Bryan Olson joined 365 Equipment & Supply in 2020. He was promoted from COO to President in 2024. He brought with him 20 years of experience in sales leadership and executive management for Fortune 100 companies. We spoke with him to discover how his background translates to excellence in his current role. Olson’s answers reveal a lot to clients about the spirit and mission of the company as a partner in the supply of building materials and equipment rentals.

How did your extensive background as an accomplished business leader in sales and operations prepare you for your current role?

My history in building materials and construction supplies—running businesses from 50-million to 350-million dollars—really shaped the different phases of my career. I’ve had a lot of mentors. I always say I cut my teeth on sales. Early in my career, I moved from inside sales and customer service to running an inside sales team, doubled revenue, and they put me in a position to go out and sell—a completely different experience.

I sold on a service-first platform and took everything cradle-to-grave. I went from outside sales in the Chicagoland territory, to the Midwest, to a General Manager role. That’s where I developed my management style. I’ve managed different sales groups across different companies. Early in my career, I was very revenue-driven, and eventually I moved into a 350-million-dollar operation with full P&L responsibility.

You joined 365 Equipment & Supply in 2020 and were promoted to President in 2024. What do you think has been the key to your success and growth within the company?

When I came in, we needed a business leader to grow the business and set a clear vision for the future. We rolled up our sleeves and moved the focus to a service-first platform. There are challenges every day, but digging into operations and asking, What is our right to exist? has guided us every day.

There are three ways you can grow your business. One is volume. Two is niche products no one else has. Three is by being service first. We try to win the hearts and minds of customers and employees. Everything we do is driven by communication, service, and making our customers’ jobs easier.

If a customer needs equipment or materials and we’re still sourcing it, I tell our people: overcommunicate. One of the best ways to out-service the competition is simply to keep people informed. Our tagline is “steadfast reliability,” and we live it every day. If someone calls at 4:30 and the trucks are loaded or an order changes, we do our best to be flexible. It’s a juggling act, but it’s all part of the service-first platform.

Having spent 20 years in sales leadership and operations for Fortune 100 companies, what lessons have you brought to 365 that have shaped how it serves customers today?

Accountability. Everyone has to be accountable for what they’re doing every day. People need clear goals, and our monthly check-ins with employees are huge. Communication internally and externally is everything.

We’re also expanding our reach into Wisconsin, Ohio, and Indiana. We already service jobsites and customers from Chicagoland up through Milwaukee and Madison, and the next phase is looking at other businesses like ours to open markets we already naturally feed into.

The construction industry is evolving rapidly. How is 365 adapting to new technologies and industry trends, as well as customer expectations?

We’ve adopted a program called Rouse Analytics. It gives us great feedback—utilization rates, rental rates across the Midwest, real-time pricing, and optics on our fleet and what we should be thinking of purchasing on the equipment side of the business. A big part of our business is national agreements with larger equipment companies, acting almost like procurement for them. We constantly evaluate what’s out there and whether we have the right equipment for upcoming projects.

We’re also focused on attracting larger subcontractors and GCs who may not know us yet. We can rent a lot of equipment quickly, which builds goodwill. And we go above and beyond to find equipment and building materials they can’t always source.

What kinds of challenges do you help clients overcome on building projects?

Data centers are driving so much construction right now, and many are in remote places—the same with solar energy projects. Getting equipment and materials into those places is a challenge. Another big challenge is allocation and long lead times on certain equipment, so we’re always looking ahead: what to invest in, what projects are coming, and how to take friction out of the business.

The reality is that GCs and subs might have to call 30 different people for equipment and materials. We’re a true one-stop shop. That’s how we’ve doubled our revenue in a short amount of time: servicing customers with lots of options and competitive pricing.

Lately, construction in Chicago and Illinois has had challenges, but we’re bullish on Chicago and the Midwest.

Are there any achievements you’re most proud of at 365 so far you’d like to highlight?

I’m proud of the way we service our customers. And I’m proud of how much we’ve grown in such a short time, especially during a challenging time in commercial construction.

What differentiates 365 Equipment & Supply from other suppliers in the construction industry?

We want our customers to be happy. We want repeat customers. We are nothing without them; they keep us in business and feed our families.

We also have a wide scope of offerings that others don’t. On the equipment side, we compete with equipment companies; on the materials side, with building distributors. But we offer both. We can tell a contractor: We have drywall, scissor lifts, and general construction equipment. That’s a major point of difference.

We’re constantly evolving our product mix and making capital expenditures to invest in the business. When I came in, we were going through other suppliers, and we’ve worked hard to buy direct from manufacturers and be important to our key partners. We treat our manufacturers like we treat our customers.

It’s a consultative, procurement-style approach. We want to make customers’ lives easier. They shouldn’t have to think twice about when materials will arrive or call seven suppliers for one thing. They call us, and we make it work and get it there on time. Steadfast Reliability: we live it every day.

Call 365 Equipment & Supply for Full-Service Construction Needs

Go to 365 Equipment & Supply online to search our extensive array of products, materials, and rentals available to you. Call (847) 756-3807, and a team member will answer your questions about supplying your next project.