There is a good reason why Rome wasn’t built in a day, and Sonny Younce understands it perfectly. Through small yet steady steps toward success, he was able to revive A-Annandale, Inc., from the brink of bankruptcy and transform it into a thriving and competitive business. Now among the largest highway marking companies in Northern Virginia, the company enjoys $7.6 million in revenue with aims to double that number in the near future. By embracing diversification and launching new divisions, Younce employs an unwavering work ethic and a revitalized workforce to lead the company toward new horizons.
A-Annandale was founded in 1982 by Jim Whitney, a pioneer in the highway marking industry. Though exceptionally skilled in the field, Whitney had little interest in acting as a manger and didn’t place much emphasis on running the company. As a result, the company depreciated in value during each of the twenty-five years leading up to Sonny’s involvement. This decline culminated in 2005, when one of its workers was fatally injured on the job. With workman’s compensation and general liability coverage skyrocketing and with the sudden and premature death of Whitney himself, Sonny arrived in June of 2007 to what he describes as “a madhouse.” Whitney had left the company to his sister, who had little working knowledge of construction or accounting matters. With $4 million in debt and only marginal profits, the future for A-Annandale looked bleak indeed. Sonny’s wife had been Ms. Whitney’s nurse for several years, and when the distraught woman spoke to Mrs. Younce of her need for a president to run her asphalt marking company, she knew Sonny was just the man for the job.
When Sonny first assumed his position with A-Annandale, he faced stark opposition and friction from the workforce. Wary of an outsider who proposed to revolutionize the established order of the company’s procedures, they even plotted against their new president as he struggled to keep the company afloat. “When I came in the door, I introduced myself and you could actually feel the tension in the space,” he marvels. Indeed, Sonny’s first order of business was a thorough audit of company documentation and practice to cut the budget wherever possible. He slashed overtime and expenditures, ultimately saving the company $600,000 in seven months. “It wasn’t one big thing that I did,” he explains, “but a slew of little things which added up to this big sum.”
“If you listen to what I tell you and do what I say, we’ll change this company together,” he had declared. “We’ll have a vision. If you work hard for me, I’ll work hard for you.”
Sonny again exhibited his commitment to incremental, bite-sized progressions through his investment in new machinery. In their early jobs, he recalls arriving on location for a prime contractor just to face the embarrassment of their out-dated and failing equipment. When faced with so many setbacks, leaders are oftentimes paralyzed by the sheer magnitude of their obstacles. Sonny, however, knew that the process of rejuvenation had to begin somewhere, so he decided to start with buying one new truck. “It was like kids seeing their first toy, it was so shiny and new,” he recalls of his workforce. The pride and relief emanating from his once-begrudging team was tangible, and he leveraged the sentiment to establish a new camaraderie. “If you listen to what I tell you and do what I say, we’ll change this company together,” he had declared. “We’ll have a vision. If you work hard for me, I’ll work hard for you.” Henceforth, he noticed change sweeping through A-Annandale one worker at a time. Each man became more company-oriented, arriving on time and willing to go the extra mile. They had always been a professional company, but the lack of structure and vision had left morale low. Sonny’s impact, however, changed everything.
Though fraught with success, Sonny’s message remains a humble one. “If I can do this, anybody can,” he insists. “I don’t have a college education. I just pulled from all the folks I had worked under, who were all very smart people. They were mentors and I’m grateful for them.” Though he had initially resented these mentors for their high standards and strict expectations, he notes a seminal moment in which a “light clicked” and he realized that he was surrounded by brilliant people from which to learn and grow. With thirty-four years of industry experience under his belt today, one can only imagine the countless lessons he has accumulated by maintaining this open frame of mind.
