SRM Concrete is a family-owned and operated ready-mix, aggregates, and cement company founded in 1999 by my parent’s, Mike and Melissa Hollingshead.

My dad, a concrete finisher, started Smyrna Ready Mix to service his own concrete needs because he was not receiving reliable customer service from the local ready-mix companies. Both Mom and Dad grew up with very little, but they did have a strong work ethic and a will to succeed.

Dad started finishing concrete when he was 18 years old and soon afterward started his own company, Hollingshead Concrete. As a kid, I remember Dad working sunup to sundown and then working nights at a local factory. There was a time when he was working 20 hours a day. While he had an undeniable work ethic, the business didn’t thrive. He struggled with alcohol. In the meantime, my mom began attending church services and brought me and my brother, Ryan to every service. One evening, she convinced my dad to come. That night, my dad gave his life to the Lord, and our family's lives changed.

Their finishing business began to grow. Dad was pouring a few hundred yards a day and kept running up against bad service from local ready-mix producers. He decided to do something about it. He went to a payphone and called my mom to tell her to check on buying a concrete plant. She thought he was crazy, but she did it anyway.

My parents realized they could scrape together enough money to buy a ready-mix plant. Dad and his crew put up the plant in our backyard. He attended an auction in Indiana and purchased five used concrete trucks for $10,000 each. Only three of them made it back to Smyrna after two of the truck’s engines blew. From that point on, my brother and I woke up to trucks getting loaded every morning.

Dad had no clue what he was doing, and no clue how to make concrete. However, by unwavering work ethic and faith, they persevered and SRM was founded. Within six months of launching the company, other area concrete finishers began ordering. This led to growth throughout other locations in Middle Tennessee.

In 2012, we began to focus on growth through acquisition. Since that time, we have completed over 100 acquisitions across the nation. Growing up in the business, I have had the opportunity to serve in many roles and became the CEO in 2014. My brother Ryan grew up in the business as well and serves as the President of our materials division. Today, you may find Dad cutting a deal with a seller somewhere around the country, overseeing our development business, running the Smyrna quarry, or even driving a concrete truck. Dad has always been a visionary and continues to offer his leadership in that capacity as our Chairman.

While the growth of our company has been impressive, the most impressive part has been the development of our team. We have the best team members in the business, and because of each and every one of them, SRM continues to grow and thrive. Our history has been written by each one of them. They have helped grow this company from a small local producer to the largest ready-mix producer in the country. They work countless hours and strive for perfection in everything that they do. It's truly humbling to work side by side each day with such great people.

We are living the American dream. This company started with nothing. No money, no customers, just a will to work hard and a belief that God would go before us and do what we couldn’t. It was never our intent to become a national company, but our faith gets further cemented each day that we can achieve anything that we set our mind to.

Our company continues to expand, but our mission to provide every customer with quality concrete and unmatched service remains the same. Our culture will not waver, and our work ethic will not be matched. We will become the largest, most profitable construction materials company in the country while maintaining a best-in-class culture.