February 26, 2025 • 29 mins
Whitney dives into her experiences at Virago, highlighting how the agency's strategic focus empowers logistics and freight tech companies to flourish. We discuss the innovative Freight Movement initiative, designed to create accessible networking opportunities for professionals across all roles, fostering community engagement and collaboration. On top of that, she outlines their commitment to giving back to organizations, showcasing practical ways to make a difference while building professional relationships.
Check out the Transportation Sales and Marketing Association (TMSA) website or engage with us on LinkedIn.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:21):
Hello everyone, welcome to On the Move, a show
where we share transportationsales and marketing success
stories.
I'm Jennifer Karpis-Romain,executive Director at the
Transportation Marketing andSales Association, which is a
trade nonprofit educating andconnecting marketing and sales
professionals insidetransportation and logistics.
And today on the show, I'msuper excited to have Whitney
(00:43):
Cowell, who is Director ofClient Strategy at Virago
Marketing.
She's also a board member hereat TMSA.
Welcome to the show, whitney.
How are you doing today?
Speaker 2 (00:52):
I'm great.
Thank you so much for having me.
I'm really excited to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
I'm excited to have you and to talk about kind of
your journey in the industry.
You've kind of gone from oneside of like working at a
transportation company, nowworking in a marketing agency,
but getting all that reallygreat experience, and so I would
love for you to tell theaudience just a little bit more
about your journey and where youare today yeah, so I've been in
the supply chain since 2016.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
I started off on the carrier side, um, selling fuel
cards, onboarding people to aplatform, and that evolved into
the media side of things.
So I worked a little bit infreight tech and then was
quickly transferred over toevent marketing, and that was
incredibly fun.
(01:38):
It was busy, while also stilljuggling the SaaS piece A little
bit of product, a little bit ofevent at the same time Um, it
was chaotic.
It was incredibly fun, though,and from there I yeah, I went to
the logistics end of the supplychain.
I think everybody should dothat.
(01:58):
If you haven't had thatexperience, I think it'll really
round you out, um, as amarketer and as a professional.
I think it'll really round youout as a marketer and as a
professional, and now I'm on theagency end back working with
freight tech and logisticscompanies.
So I you know the second Ionboard a carrier.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
I feel like I would have come full circle.
Fantastic.
And now you are at ViragoMarketing, which is one of our
TMSA partner member companies.
But you mentioned they'rereally into that freight tech
space.
But tell us a little bit aboutVirago Marketing and what you do
there now.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Yeah, so Virago Marketing, founded and owned.
Right now, jenny Malafrena isour CEO.
She's amazing.
Our core base of people that wework with are freight tech
companies and logisticscompanies.
After working in that space, itmade a lot of sense for us to
(02:51):
really focus on that, thataudience type as well.
But we do.
We do a lot of really fun andwonderful things.
You know, we specialize in in astrategic approach and the
content to back that up.
A strategic approach and thecontent to back that up.
And yeah, there's, there's acouple of us.
So every person at the end,every person at the company, has
(03:14):
industry experience.
So we all come from theindustry.
Our chief content officer wasat CCJ for 21 years 20 plus
years and you know, jenny alsocomes from the industry.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
So it's it's been a lot of different directions with
different clients and butmaking sure they all feel like
(03:48):
they're your top priority andand really focusing in on what
they can do.
But I like to work in fastpaced places, which is why TMSA
works so well for me, causethere's always like a million
things going on.
But I really love that thatfeel of like you're never bored.
You always have something goingon.
But I really love that thatfeel of like you're never bored.
You always have something goingon.
There's always something to do,there's always something to
learn.
So it is a different feel forsure.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
But it is, and I missed working with clients.
That's something like workingwith customers instead of you
know it's.
There's something to be saidabout being an in-house marketer
.
I think doing both has given mea really good perspective of
what it is to be a marketer inany situation, but I really like
working with clients every day.
(04:31):
I missed that.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
I love that for you and it's a good fit for you.
I think to like you're reallygood listener, absorbing of like
what people are saying and whatthey need, so I think that's
great.
I yes, my career has been, Isay, in every like wraparound
the written word, from likejournalism to marketing, to
working at like PR newswireprocessing press releases, to
(04:55):
then going to the agency life,to then working as director of
marketing at a tech firm thatspecialized in transportation
and now like leading thisassociation that then handles
all kinds of people's sales andmarketing needs and helping them
to learn and grow.
So I love the written word, Ilove helping people and so, yeah
, I think that's great.
(05:17):
One of the things that Virago isreally tied into outside of the
day-to-day is freight movementand its commitment to bringing
people in the industry together.
Would love to hear more aboutthat journey and what that means
.
I know they announced like bignews the other week at Manifest,
which is awesome, and thenyou've also been doing, kind of
(05:39):
as a part of that, your ownlocal coffee networking.
So let's talk about freightmovement and then also your
perspective on why kind ofbringing these different types
of engagements to our localcommunities can really foster
stronger connections and buildmore impactful relationships in
our industry.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Yeah, I love freight movement.
I'm having so much fun with it.
It was founded Jenny Malifarinawith Virago and then Nate
Johnson at GLCS, and then I feellike Robert Bain and I are like
the sidekicks in the wholeinitiative.
But the goal was to createthese local events for people to
(06:20):
attend that maybe can't go tothe large ones, and so I know
some people thought at firstlike, oh, so you're going to do
like an event that people can gothere instead of this?
And the answer is no,absolutely not.
We do something either theevening of when nothing else is
happening or we do something atthe beginning.
So, as people are kind offiltering in town and the reason
(06:44):
is our events are free, they'refree to attend, which means you
might not be able to afford thereally expensive ticket to the
really big event, but you canstill have all the perks of
networking with those people, ofshaking hands, of sitting down,
of having real conversations ornot.
You know, we had karaoke herein Chattanooga, so not as much
(07:07):
talking at that one.
It was incredibly fun and it'sjust more accessible.
