Name: [Women in Supply Chain] Leading through Disruption: Strategic Insights from the Top
Uploaded: 2025-11-16T16:21:05.464Z
Duration: 1 h 5 min 8 s
Description: [Women in Supply Chain] Leading through Disruption: Strategic Insights from the Top

Transcript for "[Women in Supply Chain] Leading through Disruption: Strategic Insights from the Top": Alright. Welcome everyone to our women in supply chain panel as part of ProShip's pros who know virtual event. Thank you for joining us today. My name is Taylor Pualka. I am the VP of marketing and alliances at ProShip for those of you who don't know me. I am joined by a group of excellent women today, and I'm very excited to talk with them and go through all of our wonderful topics that we have. So, before I introduce everyone, let's go into some housekeeping. So if you are joining us through the webinar platform, you will see a q and a box. If you have any questions, please submit those, throughout the session, and we will answer them at the end. If you're joining us through LinkedIn live, there is a chat box also. So if you wanna submit a question, give a shout out, say where you're from, please do that. We love the engagement. Also, there is a group of links if you wanna click on those. Those are some resources from some of our panelists. Please click on those, but you will receive all of those and the recording and the slides in about a week. So, thank you all for joining us today. Let's get into our intros. So, Blythe, would you like to kick us off? Sure. My name is Blythe Milligan. I have been working in logistics and transportation for the better part of the last fifteen years. Got my start as an executive assistant where that led to a variety of different roles learning about the industry, and, that evolved into owning a few companies within the logistics space. So Digital Dispatch is one of them, website which is website management. The everything is logistics podcast telling the stories of how your favorite stuff and people make it from point a to b, and then at Cargorex, which is we are building the Google search of logistics. Love it. Let's go down the line. Jen? Hi. I'm Jen Morris. I've worked in transportation for about twenty two years. I've done everything from brokerage to operations to even owning my own brokerage. I now run ShipHappens, which is a blog that discusses media and logistics insights, and education about logistics, making it interesting and a little bit fun for everyone. Thanks, Jen. Amy? I'm Amy Vincent, and I work at KGP Co here in Kansas City area. I have been in logistics supply chain on and off since the early nineties. And, my sweet spot now is IT and logistics and supply chain. And so my real passion is bridging that gap between that IT scary spot and how it can best, perform for the supply chain folks, particularly in warehouses and DCs. Great. Thanks, Amy. Grace? Well, I love the IT scary spot. So, Amy, happy that you touched on that. My name is Grace Sharkey. I've, I'm actually the senior manager of communications and PR here at Orderful. We are changing the game for EDI. I've been in the industry for right about a full decade now. Started in brokerage helping build one of the top 100 logistics country logistics companies in the country, focused on operations, scaling, strategy as well. And then went to freight waves where I got to cover a lot of freight technology, cross brokerages, and logistics providers in this space as well and had an awesome opportunity doing that. I also once a month get to spend some time with Blythe over there as well doing our podcast Freight Friends, and I'm really excited to be here with all these incredible women today. Excellent. Alright. Thank you all. So let's go into our first topic because I know there's gonna be lots of yapping. So, let's start out with leadership. So you've each carved out your own space in an industry where women are still pretty much the minority. So has your experience as a woman in supply chain influenced your leadership strategy and impact within your company or your current role? How how have you gotten here? What have what have your strategies been? What does that look like? Grace, I wanna kick it off with you because I know in our planning sessions, you had a lot to say about mentorship and, networking. So do you wanna kick us off with your point of view? Yeah. Definitely. And, you know, the women here today, and I'm sure those in the audience as well, have have those that they lean on in this space, and I think that that network effect and that mentorship is huge for the long run. So a little bit of my career has you know, been a lot of these big changes and swings, right, from being in the broker space to doing journalism, all of in logistics, right, but a little bit of change. And I found that in order for me to set myself up for success doing that, I've really focused and leaned on those around me to help guide me through those decisions, and finding the right path for my next step in life in general. And I think anyone watching this today who might not even be a part of logistics or just joining, like, this is, I think, career advice for for any industry out there. I really, really feel like what's helped me find these paths is is finding mentors through the people around you and and being very intentional about what that relationship means to you. You know, Blaise and I are very close, but I will say when I'm looking to get guidance from her, I'm usually as direct as I can about it. And, really, what I I hope to learn from her and and being open and honest about, hey. This is not what I know. This is what I hope to achieve, and and how can you help me? And, again, I think the intentional part is being direct. I think a lot of times when people look for mentors, they might kinda scoot around what they're truly looking for. And I think just being open and direct about this is where I'm lacking. This is what I need to achieve to become better. How can how can I work with you to get there is big? Another person I feel like I'm very close in this industry is is Ryan Schreiber who is a maybe a talking head in this industry, you could say, but he's an incredible, consultant over at MetaFlora. Him and I met very, very early in my career doing work with me in the brokerage. And when he left that, opportunity to work with us and after he, you know, achieved the goals doing that, I was very intentional about making sure that we stayed connected. And, again, when I lean on him as a friend, those conversations are much different than when I lean on him as almost like a a a career moment. Right? And, again, just saying, this is what I need. This is what I'm looking for. How can I how can you help me? How can I help you? Goes a long way. I built those relationships, and I've realized that the more and more that you get up to those executive level levels, those c level positions, that intention becomes more and more impactful just because, one, you have to be mindful of people's time. And and, two, I think when you are intentional, you'll start to see that they respond, very quickly to what you're trying to achieve, whether