June 25, 2025 • 29 mins
TMSA’s On the Move Podcast – Featuring Angelica Brooks
In this episode of TMSA On the Move, we sit down with Angelica Brooks, Director of Communications, Marketing, & Events at Women in Maritime Operations (WIMOs), a national nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting women across the maritime industry. Angelica brings a unique blend of service, strategy, and storytelling to her work—balancing her leadership role at WIMOs with her service as an officer in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserves.
She shares how WIMOs is creating space for women to thrive in a traditionally male-dominated industry, how communication can be a powerful force for connection and change, and why collaboration with sponsors, partners, and members is vital to long-term impact.
Be a guest for On The Move: https://share.hsforms.com/14dmtabUWRb-9nh6sM7zqjQ3ucn7
Join us August 26th at 12 pm CT for the WIMO's webinar: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_NkAjIZOzQXKJFIx2T2DlNg#/registration
Check out the Transportation Sales and Marketing Association (TMSA) website or engage with us on LinkedIn.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Hello everyone and welcome to On the Move, a show
where we share transportationsales and marketing success
stories.
I am Jennifer Karpis-Romain,executive Director at the
Transportation Marketing andSales Association, which is a
trade nonprofit educating andconnecting marketing and sales
professionals in the industry,and today I have Angelica Brooks
(00:50):
, director of Communications,marketing and Events at the
Women in Maritime Operations,also known as Wemos, so excited
to have you on the show.
I know we had fun technicalglitches to get here, but it'll
be all worth it in the end so wecould have this chat.
Welcome to the show, angelica,thanks.
Thanks for having me so excited.
So you wear many hats in yourlife.
So you're a director ofcommunications at WeMost, you're
(01:11):
a Coast Guard reserve officer.
You're a Columbia graduate.
I want to start with yourjourney and how did you find
your way into the maritimeindustry and communications and
kind of what keeps you here?
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Yes, so I will have to say it first started with
communications.
So growing up I was always acommunicator.
I did speech, competitions.
I knew I was interested inpublic relations and marketing.
I just didn't know what acareer looked like in those
fields whenever I was a kid.
So I knew going to college thatthat was something that I was
(01:46):
going to be interested in andwant to pursue.
So I'm actually from Oklahoma,oklahoma City.
So, as you can imagine, wedon't really have a maritime
presence there and we also don'thave a Coast Guard presence
there.
So the way I found myself intothe industry was I attended
Spelman College in Atlanta,georgia.
(02:06):
In my freshman year there Ilearned about the Coast Guard
College StudentPre-Commissioning Initiative,
which is a scholarship programthat's equivalent to ROTC and
the other branches, and wheneverI learned about that program I
was like wait a minute, thatprogram.
(02:28):
I was like wait a minute so Ican do this program, get my
bachelor's, my master's paid for, have a full-time job.
Like what 18 year old would notsee that this is like a great
opportunity.
So my freshman year I decidedthat I was going to apply for
this program.
So fast forward.
I ended up getting accepted.
I go through basic training thesummer after my sophomore year
in college and then after Igraduated from Spelman, I
(02:50):
commissioned as an officer inthe Coast Guard and my first
assignment as an ensign wasaboard the Coast Guard Bark
Eagle, which is a tall ship, isa tall ship and I really wanted
to be assigned to that ship inparticular because it is the
goodwill ambassador trainingplatform public affairs vessel
(03:11):
of this country essentially.
So basically what the ship doesis it about six months out of
the year.
It will travel to different USports as well as overseas, and
it will host foreign governmentsand militaries for different
receptions, for GoodwillAmbassador initiatives.
(03:32):
So I had to work with publicaffairs for the Coast Guard,
with the State Department, withthe Department of Homeland
Security, in order to create ourcommunication plan for each of
our deployments.
So that was really my first jobas a communicator and in
(03:53):
maritime.
So that was basically myintroduction and from there I
knew I wanted to stay incommunications.
I knew that this was somethingfor me, that it was really
interesting and it was fun and Istarted learning on during that
tour on the Bark Eagle, thatcommunications could look so
different.