And I think a really big pieceof what we're doing is bringing
people together in the sensethat it's come one, come all.
It doesn't matter if you're atruck driver, if you're a
product manager, if you're in IT, you're welcome, if you're in
(07:31):
the supply chain, we would loveto say hello.
And I think that that's kind ofwhat makes us stand out,
because at industry eventsthere's typically a very certain
type of title that's going toshow up and it's somebody in
marketing, somebody in sales,somebody in senior leadership,
every once in a while somebodyin operations, depending on your
company structure, and this isdifferent.
(07:55):
So that's the foundation andwhy it started.
And as far as what I'm doing, soI don't drink, I don't mind
happy hours.
But my thought was you know,there are some people that also
don't want to go to a happy hour, that maybe want to go home and
go to their family at the endof the workday.
They don't want to do somethinglike that.
(08:16):
Maybe they can't do somethinglike that, maybe their kids are
in sports.
So why don't you just come havelunch with me?
I'll buy you a cup of coffee.
Let's sit down and have aconversation and those are a lot
smaller.
There's usually anywhere fromlike four to eight of us that
sit at a table and talk, andI've really enjoyed that.
I've gotten to do a lot in theSoutheast and one in New Jersey,
(08:39):
but it's been really fun tomeet people that have been in my
network for a while that I'venever met in person, and also to
have them invite other peopleand to add somebody new to my
network and we'll have, you know, competitors sitting at the
same table having really justcandid conversations about what
(08:59):
they see that's happening in theindustry, vacations that they
like to go on and everything inbetween.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
I love both aspects.
So TMSA is a supporter offreight movement.
Here at TMSA I've wanted to domore local events and we do a
couple here and there but likewe just don't have the HQ power
to do like a whole bunch of them.
So I love being able to kind ofpartner with great movement and
push that forward too.
And I love the concept like youtalked about earlier, like, oh,
(09:30):
everyone, every marketingperson should work at, you know,
an actual logistics company ortransportation company at some
point so that you get thatexperience.
One of the things I love aboutthe titles being come one, come
all is that you get to talk toso I talk to a lot of sales and
marketing people, a lot ofsenior leadership all the time.
(09:51):
I don't get to talk tooperators all the time or truck
drivers or people.
That's one of the reasons why Ilove going to women in trucking
too, because it's more of a mixof titles you know and so you
get to hear more about differentexperiences than what's in your
pocket of the industry orconversation.
So I love the local networkingand people in this space.
(10:12):
That might not be the sametitle or the main, but you get
to hear about what they're doing, what's affecting them, which I
think, as a sales or marketingperson, is always valuable to
hear.
Like we should absolutely kindof know what's going on in all
pockets of our companies or inthe industry, and getting that
exposure Love it.
We even so Jenny Malofrino andme live about a half hour apart
(10:35):
here in the Cleveland Ohio area,so we do quarterly coffee chats
now too, and we have one comingup in March which I'm excited
about.
We had one in December thatseemed, it seems like it was
yesterday, but also now I'msaying that it was like two
months ago, but I do.
I love it and bringing peopleinto your network, getting to
(10:55):
meet other people that youdidn't know were local, and I
think it's great.
I do think that it it can beisolating, thinking that you
just live by yourself or you'rejust doing this thing here and
then you go to industry eventsand you get to connect with
people, but like, oh, there area lot of people typically in
your area that you might havenever known about.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
Yeah, and that's one of the announcements we had at
Manifest is that we're kind ofgoing, we're going on tour.
We've actually partnered with alot of really great
organizations in the industrywithin the first year, like it's
really taken off, and so we'rewe're going to be at a lot of
the really big events this yearand then, you know, we've also
(11:38):
partnered with broker carriersummit.
So we'll be doing 12, 12 eventsthroughout the year and I'll be
at some, jenny will be at some,aaron will be at some on the
Farago end and on the GLCS, andyou know Nate will be at some.
Aaron will be at some on theFarago end and on the GLCS end.
Um, you know Nate will be atsome and, um, I think the next
(11:59):
one that's coming up is um, tia.
So Bain and I will be there.
Join us, I will be there too.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
Yes, I do.
I missed the one at Manifestbecause I had double events that
week so I didn't and my flight.
I was going to see if I couldlike sneak in to the end of the
one at Manifest but my flightwas definitely delayed and I
didn't get in until like 11 PMand I was very tired.
But I made it to the rest ofthe conference.
But that's either here or there, but I love that.
(12:30):
I also want to go back.
You said that you had a karaokeevent.
What's your go-to karaoke?
Speaker 2 (12:36):
song.
I did not sing, I don't karaoke.
I do stand in the front row andwill dance my face off and sing
along with you.
However, this year so I did notgo to Manifest will be there, I
think next year uh, becauseI'll be at tia this year, so
(12:58):
it'll be my first time at thatat that event, but I definitely
agreed with two other women tobe the pre-halftime show, so
yeah, so I definitely definitelysang and danced a whole routine
and I think that's probably thelast time I'll ever do
(13:20):
something like that.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Well, I know I told you this but you missed it
because you couldn't come toElevate last year.
But I opened TMSA Elevate withsinging, which I will publicly
state that I will.
I will karaoke, I do that.
I will never.
I mean I guess you can't saynever, say never.
But like I have no intention,cause people were like, what are
(13:42):
you doing this year?
I'm like not that that was for100 years and I did something
special, but um, that thepressure to to do that is
substantial and I should nothave put that on myself, but it
was everything I wanted it to be, so I'm okay with it.
But I love karaoke.
My best friend also is not asinger and at my bachelorette
(14:04):
party we did karaoke and I sangBohemian Rhapsody and she
interpreted, danced it next tome and it was one of my favorite
moments of the whole thing, andI would be the one doing the
interpretive dance.
So it was, it was great, butthat was all good.
So we just touched a little biton TMSA, elevate.