that's connecting you with the right individuals or, you know, helping you explore the different paths that are available for you. I think everyone should focus on networking in whatever industry that they're in. I I haven't met one person who I've looked up to who hasn't really focused on networking for their overall career growth. So that's that's I think the biggest thing for me and what shaped my journey is being intentional about the people I surround myself with, being intentional about their time and what I hope to achieve in that relationship with them, and, you know, actually taking that information, creating some type of action, and sharing that experience across the board as well. Yeah. Grace, you're so right. Networking is everything. And I feel like I've met most of you, if not all of you, through LinkedIn. So I just feel like that's such a powerful tool, and I I'm really grateful for it. I'm grateful for all the networking here, and, I I definitely agree. And one of the things that, you know, once you make those connections and you start being intentional, it's also important to ask the dumb questions. And that's where I want Blythe to take take the conversation and and, give her point of view. Yeah. So I did appreciate that because that was one of the the or, I guess, the moments that have impacted me the most, especially early on in my career where I didn't know anything about logistics. I had started off as an executive assistant and working very closely to still my my mentor. And I was very blessed to and I know not this is not all women's experiences, but very blessed to have the early on support of a male boss who wanted to invest in me and encourage me to ask those dumb questions of the things I didn't understand and not to pretend that I knew everything about everything. And so being able to invest in me, give me that early confidence, and straight up telling me at times that it's your job to figure it out and giving me the the ownership of being able to try to find the answer and and being the one who has to figure it out. And that has served me very well in the journey of entrepreneurship. And I I on the the female side of things, I was very I was also very blessed early on to be connected with Sherry Hynish, supply chain queen for for those you know, she's, like, LinkedIn famous at this point. Mhmm. But she, very much, like, early on in my career, told me that how much she believed in me and how much she she supported me. And so being able to have the the people in your corner that you look up to for positions that you want to eventually be in, I think, is is very important. Too often, we take advice from folks who don't seem to matter or who are not working in a role that we necessarily are looking up to or maybe it's outside of the industry or it's, you know, the opinions of of folks that, you know, frankly, you just don't you shouldn't care about. But, you know, finding those people that you admire from afar can turn into a digital relationship that turns into a real life relationship very similar to to echo Grace's statement of the power of networking and turning those digital relationships into real life relationships can play a very pivotal role in the growth of your career and how you choose to to navigate who to take advice from and who not to take advice from. That's great advice. I I feel like you and I have had some similar experiences where I also had, a male boss who believed in me quite a bit, and he happens to be the cofounder of ProShip. And for all of you who know Justin Kramer, he as a character, he is extremely smart and extremely technical, but he is such an amazing resource where I I am to this day still asking dumb questions in my opinion to try to figure out this industry and the tech behind it. So, I I definitely echo that and think it's such such an important thing to do and find those relationships. But now I'm gonna pivot a little bit towards, the silos in the industry and how women can overcome those silos. And I think, Jen, you you had some pointers about that. Yeah. I think that there's so many like, our industry is full of silos literally everywhere. Within companies, from mode to mode even, I even I've been to a couple of conferences recently that were it was, like, all marine, and there were 16,000 people there, and I didn't know a single person there. And so, like, it's so, like, crazy to me because our industry feels so small, but it is huge. And I think it's so important to, like, reach out to, like, areas where you don't really know or understand that world. And especially, like, I like to reach out to the women in those industries and kind of, like, sit down with them and chat with them and understand what they do because I think it makes me more empathetic and understanding of what goes on in other areas that I don't maybe touch as much, and therefore, it makes it easier for them to work with me on my side. So Mhmm. I think that for me, my leadership way, way back, like, I was pretty lucky just like why I have a male boss that was, like, really confident in me and kind of gave me a lot of pointers. And that was one of the things that he really kinda drive home. Like, you're not yes. You work on the trucking side, but there's, like, a whole other world behind that that is getting that product here or further along the way. So, like, it's good for you to know and understand that entire supply chain so that you can, like, work within that in a better way. I think that also it it can open your eyes to maybe a career that you weren't sure that you wanted to explore in the first place. Like, just because you got your start in brokerage or trucking, maybe you might be better in air. Who knows? Like but if you don't, like, learn about those areas, like, how would you ever know? So I definitely think it's great to, like, step out of your comfort zone and into those other areas. Yeah. Totally agree. And and speaking of comfort zones, Amy, so you come from tech and logistics, two very much male dominated industries. What is your experience then, and how have you navigated in in those roles? Well, first off, you have to ask yourself, why in the world would I do that? And so, early on in my career, I wanted to learn about those things I didn't understand, to be totally honest. And so, hey. I don't know anything about IT, and it's kinda scary. Let's go figure it out. And then I kinda stumbled into supply chain, all the guys. It didn't really phase me at the time that it was male dominated, and has been for some time. I just let's learn about it. Let's figure it out. And so I just came up through the ranks. Did I get overlooked because I was female on some things? Possibly. I mean, I'm not gonna say yes because I don't I don't have the facts in front of me. But, you know, there's sometimes you walked into a meeting, you know, years ago, even sometimes today, and, you know, they look at you like, what where are you coming from? And so I really worked hard to learn both industries and how one leverages the other. And made a lot of mistakes, and I think you have to do that in order to grow, as long