All these lessons began in Tennessee, where Sonny accepted his first job out of high school with the road building company where both his father and grandfather had been employed. Founded in 1932 amidst the turmoil of the depression, it seemed as though each of its four hundred plus employees was personally committed to the company’s mission and goals. Beginning in a very basic position of general laborer, Sonny worked his way up and eventually found himself employed in the pavement marking division at age twenty-seven—an area he felt particularly drawn to. He felt as though his freshly-painted roads were works of art with a beauty all their own. Then, when his supervisor passed away suddenly, he was promoted to a supervisory position. It was at that point that a more formal mentoring relationship crystallized between himself and the general superintendent, who taught him an array of skills. Sonny learned how to approach his crew, how to formally present himself and his strategies in meetings, and how to approach the logistical aspects of a job so as to maximize profit. “Quality work and timely work got me to where I am today,” he reports.
Ready to press the limits of his capabilities, he decided to strike out on his own in 1995 and distributed his resume all across the U.S. to advertise his services as a consultant. The response was lavish, and he quickly accumulated a number of clients. “I saw purpose in what I was doing,” he says. “Not only was I training them, but I was learning something about myself; that I had the ability to drive, to change, to influence.” Then, armed with “nothin’ but some clothes and a promise,” Sonny reports, he and his future wife accepted positions in Alaska, Las Vegas, and Seattle. Their openness to experience and transition evidences a unique flexibility of character that allowed them to make the most of each experience that came their way, especially when they received the call from Ms. Whitney. When they heard about the opportunity for Sonny at A-Annandale in 2007, they hopped in the car and drove across the country to take up residence in Northern Virginia, where they currently reside.
After working for A-Annandale for several months and realizing the tremendous amount of discipline and focus it would take to turn the company around, he made an offer of purchase to Ms. Whitney in September of 2008. Once she expressed interest, he set about the tedious process of securing a loan from the bank. He recalls a tightening in his chest as the experience unfolded. “Knowing you’re at the threshold of living a dream, it’s like looking through a cloud,” he explains. “You can’t quite touch it, but you know it’s there.” Sonny also notes that, on the day the loan closed, the market fell nine hundred points. In retrospect, he marvels, “I’m most proud of being able to operate in an upside down economy and survive.” Indeed, he threw his utmost effort into his work and turned a profit of $550,000 in his first year of ownership, even after expenditures.
Sonny’s tremendous focus and tenacity can be attributed in large part to his father, who had also dreamed of owning his own company. This dream, however, unraveled into a nightmare, and Sonny watched as he struggled to form a company that ultimately failed after seven years of hardship. A teenager at the time, Sonny learned that owning your own company is much larger than one’s expertise in an industry. Taxes, insurance, contracts, and verbiage complicate the equation. His father had all the skill in the world, but his fatal flaw was his failure to analyze business logistics, and Sonny was committed to salvage this lesson from the misfortune.
“Don’t look at a business as ‘I’m going to get rich and famous.’ Go into it with love and heart and do your research.
Beyond careful analysis and monitoring, Sonny’s ultimate goal as a leader and president is to enforce accountability, which he accomplishes through thorough documentation. Such practices provide a blueprint for increasing productivity and for identifying key employees who are truly dedicated to the company’s success. To Sonny, this entails a purity of motive and an ability to look at the larger picture. To young entrepreneurs, he advises, “Don’t look at a business as ‘I’m going to get rich and famous.’ Go into it with love and heart and do your research. Don’t leave one stone unturned. Go in with all the knowledge you can possibly have, and when you get into the seat, don’t ever assume that you’re on top and don’t have to work as hard. Because really, you have to work harder to keep it going. Don’t ever think failure. Figure out a solution. If plan A don’t work, go to plan B.”
Beyond these recommendations, Sonny’s story confirms again and again the significance of each step toward a goal, no matter how small. Whether it’s the first purchase of a new piece of machinery or the first dollar paid back to a $4 million debt, he lends truth to the concept that a thousand mile journey truly starts with a single step. “Entrepreneurship is just about taking one step,” he confirms. So, considering how many steps we each take in a day, why not make just one towards a dream?
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