(14:24):
But so you are a board memberhere at TMSA and you actually do
a lot of different things hereand but one of the bigger things
that you've been doing over thepast few years is serving on
the education committee and whatdo you think attendees can
expect from Elevate this year?
Speaker 2 (14:43):
I'm excited about Elevate this year.
I'm excited about Elevate andthe executive summit every year,
so I'm incredibly biased.
You give me an event, I'mstoked about it.
But I think this year is goingto be more focused on the sales
end, which I think is incrediblyexciting.
It's something that as a board,we've identified as a committee
(15:06):
, we've really been intentionalabout as we're putting together
the agenda.
And then there's going to be afew more panels this year than
there were in the past, and Ialso think that's incredibly
exciting because you get to heardifferent perspectives of
people.
I know we typically do like ashippers panel at at least one
event each year.
(15:26):
I'm excited to bring in othertypes of panels that are
relevant to both sales andmarketing, and, of course, I
think it's going to be a lot offun.
The extracurriculars also arevery fun.
And then, per usual, as of thelast three years, there's going
to be a give back to kick offthe whole event, so you can come
(15:48):
in, network, give back to thecommunity that's hosting us, and
then, you know, the awards arealways incredibly fun.
And then the content this year,I think, is going to be a
little elevated, as it has, andI think it's evolved over the
years, but this year inparticular.
After looking at the agenda,which hasn't quite been
(16:08):
announced yet, I'm reallyexcited about the speakers we
have joining us.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Absolutely.
So we have that Chippers panel.
We also have an economy panelwhich is coming back, something
that we did last year and it wasreally, really popular, and I
love it because it is not justone economy viewpoint but three,
and so you get to hear allthree and then have a Q&A at the
end.
We are finalizing our breakouts.
(16:34):
We just had our educationcommittee meeting.
We're recording this onFebruary 21st we had it
yesterday and so we'll be ableto publicly announce some of the
breakouts soon.
Our keynote speaker's name isKate DiLeo and she's talking
about not just storytelling butstory selling, because if you're
not, you can tell the beststory ever, but if it's not to
the right person at the righttime in the right space, it's
(16:55):
not going to take you very far.
And so really, really excitedabout that and you mentioned him
earlier, but this is not publicnews, but I will have it by the
time this goes live.
But Robert Bain will be takingthe stage at TMSA and we're
talking about because we talk alot about personal brand in the
industry.
We have a lot of these likefreight influence service, but
(17:16):
how does that translate toactual business?
So our strongest man inlogistics will be taking the
stage in a 15 minute powersession talking about how that
has actually leveraged businessfor him.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
And I'm super pumped.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
I just need his headshot and bio and so I will
text him again.
I mean, I just texted himyesterday, like you're in, give
me your headshot and bio.
But I'm really excited aboutthat.
That 15 minute session issomething we started at last
year's Elevate.
We had a lot more last yearbecause we also had some people
telling like their stories toTMSA because it was our 100 year
.
This year we'll just have acouple but really hone in on
(17:52):
great stories and how to reallytactfully take something and
pull it out.
It's something that we'repassionate at.
Tmsa is to have a mix, like yousaid, a lot more panels, a lot
different perspectives.
We still have the breakoutsessions to do heavier dives.
We have these 15 minutes tojust kind of break up that like,
oh, we have a lot of longerstage time and then our closing
(18:16):
panel this year is actuallygoing to feature south by
southwest, which I'm so excitedabout.
The moment that we knew that wewere coming to austin, I
started like emailing everyone Icould to try to get them.
So we actually have their likejust recently, um retired chief
brand officer, their, their VPof event operations and their
logistics partners coming aboutand talking about the magic
(18:39):
behind South by Southwest inboth like a sales, marketing and
logistics viewpoint, so I'm soexcited getting to meet with
them and stuff.
You were on that, that planningcall.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
I cannot wait.
That was such a good call I got.
I was giddy by the end of thatcall of what that's going to
mean for the, for the summit.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
Yeah, I was really excited and it did take me like
six months to firm that up, butit was because we really sat in
South by Southwest was great andbeing like okay, let's really
think about what you guys wantout of this panel and like let's
find the right people which Ialso was really excited about
what you guys want out of thispanel and like let's find the
right people, which I also wasreally excited about, because
you don't want it just to belike oh, here's a person
(19:21):
representing.
Yeah, let's use the name Like no, we actually want it to be
really valuable for our, ourmembers and our attendees.
So, and then you did mentionthe community give back, and so
that is a passion project foryou that you launched and
started.
So if you want to talk aboutthat a little bit more and let
people know what the give backis this year and how they could
(19:44):
potentially get involved, yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
So the give back this year is with Latinitas.
It's an organization that workswith girls in the middle school
age range that are interestedin STEM, and I just thought that
(20:12):
was so appropriate to fosterthe leaders of the future, I
mean, especially in the industrythat we're in.
Like, technology is such areally big piece of that and,
yeah, and the way that ourindustry is evolving, um, it
just felt like such a naturalfit.
Um, and then, of course, aslike a woman who's in the supply
chain, I hear you know anorganization that's focused on
(20:33):
young girls and my heart justsoars, but they this year for
the gift back.
What we'll be doing is, ofcourse, like partial networking
and sorry, my dog in thebackground, but we'll be doing
is, of course, like partialnetworking and sorry, my dog in
the background, but we'll be.
It's a networking opportunitywhere, as we're getting to know
one another, we are also doingsomething for the community.
(20:53):
This year, what we'll be doingis packaging kits for the summer
camp that Latinas has.
I think it's a six week campand each week has a different
theme and a different focus, andso we'll be packaging kits for
the activities for one of thoseweeks and, of course, some of
the people from Latinitas willjoin us.
They'll introduce themselves,tell us a little bit more about
(21:15):
the organization.
But we have a page available togo ahead and start learning now
.
And if people would like togive back but they're not able
to make it or they want to giveback plus, they do have an
Amazon wishlist to buy thesupplies that will be in the
kits.
