay, I can text Jose after the game and say, great game, or whatever we want to talk about. Yeah.

But so what happened was we're at that game with beauty connect folks and my Mets contact. Cause I'd gone to a bunch of games. Like I started going all the time. The end of that season, they were out of the post, like no chance of making the playoffs. Tickets were more reasonable. I was behind home plate every time Jose was pitching. And we're sitting there and I was like, I don't know what I'm going to do with this suite for next year. I got a 60 person section, um,

book for whatever game I decide. And Christian from beauty connect was like, well, we're doing the New York event in June. Do you want to like use that in some way? So then the Mets contact is there and we're looking at the dates and beauty connect was scheduled for, believe it or not, because they're from the UK. The Mets were playing in London the day of beauty connect, New York. Oh, it's like trading places. Yeah. Went and changed the date of the event. It was early on enough. Oh, wow.

communicated marketed that much and they changed the date to line up with a Mets game and it turned into a real the plan was oh I'll have a warehouse ready by then and conserve friends and it was like two weeks before the event when we found out we don't have a warehouse and I was like I'm gonna make this event valuable somehow I've spent a lot of money to sponsor it yeah and we still like the connections that have come from that

alone, maybe not immediately. I don't view it as like getting my money back. I think these are incredible connections that all appreciated going to a Mets game.

The Mets were 11 games or 10 games under 500 when we went. And I told everyone there, they're going to make the wild card and make a run. I believe in this team, especially Jose. And look what happened. Like they made me look pretty smart. Yeah, definitely. Yeah. Interesting there. And I think, yeah, I mean, I think that's such a loss. They lost the game we were at. And then that's when they won seven in a row right after that and got back in the mix. Oh, see, you guys started it there. Yeah.

I think so. They like to give Grimace a lot of credit. Yeah. Yeah.

supporting them at their lowest point. Yeah. Interesting there. And I think that's a testament to, as you know, we were talking earlier about the, like the relationships in the industry and, you know, it kind of just goes to show like, you know, developing those relationships and, and nurturing them in a sense, you know, pays out those, those long-term dividends, which I think is really important and a great takeaway here from, from this conversation that we've had. And,

You know, I think it's really interesting to learn from you and, you know, learn about your background and what you've experienced in the industry and how everything has kind of

But I think, you know, everything you say, I mean, underlying that is the relationships overall, right? That have kind of helped you to continue to push forward and, you know, maybe not quite know what's next, but has like led you to what's next in a sense. If I acted like I knew what was next, you'd talk to me in three, six months or a year from now and I'd probably be entirely different. We'd laugh at how silly that was. Yeah.

I appreciate that. You can plan the best you can, but you can't see everything that's going to come your way. Good or good and bad obstacles and, and amazing things that you just don't see coming. Like, like I said, I've met some amazing partners, uh,

A lot of it, believe it or not, was because of Beauty Connect, too, like Highline Commerce, the way that they're servicing startup brands and what they're doing and growing. And then they had invested in Rabo, you know, cameras and AI vision software at the pack stations. And I was like, oh, my God, Richard Hurley and the Highline team are doing what I wanted to do in New Jersey with my warehouse. Yeah.

have to talk to them. So like all these cold, that was like, I literally had spent a fortune sponsoring beauty connect. I took 30 minutes out of that conference to go talk to Richard and the rabbit founders. Cause that's worth, I feel like there's really something cool there. Um,

So we'll see what's next. I'll keep you updated. All right. Sounds good. And definitely love Richard over at Highline and Chana at Rabo as well. So definitely appreciate you coming on and talking to me today, Chris. And really interesting to learn about all these different avenues you've gone down in the industry. And, you know, like I said, I think the big takeaway here is that importance of the relationship in the industry, which I think goes such a long way.

So if people are interested in getting in touch with you or learning more about Lucas Solutions, maybe more about what you're building, or maybe they want to give you some money, you mentioned you're going into pre-seed there, right? So what's the best way to get in touch or learn more?

I think my email is probably on my LinkedIn or anybody can reach out to me on LinkedIn. I'm on there all the time checking it and try to stay up to date. CDL, Christopher David Lucas. It's just my initials at lucassolutions.com or find me on LinkedIn. You'll see my picture from when I was at Beauty Connect. I took a potential customer or just a good contact to

to the Lakers game. And the first day wearing the Lucas solutions hat, I got on TV at the Lakers game courtside seats. Okay. That became my LinkedIn profile picture. Pretty exciting. So yeah, find me on LinkedIn, send me an email, figure out a way to get in touch. And I'm happy to have conversations with and see how I can add value. Oh,

All right. Awesome. And we'll definitely put all those links at thenewwarehouse.com as well as in the show notes so people can easily find it. So, Chris, thank you once again for your time on the show today. You've been listening to The New Warehouse Podcast with Kevin Lawton. Subscribe and check us out online at thenewwarehouse.com.

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