It transcends all industries.
(04:15):
Everyone needs an effectivecommunicator and you can
basically go anywhere with it.
So from there, that was about10 years ago, and from there
I've really just transitioned todifferent parts of my career.
I love being in the Coast Guard, I love being able to serve my
country, and so, after sevenyears of active duty, I decided
(04:37):
that I was going to take adifferent career path and be
able to, so I could pursuecommunications full time.
But because I love my serviceso much, I decided to stay in
the reserves.
So I've been in the Coast Guardfor about 10 years now.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
I love that story and I think it's so true when you
talked about like communicationsis everywhere.
I started my career injournalism and always gravitated
more towards the industrialspace, which was interesting for
me because previously I wantedto write for the New York Times,
because every journalist yousee in every movie ever known
(05:13):
that's the only place they workand so but you don't hear about
all the other pieces.
And so then I transitioned fromjournalism to marketing and
that's how I feel too, like it'sthere, it needs to be there,
it's in every space, in everyplace.
You just have to find it andthen market things differently
or communicate thingsdifferently, which is really
cool.
So I'm glad you kind of sharethat joy and passion there.
(05:36):
Obviously, your journey thenled you to Wemo, so I would love
for you to tell our audiencekind of more about the
organization and its mission.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Yes, okay.
So while I was active duty inthe Coast Guard stationed down
in Houston Texas, one of thegirls on my team she so.
Once I moved to Houston I wasinspecting US and foreign
flagships and so one of thegirls on my team went out to one
of the shipyards to do a bargeinspection.
(06:06):
And that's when Casey Eckstein,the founder of Wemos, came
running up to her and was likehey, we hardly ever see female
Coast Guard inspectors.
We would love to do a jointevent with the Coast Guard.
So the girl comes back and shesaid hey, ms Brooks, like this
is basically what happened.
I don't know what to do withthis information, I'll pass it
(06:27):
to you.
So I said, okay, sounds good.
So I learned more about it.
I spoke with my command and weended up hosting a joint event
at the unit where we had about30 WMOS members come for lunch
and learn.
I hosted on the Coast Guardside and the Houston chapter
hosted on the Wemos side.
And that was my firstintroduction to Wemos and for me
(06:50):
at that point I think I'd beenin the Coast Guard about five or
six years I was just floored.
I hadn't done anything orjoined a professional
organization outside of themilitary yet.
So this was my firstintroduction to a professional
network of women who also workedin maritime, who were in
different points in their career, and they offer free membership
(07:14):
to active duty military members.
So then again, I'm like, whywould I not pursue this
opportunity?
Sounds amazing.
So, basically, wemos is anonprofit organization of women.
We currently have about 1,300members across the United States
, canada, nigeria and Iran, soit's really amazing that we're
(07:40):
starting to have this globalexpansion, that we're starting
to have this global expansion.
We're about eight years old, sostill relatively new.
We have about 13 differentchapters across the United
States primarily, and we're inthe process of becoming a
registered non-governmentalorganization in Nigeria, so
(08:01):
really excited about thatprogression.
Our members represent over 300companies.
We host more than 120 eventseach year and basically our
mission is to recruit, retain,promote and advance women with
maritime careers.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
I love that so much and I came across you because we
have a joint member and she waslike oh, you should learn more
about this.
We, of course, our goal is tobe applicable to all modes of
commercial transport but,admittedly, maritime doesn't
reflect a lot of our membership,but we want it to and we want
(08:41):
to include more of that maritimespace and so loved getting to
hear about your journey andhearing more about Wemos and how
we could potentially supporteach other.
I do think Wemos is doingimportant work to support women
in maritime.
I love organizations that.
Really, we are still a maledominated industry across the
board in transportation andlogistics but the women are, you
(09:02):
know, rising, getting more andmore places.
I loved hearing about thedifferent places you guys are
going, how you guys are growing.
Over the past couple years Is Iknow you just touched on
getting that in Nigeria, but isthat the biggest impact that you
are proud of so far in yourtime at Wemos, or is there
something else you wanted tohighlight?