So you could give back today ifyou wanted to and start
(21:40):
supporting that organization.
But yeah, it's near and dear tomy heart, it's.
We didn't have a give back withTMSA and I said I think this
could be a value point andanother way to network and we
could just kind of smash themtogether.
And I was really surprised whenthe board said, yeah, let's do
it, make it happen.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Yeah, that's pretty much how it went and it's it's
such a great networking in anengagement factor, not just like
oh, like let's network again,but like let's do something
positive together.
Right, and I know I talk withmy hands a lot.
I sometimes, when you're firstmeeting people, I don't know
what to do, and so it's nice tolike.
(22:23):
The past two years we made tieblankets and so it's really nice
to like have that activity todo, to like calm your nerves a
bit.
When you're meeting people,trying to talk with people,
you're doing an activitytogether.
And one of the things I'mreally excited about too is they
said that one of the thingsthat we could do for the girls
is like write like positiveaffirmations for them and like
(22:43):
encouraging words.
I'm super pumped about that.
I have in my like past couple ofyears I didn't have the
opportunity this year, but likeI've done like women in STEM
mentorship programs and stufflike that, and this is so much
younger than the space that I'mused to working in, but I do
think that really focusing in onSTEM at a younger age working
(23:04):
in, but I do think that reallyfocusing in on STEM at a younger
age is important, and so I lovethat we're doing that and that
we get to support it, so reallypumped about that too, me too,
and I'm excited because it's adifferent type of organization
everywhere that we go and that,I think, has been the fun part
for me, and the way that I'mable to give back to TMSA, the
(23:24):
way that I'm able to help usjust say thank you to the
community that's hosting us.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
So you know, I am already looking forward to what
we're going to do next year,just because I know it's going
to be different than what we'vedone this year.
And so as soon as that locationis finalized, you better
believe I'm already on Googlelooking for different
organizations, different spacesthat may need help.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
Love that, and a different passion project that
you have going on right now isoutside of TMSA, but something
that you've launched yourself inyour own podcast, and so tell
us about it.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
Yeah, so in December I launched my own little brand.
It's called Sober Soul.
Right now it's just kind of afloating out there brand, but
you know, my goal was to createa safe space for people who are
just navigating the world,navigating their career, their
profession.
Sober it's a little bit more ofa taboo subject and I think
(24:29):
people are more inclined to talkabout like, oh, you know,
sobriety and recovery andhealing, and it's like, well,
let's also talk about.
You know, the reason we'rethere is because of addiction,
and that's the part where peopleget a little squirmy, and
that's okay.
But for those, a little squirmyand that's that's okay.
But for those of us that needthe resources and and feel very
(24:51):
alone, it's really nice to knowthat there's a community out
there.
And so that was.
It's something that had been onmy heart for quite some time
and I just didn't know what todo with it.
I didn't know what that wasgoing to look like.
I didn't.
It's like the seed was plantedbut I had no idea what the
flower was going to look like,and so I gave it the time and
space that I felt like itdeserved, and when it was time,
it was time and I went ahead andlaunched it.
(25:13):
There is a service that I offerthrough that that I feel like I
just don't talk about very much.
Maybe I should, but anybodythat's that's trying to apply
for a job maybe get their lifeback on track and, specifically,
if they have like gaps in theirresume from where they've taken
time to to focus on their lifeand to to get the help and the
(25:34):
healing that they needed, thatcan be really awkward and really
uncomfortable conversation tohave, and so the service that I
offer is the resume writing.
Let's sit down and talk aboutwhat you really bring to the
table, because I bet it'samazing, and let's also have a
conversation, maybe before youhave that interview, of how do
you approach that topic.
(25:55):
What if they say why is there agap on your resume which most
people don't care?
But it makes us feel reallysafe to have an answer to that
question anyways.
And yeah, so far it's been avery slow takeoff, but there was
one person who reached out.
We did a resume together andshe got a job.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
That was really rewarding.
And then I launched, Irebranded, my podcast.
I realized we really weren'ttalking about marketing very
much, even though it was calledthe Mediocre Marketer, and so I
rebranded that to DryConversations and it felt very
natural and very organic, andI've already got a list of like
(26:35):
nine people that I'm going to berecording with over the next
three weeks, so we'll haveplenty of episodes to come.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
Wonderful Love to hear everything that you have
going on at Brago, at FreightMovement, at TMSA and beyond.
So all of the things so excitedto catch up with you.
One last question for youbefore I let you dip out.
It's a question I ask everyoneIf you could go back in time and
advise a younger Winnieanything personally or
professionally when would you goback to and what would you say?
Speaker 2 (27:12):
I think I would go back to, probably like 22 or 23.
Um, that was really like at theheight of feeling very alone in
the world and very like notnormal as a person, with
absolutely no answers, and Ithink that I would tell her that
(27:32):
, no matter what you feel likemakes you unique in the worst
ways that nobody will everunderstand.
There is a tribe of people whohave lived that and are ready to
not only tell the tale but holdyour hand through it.
You know, I there I'veexperienced a lot of things that
(27:55):
I thought would for sure breakme as a person and they didn't.
And I think the only reasonthey didn't is because when
somebody told me, like you haveto ask for help, I listened and
I did.
And I think the only reasonthey didn't is because when
somebody told me, like you haveto ask for help, I listened and
I did.
And I think that that's a reallycourageous thing to do and I
think it's one of the thingsthat's got me this far.
I mean, gosh, even getting laidoff of a job and just reaching
(28:18):
out to my network for help andlanding at Virago and having
this career.
That is beyond my wildestdreams.
You know, it doesn't have to bejust about my addiction.
There are lots of things that Ifeel like we face as people and
reaching out and it wouldn't bejust asking for help, it's
knowing somebody will show up.
(28:39):
When you do that, that's a bigdeal.
That was a really big deal forme, so I wish I had maybe known
that a little bit earlier.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
I think that's great advice for anyone, and
especially the like you can'task for help and it's okay Like
we don't have to face everythingby ourselves, so I think that's
great.