as they're not career enders, and you're gonna cost the company millions. I think you need to make mistakes. You know, embrace those, you know, apologize where you need to correct it. Don't do it again and and move forward. And so coming up through the ranks, I really wanted to work for companies where I'd be the only woman I could blaze the trail, and then I figured I needed more folks around me who understood where I was coming from. And so I really started to look for those companies who had women in key positions. You know, they were either the c's or executives or whatever, and that was where I really learned how to leverage, you know, that relationship with other women in the industry. And that was probably one of the best conscious decisions I started making. And then once I got into, you know, solid leadership positions, I realized you really cannot forget those spaces that you were in in your, you know, in your, growth where you were scared of things or you were in a meeting and it wasn't a safe space. And so now I work really, diligently to make sure that those folks on my team feel that they can communicate. They can ask those dumb questions. Everybody's got them, that they feel like they can grow. I ask them constantly, where do you want your career to go? You know, let's help get you there. May not be on my team, maybe on another team, but you just have to really remember coming up through the ranks and, you know, the things that made you nervous, made you anxious, made you fearful. Those people that work with you have those same things. And so as a leader, you know, it doesn't matter gender, but, you know, you can really leverage all those experiences and just create that space for those people to grow. Love that. That's really good advice. And I I definitely respect all that you've done in, your your roles in technology and and supply chain. That's awesome. So let's move on. Let's get a little controversial. From your your from your point of view, what do you think is working in supply chain today, and what is just fluff? And I'm gonna start with Jen because I know she loves a hot take. I love a hot take, and I love a good yep. So, like, this is, like, my dream scenario. My hot take is probably gonna make some people upset, which I guess is the point. I hate that our industry has kind of been taken over by venture capital and VC lending, and I don't know. It feels like a lot of the times people are so focused on their funding that they kind of forget that there's a business that they need to be running. It's often we see a lot of CEOs popping up on traditional media and telling, like, this amazing story. And it's and even I, like, get sucked in sometimes. I'm like, wow, that sounds really awesome. I'm, like, interested. But then, like, if you dig a little bit deeper, like, the business, there's not a lot of, like, there's not a lot there. It's just all, like, a story, and these people are really charismatic and really they're smart in their own way, but, like, they don't have a context of our industry. And there's a lot of people in our industry that are trying to build businesses and are struggling for funding. And so, like, watching some of these these people get, like, the funding just kind of thrown at them sometimes when they're not they're still not making money after how many years. It's kind of frustrating to watch because I know that there's so much innovation that's happening from within the industry that it's frustrating to watch the money go out of the industry to people trying to get into our industry and take money out of our industry, if that makes sense. Totally following. Yeah. I see a lot of parallels too, like, in the marketing industry because our our team does a lot of marketing technology. We use a lot of that, as well as supply chain and logistics as you mentioned. There's a lot of amazing marketing stories. There's a lot of stuff out there that's flashy and looks looks really, like, something you wanna buy into. That's the whole point. And and it's hard to navigate what's real, what's vaporware, what experience from executives matters, and what experience from from actually owning a long term business matters. Like, what are the pros and cons of each and and the products behind there? So it's it's definitely hard to navigate, and, I I see it in a couple different industries. Definitely. It's that it's it's nuts. So thank you for bright providing that hot take. And it would be nice to hear what everyone else thinks are are hot takes in in LinkedIn live and, in the question box. Feel free to submit some. But, let's go to Grace. Let's do you. Let's do the ideas you have around, the boots on the ground versus c suite and where product should and development should come from. Yeah. I will touch on on Jen and say bootstrapping your company. That's so 2010. So, you know, I, I listened. At FreightWorks, you know, I covered a lot of that space. So, Jen, trust me. I I understand your your thoughts on that too. And, I actually wanna touch on that from a technology standpoint and almost an innovation standpoint because often it would come up. I I would hear, I would go to events, you know, and talk to people who read articles and things like that. And and quite often, I would talk to users, you know, or or even individuals who worked at these companies. And I started to actually see the the proper way of doing this once I moved to order full as well. And I think my hot take is, these tech companies focusing on innovation coming from the bottom up. And what I've found is a lot of times when I'm talking to companies who who really, really are hoping that a brand pulls off the type of technology that they're promising, a lot of times what you see behind the scenes is that innovation coming from the top, down. And to to Jen's point, I think there is a level of that that comes from probably, more of the investment space as well and what you need to do for investors, etcetera. But I will say positive thing being at order full and, and a number of our investors actually being our large customers too is that it's it's really great to see a team here who does innovate from the bottom up. And and when you see that in a technology, those pain points of I don't want to call it entry level because that's not what it is, but those engineers, you know, talking to product, talking to customers in the now of what needs to be fixed, what needs to be done, and then that innovation really pushing them to do better creates a really interesting culture within within a company, which, again, I've seen here. But I I just don't see that enough. And I think, again, Taylor is really smart to have me go after Jen because I think it is kind of an aftermath of what Jen was talking about. It's that pressure from that sea level that and that I think creates that that bottom down effect. But I would really push leaders out there watching us today or, honestly, even entrepreneurs. I mean, we all know in this space, you could get an idea and and start a company, a tech company, and and up and running in in a year or so. So if you're out there and you're