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Oh man.
So I mean I guess there's beena lot of great developments that
we've had over the past fewyears.
So I came on, bless you.
I came on as our firstpart-time employee.
I transitioned after my tour inHouston, I transitioned into
(09:47):
the Coast Guard Reserves andthen I moved up to New York City
and went to grad school atColumbia to get my master's in
communications.
And this was the first time inmy career where I was like I am
officially pursuing this as acareer opportunity.
I'm going in this direction.
I have this love forcommunications and marketing and
(10:08):
I just want to explore thatmore.
And so at that time, I'dalready been a Wemos member for
about a year and so they broughtme on part time as a social
media intern.
So at that point this was in2022, we barely had a social
media presence.
You know we had things on thewebsite, but you know we we
(10:31):
weren't really telling our story.
We hadn't done um, a survey, amember-wide survey, or had any
type of like data reports, um.
So there was still.
We were still so new and soyoung.
So everything that's transpiredsince then it's just been very
(10:52):
exciting for me because I'vebeen along that journey.
So over the past few yearssince I've been with Wemos, we
have done a member-wide impactsurvey and we've been able to
not only share that digitally,but also well digitally as in on
our website, but also innewsletters, annual reports and
(11:13):
videos.
So we've gotten a lot moremature at telling our story,
which for me, my perspective,I'm like oh my.
God, this is exactly what weneeded to do to share the heart
and soul of our organization.
Other things that we're excitedabout is the fact that we are
expanding globally and we arestarting to receive strong
(11:36):
interest from women abroad whoare like hey, we're also women
in maritime and we want to starta women's chapter here.
So I work a lot with the Cchapters, as we call them, where
we have significant interestand they're wanting to create an
official Wemos chapter.
So I work heavily in supportingthose growing chapters.
(12:00):
We also have launched a annualsponsorship menu, which is
something that's helped us as adifferent revenue stream for the
nonprofit, which is great thatwe have that opportunity.
We're hosting more fundraisingevents across the country which
(12:23):
are aimed at engaging ourmembers in the maritime
community in those activities.
For example, we host a clayshooting tournament, which
several of our members they toldus like hey, we never shot guns
before, but a lot of the guysin our office they go on these
hunting trips, they go to theseclay shoot tournaments.
(12:43):
So those are things I was neverinvolved in because I didn't
feel comfortable doing that.
I'd never done it before.
So not only are we providingshooting lessons, but we're also
hosting an annual clay shoot tobring people in the community
together and making it a morecomfortable environment.
Same with golf golfing as well.
(13:04):
We have a golf tournament anddo golfing lessons.
Another thing that's reallyexciting that we've started over
the last couple of years is ajunior chapter at Texas A&M
University.
So something that we're reallyworking on is creating this
pipeline for women who are youngwomen who are studying maritime
(13:26):
or who are interested inmaritime and they are trying to
get their foot in the door.
They're trying to see what thatlooks like.
So we're starting these juniorchapters at universities and at
some point it will also beexpanded to high schools as well
, and they're structured thesame as an official WMOS chapter
(13:48):
, where they have lunch andlearns, they have speaker events
and then they also are in closeproximity to the Houston
chapter, about an hour south, sothey're able to have
partnership with them.
And the last thing I'll mentionthat we've been able to start up
in the last couple of years isa mentoring program.
(14:10):
So the mentoring program thementors have to be WMOS members
and the mentees, or as we callthem, our protégés.
They can be any woman in theindustry or interested in
joining the industry and we pairthem with the WMOS member, and
(14:32):
so we now have over 120 womenwho are involved in that program
and it's just continuing togrow as we promote it at
different conferences or on ourwebsite, social media, word of
mouth, et cetera.
So, yeah, we have a lot ofamazing things that WMOS has
grown to that we're excited for,and so many more places to go.
(14:53):
But that's a few things thatwe've accomplished in the last
few years.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
I think that's amazing, especially because,
like you said, you are the onepaid staffer, so like what
you're able to accomplish withyour community.
It's phenomenal.
So love hearing all that.