Well, thank you so much for allthat you're doing in the
industry here at TMSA, and forcoming on the show today.
It was great to have you andI'll see everyone next time.
Bye.
Hello everyone, welcome to On the Move, a show
where we share transportationsales and marketing success
stories.
I'm Jennifer Karpis-Romain,executive Director at the
Transportation Marketing andSales Association, which is a
trade nonprofit educating andconnecting marketing and sales
professionals insidetransportation and logistics.
And today on the show, I'msuper excited to have Whitney
(00:43):
Cowell, who is Director ofClient Strategy at Virago
Marketing.
She's also a board member hereat TMSA.
Welcome to the show, whitney.
How are you doing today?
Speaker 2 (00:52):
I'm great.
Thank you so much for having me.
I'm really excited to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:56):
I'm excited to have you and to talk about kind of
your journey in the industry.
You've kind of gone from oneside of like working at a
transportation company, nowworking in a marketing agency,
but getting all that reallygreat experience, and so I would
love for you to tell theaudience just a little bit more
about your journey and where youare today yeah, so I've been in
the supply chain since 2016.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
I started off on the carrier side, um, selling fuel
cards, onboarding people to aplatform, and that evolved into
the media side of things.
So I worked a little bit infreight tech and then was
quickly transferred over toevent marketing, and that was
incredibly fun.
(01:38):
It was busy, while also stilljuggling the SaaS piece A little
bit of product, a little bit ofevent at the same time Um, it
was chaotic.
It was incredibly fun, though,and from there I yeah, I went to
the logistics end of the supplychain.
I think everybody should dothat.
(01:58):
If you haven't had thatexperience, I think it'll really
round you out, um, as amarketer and as a professional.
I think it'll really round youout as a marketer and as a
professional, and now I'm on theagency end back working with
freight tech and logisticscompanies.
So I you know the second Ionboard a carrier.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
I feel like I would have come full circle.
Fantastic.
And now you are at ViragoMarketing, which is one of our
TMSA partner member companies.
But you mentioned they'rereally into that freight tech
space.
But tell us a little bit aboutVirago Marketing and what you do
there now.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
Yeah, so Virago Marketing, founded and owned.
Right now, jenny Malafrena isour CEO.
She's amazing.
Our core base of people that wework with are freight tech
companies and logisticscompanies.
After working in that space, itmade a lot of sense for us to
(02:51):
really focus on that, thataudience type as well.
But we do.
We do a lot of really fun andwonderful things.
You know, we specialize in in astrategic approach and the
content to back that up.
A strategic approach and thecontent to back that up.
And yeah, there's, there's acouple of us.
So every person at the end,every person at the company, has
(03:14):
industry experience.
So we all come from theindustry.
Our chief content officer wasat CCJ for 21 years 20 plus
years and you know, jenny alsocomes from the industry.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
So it's it's been a lot of different directions with
different clients and butmaking sure they all feel like
(03:48):
they're your top priority andand really focusing in on what
they can do.
But I like to work in fastpaced places, which is why TMSA
works so well for me, causethere's always like a million
things going on.
But I really love that thatfeel of like you're never bored.
You always have something goingon.
But I really love that thatfeel of like you're never bored.
You always have something goingon.
There's always something to do,there's always something to
learn.
So it is a different feel forsure.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
But it is, and I missed working with clients.
That's something like workingwith customers instead of you
know it's.
There's something to be saidabout being an in-house marketer
.
I think doing both has given mea really good perspective of
what it is to be a marketer inany situation, but I really like
working with clients every day.
(04:31):
I missed that.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
I love that for you and it's a good fit for you.
I think to like you're reallygood listener, absorbing of like
what people are saying and whatthey need, so I think that's
great.
I yes, my career has been, Isay, in every like wraparound
the written word, from likejournalism to marketing, to
working at like PR newswireprocessing press releases, to
(04:55):
then going to the agency life,to then working as director of
marketing at a tech firm thatspecialized in transportation
and now like leading thisassociation that then handles
all kinds of people's sales andmarketing needs and helping them
to learn and grow.
So I love the written word, Ilove helping people and so, yeah
, I think that's great.
(05:17):
One of the things that Virago isreally tied into outside of the
day-to-day is freight movementand its commitment to bringing
people in the industry together.
Would love to hear more aboutthat journey and what that means
.
I know they announced like bignews the other week at Manifest,
which is awesome, and thenyou've also been doing, kind of
(05:39):
as a part of that, your ownlocal coffee networking.
So let's talk about freightmovement and then also your
perspective on why kind ofbringing these different types
of engagements to our localcommunities can really foster
stronger connections and buildmore impactful relationships in
our industry.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Yeah, I love freight movement.
I'm having so much fun with it.
It was founded Jenny Malifarinawith Virago and then Nate
Johnson at GLCS, and then I feellike Robert Bain and I are like
the sidekicks in the wholeinitiative.
But the goal was to createthese local events for people to
(06:20):
attend that maybe can't go tothe large ones, and so I know
some people thought at firstlike, oh, so you're going to do
like an event that people can gothere instead of this?
And the answer is no,absolutely not.
We do something either theevening of when nothing else is
happening or we do something atthe beginning.
So, as people are kind offiltering in town and the reason
(06:44):
is our events are free, they'refree to attend, which means you
might not be able to afford thereally expensive ticket to the
really big event, but you canstill have all the perks of
networking with those people, ofshaking hands, of sitting down,
of having real conversations ornot.
You know, we had karaoke herein Chattanooga, so not as much
(07:07):
talking at that one.
It was incredibly fun and it'sjust more accessible.
And I think a really big pieceof what we're doing is bringing
people together in the sensethat it's come one, come all.
It doesn't matter if you're atruck driver, if you're a
product manager, if you're in IT, you're welcome, if you're in
(07:31):
the supply chain, we would loveto say hello.
