A day in the life of Molly O'Connor

Molly O'Connor is our guest today. Molly, thank you for sharing your story with us. Let's start at the beginning and move forward from there. At my previous job in B2B marketing at a large media company, I felt like a square peg in a round hole and uninspired in my career.

I was fortunate that my business idea, a mobile locker service for events, was something I could bootstrap to start, and that my then-boyfriend, now-husband was in a position that enabled me to quit my corporate job to focus full-time on my company.

I had never started a business before, and their experience and guidance were a huge benefit as I went through the process. Even though everything fell into place for me in the beginning, growing from one locker trailer operating only in New England to now five mobile locker vehicles covering the Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, and West Coast is the result of a lot of hard work (okay and maybe an extra little luck sprinkled here and there, too!).

From the start, I have been the only full-time team member of The Mobile Locker Co., which has meant putting in serious time on the front line by working as many events myself as I could. It required me to travel quite a bit and there was a time I think I forgot what a weekend was, but I’m now working on stepping back, so I can delegate this responsibility to my event managers. 

Those years of event work were essential, not in just my understanding of all the ins and outs of event operations, but also in creating the personality of the company. Letting go of control has been a very difficult process, one that has, at times, left me with a bit more anxiety than I’d like. 

Probably 80% of the time, that’s followed by something to the effect of, “Oh, you and your husband?” To paint a total picture, I am seldom with my husband when this question is asked and for the first three years, I wasn’t even married yet.

When you do, don’t let it influence your opinion of yourself, of what you’ve accomplished, or of your success. In my opinion, that’s because a woman can, and should, be free to lead however she’d like – be strong, be compassionate, be nurturing, be strict… it doesn’t matter what style you choose.

My company, The Mobile Locker Co (TMLC), provides secure, convenient storage solutions for events. That means renters can get to enjoy their event, event partners can focus on the million other things they have to manage, and our staff can make sure they have time to connect with customers.

I’m proud of the company’s expansion and that I’ve kept my focus on what is important while being able to pivot if needed when big opportunities come my way. But what I’m most proud of has been the connection my event managers and I have been able to make with our customers.

They follow our story and feel like they’re a part of our success. Often it feels as if the media, by and large, is only focused on the obstacles faced by women, but we feel it’s important to also look for opportunities. I think it’s important to take advantage of what’s out there to help women in business, but also to sort of blindly push through any perceived obstacle! 

However, three specific areas come to mind when thinking about what opportunities we have as women. First is the huge amount of support out there for women in business. This is a huge opportunity to create your path, not follow one prescribed for you. It’s about looking into the ways we can show kids what it means to be a strong, successful woman at an early age.

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