Women In Rental Get Things Done
- February 24, 2022
- Blog, News and Updates
- Kara Longmire
Getting to Know Alert Rental Software -
A Women-Owned Company
We’re more than just a business – we’re a business partner.
Alert Rental’s own Co-Presidents, Kara Longmire and Mary Crosslin, recently attended the ARA’s recent Women In Rental Summit in San Antonio, Texas. This inaugural event was a great success where women in the rental industry came together to celebrate and learn. Alert was a proud sponsor of this event and will be sure to be involved for years to come. As sponsors, we were permitted a few moments to address the attendees.
We think our message will resonate with a larger audience and want to share it with you!
“I mainly want to take this opportunity to thank the ARA for putting together this group and for focusing their attention on the women in this industry. It’s rare to be a woman in rental, and it’s rare being a woman-owned tech business. Our mission at Alert is not only to serve other small businesses but to serve them in our uniquely woman-centered mindset. Once you get to know us and our team, it will be evident that we approach our business as women.
Mary and I bought Alert over 5 years ago, which makes us a 100% woman-owned rental software business. Alert had been around since 1976, and Mary and I were managers in the business for several years prior to the buyout. Once we bought the company, it was time for some changes to happen.
Mary and I were having our secret meetings when we were negotiating the purchase of Alert. We’d each have lists on our notepads of things we wanted to do and changes we wanted to make. First, it was remarkable that our notes mostly said the same things. Second, the changes that we wanted to make were all for our employees. We wanted to give them more.
A little bit of background about Alert Rental: we are a full rental management software application. We work with many clients like you, and if we don’t work with you yet, come see us! We typically service general tools, heavy equipment, and party/event rental industries. Rental is what we love to do.
When we first took over the company, we really had to ask ourselves a lot “what would a man do in this situation,” and we’re not serving ourselves by asking that (unless it’s about money because then we all consistently undervalue ourselves as women.) We not only embrace being a small business, but we really embrace and value ourselves as women business owners.
We didn’t know it at the time, but we were beginning to overhaul our culture to what it is boiled down to today: take care of each other, take care of our clients, and everything else will take care of itself. We gave everyone more time off. We eliminated profit-based performance pay and gave everyone consistent pay no matter how the business performed. No one should be at the mercy of our business decisions when figuring out how they’re going to put food on the table.
We also recently instituted a couple more very progressive work schedules, and nearly all the money we’ve spent outside of development has been to help our employees do their jobs better. I’m not saying that a man wouldn’t have done that, but I am saying that the men in our shoes before us certainly didn’t. The way we approach our business is woman-centric. We are a relationship-based company and consider ourselves your business partner – and that will be absolutely evident when you work with our team.”
Are you a woman working in the rental industry? Connect with us to learn more. Don’t forget to check out the ARA’s website to learn more about the great opportunities for more women to get involved.
