Driverseat

We're building the largest passenger transportation franchise in the world. Driverseat provides incredible opportunities for aspiring business owners to build a super scalable business that is designed to work in every community, rural or urban. 

My vision for the future is to build a company founded on transparency, authenticity and prosperity. Our renewed mission statement is "To create incredible opportunities and epic lives." 
We're refocusing and renewing our foundation to reflect what we've learned over the years as well as where we want to be in the future. 

Leveraging the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS), we'll evolve from a founder led company to a systems led company. Processes will be simplified at every opportunity, technology will be leveraged to its greatest extent, data will drive our decisions and we'll solve business challenges with ease. Our team is and will continue to be the best in the industry, working toward a common vision.

Driverseat is North America's fastest growing transportation franchise. We offer shuttle services direct to consumer, to other businesses and to government agencies. Specializing in small group charters, Driverseat is your household name for all things transportation including airport ground transportation, wine and beer tours, wedding shuttles, corporate employee commuter shuttles, and microtransit solutions.

President & Co-Founder

Gregor Homes

Strategic Planning, Operations, Marketing - Migrating the business through a changing home building / renovation market.

Vice President & General Manager

JMP Engineering

Managing two Branch offices with a focus on resource and project management.  Includes developing business plans, career plans, fiscal budgets, and facilitating 7 Habits Training.

Branch Manager

Husky Injection Molding Systems

Leading a team of 17 electrical Engineers and Technologists in Production and Development Engineering capacities.

Engineering Team Leader

Developing global purchasing strategies for electrical components, including risk mitigation plans, eliminating single source suppliers, pricing negotiations, and spend analysis.

Global Commodity Manager

Electrical Designer

Driverseat is a passenger transportation franchise, which means that we move people for a living. 

But I'm not in the transportation business. I'm in the people business. Our mission is to create incredible opportunities and epic lives. Franchising gives you the opportunity to work autonomously with a proven system for making money, using a recipe that was developed by some smart people (namely… me in this case…)

Every day, I have the responsibility and privilege to direct the vision of our company, setting the course for years to come. I embrace servant leadership and believe that if people are going to spend more time in their work than they do with their family, they had better enjoy it. 

I love learning about people, and having the deeper conversations. I reject rhetoric and posturing. There are only so many hours in the day, and I want them to be filled with richness and realness. 

I guess I should add a bit about myself…

I have three young daughters, and I’m a very involved Dad. I have high expectations and want them to grow up to be strong, resilient and independent women who feel they can do whatever the heck they want with their lives. 

I love working with my hands - In 2019 I began a major overhaul on my house and have completely renovated it down to the wall studs… every room…

I’m extremely passionate about coaching others, which makes my role as franchisor a perfect fit for me. Every day, I work with entrepreneurs to help them grow their business. 

I love music and play the guitar. I’ve been dabbling with piano a bit and think it might be my next project. 

I’m great at sales, because I’ve never felt like I was selling anything. I present opportunities to people who need what I have, and partner with those who will fully invest in themselves and the brand.

Luke Bazely

Quality Sausage Company

Sr. Director of Transformation 

Director of Lean Transformation

Performance Team

Facilitated domestic and international “Implementation Project” teams as a 3rd partner logistics service that provided product storage, transportation, supply chain management, and consumer needs for over 200+ accounts within the US, UK, and Denmark. Drove diverse plant and transportation workflows through the examination of CPU/SKU reporting, order fulfillment, safety reinforcement, logistical architectures, and internal team communications with a project budget of $60 million.

Manager of Global Implementation

AmeriCold Inc.

Pipelined high-volume operations for cold storage and commercialized temperature-controlled warehouse, managing the financial controls, KPI impacts, ROI performance, and transformation scheduling for over 33 large-scale customers.  
•	Spearheaded the highest SQF facility audit score within the region, 95%, after transforming the traditional method of sequential processes into a new wave strategy for break zones and cluster picking. 
•	Presented and gained C-level approval for Nationwide usage of a paperless method and an Individual Development Template. 
•	Reducing over $180k in department operational costs (OpEx) by restructuring job activities and clerical duties with vendors. 
•	Acknowledged by Americold for the fastest record in full-cycle WMS implementation to project closure timeline. 
•	Personally selected to head the company’s integration of the legacy WMS system into a Tier 1 JDA Red Prairie application.
•	Designed and launched a custom WMS solution for cross-docking and organizing 96k pallets annually.