considering, you know, starting your own, freight tech company or a leading one today, really push yourself to create a culture that is that that bottom up because I I do think that showcases in the end results and your, what your customers are experiencing from your solution at the end of the end of the day too. And, again, to to Jen's point, I think it's a little bit is that that investment side that puts that pressure on, and I I understand that pressure that a number of leaders are dealing with. But really sit with yourself and think, how can I make sure that this culture is bottom up? How am I introducing conversations with those, engineers or those designers, etcetera, with customers, right, who maybe have just tweaks that they'd like to see from your solution? How am I building a culture that's gonna make sure those who feel like maybe at the bottom of that, that voice, do have a voice and that we're we're pushing that up from from the from there. So I think that's kinda my heart take to to kind of go off gents a little bit into what the solutions that we're seeing are actually doing. When I see a happy customer, I often see it tied to a more bottom up approach. Yeah. I love that you mentioned, you know, the customer experience too because I think a lot of a lot of these companies who are focusing on, you know, the funding and and making things, you know, appear so wonderful and shiny Yeah. Oftentimes forget that there are customers on the other side and that, you know, their businesses depend on their solution as well. And and if they sell or if they you know, whatever happens, if they don't get the funding or they do, that affects all of those customers as well and the employees at those accounts. So, yeah, good point, and and thank you for for expanding off of what what Jen said. Now let's go with Amy. So what's your hot take? I know you've had some experience with this as well in collaboration in general. Yeah. I just I've seen in so many different businesses now that I've worked in that one hand doesn't know what the other one's doing. And we're all, you know, supposed to be one team and one company, whatever. And until it it really goes off what Grace said. Until you get folks out from behind their desks, out walking around, talking to each other, talking to, you know, the DCs, the warehouses, going out to the warehouse floor. I'd indicated earlier in our conversations that when I have a new person on my team, I really recommend that they go spend a couple weeks out on the warehouse floor. Go push boxes around. Go pick up an order. Go ship an order. Figure out how all this works. Not that you have to know their job top to bottom, but you have a better understanding of what they're doing, what they're going through in trying to do that. I would challenge anybody to go out to a warehouse floor even for a day and just look at how people are working, looking at, you know, that innovation from bottom up rather than than top down on how to make lives easier. And again, it's an understanding. It builds that relationship. Today, members of my team can call out to a DC, and they know that we know what they're doing, and what they're struggling with. And so it it creates a really good rapport and relationship, and it just helps teams work together better and cross companies even. Go and talk to that person. I mean, video is great, but it doesn't replace the actual in person interactions that people have. And so I just think people are too, you know, call it, you know, blame COVID, blame me whatever you want to. Everybody's behind the screen. And I think that doesn't help us get to resolutions and get to solutions faster. Yeah. I agree with that. I miss going back in the office sometimes, having those, like, water cooler chats. Anyone else? Yeah. I I miss that. I feel like when I do go back in, when we have, like, leadership in and stuff like that, it you you just say things in passing that you miss when you are behind the screen. And it leads to to really great ideas sometimes and expanding off of that. So I definitely agree with you, Amy. I think that's an awesome hot take. So appreciate that. And then, why? Let's go to you. I haven't forgotten about you. I know you have some some stuff on marketing and sales, and that goes with collaboration as well. So what's your hot take? Yeah. So very similar to what everyone else else is kind of talking about, but my hot take is that your internal marketing is much more important than your external marketing. And the reason is is for the overwhelming majority of companies, everyone is representing sales at some point, whether it's the people who are talking to your leads, you know, at the the front lines on the phones or it's the warehouse workers or it's, you know, your accounting department that's wondering, you know, or answering calls and emails about when somebody is gonna get paid. Everyone works in sales. And so you have to be able to get your message out effectively to the internal teams so then that way they can get it out externally before any marketing campaign goes out. You know, there are so many tools that exist now that you can be able to monitor those from a a digital level. But, you know, to to go back to Amy's point about just talking to people in real life, you know, there are real stories of of, you know, the engineers and, developers going into a warehouse and being able to work inside the warehouse and being able to know what those jobs are and then translating that into their WMS or even a a TMS. And so having that firsthand experience, having those firsthand conversations is really a key driver to having everyone bought in on the company message and then using your entire team as a a sales team. So then that way your internal marketing becomes a powerhouse versus, you know, the one person marketer out there who where I have been that and trying to do all of the heavy lifting on your own. Yeah. That's that's definitely important. I I I think it's also so valuable for vendors to go out to their customer sites too. I think a lot has a lot was missed during COVID, and, you know, some products got stifled. And I think when you actually get out there and see what your customers and prospects are going through out on the floor, it's just an incredible experience that you just can't take for granted. There's so many good pieces of info you can take out of that. And so that then gets translated back to your marketing team who can take those, you know, pain points, struggles, and and try to find, you know, ways with product to help alleviate those. So good good hot takes, everyone. I'm excited to be able to read all the hot takes that were submitted during that. So maybe we'll create a collage later. We'll see. But we do have a couple more topics. So, let me move on to disruption. So, in your part of the supply chain, how are you helping your teams not only see disruption coming, but act in time to mitigate? So you could take something like tariffs, a buzzword that's going on right now. Not even so much a buzzword, a real life situation that's happening. How does that show up through your lens? How