So what advice would you giveto other women in logistics or
in maritime who are looking tobuild confidence in leadership
(15:19):
and communication?
Love that you guys have amentorship program.
That's something I want to getstarted and we have like little
pieces but like holistically.
I love that you guys were ableto launch that.
But besides that, what advicewould you give?
Speaker 2 (15:30):
Yes, my biggest piece of advice is to get connected,
join an organization networkwith other people in the
industry, people who havesimilar backgrounds, shared
interests as you.
Because as you start gettingmore connected and meeting other
people who have had certainchallenges that you also share,
(15:54):
you start realizing it's notjust me.
There are other people out therewho have similar experiences as
me and, at least for me, itmade me feel less alone in that
struggle.
So that's a reason I think Ijust loved Wemos so much and why
(16:15):
I've been just sowholeheartedly involved in this
organization for the last fouryears three years as an employee
and one year as a member, threeyears as an employee and one
year as a member and becausejust being able to build
community and just connect withpeople in such an authentic way
(16:36):
it makes me feel just moreconnected and it makes me feel
more confident and assured, inthat you know, what I'm feeling
is not unique to me and thereare other people who have
experienced this.
And then it just I don't knowwhat else to say other than it
(16:59):
makes me feel it makes me beable to bring my whole self to
work.
Because then I'm like, okay,it's not just me, I'm good, so
now I can continue on my way andget out of my head a bit.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
I think that's really great advice.
Obviously, we're both workingfor these nonprofits in this
space that are all aboutconnecting people, and I think
that getting involved, gettingconnected, is a huge piece of
that.
I think, in terms of leadership, one of the best things I did
was become a mentor, because Ihave like a terrible and I still
(17:34):
do is getting a little bitbetter but like an imposter
syndrome, because I'm like Idon't know what I'm talking
about ever and other peoplethink I do, which is great and I
love that.
But it wasn't until I startedreally mentoring the people who
are really up and coming, thosecoming out of college, those
like fresh into their careers.
(17:55):
I was like, oh, I really dohave something to offer, like
I'm in this midpoint ish of mycareer.
So I don't feel like I'm thisperson that's been in this space
forever, that has all of theanswers.
But I started to realize like,oh, I do provide value and they
are looking to me for this typeof advice and that helped me
(18:15):
substantially and it pushed melike I remember the first time I
applied to be a mentor.
It pushed and it was at like awomen in STEM program, which
felt really uncomfortable for mebecause I never thought of
myself as like super math ortechie, but I was working at a
tech firm at the time as amarketer, but still and so like
pushing myself out of thatcomfort zone, exploring my own
(18:39):
horizons and then helping thepeople who are upcoming, or just
like we talked about at thebeginning, like communications
marketing it's everywhere, buthow can we make it applicable to
the spaces we're working in?
Beginning, like communicationsmarketing, it's everywhere, but
how can we make it applicable tothe spaces we're working in?
So that was like a huge thingfor me is realizing I do provide
value and helped me become amore confident and competent
leader because I was shapingthat as I went along.
So that's always my adviceDon't be afraid to be a mentee
(19:03):
or a mentor.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
Absolutely, and I will say that it's something
that I'm glad I found relativelyjunior in my career.
So whenever I was active dutyand even now, like being in the
Coast Guard as an officer youare put into leadership
positions very junior in yourcareer.
So whenever I was stationed onthe ship I was 22 years old,
(19:27):
fresh out of college, I majoredin economics and Spanish, so I
had no navigation background andnow I'm managing initially was
a team of two and they weresubject matter experts.
They were probably mid thirtiesat the time and I was very
intimidated.
(19:47):
I was very intimidated becauseI felt like I'm being put in
this completely new position ofresponsibility with something
don't have a background in.
So imposter syndrome is real.
And I was also lacked so muchconfidence in myself during that
period of my life, lacked somuch confidence in myself during
that period of my life,questioned everything I said,
(20:18):
everything I did, because I justfelt like I was not qualified
for the role I was interested tobe in by the Coast Guard and by
my leadership, and so I had areally hard time in that role
for so many different reasonsand I think at that point in my
career if I would have had thatsupport system on the ship of
being able to connect withpeople, especially since we were
(20:40):
gone so much.
