Episode 27: 50 Years of Business, Boundary-Breaking, and the Art of the Pivot with Rick Loesel
We met in the most beautifully organic way—through our mutual friend Christine, whose own leap from corporate leader to fractional executive you’ve already heard on this podcast. When Christine told me, "Vanessa, you have to talk to Rick," I knew I was in for a treat. But I didn’t realize I was about to sit down for a masterclass in fifty years of American business history, logistics revolutions, and the wisdom of knowing when to walk away.
Today, Rick lives a life that so many corporate climbers dream of: spending eight months of the year in Newport Beach, California, and four months in a Chicago condo right on the lake, traveling through Rome and Paris with his wife, Barbara, and acting as a trusted mentor and resource for his family.
But getting to this place of deep peace and freedom wasn't a straight line. It was a half-century journey of taking massive calculated risks, standing up to corporate rigidity, and mastering the art of human connection.
"White Bread" Idyllic Fields and a Runaway Tractor
To understand Rick’s unflappable confidence, you have to go back to his childhood on the North Shore of Long Island, in a small town called Syosset. Back then, it was a "white bread idyllic" community of just 2,000 people. There was a single tiny A&P grocery store, a saloon with swinging doors, and a Catholic congregation so small they held Sunday mass in the local firehouse, setting up folding chairs in the morning and packing them away when church was done.
It was a safe, beautiful world where kids ran free all day, and the neighborhood was dominated by potato farms and cornfields. It was also where Rick learned to drive his very first vehicle: a neighbor’s tractor, which he promptly lost control of, requiring a frantic rescue from the farmer.
But the real world was expanding fast. When a massive central high school was built to accommodate the post-war exodus from New York City, Rick’s class size exploded from 25 kids to 450 overnight. It was his first taste of a major culture shock, but he adapted beautifully, finding his footing in sports and academics.
Rick credits his family’s immigrant roots for his deep-seated work ethic. His paternal grandfather, who emigrated from Alsace-Lorraine, climbed into management at the American Can Company. His maternal grandfather was a Scottish coal miner who spent twelve hours a day picking coal underground before bringing his five children to America.
"The work ethic in the family pretty much promoted hard work, honesty, respect for others, and the valuing of others. And to own the results."
And own them he did. By age 12, Rick was cutting grass for a neighbor's landscaping business. On the day he turned 16, he got a job at a local supermarket, learning every aspect of the grocery business—from stocking shelves to mopping floors and inventory control—except cutting meat (which was strictly protected by the union). By the time he was in high school, he was so good at his job that he played two competing supermarket chains against each other, negotiating a rate that was two and a half times the union scale.
The Fried Apple Pie Rebellion
While in college, Rick decided to get married and needed a stable job with growth potential. He landed at Campbell Soup, a company renowned for its training and its strict "promotion from within" policy. Campbell even paid for 75% of his college tuition.
Rick's deep store-level knowledge of the grocery business turned out to be a massive competitive advantage. By the time he was 21, he was managing corporate accounts and writing 30% to 40% of the business for the New York district—the largest frozen sales district in the entire country.
But as he climbed, he began to bump up against the rigid walls of corporate bureaucracy.
While working with Campbell’s Pepperidge Farm division, Rick landed a massive opportunity. He secured authorization to supply a major fast-food chain with a fried apple pie dessert. The sales from this single account would have instantly eclipsed Pepperidge Farm's entire national volume for the product.
But corporate headquarters shut it down because they didn't do "private label."
"That kind of culture manifests itself in a number of ways," Rick recalled. Frustrated by the "not invented here" syndrome, he realized that a rigid corporate container would always limit his vision.
At age 26, he left Campbell’s safety for a frozen potato supplier, quickly rising to VP of Sales and Marketing. He was running in the fast lane, interacting with legends of the industry like J.R. Simplot—the man who famously put McDonald’s in the French fry business.
Embezzlement and Car Crash
Rick’s career reads like an adventure novel. After moving to Atlanta to take a Senior VP role for a co-op brand, he discovered a devastating family drama: the two sons who inherited the business were embezzling from their widowed mother. When the widow asked Rick to stay and "manage the poison," he looked at the situation, realized it was an unsustainable mess, and walked away to start his own independent brokerage.
Then, a minor car accident changed his perspective overnight.
Though he wasn’t seriously hurt, the crash made him realize how vulnerable he was as a solo entrepreneur. "I'm a one-man band," he realized. "If something happens to me, there's no income."