do you lead and help your teams navigate that? And I'm gonna start off with Amy because I feel like you're seeing this from the front lines. Yeah. Definitely. I mean, we sit in a few meetings a week of, you know, we can't get product in. It's too expensive. Do we get with the client? Do they have a you know, is there a different kind of, you know, part that they will accept? Yes. No. If no, then, oh, good grief. What are we gonna do? Are we passing the the cost on? Are we you know, what are we doing with, you know, all of this, you know, have no idea what's going on? And so, I think the best thing in my space, at least, is be ready to pivot. Be already thinking ahead of you know, don't stress yourself out thinking about everything, every single contingency, but I think you have to be ready to pivot. Even though the rules were this way today, the rules may not be that way tomorrow. And you have to have a team that has enough knowledge depth to be able to pivot and come up with many different ideas. You can't, again, be siloed up and just be IT because you can't always figure out the best solutions if that's all you know. You have to know the business. You have to understand how things work, and you need a team that has that depth. You know, AI is a big thing going around too, and I just read an article this week that talked about a company head who was actually using AI just to go out and peruse all of the data, peruse all of the articles coming out about different countries and what they're doing with tariffs, and are they, you know, are they gonna export? Are they not? What are we doing? And he uses AI just to collect all of that to try to make a decision. And so I thought it was a really creative way. I'm not big on AI just to do AI, but I thought that was really, really a good way to apply something fairly new and, be able to, you know, pivot on a dime and get things done. And so he's got a team to help interpret the information, which I think is great. Again, you've gotta have folks that have a lot of depth and a lot of different experiences in this industry. Yeah, because they're not hiring. A lot of places, there's so much, you know, difference there's so much unease going on that companies aren't hiring either. And so, you know, the folks you've got are who you've got to help you out, and you you want those people that really, have a lot of depth. So to me, you you, fend off the disruptions in the industry by being prepared as you can, have great teams, and just be ready to pivot. I couldn't agree more. And let's let's pivot back to AI because I know there are some other opinions on the topic on this panel. So, Blythe, let's start with you. Sure. So, I mean, obviously, AI is, used in every single conversation and every single, you know, talk like this. And it's for for good reason because it's essentially a new information era that we've entered into of how people are discovering and using AI to discern different types of information, exactly what, you know, Amy was talking about. You know, I've even heard Grace, you know, mentioned before about how important, you know, using different informational sources in order to, you know, talk to your customers about the different freight that they're moving and having a greater understanding of the freight that you're moving for your customers. And so being able to use these tools in this new information era is is, in my opinion, only a plus, to the the current market that we find ourselves in. And being able to use it in a way that makes the most sense and being able to look and sort through your own data and your own information to be able to find something that you can take action on. I'm generally a a tech optimist, and I know that there's a lot of, you know, sort of doomerism around, you know, using AI and and what that means for the future of jobs. And, you know, this is just a reality of the the nature of our industry and many other industries is that jobs evolve and companies evolve. And if you're not empowering your team to be able to learn and to be able to, challenge their own opinions and expectations, then you're you're losing out on a valuable resource that you could be providing to your not only yourself, but your customers and your company as well. And so being able to use these tools, understand them, and be able to deploy them in a responsible way knowing when to use them and when not to use them and when to use your own, you know, sort of industry expertise and and judgment is is where the key differentiators are are going to be. Yeah. Definitely. I I I agree in every way. And I know, Jen, you had also some stuff to say about AI tariffs. What is your take on disruption? I think, one of the things that people kind of I think a lot of people in our industry kinda miss is that, like, you're dealing with people. Like, your customers are people. This is not happening in a vacuum. Like, this isn't the only thing happening to them. And it's coming along. It's a very emotionally driven situation for a lot of small and medium size and even large companies. Like, some of them can't take on some of these extra costs that are coming at them and coming at them very, like, disjointed, frankly. Like, this week it's this percentage. This week it's this percentage. Who knows? Like, nobody really knows what's happening next, and it's just a minefield of paperwork, I'm sure. So you have to kinda give some people some empathy when you're working with them to, like, let them be upset about it because, like, your your clients kind of burn that. Like, they they're going through something that is not just disruptive, but potentially, like, business ending, really. And so they're they're scared, they're mad, they're frustrated, and they're sad. So, like, these are all really strong emotions, and you have to kind of step back with them and be like, okay. Let's take a big look at everything that's going on and how can we, like, get through this together rather than, like, getting upset with them because they're not doing things that you need them to do and things like that. You just have to give them a little bit more grace. And when it comes to the AI thing, I think the same thing, like, there's a lot of people in our industry that are a lot older, frankly. Like, there's a lot of people that are 50, oh, even 60, truck drivers specifically. And technology is a little intimidating for them. So I think that it's really important to have empathy there as well. Like, just throw something in front of somebody and be like, hey. Figure it out, when they didn't grow up with technology. Like, if you threw something in front of a 12 year old, I'm sure they'd be like, no problem. I had an iPad when I was seven. Like, they're they're fine. But, like, if you, like, throw throw this new AI technology in front of somebody that's 65, they're like, I no. I'll stick with my Nokia phone. Like, they're they're just comfortable with that. So I think that's the point is, like, really taking a step back and recognizing that everybody's gonna experience this much differently. Everybody has different experiences with technology, with