She Got "Shellacked"… Then Built a Company to Fix a Problem Everyone Ignores

Everyone has sat at a railroad crossing wondering how long they'll be stuck. Most people accept it. Andria McClellan didn't. After years in local government hearing complaints about blocked roads, delayed emergency response, and daily frustration, she realized something shocking: "There's no data. You don't have any data on how many times the train has blocked your road." Now, as CEO of Oculus Rail, she's building a system to track, measure, and ultimately solve one of the most overlooked infrastructure problems in the country. This is a story about failure, resilience, and seeing opportunity where everyone else sees inconvenience. From getting "shellacked" in elections to building a company rooted in real-world problems, Andria breaks down what it actually takes to build something that matters. 00:00 Startup mindset and campaigns 03:39 Naming Oculus Rail and building a brand 07:01 Space, region, and innovation context 09:36 The real problem, trains blocking roads 11:28 Past startup experience and early career 14:39 Failure, shutdowns, and lessons learned 16:00 Running for office like building a startup 18:38 Losing campaigns and resilience 19:17 Becoming a problem solver again 23:23 What railroads actually know and don't 25:02 Rail industry, data, and disruption 28:43 Selling to government and AI hesitation 32:40 Building the tech and partnerships 36:20 Why prediction is hard 40:48 Managing people and leadership struggles 42:16 The hardest part, selling into government 45:51 Data as the real product 47:38 Why this problem still exists 51:15 Expansion and scaling Oculus Rail https://oculusrail.com/