When I first met Devin Johnson, he was the top sales representative at Atlas Marketing. I looked up to him a lot because I could tell he was at the top of his game.

 

However when 2007-2008 hit and Atlas collapsed, he suddenly realized that he was in way deep over his head financially, because of real estate he had purchased. Desperate to provide for his new bride, Devin got to work. 

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As he puts it, “I got jobs I didn’t want and hated, then worked my way up to jobs I liked, until I got to where I am now.”

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Devin sold Dish network satellites every evening, and spent the day handling orders. He did this for a few years until he noticed an opportunity in the shipping logistics space—so he looked more into it and decided to build a company off of it.

 

Thats how FirstMile was born. In the beginning, Devin did everything from the logistics to the selling, to even picking up packages in the middle of the night. Using the lessons he learned from the downfall of Atlas, Devin was careful to build this company the smart way.

 

Eventually, he sold it to one of the largest companies from Japan. That worked well for a few years, until leadership changed and they decided to divest the company. Then in a surprise move, Devin decided that he wanted to buy the company back, where he is now helping to take it to new heights.

 

Looking back, he told me, “It’s kinda weird how the best times of my life are also the hardest times of my life.”