even tariffs. Like, a lot of people had no idea what tariffs were before all of this. And now it's kind of all being shoved down their throat at once. So I think that taking a step back and recognizing that this is a difficult time for everyone makes it a lot easier to kind of work together instead of fighting against each other. Yeah. Definitely. And I think for you to realize that, you know, every day there's more information out there that's ever been. Every day. And, you know, if you can use tools and and, you know, teach how to use tools to help navigate that information or if you can essentially just as a baseline have enough empathy for those who need a little extra time to to, you know, learn the ropes or just are pissed off, frankly, about tariffs. You know? I think everyone having a little more empathy is definitely the way to go. So good points, Jen. And then, Grace, do you wanna round us off with with your thoughts on disruption and tariffs and AI and whatever else you would like to mention on topic? Watch me wrap this all into one of those. You know, I but I will say this. It's it's says I'm I'm looking at the question. How do you help your team see disruption coming? And the fun the funnest part about disruption is that you never see it truly coming. You know? You're just sides like that. And, here's a here's a little fun fact about me. I my mother well, she's retired now. She was a driver's ed teacher. And I think one of the biggest lessons she taught me while driving, and and trust me, pounded into my head, is that you always leave space to get out of a situation. Right? Do I practice that? No. Always. But, you know, if you're, you know, whenever you're driving, bad conditions, you always wanna leave space so that in a moment, you have an escape. You have a way to get out. And that's how I kinda look at disruption that we've seen over the last, like, couple of years clearly with COVID, etcetera, is that I think that we need to lead our teams in logistics to always consider what is our pivot, what's our out if something were to happen. And, you know, it's something that we lead here at Oracle as well. I know EDI, you might think, well, what exactly how that work. Well, a big part of what we do is is allowing companies brands to work with retailers. And recently, actually, I don't know if you guys saw this, but Walmart came out full opposite of, like, what people have mostly been saying saying, hey. We're actually upping our full year sales outlook because we've seen this huge ecommerce growth and this huge search. And, you know, it's interesting because in a time of disruption, I think, again, that's even disruption. Like, knowing, okay, we've got if I'm a brand, I need to be able to pin it and sell to Walmart as soon as possible. How quickly can I onboard with them? How quickly can I do that? And I just think that's overall how companies should be looking at at how they're a part of logistics or how to how they're a part of supply chains moving forward. In a time where we don't know what's around the corner, have I set my organization up? Have I trained the individuals that are, you know, giving shippers advice to always be looking for that out? Or in in the Walmart case, the the positive out, right, to to go and increase sales in an environment you didn't thought didn't think was possible at this time. And so that's, I think, how teams in general should be looking whether they're building technology, whether they're, you know, just helping a, mom and pop shop of of someone moving steel, you know, find a truckload? Have you set up your organization so that when something you you know or something you didn't know was coming around the corner, you have a way to pivot around that or provide a way to make sure that customer isn't experiencing that disruption as as bad as they could. And so I I think that's, you know, how we can all help our teams, you know, navigate disruption. It's just moving forward in supply chain using AI, using these new tools that I think will allow us to pivot very quickly. Right? Or before it was just like, you know, everything's manual. If something bad happens, we kinda just sit back and relax. Customers aren't ever going to think that way ever again. I buy stuff all the time. I don't care if it's sunny, raining, hurricane around the corner. If you told me I could pick it up tomorrow, I expect to be able to pick it up tomorrow. And that's the changing of the times, and so we have to be prepared for that pivot in whatever way that we're a part of the supply chain today. Well, I completely disagree. No. I'm just kidding. No. I'm just kidding. I was like, oh my god. I know. I great. You always come up with, like, the best examples. I I love that about you, so thank you for for providing that. Yeah. So we are heading into time. So I wanna just get moving. We have one more kind of finality topic, final advice. So we have, you know, women on this call, people on this call that are just starting out in supply chain all the way up to professionals, seasoned professionals that have been in supply chain, for a long time, VP's, C suite, you name it. We've got a ton. So if you had to give one piece of advice to someone, in supply chain no matter where in their career, what would you do? What would you what would you say? And it can be an advice that maybe you were just given too that is the best piece you've ever been given, really. So what what would you say? And I'm gonna start with why. I would say to use the power of a digital handshake to turn them into real ones. There are plenty of opportunities, whether it's virtual or in person, where you can scout, you know, local events that are in your industry that you can go to, and you can make introductions, and you can have those in person conversations. You can find those women that can maybe eventually be colleagues and and be able to work with them in some capacity or something to just be connected to them. And you can use these different platforms that you have right at your fingertips in order to be able to find the people that you want to connect with and connect with them digitally before you ever connect with them in person. So I that would be my number one tip is to use the power of tools like LinkedIn where you can really hone in on giving that speech every single day to an audience that is right in your niche, and you'll be able to build connections from there in, you know, as as much as this phrase is used, but an authentic way and and being able to use those platforms to be able to further your career. Love that. Speaking of, anyone going to parcel forum next week in person? I will see you there if not. Alright. Let's go to advice from Amy. One and a half things. First of all, don't ever stop learning. Take those big scary crazy things you don't know about and learn about them. Talk to people, figure out what they know so that you can educate yourself and become, you know, that cross functional type individual. Be fearless. Be fearless in that. Fear is a huge stopping point for so many people, male, female, doesn't matter. The only way to get past the fear is