So, he made a strategic move. He merged his business with a California-based company, relocating to Northern California to run one of their divisions. It was here that Rick helped pioneer a logistics revolution.
At the time, grocery chains had to hold weeks of surplus inventory because shipping was done in rigid, single-product truckloads. Rick envisioned a new model: combining different private label and branded products into single, consolidated rail shipments from California, then distributing them locally by truck.
He took this "combined distribution" pitch directly to the CEOs of major grocery giants like H-E-B in Texas and Publix in Florida. His pitch was simple and effective: "I will reduce your working inventory from 30 days down to seven days. That triples or quadruples your return on capital employed, and you eliminate out-of-stocks."
It was, as Rick described it, "like shooting fish in a barrel." The business exploded, eventually catching the attention of Beatrice Foods and leading to senior leadership roles at AmeriCold.
Stepping Off the Treadmill at P&O
Later in his career, Rick became the president of a division of P&O (Peninsula and Oriental Steamship Lines), a massive multinational conglomerate based in London. His office was right next to the Queen Mother’s residence, requiring him to travel to London four times a year.
But the corporate tides shifted again. The principal stockholders and the CEO (who sat in the House of Lords) decided to liquidate their global port and maritime divisions to sell to the Royal Family of Dubai. Because Dubai didn’t want Rick's specific division, the company liquidated his assets.
Thanks to a strong contract and solid stock options, Rick did incredibly well financially from the liquidation. But it brought him to a crossroads.
He spent the next 10 to 12 years doing high-level consulting, but he increasingly found himself hitting the same frustrating corporate roadblocks:
He consulted on a revolutionary, energy-efficient "low-charge" ammonia refrigeration system that was 40% more efficient and vastly safer than traditional systems, but US builders refused to adopt it because of the "not invented here" syndrome.
He worked on blockchain systems to provide total transparency in food safety, but proprietary companies refused to share their data.
He watched the industry consolidate, with venture capitalists demanding 20%+ returns and constantly looking for quick exit strategies.
"I just wasn't hungry enough to make another career investment of ten years or so and go through all that you have to go through," Rick shared. "So, I backed away."
As our conversation wound down, I asked Rick what advice he would give to young professionals (which he defines as 20s through 40s) navigating today's rapidly changing landscape. His answer was immediate and urgent: AI.
"Get involved in AI somehow.” Just as automation revolutionized the physical supply chains Rick spent his life building, artificial intelligence is reshaping the modern workforce.
But no matter how much technology changes, Rick's journey reminds us of a timeless truth: success isn’t just about the title on your business card or the size of your W-2. It’s about having the courage to take risks, the integrity to own your results, and the wisdom to build a life where you are finally the one holding the keys.
Rick's Tips for Wayfinders
If you are standing at your own career crossroads, wondering whether to take the leap, Rick’s five decades of experience offer invaluable guidance:
Identify the "Keeper of the Keys" Early
In any corporate hierarchy, there is always a "keeper of the keys"—the person who actually has the power to sign off on your idea. And here is the secret: it is almost never the person with the obvious title. "If you don't get the keeper of the keys behind your impetus, you're pissing in the wind," Rick warns. Do the homework, map out the true players, and don't waste your energy trying to sell your vision to gatekeepers who can't actually say yes.Get Creative and Go Around the "No" (The Barbershop Pitch)
When you hit a brick wall, stop trying to force your way through it. Go over, under, or around it. Rick shared a hilarious story of a highly aggressive, difficult retail buyer who refused to see him in his office. Knowing the buyer got his haircut and nails done every other Thursday, Rick went to the same barbershop, paid the barber, sat in the chair right next to the buyer for an hour, and pitched his business there. He got the deal. Human connection happens when you step outside the formal corporate box.Run TO Something, Not FROM Something
When you’re feeling miserable and exhausted in a corporate job, it’s easy to make a desperate escape. But Rick advises making lists: write down the pluses, the minuses, and (most importantly) the fit. If you are going to make a major life change, ensure you can clearly envision what is going to be better on the other side. Don't just flee a bad culture; make sure you are running toward a place that aligns with your core values and allows you to own your results.
Follow Rick
If you want to connect with Rick to swap stories, ask questions about supply chain logistics, or get some sage career advice, he is incredibly open to connecting:
Email:rloesr01@gmail.com
Phone: 310-714-2531