Sr. Operations Manager 

National Freight Industries

Maintained a high level of customer satisfaction for a 24/7 1.2 million sqft. facility focused on delivering a behavior-based continuous improvement model and communicating improvement programs to over 350+ employees within a $22 million P&L. Blueprinted critical business operations through complex financial management, FTP transaction orchestration, customized solutions, and driving services for 175+ stores and VARIDESK, including 3 DCs located in Canada, Nevada, and Pennsylvania.
•	Transformed the site from 6 of 11 red metrics into all green metrics within 3 months by introducing a tiered operating system.
•	Awarded for setting 6 all-time Lowe’s and NFI records while sustaining KPIs at 99% during a volume increase of 29.5%.
•	Pivoted entire operations to improve available resources to complete assigned projects with strict deadlines due to a demand increase of 170% more than the company forecasted. 
•	Utilized a cluster wave strategy to optimize operational functions within WMOS, resulting in a 26% reduction in labor costs.
•	Grew team productivity rates by over 40% after reassessing the associate’s ability to perform daily tasks such as inbound, outbound, data entry, reverse logistics, special projects, and non-conforming initiatives.  
•	Coached, mentored, and promoted 30% of 21 employees, including a 50% internal promotion rate for the clerical team.

Continuous Improvement Operations Manager- Lowe's Regional Build Distro Center 

Clayton Supply

ISO 9001-certified LEAN and Continuous Improvement Leader overseeing national inventory, 5S programs, production boards, employee training, PFMEA creation, and Value Stream Mapping (VSM). Supervised a department worth $70 million in raw materials, handling financial activities consisting of AR, AP, P&L, GL and PO liability for all transactions across 5 facilities.
•	Generated a 125% volume increase and a 25% improvement in all KPI metrics in less than 6 months, which accounted for $1 million in financial ROI improvement within the first year. 
•	Decreased overall failure modes by over 25% and improved NPS scores from 2.5 to solid 9’s.

Cost Analyst

If you are reading this, most likely I KNOW what you are thinking. Some variety of the following

Funniest Lean guy, huh?

Well let me try and share some perspective on why the brand, the man, and the method exists in the first place.

24 hours a day, 7 days a week, I CONSTANTLY look for ways to relate to people.

Well one thing almost everybody loves is a good laugh. 

As I continue my journey toward putting Lean into the world, I had a crazy thought.

Why not connect the two?

I am a sucker for a good process. After growing a career in various leadership roles, it became extensively clear that business results have a direct relationship to human behavior. One of my core strengths is creating an environment that makes it really clear how to win, then CONVICTING you, SEDUCING you, into wanting the win.

I've had the opportunity over my career to navigate organizational psychology, team dynamics, and steer outcomes toward a happy medium between business results, and the human condition.

I LOVE creative, innovative, low or no cost solutions. If you use paper to solve anything in your business, we need to talk! 

Advice, collaboration, discussion, perspective, problem solving, can all be had for a decent dinner spot and a good mojito (especially mango!)

My career started in hospitality, shifted to manufacturing, then third party logistics. In that time, I have climbed both the social and corporate ladders by being a relatable human being. Full of flaws, shortcomings, and all that comes with being a part of humanity. I openly share the secret sauce to business success, and I will write it below for the whole world to see, free of charge. 

(Do consider the mojito comment above, however)

The secret -

1. Want to solve the problem more than everyone else in the room

2. Stop at nothing to gain clarity around the problem 
(and clarity for your business partners)

3. Socratically get the team to identify a solution

4. Do WHATEVER IT TAKES to implement that solution RIGHT NOW!

I have pinned an article on my LinkedIn profile if you would like to know the basics on "the Rate of Acceptance" within a team.

I have written a book about how to solve problems, by reframing and standardizing your problem solving strategy.

https://www.amazon.com/Chasing-Excellence-Jake-Harrell/dp/0578727773

Software: SAP ERP, Power BI, Tableau, JDA Red Prairie, Salesforce CRM, IBM AS400, Blue Yonder, Hi Jump, Tamlin, Datacor, Accountmate, Infor, Netsuite, Manhattan, Github, Emeat, EDI, Fast API, SQL Database, WMS Platforms, Minitab, MS Office 365, Google Workspace, CCTVs, Zoom

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The Battle

Luke Bazely

Jake Harrell, LSSBB

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