through it. And, usually fear is because you haven't done it before, but a lot of us haven't done it before. A lot of us have failed. Try starting your own company. It's not always pleasant. You say you get yourself constantly, but don't let fear be the determining factor in your decisions. If you want it, go get it. Love that. Alright. How about Jen? Yeah. This is advice I wish somebody had given me because instead I was given really bad advice. So, like, just be who you are. Like, embrace who you are, your personality, like, be authentic. I know it sounds super cliche and, like, so straightforward, but especially as a woman and way back at the beginning of my career, I think a lot of the advice I was being given was a lot of times from men, and it was a lot of you talk too much, you need to, like, tone down your personality. People don't wanna see this much of who you are and all of this kind of thing. And so I took that advice for quite a long time, I'd say, and I became like a shell of my per my my own person. Like, I just would go to work. I had no personality. I was just like everybody else there. And, like, yeah, I did an okay job and I was doing great, but, like, I was boring. And I'm not a boring person. And so, like, as soon as I started recognizing and, like, validating myself from within, not from external, I started recognizing, like, no. Like, the things that make me different from the men is what makes me a great leader. Like, that's what makes me interesting. That's what makes me want to push and get my the women that I'm, like, mentoring, like, further along. And, like, the easiest way I can put it is, like, be confident in the woman inside you. Like, she's the one that's gonna get you to where you wanna be. She's the one that got you to where you are. Like, you need to really be confident in her because she's your, like, internal hero, really. And so you've gotta take a step back from some of the outside noise and, like, really listen to what what you got going on inside, I guess, is the best advice I can give. That's great advice, Jen. I'm sorry you were given such crappy advice back then. I cannot imagine a boring Jen. I did not want that picture. I was the only woman in an office full of men. And, like, the thing is it's like it's not like it was, like, they weren't giving me that advice because they were trying to, like, put me down or anything like that. They thought that that was actually good advice they were giving me. And, like, back then in, like, in mid it's, like, sure. I guess that kind of worked, but now that's not really what's gonna get me to where I'm going. My authenticity is, like, how I met Blythe and how I met you and how it's, like, pushed me further along in my career. So and and, honestly, I don't wanna be hanging out with people that like boring me. Me neither. Like, they're probably boring too. Yes. Thank you, Jen. Alright. Grace, you wanna wrap us up here? You do so well at that. That's others might say differently. I love to wrap up. But, honestly, I agree to, like, yeah, wrap up everyone. I I think I think society often puts women in these certain life decisions during certain times in their literal age and and and where they are in their career, etcetera. And I think that, two things. You know, mind the business that pays you, focus on yourself and the goals that you want to achieve, and start putting yourself first. And and what truly makes you happy, sit with yourself. You know? I think one thing I've learned is I I really love storytelling. How can I how can I do that for the rest of my life and also contribute to a company and be a part of something big? And and marketing, I think, is a great way for me to do that. Right? Is is to tell these stories and help customers customers understand their pain points and and how products can help. And that journey might look sorry. Alright. Let me change that. That journey will look different for every single person that takes that route. And there's there's no time stamp of when you need to get something done. There's no, level at which you need to achieve. It's all up to you and to what makes you happy at the end of the day. So, again, you know, you gotta love yourself first before you can love anyone else. I think that goes the same with your career, and try to push out that noise. Again, truly sit with yourself, figure out what you want to do, and explore how you can do that in a industry I think like we all have where, again, it might be more male dominated, but we've all found our past. And I think we're all really happy and excited to see where our careers are going. But you don't have to do it by the time you're 25. You don't have to do it, trust me, by the time you're 35. And it's okay to say, you know what? This opportunity I'm at today isn't gonna get me to where I want to in five years. I love you as an opportunity, but I'm gonna take this next one for my growth. And you leave that bridge where it is still standing, and you move forward. And so I think that wraps up everyone kinda on the same page of of all your your voice. And now there's no stupid timeline. There's there's no work life balance. It's just what makes you happy at the end of the day and making sure that that that stays the focus. Yes. Yes. That's such good advice. Thank you all. I'm gonna I I think I'll just pivot off a little bit. I know we're running out of time with what Amy said. I'm gonna end it on a inspiring note. Last week was the women's equality day, and I had a little post out there that it was talking about my my experience and and my story and just giving a little advice. But, like Amy said, go get the seat. Don't wait around for someone to carve a path for you, to give you permission. Just take what you've learned. Take your experience, your unique experience, and, call on those mentors and and networking and all of that, and go get the seat you deserve because you belong there, and, you just gotta be confident in yourself. So don't let other confident voices drown your your own out. So that's what I'll I'll leave I'll leave this with, and then we should get into q and a. So there there are a couple questions that came in. We don't have time for all of them. I'm sure if if we don't get to your question, we'll pass it on to our speakers so we can follow-up along with the recording. But, let's just do some rapid fire ones here. How can women leaders in supply chain support each other better across companies, roles, and even competitors? Does anyone wanna take that? I know we touched on a little bit during the presentation, but we could expand. That's a great question, honestly. I'll I'll step in. Yeah. Somebody else. They do it. Honestly, I will say, like, from a standpoint of, like, being in this industry for twenty years versus now, like, I would say that the it's transition from women competing against each other to women, like, trying to support each other and lifting each other up. Like, that's been such a great change to see. I think the easiest way is looking at it as collaboration over competition always. Like, there's more than enough for everybody to eat when it