Picture this. A young Mohawk woman has a dream - dream of running a successful freight company, 'Rush Trucking.' The dream didn't come easy. It began with this young Mohawk doing it all, from being the dispatcher, the clerk, the billing department and the driver.
     Lets go back in time - back to when this dream was incubated. It was 1984, when Andra Rush was at the University of Michigan in a graduate program. At that time, she was also in an internship with an air-freight company. She learned that the company's most variable cost seemed to be the transportation piece, and she thought to herself, "I could do that and do it well."
      Then she remembered what her father had always told her. "If you were going to get ahead in life, you have to work for yourself."
      It was there in grad school that they taught the transportation field was going to be the field of 2000, because it's not what you make it's how you get it to your customer.
      And so begins this success story - 17 years ago a young Mohawk woman takes on Detroit, determined to succeed in a male dominated business. Dealing with such remarks as 'who really runs this, your dad or your brother or are you the wife?' And Andra's response was always, "No, it's really me."
      What began as a two-truck operation has successfully grown to more than 2,000 tractors, 3,900 trailers, 100 straight trucks and 45 flatbeds with 620 employees and 1,300 owner-operators. Rush Trucking currently makes hurry-up deliveries 24 hours a day throughout the lower 48 states, Canada and Mexico.
      What makes Rush Trucking unique is the philosophy behind the company, which has always been to try to transcend excellence and shower customers with more value than they thought they would get. They have taken that same posture with their drivers; they try to give them everything they expected and a little bit more.
      Rush Trucking's field of expertise is more than just delivery, it is about having the right product at the right place at the right time, in the right condition. It's about teamwork, with an excellent group of people - excellent drivers and excellent people who work with them.
      It's also about being able to communicate rapidly and in real time. Rush Trucking achieves this with satellite communications in a lot of their equipment, plus their use of cellular phones keeps them connected at all times.
      Andra has not only succeeded in the world of business, but she is a mother as well.
      Andra has three sons, 11, 9 and 4. Even though she didn't grow up on the reservation, her family is very much aligned with the culture. They have a family approach, where everyone is involved in her sons' upbringings - from their dad and grandparents to their aunties and uncles.
      Without the cultural structure, Andra says she couldn't have done what she has with her company. "It's a tricky balance. Some of the corporate world makes demands on the job which makes it almost incredibly difficult to have a family."
      Andra's grandmother left the reservation when she was 8 or 10, when her father, Andra's great-grandfather came to Detroit to help build the Ambassador bridge and some high rises. They were from the Oshwegan Mohawk Reserve, in Canada.
      Andra tries to expose her employees to her culture by exposing them to the awareness of the environment and how we are connected. It's not "scheduled" every day, but the lessons are on-going, and it's a step ahead of most of the corporate world.
      She even incorporated her culture in the logo of her company. The logo is a war staff with six feathers representing the Six Nations of the Iroquois: Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga, Tuscarora, and Seneca. Andra always envisioned the staff in a leader's hand.
      Today, Andra no longer drives the trucks, but she does go out about four times a year. She'll ride with a driver to hear their perspective about how things are going, what's good and not good, and to see if she can learn anything to make the company better.
      Andra is not only the president and CEO of Rush Trucking, but she is also the current president of the Native American Business Alliance (NABA). NABA's main focus is to help Native businesses to access corporate America.
      And so this success story doesn't end here - this is only the beginning. For now, it is up to the rest of the dreamers to take hold and follow their dreams as well.
      As a Native American woman, the best advice Andra can give to anyone wanting to start their own business is, "You have to have a clear vision of what you want to do and also be mindful that that vision can change."
      "Be very clear, dedicated and believe in what you're going to do and really have integrity and perseverance. Ask questions. Don't be afraid to ask questions, and continue to pursue your dream or vision. Don't let people be your dreamstealers, just stay focused and committed. Network with people, bounce your ideas off others. When you decide to go for it, put your heart and soul in it and be committed."