You know, it's like really hardto have community when you're
stationed on a ship If thepeople that you're on a ship
with aren't in that communityfor you, you know, like people
that you connect with reallywell.
So that's why, whenever I foundWemos, I was like, wow, this is
(21:00):
amazing, because it's otherwomen who have been like, yes,
I've had imposter syndrome.
Yes, I really struggled.
Or whenever I've spoken towomen who've been full-time
employees, have children, youknow, and and it's just like
amazing to hear the thedifferent experiences people
have.
And I think the beauty of Wemosis that it really brings people
(21:22):
together from so many differentbackgrounds.
But you can come together andbe like, oh, that's amazing,
what have you done?
And then just being able totalk about that, um, that's why
I say you know, being able tocreate that connection in a very
authentic way and it makes youfeel more comfortable and
confident and being able to showup to work, because you realize
like you aren't the only onewho has that experience.
(21:45):
So, yeah, it's been lifechanging for me and that's why I
really try and promote theorganization because I see the
differences made for me, so Iknow it will be able to make a
difference for other people aswell.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
I see the differences made for me, so I know it will
be able to make a difference forother people as well.
I do think there's a lot ofcrossover between your military
service and then your nonprofitwork at Wemos, particularly when
we're talking about liketeamwork, resilience,
mission-driven focus.
Do you feel like those?
Speaker 2 (22:10):
two roles really complement each other,
absolutely, absolutely,no-transcript.
(22:46):
I've always had to wear manyhats, especially like growing up
, being the, you know, oldest offour siblings, being a daughter
also being, you know know, veryinvolved in everything I did
bands, uh, sports, everything.
So even from a young age, likeI, had to wear many hats and I
had to show up in different ways, and it's been the same as an
(23:08):
adult as well.
And so now, being a working forWemos it's, I'm just keeping on,
keeping on doing what I dohonestly, because I've already
been conditioned for this, and Ithink that that's why, um, the
board of directors and I workreally well together is because
they understand, like, where I'mcoming from and what I bring to
(23:31):
the table, and it's, I think,just just a beautiful blend of
just cultures and backgrounds tobe able to make Wemos into what
it is today.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
So, yes, I love that, and I'm excited to announce.
One of the reasons why we'rehaving you on the show and
talking about all this stuff isthat we are doing a joint
webinar TMS and Wemos.
It will be on August 26th and,as I mentioned, I'm having tech
issues, so we're doing thisinterview in Zoom and not on our
normal streaming platform, butwe will put the registration
(24:05):
link in the show notes insteadof popping it nicely on the
screen like I normally do.
However, I'm really pumpedabout it.
What we're going to do is we'regoing to feature a TMSA member,
so IMC Logistics will be comingon, and then WeMost member,
port Houston, will also becoming on, and we're talking
about the full scope of whathappens in all the parts of
logistics, because we felt likesometimes, people who are more
(24:28):
on land don't understand whathappens in the maritime, and
vice versa, so we wanted to dothis joint collaboration.
So what are you looking forwardto for this webinar?
Speaker 2 (24:38):
Yes, I'm really looking forward to the
opportunity to be able topartner with TMSA and really
start this foundation ofpartnership, also being able to
share what not only Wemos iswhat we do, but also the
importance of the maritimeindustry and how it's vital for
(24:58):
commerce across the country, andalso how maritime connects us
globally as well.
So, yeah, I'm really excitedfor this joint webinar and thank
you so much for the opportunity.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
Absolutely so.
If you want to learn about Portto Pavement, join us on August
26th.
You will hear from bothorganizations and both of our
members.
I'm really looking forward tothis because one of my missions
as the executive director atTMSA is to really serve all
commercial modes of transportand make sure that we're
(25:31):
providing education andresourcing for all of those, and
I think one of the ways we cando that best is by partnering
with other industry associations, that we cover everything for
sales and marketing people.