comes to multiple different things. It's just like regular networking, but it's like networking on steroids a little bit. We're, like, I'll I'll, like, think of Blythe more often than probably the men that I know when it comes to, like, suggesting podcasts and ideas and things like that. Like, I'll, like, have an idea or, like, I'll see her post on TikTok, and I'll make sure to like them. I'll make sure to share them. I make sure to save them. Like, it's such small things that you can do that cost you no money, very little time, but are very, very supportive. And, like, usually goes both ways too. Like, that's the good thing about it. Like, when you make these connections. I even like, the other day, I saw one where Grace was on her podcast, and I was like, this is the best of all the world. Like, I'm seeing both of them. I'm I'm liking it all. I'm commenting. It was so great. It's like my own personal little podcast. So, like, you just have to kind of reach to the point where you figured out who your people are, and then you just kinda make sure you give them that little bit of a bump. And, like, if you see that they've done a good job, send them a quick text and be like, that that podcast was bomb. I loved it. I love this dismiss about it. Because, like, you don't know how big of a deal that is to the person that's creating that content or that made that sale. My friends and I talk about this all the time. Like, people get baby showers and wedding showers and all of these things. But, like, when you're in a career, like, nobody's really recognizing some of your big things or even your big little successes. And so, like, it's nice to have people that, like, recognize that you've done something great and just shoot you a little message being like, hey. Way to go. You know? That's how I do it anyways. Love that advice. Those are gonna be hard to follow. Anyone else have anything to say on the topic? Because I thought that was great. Yeah. Cosign that. Yeah. So I I was gonna say, like, interacting, I think, is a a big one. What I will add and this is just because, you know, I grew up with a very outspoken I I grew up in a very women outspoken household, on, honestly, both sides of the family. And so I wasn't until I was in college where I started to realize that not all women are as lucky as I am to have that. I I probably if any of my coworkers at Orderful are watching this, they probably are making fun of me because I I do this now there. Like, when I meet someone who I think could easily be on a podcast or it's just, like, well spoken, I'm like, let's get you on camera. And, like, how often is, like, oh, I don't think I have the skills to do that. And I'm like, you have the skills to carry a conversate you know? It's like so I would say I think what I I wanna point out is just that there's a lot of women out there who aren't told throughout their lives that they are good and that they can follow their dreams. I, again, realized that in college, just meeting other women from different walks of life. And so extending your hand and telling someone that they could do something goes a lot farther than I think than I think people realize it will. And and, again, to any, male leaders out there, same thing. Just because you have a high performing female in your office doesn't mean that they know that they're high performing. So give the good feedback when you can and extend the hand to better opportunities for people that might not be asking for them because not everyone is annoying like me who will ask for whatever they want. I have you have to be honest. Being direct. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Alright. I I love that. I I I have one more question I think we have time for. Otherwise, we're gonna have to say goodbye. But, Amy, I don't mean to put you on the spot, but I feel like you'd have some good, feedback for this. So this question is we're having a really hard time competing for and keeping talent. What's a strategy you've seen to attract more women to your team and keeping them long term? Well, you have to have women on the team somewhat to attract more women to that team. And just be very aware of like, when I've interviewed females, they already have the misconception you're a leader, you're a total pain in the neck, you're gonna demand way too much, be approachable. As far as retaining talent, I would say look at what motivates people. If I've taken lower paying jobs because I had more flexibility. It isn't all about dollars. It's not all about how many hours you work. Find out what makes your staff tick and listen to them. Sometimes you can accommodate, sometimes you can't, but sometimes just being heard is enough to let people know that to let that individual know that you care and you want them there and you need them there. And so it's it's just so important to be approachable and, that that interview that they have with you just make them see your best self, your most authentic self so that they can be that way too. Yeah. And you'd give a good answer. Awesome. Anyone else wanna wanna, expand on that at all? I'll I'll add a quick note just to piggyback on that, the flexibility comment. Because for many women, you you reach your your highest earning possibilities, unfortunately, at around the same age that you're expected to have children. And for a lot of companies not being able to have that flexibility at work is forced has historically forced women into choosing whether they wanna pursue a career or pursue motherhood. And for a lot of modern day companies, they're going to find great success in being able to offer that flexibility of in office day care, work from home, flexible work schedules, and or, you know, few days in the office, a few days at home. Being able to offer those solutions and that flexibility and optionality will help not only get more women into these senior leadership roles, but also to keep them and and retain their talents. Yeah. And and I feel like productivity would just you know, it always skyrockets when someone's happier and and more appreciated at work and, you know, that means more flexibility and working from home some days. Like, that's all the more worth it in my opinion. So I think everyone here with the degree. So thank you all for all of your answers. I think that's all the time we have today. So, if we didn't get to your your question, we will respond back to you probably next week along with the recording and the slides and all of the the links that come with this. I wanna thank all of our amazing women women panelists on here. Thank you so much. I think this was an amazing discussion and and really beneficial for any of our attendees watching. So thank you. If you wanna reach out to any of these lovely ladies, their contact information is on the screen. You probably if you are in the webinar platform, you'll probably see a short survey after we conclude here. Please fill out, what you liked, what you didn't like. No feelings hurt. Just give us some honest feedback. It's always appreciated. So thank you again, everyone. Appreciate your time, and we hope to see you on the next one.