Twenty years ago I had an incredible opportunity to develop a Global Transportation group at a little retailer in Arkansas. I was barely 32 years old at the time and I was being trusted to do something amazing. I cannot believe it’s been 20 years and I doubt there was a celebration, but I’m going to take a moment and appreciate it.
For the 18 months prior to getting this opportunity, I received some of the greatest mentoring of my career. I took lessons with me like, “The one who calls the shots, takes the shots”. Even though I wouldn’t report to that mentor any longer, I depended on him a TON. He was, as always, gracious, honest, and wise.
The job was extraordinary, and I loved it. However, the part that I take the most pride in is the team I was able to recruit and hire. They would help transform the company and were (and are) great talents.
Global Transportation Team Members
One of the new Global Transportation team members, Jeff Breazeale, was working for the company in a role in which he was being underutilized. Today he is a Vice President. One team member, Bryan Most, was outside the company. I worked on recruiting him to move for months. Today he is a Vice President and just celebrated 20 years with the company. Another team member, John Visser, was working for a service provider. Today he is a Vice President at a different company. One of the other team members, Sandra Cobb, was an internal transfer. She transferred to a DC shortly after, and I can’t find her on LinkedIn .
When people talk about legacies, this is what I think about. These people who are still doing great things. There are other people that became a part of our small and mighty team, and some who were precursors of this team. Each of them is continuing to do mighty things, and I’m extremely proud of them. Kirk Lacewell, Rodney Scott, Jen Ellis, Fumika Shino, Brenda Morton, Ret Miles, and to all those that I have missed, please accept my apology.
Happy Anniversary Global Transportation! But most importantly, congratulations to the foundational team for the great work then, and now.
(Photo is our “Got Milk?” picture…remember that campaign?)
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