And I think that that's kind ofwhat makes us stand out,
because at industry eventsthere's typically a very certain
type of title that's going toshow up and it's somebody in
marketing, somebody in sales,somebody in senior leadership,
every once in a while somebodyin operations, depending on your
company structure, and this isdifferent.
(07:55):
So that's the foundation andwhy it started.
And as far as what I'm doing, soI don't drink, I don't mind
happy hours.
But my thought was you know,there are some people that also
don't want to go to a happy hour, that maybe want to go home and
go to their family at the endof the workday.
They don't want to do somethinglike that.
(08:16):
Maybe they can't do somethinglike that, maybe their kids are
in sports.
So why don't you just come havelunch with me?
I'll buy you a cup of coffee.
Let's sit down and have aconversation and those are a lot
smaller.
There's usually anywhere fromlike four to eight of us that
sit at a table and talk, andI've really enjoyed that.
I've gotten to do a lot in theSoutheast and one in New Jersey,
(08:39):
but it's been really fun tomeet people that have been in my
network for a while that I'venever met in person, and also to
have them invite other peopleand to add somebody new to my
network and we'll have, you know, competitors sitting at the
same table having really justcandid conversations about what
(08:59):
they see that's happening in theindustry, vacations that they
like to go on and everything inbetween.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
I love both aspects.
So TMSA is a supporter offreight movement.
Here at TMSA I've wanted to domore local events and we do a
couple here and there but likewe just don't have the HQ power
to do like a whole bunch of them.
So I love being able to kind ofpartner with great movement and
push that forward too.
And I love the concept like youtalked about earlier, like, oh,
(09:30):
everyone, every marketingperson should work at, you know,
an actual logistics company ortransportation company at some
point so that you get thatexperience.
One of the things I love aboutthe titles being come one, come
all is that you get to talk toso I talk to a lot of sales and
marketing people, a lot ofsenior leadership all the time.
(09:51):
I don't get to talk tooperators all the time or truck
drivers or people.
That's one of the reasons why Ilove going to women in trucking
too, because it's more of a mixof titles you know and so you
get to hear more about differentexperiences than what's in your
pocket of the industry orconversation.
So I love the local networkingand people in this space.
(10:12):
That might not be the sametitle or the main, but you get
to hear about what they're doing, what's affecting them, which I
think, as a sales or marketingperson, is always valuable to
hear.
Like we should absolutely kindof know what's going on in all
pockets of our companies or inthe industry, and getting that
exposure Love it.
We even so Jenny Malofrino andme live about a half hour apart
(10:35):
here in the Cleveland Ohio area,so we do quarterly coffee chats
now too, and we have one comingup in March which I'm excited
about.
We had one in December thatseemed, it seems like it was
yesterday, but also now I'msaying that it was like two
months ago, but I do.
I love it and bringing peopleinto your network, getting to
(10:55):
meet other people that youdidn't know were local, and I
think it's great.
I do think that it it can beisolating, thinking that you
just live by yourself or you'rejust doing this thing here and
then you go to industry eventsand you get to connect with
people, but like, oh, there area lot of people typically in
your area that you might havenever known about.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
Yeah, and that's one of the announcements we had at
Manifest is that we're kind ofgoing, we're going on tour.
We've actually partnered with alot of really great
organizations in the industrywithin the first year, like it's
really taken off, and so we'rewe're going to be at a lot of
the really big events this yearand then, you know, we've also
(11:38):
partnered with broker carriersummit.
So we'll be doing 12, 12 eventsthroughout the year and I'll be
at some, jenny will be at some,aaron will be at some on the
Farago end and on the GLCS, andyou know Nate will be at some.
Aaron will be at some on theFarago end and on the GLCS end.
Um, you know Nate will be atsome and, um, I think the next
(11:59):
one that's coming up is um, tia.
So Bain and I will be there.
Join us, I will be there too.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
Yes, I do.
I missed the one at Manifestbecause I had double events that
week so I didn't and my flight.
I was going to see if I couldlike sneak in to the end of the
one at Manifest but my flightwas definitely delayed and I
didn't get in until like 11 PMand I was very tired.
But I made it to the rest ofthe conference.
But that's either here or there, but I love that.
(12:30):
I also want to go back.
You said that you had a karaokeevent.
What's your go-to karaoke?
Speaker 2 (12:36):
song.
I did not sing, I don't karaoke.
I do stand in the front row andwill dance my face off and sing
along with you.
However, this year so I did notgo to Manifest will be there, I
think next year uh, becauseI'll be at tia this year, so
(12:58):
it'll be my first time at thatat that event, but I definitely
agreed with two other women tobe the pre-halftime show, so
yeah, so I definitely definitelysang and danced a whole routine
and I think that's probably thelast time I'll ever do
(13:20):
something like that.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
Well, I know I told you this but you missed it
because you couldn't come toElevate last year.
But I opened TMSA Elevate withsinging, which I will publicly
state that I will.
I will karaoke, I do that.
I will never.
I mean I guess you can't saynever, say never.
But like I have no intention,cause people were like, what are
(13:42):
you doing this year?
I'm like not that that was for100 years and I did something
special, but um, that thepressure to to do that is
substantial and I should nothave put that on myself, but it
was everything I wanted it to be, so I'm okay with it.
But I love karaoke.
My best friend also is not asinger and at my bachelorette
(14:04):
party we did karaoke and I sangBohemian Rhapsody and she
interpreted, danced it next tome and it was one of my favorite
moments of the whole thing, andI would be the one doing the
interpretive dance.
So it was, it was great, butthat was all good.
So we just touched a little biton TMSA, elevate.
(14:24):
But so you are a board memberhere at TMSA and you actually do
a lot of different things hereand but one of the bigger things
that you've been doing over thepast few years is serving on
the education committee and whatdo you think attendees can
expect from Elevate this year?
Speaker 2 (14:43):
I'm excited about Elevate this year.
I'm excited about Elevate andthe executive summit every year,
so I'm incredibly biased.
