The latest issue of PowerTorque features the amazing Daniel Louisy, who combines trucking with ADD and YouTube to run a successful aggregates transport operation, become a social media influencer, and channel his attention deficit disorder into entertainment.
PowerTorque’s European Correspondent, Will Shiers, visited Daniel at his HQ on the outskirts of London and experienced the whirlwind of activity which is Ashville Aggregates. You can read all about Will’s visit in the latest issue of PowerTorque, available now as a digital download, or get a hard copy here.
On arrival at the Ashville yard Will found that instead of being greeted by a growling dog blocking his passage to the portable office, there’s a cameraman. That’s because this place is run by social media influencer Daniel, and there’s nothing this tech-savvy boss does that isn’t filmed and uploaded to YouTube. Daniel is a new breed of young operator, who has not only embraced social media, but has helped to build his business on the back of it.
“You need to remember that I’m not second, third or fourth generation, and when I started I didn’t have 30 years of clients already on my books,” says the 38-year-old. “You have to work to your strengths, and this [YouTube videos] is one of mine.”
I’m not just talking about a few hundred followers either. The company’s YouTube channel has more than 200,000 subscribers, and the ‘Ashville Weekly’ bulletins frequently get in excess of 250,000 views. More than 1.5 million people watched his ‘A Day in the Life of a Construction Entrepreneur’ episode, and 238,000 tuned in to see him crash a brand new Mercedes-Benz Actros demonstrator into the back of a VW Golf.
So why do so many people watch every week? Well it helps that it’s entertaining (where else do you go to watch someone play golf with a Liebherr clamshell and a VW Golf?), and that frontman Daniel is charismatic, outspoken, and extremely likeable. But the main reason why it’s such compelling viewing, is simply because this self-made boss has a great story to tell. After all, there aren’t many companies that can boast of expanding from zero to 35 trucks and a railhead in just eight years.
