Today we’d like to introduce you to S. Colin McDermaid.
Hi S. Colin, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I got my start in the courier industry at a very young age as a driver for a national courier company. After about six months behind the wheel, I was given an opportunity to move into dispatch. It quickly became clear that I had a strong aptitude for the logistics side of the business. Within just a few years I was promoted from Dispatcher to Operations Manager to Terminal Manager and then to Area Manager by the age of 27.
In that role I oversaw operations across the western United States for the next three years. After that time, I decided to branch out and start my own courier company with a focus on the medical logistics sector. I launched the business with very little capital and a handful of loyal drivers who believed in the vision and came with me from my previous employer.
Within a few months we secured our first major account—an animal reference pathology company that needed daily specimen pickups from veterinary clinics throughout Utah and delivery to their central laboratory for processing. That client became a catalyst for our growth and opened the door to relationships and opportunities that played a major role in where we are today.
After a couple of years working together, the company’s founder and CEO—someone I had built a strong relationship with—told me the business was being acquired by a national animal pathology company. He would remain CEO, but the acquiring company used a national courier provider for their logistics. However, he advocated for our company to handle the Utah and Idaho work locally through the national courier company they had in place, and they agreed.
During my first meeting with the national courier’s account representative, he received a call and told the person on the other line, “Hold on a minute—I might have a solution for you.” He then asked if we could perform hospital stat runs in Utah and Idaho. At that point we hadn’t done that type of work as our own company but based on my prior experience and our confidence in our team, I told him we could absolutely do it.
A few months later we signed the contracts and began operations. Initially the work was limited because they had been using another local courier company in Utah for nearly a decade. But when we were given opportunities, we made sure to deliver exceptional service. Over time we began receiving more runs, and they started relying on us to step in when their own drivers were unavailable.
We demonstrated our versatility by handling everything from small courier vehicles to box trucks and even tractor-trailers when needed. As the healthcare network we were supporting continued to grow, new routes emerged, and they increasingly trusted us to take them on rather than hiring additional internal drivers. Eventually many of the stat deliveries also shifted to us.
Today we handle the vast majority of their work in the region, and that partnership helped establish us as one of the preferred medical logistics providers in our market.
That visibility opened the door to direct relationships with other healthcare networks as well. Over the past five years many of those organizations have approached us to support their medical supply chain operations. Today we either operate or assist with a large portion of the healthcare logistics infrastructure in our region. We also support many of the major laboratories and pharmaceutical companies operating here.
Today, we are a multi-million-dollar corporation recognized as one of the preferred solutions for healthcare network supply chain management in our region. We are also proud of the contributions we make to our local communities here in Utah.
We have helped set the standard for how medical supply chain management should be done and look forward to continued growth and expansion across the nation.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
No, it definitely has not been a smooth road. In many ways, I believe we failed our way to success.
While I always felt I had a unique mind for the operational side of logistics, I only had a high school education and very limited experience on the business side when I started my company. I had to teach myself many of the fundamentals of running a business through books, online resources, and a lot of real-world trial and error. Things that may seem basic—like building a profit and loss statement, managing expenses, understanding cash flow, and other financial essentials—were all things I had to learn along the way.
Another lesson I learned the hard way was understanding the true value of the service we provide. In the early days I would bid work far too low just to win the business. That approach caused us to stumble a few times during the first couple of years. Eventually I realized that we needed to price our services based on the level of quality and reliability we were delivering, while also ensuring we covered our operational costs and maintained the margins necessary to grow.
Starting with very little capital also created its own challenges. As the company began to grow, cash flow was extremely tight for the first three to four years. I had to get used to working longer hours than I ever had before while paying myself next to nothing. At the same time, I was launching new projects while constantly asking myself how we were going to afford them. There were periods where we were behind on bills and I had to deal with more than a few difficult calls from creditors.
That said, even during the toughest moments, I always believed in the vision I had for the company. Looking back, those hardships didn’t just shape the business—they shaped me as a person. They forced me to grow, adapt, and become the leader I needed to be.
Today I often mentor young entrepreneurs, and many of them tell me they are facing the same types of struggles I once did. I always tell them that the people who ultimately succeed are the ones who keep pushing forward and keep getting back up when things get hard. Success is often just a matter of time between where you are today and where you’re working to go.
We’ve been impressed with McDermaid Inc, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
We are a medical courier company that specializes in creating customized delivery solutions for healthcare networks. Our focus is on supporting the healthcare supply chain by ensuring medications, medical equipment, and other critical supplies reach patients and facilities quickly, safely, and reliably.
What sets us apart is our commitment to service and our ability to provide a full range of transportation solutions. Our fleet ranges from small courier vehicles to cargo vans, box trucks, and even 53-foot trailers, allowing us to support everything from urgent deliveries to large-scale logistics needs. This flexibility allows us to partner with healthcare systems in a way that many traditional courier services cannot.
We’ve also worked hard to streamline the delivery process for healthcare networks by implementing real-time GPS tracking, scanning, and clear communication so clients always know where their shipments are and what to expect. That transparency and reliability are essential in healthcare logistics.
What we’re most proud of as a brand is our role in creating solutions that directly impact patient care. Whether it’s delivering life-saving medication, critical medical supplies, or specialized equipment, we know that what we do helps healthcare providers serve their patients better. Our mission is simple: make healthcare logistics dependable, efficient, and responsive when it matters most.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
The Art of Negotiation In The Business World
The Obstacle is the way
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.mcdermaidinc.com