You give me an event, I'mstoked about it.
But I think this year is goingto be more focused on the sales
end, which I think is incrediblyexciting.
It's something that as a board,we've identified as a committee
(15:06):
, we've really been intentionalabout as we're putting together
the agenda.
And then there's going to be afew more panels this year than
there were in the past, and Ialso think that's incredibly
exciting because you get to heardifferent perspectives of
people.
I know we typically do like ashippers panel at at least one
event each year.
(15:26):
I'm excited to bring in othertypes of panels that are
relevant to both sales andmarketing, and, of course, I
think it's going to be a lot offun.
The extracurriculars also arevery fun.
And then, per usual, as of thelast three years, there's going
to be a give back to kick offthe whole event, so you can come
(15:48):
in, network, give back to thecommunity that's hosting us, and
then, you know, the awards arealways incredibly fun.
And then the content this year,I think, is going to be a
little elevated, as it has, andI think it's evolved over the
years, but this year inparticular.
After looking at the agenda,which hasn't quite been
(16:08):
announced yet, I'm reallyexcited about the speakers we
have joining us.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Absolutely.
So we have that Chippers panel.
We also have an economy panelwhich is coming back, something
that we did last year and it wasreally, really popular, and I
love it because it is not justone economy viewpoint but three,
and so you get to hear allthree and then have a Q&A at the
end.
We are finalizing our breakouts.
(16:34):
We just had our educationcommittee meeting.
We're recording this onFebruary 21st we had it
yesterday and so we'll be ableto publicly announce some of the
breakouts soon.
Our keynote speaker's name isKate DiLeo and she's talking
about not just storytelling butstory selling, because if you're
not, you can tell the beststory ever, but if it's not to
the right person at the righttime in the right space, it's
(16:55):
not going to take you very far.
And so really, really excitedabout that and you mentioned him
earlier, but this is not publicnews, but I will have it by the
time this goes live.
But Robert Bain will be takingthe stage at TMSA and we're
talking about because we talk alot about personal brand in the
industry.
We have a lot of these likefreight influence service, but
(17:16):
how does that translate toactual business?
So our strongest man inlogistics will be taking the
stage in a 15 minute powersession talking about how that
has actually leveraged businessfor him.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
And I'm super pumped.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
I just need his headshot and bio and so I will
text him again.
I mean, I just texted himyesterday, like you're in, give
me your headshot and bio.
But I'm really excited aboutthat.
That 15 minute session issomething we started at last
year's Elevate.
We had a lot more last yearbecause we also had some people
telling like their stories toTMSA because it was our 100 year
.
This year we'll just have acouple but really hone in on
(17:52):
great stories and how to reallytactfully take something and
pull it out.
It's something that we'repassionate at.
Tmsa is to have a mix, like yousaid, a lot more panels, a lot
different perspectives.
We still have the breakoutsessions to do heavier dives.
We have these 15 minutes tojust kind of break up that like,
oh, we have a lot of longerstage time and then our closing
(18:16):
panel this year is actuallygoing to feature south by
southwest, which I'm so excitedabout.
The moment that we knew that wewere coming to austin, I
started like emailing everyone Icould to try to get them.
So we actually have their likejust recently, um retired chief
brand officer, their, their VPof event operations and their
logistics partners coming aboutand talking about the magic
(18:39):
behind South by Southwest inboth like a sales, marketing and
logistics viewpoint, so I'm soexcited getting to meet with
them and stuff.
You were on that, that planningcall.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
I cannot wait.
That was such a good call I got.
I was giddy by the end of thatcall of what that's going to
mean for the, for the summit.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
Yeah, I was really excited and it did take me like
six months to firm that up, butit was because we really sat in
South by Southwest was great andbeing like okay, let's really
think about what you guys wantout of this panel and like let's
find the right people which Ialso was really excited about
what you guys want out of thispanel and like let's find the
right people, which I also wasreally excited about, because
you don't want it just to belike oh, here's a person
(19:21):
representing.
Yeah, let's use the name Like no, we actually want it to be
really valuable for our, ourmembers and our attendees.
So, and then you did mentionthe community give back, and so
that is a passion project foryou that you launched and
started.
So if you want to talk aboutthat a little bit more and let
people know what the give backis this year and how they could
(19:44):
potentially get involved, yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:46):
So the give back this year is with Latinitas.
It's an organization that workswith girls in the middle school
age range that are interestedin STEM, and I just thought that
(20:12):
was so appropriate to fosterthe leaders of the future, I
mean, especially in the industrythat we're in.
Like, technology is such areally big piece of that and,
yeah, and the way that ourindustry is evolving, um, it
just felt like such a naturalfit.
Um, and then, of course, aslike a woman who's in the supply
chain, I hear you know anorganization that's focused on
(20:33):
young girls and my heart justsoars, but they this year for
the gift back.
What we'll be doing is, ofcourse, like partial networking
and sorry, my dog in thebackground, but we'll be doing
is, of course, like partialnetworking and sorry, my dog in
the background, but we'll be.
It's a networking opportunitywhere, as we're getting to know
one another, we are also doingsomething for the community.
(20:53):
This year, what we'll be doingis packaging kits for the summer
camp that Latinas has.
I think it's a six week campand each week has a different
theme and a different focus, andso we'll be packaging kits for
the activities for one of thoseweeks and, of course, some of
the people from Latinitas willjoin us.
They'll introduce themselves,tell us a little bit more about
(21:15):
the organization.
But we have a page available togo ahead and start learning now
.
And if people would like togive back but they're not able
to make it or they want to giveback plus, they do have an
Amazon wishlist to buy thesupplies that will be in the
kits.
So you could give back today ifyou wanted to and start
(21:40):
supporting that organization.
But yeah, it's near and dear tomy heart, it's.
We didn't have a give back withTMSA and I said I think this
could be a value point andanother way to network and we
could just kind of smash themtogether.
