Wooden doors propped up on saw horses — those were the desks when Heather Hoover-Salomon started her internship at a tiny Austin startup called uShip. And, of course, you had to bring your own computer.
"I was like, 'OK, alright, this is startup life, got it,'" she recalled. "There was a Ping-Pong table. That was very important. It was the early days. So it was your quintessential startup, what people have now seen in Silicon Valley. I kind of lived that ... and never in my wildest dreams expected to stay."
She even wondered if the business would be around in a year.
Things have changed dramatically since then, for uShip and Salomon. The company said its online marketplace, which connects shippers and companies that need things shipped, handled a record $200 million in shipping volume last year. Salomon steadily climbed uShip's leadership ranks, changing positions 11 times over 18 years until becoming CEO this spring, a promotion from chief operating officer.
In those nearly two decades, she had inquiries from other companies and even wrote four resignation letters.
There were several times, she said, that she felt the business was headed in the wrong direction. She brought data about the issues to leaders, keeping a resignation letter ready to go if managers didn't take her seriously.
But they took her seriously every time, and they rewarded her ambition.
The company's founders, early employees and many others in its extended family recently threw Salomon a surprise happy hour at Central Machine Works where the reality of her journey really set in.
"It's still hard for me to even put into words what the power in that room felt like," she said. "I still get goosebumps because you're talking about all of the people that built this company, built the foundation. Every one of them was there, and they all had a role in helping me get here. But what I forgot along the way, which especially the females in the room reminded me, they're like 'We always knew you would be there. This was never a question or doubt.'"
Where did you grow up, and what was your childhood like?
I had an amazing upbringing. I grew up on a farm in a little town in northeast Texas called Pittsburg. We're known for poultry, peaches, farming and as the childhood home of the late race car driver Carroll Shelby. My graduating high school class was 106. It's pretty tiny. You know everyone and everyone knows you. I love my roots. I love my hometown. But I was never meant to be there long term.
I was fortunate enough to have an amazing internship at Pilgrim's Pride Chicken Corporation, which was headquartered in Pittsburg. It's since been sold to a Brazilian beef company.
We ran cattle. My dad and mom ran a jewelry store. My dad is a jeweler by trade. My mom was a fashion merchandising major. So I was brought up working. That's what we do. I was cleaning jewelry cases as soon as I could walk. I'd go around with Windex to clean the cases. Then at night, we got to go feed the cows. My grandparents also had a full working farm. They ran cattle as well.
When you're not focused on uShip, where can we find you?
With my kids. They take up all my time, in the best of ways. So just being with family. That is typically just outside on our patio, and we're playing whatever it is of the day. One of our favorites that I take the kids to often is the Zilker Botanical Garden.
If you could live anywhere else in the world, where would it be?
That would be in a little village in South France, and that's where my husband's family's home is. I actually met my husband at uShip. He was the first intern, also unpaid. He's no longer with the business. On day one, I literally unplugged his computer and deleted his work because I thought I was unplugging a lamp to plug my computer in. I mean, that's how this office was. I like to remind him anytime I mess anything up, "You knew what you were getting into."
Outside of the business world, what issues are most important to you?
Especially being in the capital of Texas, it's very difficult for me not be fully supportive and involved in all of the women's rights and LGBTQ-plus rights and in general, human rights. I will go march in support, do everything I can in that regard. I took my daughter to her first women's march two years ago. That was so amazing and powerful. That was a really, really big moment. And then my son and I typically we are involved in the Pride Parade. We've enjoyed doing that. There's a lot of fighting to be done, and what I'm trying to do as a parent is instill those core values, like what it means to be a good human and a good citizen of the world.
It seems like we're fighting for things that, in a lot of ways, were achieved a long time ago.
One of the most influential people in my life was my mom's mom, my grandmother. She passed away in 2005, as I was getting this internship at uShip, and she was always a trailblazer. She pushed the limits on everything. She was the first person in her family to not only graduate high school but also college. And she was an educator because she believed that if we don't teach kids accordingly, and help grow them into good citizens of the world, then we're going to continually be fighting for the right for a female to vote.
I've thought about her so much in the last few years because I'm just like, "Oh my gosh, the things that she was so proud of that had been accomplished when she passed ... many of those are eroding." And that's scary.
Who would you take on a road trip to Big Bend? Three other seats in the car, no family or close friends.
I feel like I need a good astronomer. I don't know who that is — someone who will bring a telescope and talk to me about the stars. And I would want to road trip with Willie Nelson. You know he's got to bring his guitar. I would love to have a conversation with that man — so much respect and love for him and everything he's done.
We're gonna' need another wildcard with no family, no friends. On road trips you just gotta' have music. Give me Snoop Dogg. Oh my god, we're gonna have an amazing time in the desert.
Do you prefer to cook at home or go out somewhere?
I'm even mix. But when life is really hectic, I am like, let's go out. Right now I'm in the "let's go out" mode because we are gearing up to actually go to France. So I'm going to work remotely for a little bit so we can be with family. So right now we're going out, and our favorite restaurant in Austin is the patio at Matt's El Rancho.
What's your order?
Top shelf frozen margarita. And I change up my food order all the time.
Got a favorite book?
"The Guest List" by Lucy Foley.
What about podcasts?
Anything true crime. Any time I'm doing like gardening, housework, working out ... I'm listening to different podcasts, and what I listen to the most is "Crime Junkie Podcast." "Disappearances" is another that I really like. And I've recently gotten into "High Strange," which is really interesting. It's all about extraterrestrials and conspiracy theories.
Heather Hoover-Salomon
Title: CEO, uShip
Age: 39
Hometown: Pittsburg (Texas)
Education: Bachelor's degree, University of Texas at Austin
Family: Husband, Matthieu Salomon; two children
Email: heather@uship.com
