Just coming into my six month at United Transportation and things could not be better. I continue to have the “pinch me” moment as I drive into our logistics center each morning and see the warehouse and trucks lined up at the doors.

Our team has been amazing through the short-term transition. We have a plan to move forward and continue to deliver superior customer service to our existing customers, while onboarding new clients in a seamless manner. We have a distinct focus on warehouse and driver safety, as well as the rollout of new services. Seeing the operation onsite on a daily basis, gaining more experience and a greater appreciation for the transportation sector, and receiving employee feedback has been incredible.

While driving home one evening, I was reflecting on how I got here. 30 years ago, I was getting my promotion from a Help Desk to an Oracle DBA and cutting my teeth on data warehousing, big data (before it was big data), and system/network administration responsibilities. The end goal was to be like my boss, a CIO who wore a suit and carried a laptop briefcase to work every day. Ideally, I would be working in downtown Philadelphia with a corner office managing hundreds of employees and having a ton of responsibility.

Eventually I became a CTO, managed teams of all sizes, and gained the experience to directly influence an organization through the buildout of new technology.  Once achieved, I can remember thinking to myself, “I am done and set for life….” It only took a few roles in different companies to quickly figure out, this is not for me. I loved being technical, but was drawn to the buildout of products, how to build go to market plans, and how these products were sold and supported. This didn’t happen overnight, and it took some time to pivot; however, I took on new roles and aligned myself for what I wanted to do in the future. This eventually gave me the experience to focus on the buildout of new ideas and eventually a company. (With a co-founder)

Growing up, my Dad had a full-time job with the local energy and gas company as a meter reader. He would be home around 3PM and then begin to dabble in what he loved – thinking of new companies to start. These weren’t companies you would ever hear about and came in the forms of a comedy club, a videotape rental store, a trucking company, and a bbq wing restaurant. None of these businesses were “game over” successful or enough for him to quit his full-time job. He just continued to invent and never let the failures hold him back from trying the next idea. I thoroughly enjoyed having a front row seat and watching his excitement and passion about “what it could be” for each new company that was launched. That risk taking is embedded deep within me.

I took some time off last year to evaluate what was next and reflect on my professional career. I spent countless hours documenting what I loved, what I disliked, where was I challenged, where was I bored, where I succeeded and where I failed. I also focused on those I worked with and lessons learned from those different team dynamics, My end goal in this exercise was to have an open, clear, un-biased mindset on what I want to do next. This next “venture” had to offer something very different. I made a list of what I wanted – the people I would work with, an in-person – energetic – work environment, and a product/service that could be differentiating over time. Finally, I wanted to remove all the distractions or extra-curricular noise that distracts leaders and the underlying team from building a great business.  I checked all those boxes through the due diligence process and acquiring United Transportation.

In summary, life is about twists and turns. I’ve always been the one to choose the highest/scariest rollercoaster in the theme park vs the predictable safe ride. Some things have worked, while many things haven’t. I don’t regret a single decision, as it’s allowed me to get to this point to have fun, feel alive, motivated, and excited about the future.