And I was really surprised whenthe board said, yeah, let's do
it, make it happen.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Yeah, that's pretty much how it went and it's it's
such a great networking in anengagement factor, not just like
oh, like let's network again,but like let's do something
positive together.
Right, and I know I talk withmy hands a lot.
I sometimes, when you're firstmeeting people, I don't know
what to do, and so it's nice tolike.
(22:23):
The past two years we made tieblankets and so it's really nice
to like have that activity todo, to like calm your nerves a
bit.
When you're meeting people,trying to talk with people,
you're doing an activitytogether.
And one of the things I'mreally excited about too is they
said that one of the thingsthat we could do for the girls
is like write like positiveaffirmations for them and like
(22:43):
encouraging words.
I'm super pumped about that.
I have in my like past couple ofyears I didn't have the
opportunity this year, but likeI've done like women in STEM
mentorship programs and stufflike that, and this is so much
younger than the space that I'mused to working in, but I do
think that really focusing in onSTEM at a younger age working
(23:04):
in, but I do think that reallyfocusing in on STEM at a younger
age is important, and so I lovethat we're doing that and that
we get to support it, so reallypumped about that too, me too,
and I'm excited because it's adifferent type of organization
everywhere that we go and that,I think, has been the fun part
for me, and the way that I'mable to give back to TMSA, the
(23:24):
way that I'm able to help usjust say thank you to the
community that's hosting us.
Speaker 2 (23:30):
So you know, I am already looking forward to what
we're going to do next year,just because I know it's going
to be different than what we'vedone this year.
And so as soon as that locationis finalized, you better
believe I'm already on Googlelooking for different
organizations, different spacesthat may need help.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
Love that, and a different passion project that
you have going on right now isoutside of TMSA, but something
that you've launched yourself inyour own podcast, and so tell
us about it.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
Yeah, so in December I launched my own little brand.
It's called Sober Soul.
Right now it's just kind of afloating out there brand, but
you know, my goal was to createa safe space for people who are
just navigating the world,navigating their career, their
profession.
Sober it's a little bit more ofa taboo subject and I think
(24:29):
people are more inclined to talkabout like, oh, you know,
sobriety and recovery andhealing, and it's like, well,
let's also talk about.
You know, the reason we'rethere is because of addiction,
and that's the part where peopleget a little squirmy, and
that's okay.
But for those, a little squirmyand that's that's okay.
But for those of us that needthe resources and and feel very
(24:51):
alone, it's really nice to knowthat there's a community out
there.
And so that was.
It's something that had been onmy heart for quite some time
and I just didn't know what todo with it.
I didn't know what that wasgoing to look like.
I didn't.
It's like the seed was plantedbut I had no idea what the
flower was going to look like,and so I gave it the time and
space that I felt like itdeserved, and when it was time,
it was time and I went ahead andlaunched it.
(25:13):
There is a service that I offerthrough that that I feel like I
just don't talk about very much.
Maybe I should, but anybodythat's that's trying to apply
for a job maybe get their lifeback on track and, specifically,
if they have like gaps in theirresume from where they've taken
time to to focus on their lifeand to to get the help and the
(25:34):
healing that they needed, thatcan be really awkward and really
uncomfortable conversation tohave, and so the service that I
offer is the resume writing.
Let's sit down and talk aboutwhat you really bring to the
table, because I bet it'samazing, and let's also have a
conversation, maybe before youhave that interview, of how do
you approach that topic.
(25:55):
What if they say why is there agap on your resume which most
people don't care?
But it makes us feel reallysafe to have an answer to that
question anyways.
And yeah, so far it's been avery slow takeoff, but there was
one person who reached out.
We did a resume together andshe got a job.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
That was really rewarding.
And then I launched, Irebranded, my podcast.
I realized we really weren'ttalking about marketing very
much, even though it was calledthe Mediocre Marketer, and so I
rebranded that to DryConversations and it felt very
natural and very organic, andI've already got a list of like
(26:35):
nine people that I'm going to berecording with over the next
three weeks, so we'll haveplenty of episodes to come.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
Wonderful Love to hear everything that you have
going on at Brago, at FreightMovement, at TMSA and beyond.
So all of the things so excitedto catch up with you.
One last question for youbefore I let you dip out.
It's a question I ask everyoneIf you could go back in time and
advise a younger Winnieanything personally or
professionally when would you goback to and what would you say?
Speaker 2 (27:12):
I think I would go back to, probably like 22 or 23.
Um, that was really like at theheight of feeling very alone in
the world and very like notnormal as a person, with
absolutely no answers, and Ithink that I would tell her that
(27:32):
, no matter what you feel likemakes you unique in the worst
ways that nobody will everunderstand.
There is a tribe of people whohave lived that and are ready to
not only tell the tale but holdyour hand through it.
You know, I there I'veexperienced a lot of things that
(27:55):
I thought would for sure breakme as a person and they didn't.
And I think the only reasonthey didn't is because when
somebody told me, like you haveto ask for help, I listened and
I did.
And I think the only reasonthey didn't is because when
somebody told me, like you haveto ask for help, I listened and
I did.
And I think that that's a reallycourageous thing to do and I
think it's one of the thingsthat's got me this far.
I mean, gosh, even getting laidoff of a job and just reaching
(28:18):
out to my network for help andlanding at Virago and having
this career.
That is beyond my wildestdreams.
You know, it doesn't have to bejust about my addiction.
There are lots of things that Ifeel like we face as people and
reaching out and it wouldn't bejust asking for help, it's
knowing somebody will show up.
(28:39):
When you do that, that's a bigdeal.
That was a really big deal forme, so I wish I had maybe known
that a little bit earlier.
Speaker 1 (28:46):
I think that's great advice for anyone, and
especially the like you can'task for help and it's okay Like
we don't have to face everythingby ourselves, so I think that's
great.
Well, thank you so much for allthat you're doing in the
industry here at TMSA, and forcoming on the show today.
It was great to have you andI'll see everyone next time.
Bye.
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