Hidden Gems: Meet Douglas Kessler of Professional Courier Services

Today we’d like to introduce you to Douglas Kessler. 

Hi Douglas, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
During college, my best friend, Andrew, and I found a hobby in producing wedding videos for clients throughout Indiana and Michigan. Our humble hobby business originated as DNA Creative Pictures, then rebranded in 2015 to DNA Creative LLC, growing and serving clients throughout the entire midwest. 

In 2016, Andrew and I both graduated college, myself from Grand Valley State University, and Andrew from Michigan State University. In 2017, DNA Creative received a large contract from a BIG-10 University to overhaul digital signage in an on-campus facility and produce a series of educational videos for their college of Food Science and Human Nutrition. This contract afforded DNA Creative the ability to transition both Andrew and I into the business full-time. Weeks after signing the contract, both Andrew and I left our corporate roles, opened a commercial office for DNA Creative, and began serving clients throughout the state of Indiana and Michigan. 

A few years later, DNA Creative was sold and both Andrew and I moved on in our careers. Around that time, I was fortunate to get back into the hospitality industry and open the Embassy Suites by Hilton Grand Rapids Downtown in 2019 – bringing Embassy Suites to the West Michigan market for the first time. Due to the incredible team of over 200+ employees our leadership team assembled before opening, Embassy Suites GR placed #1 out of 254 Embassy Suites hotels globally in Hilton Satisfaction and Loyalty – not an easy task! 

In late 2019, I received an offer to join the Real Estate industry as Vice President of Operations for a Grand Rapids-based commercial and residential holdings company. This opportunity allowed me to serve with a small business owner’s hat, manage investments and partnerships, and even put me in charge of selling one of the companies under the holding company. 

After about 2 years in that role, I was ready to make a change out of real estate and get into another industry that has always inspired me – Logistics. In early 2022, I joined Professional Courier Services as President and now lead a 40-year-old west Michigan-based last-mile and same-day/expedited delivery company, working closely with our operations and sales teams. I truly love PCS and we have grown significantly in 2022, expanding our services, fleet, and customer mix. 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road has not always been smooth. After leaving college, I was forced with the decision to either continue in a corporate role as General Manager of a hotel, or leave financial security, and take on debt/risk/liability/sign a commercial office lease and open a small business and invest capital. Fortunately, this decision turned out to be fruitful for all parties involved, but at the time, it was a very hard and risky decision to make at 24 years old. Launching and growing a small business requires patience, tenacity, respect, and humility. During the process of opening and growing DNA Creative, I learned a lot about myself and what it truly takes to grow a small marketing agency from a hobby business to an industry leader in our region. 

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
It’s the mission of Professional Courier Services to provide delivery solutions you can trust. We aim to exceed customer expectations by providing superior last-mile freight and transportation solutions including expedited, last-mile, mail service, 3PL / fulfillment, and local delivery services. Our team of professionals is totally committed to providing you with a service that far exceeds your expectations. We put forward a tremendous extra effort every day to give this level and quality of service and we are always striving to deliver the most efficient and effective solutions in the industry by utilizing state-of-the-art technologies, highly trained friendly, and experienced staff as well as a solid infrastructure. 

PCS excels in our service offerings because we are truly passionate about what we do. From our drivers to our leadership team – PCS is a family. Each day, we wake up and come to work to enrich the lives and business operations of our clients. We approach every client and opportunity with a hospitality focus, catering to their delivery and packaging needs with the utmost care and respect. 

PCS’ fastest-growing divisions exist in the medical/pharmaceutical and warehousing industries. One of the most rewarding services we offer at PCS is the expedited delivery of medical specimens and surgical equipment. Most of the time, these services require us to package tissues or devices and ship them expeditiously on private or commercial aircraft to their final destination. This process requires us to move fast with great precision, detail, and care to ensure successful delivery for a patient or surgeon in need somewhere in the world. We are very proud of the work we do in this division and feel good knowing we are just one link in the chain to helping save a life. 

Before we go, is there anything else you can share with us?
I’m often asked, “how did you do what you’ve done at such a young age?” The response to that question is usually followed with a smile and a simple response of, “humility, hard work, focus, and determination”. In order to do anything successfully in this life, you have to believe in your product or service, and surround yourself with a team that feels the same way. I never touch an opportunity without fully believing in it to the point where I would immediately invest in it. This is very important for me and helps me achieve equilibrium in my professional and personal life. 

Above all, people matter most. I treat my customers and my team as if they’re family – because they are. I seek to ensure I am doing all I can do to support them, be there for them when times are bad (and good!) and empower them to do their best work. I’m a firm believer in this mindset and it’s the key to a successful life. Treating others exactly how they and you want to be treated. 

Contact Info:

• Website: www.pcscourier.com