But then we have these otherwonderful industry associations
that are segmented to one of thecommercial modes, and so being
able to partner with stuff likethis and expand both of our
(25:53):
educations, I think is prettypowerful for both organizations.
So I'm excited about it andlooking forward to August 26.
So hopefully all of you guyswill join us.
And that takes me to my lastquestion that I ask everybody
who comes on the show and ifthat's, if you could go back in
time and advise a younger selfanything personally or
(26:15):
professionally, when would yougo back to and what advise a
younger self?
Anything personally orprofessionally, when would you
go back to and what would youtell?
Speaker 2 (26:18):
her, I would go back to myself my junior or senior
year in high school and I wouldtell her that, yes, angelica,
you are planned and you are typea, and the older you get, the
more you will become rooted inthat.
However, life doesn't always goaccording to plan, and that is
(26:43):
okay, and whenever you embracechange and opportunities as they
come, you will be able toexplore and experience so much
that is outside of your realm ofimagination, because, as a
young person who grew up in arelatively small city, your
(27:03):
scope is relatively narrow, andthen the more you speak to
people, the more you get out andexperience and explore, the
broader your scope will become,and explore the broader your
scope will become.
So don't limit yourself, it'sokay.
Change is inevitable.
Just roll with it, that's whatI would tell her.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
I think I'm still learning how to roll with it and
accept change, but it's a goodlesson for us all.
Thank you so much for coming onthe show and sharing your
journey.
I do want to give a specialshout out to Alexa at OpenTug,
who connected us and does somuch for both of our
organizations, and I'm excitedto continue to work with her.
(27:46):
I know she has a personalmission to get more maritime
folks into TMSA, so love that.
This will be our last on themove for the summer, as
everybody goes into, you know,kind of more personal life.
We thought we would take alittle breaky break, but fun
fact about on the move, we onlyfeature people that are
associated with TMSA.
(28:07):
So either industry partnershipslike we most, our members, our
speakers, any of that.
So if you're interested incoming on the show, we will be
back in September and we'reexcited to highlight, so we will
also put the link to come onthe show, tell us what you want
to highlight and we will seeeverybody in the fall.
But don't forget August 28th or26th August 26th the Wemos and
(28:30):
TMSA webinar.
Um, and excited for all of theabove and to get back into the
swing of things.
So thank you, angelica, forcoming on the show and for
partnering for this webinar, andthank you everybody for
listening, and I will catch youguys all in a few months.
Bye you.
Hello everyone and welcome to On the Move, a show
where we share transportationsales and marketing success
stories.
I am Jennifer Karpis-Romain,executive Director at the
Transportation Marketing andSales Association, which is a
trade nonprofit educating andconnecting marketing and sales
professionals in the industry,and today I have Angelica Brooks
(00:50):
, director of Communications,marketing and Events at the
Women in Maritime Operations,also known as Wemos, so excited
to have you on the show.
I know we had fun technicalglitches to get here, but it'll
be all worth it in the end so wecould have this chat.
Welcome to the show, angelica,thanks.
Thanks for having me so excited.
So you wear many hats in yourlife.
So you're a director ofcommunications at WeMost, you're
(01:11):
a Coast Guard reserve officer.
You're a Columbia graduate.
I want to start with yourjourney and how did you find
your way into the maritimeindustry and communications and
kind of what keeps you here?
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Yes, so I will have to say it first started with
communications.
So growing up I was always acommunicator.
I did speech, competitions.
I knew I was interested inpublic relations and marketing.
I just didn't know what acareer looked like in those
fields whenever I was a kid.
So I knew going to college thatthat was something that I was
(01:46):
going to be interested in andwant to pursue.
So I'm actually from Oklahoma,oklahoma City.
So, as you can imagine, wedon't really have a maritime
presence there and we also don'thave a Coast Guard presence
there.
So the way I found myself intothe industry was I attended
Spelman College in Atlanta,georgia.
(02:06):
In my freshman year there Ilearned about the Coast Guard
College StudentPre-Commissioning Initiative,
which is a scholarship programthat's equivalent to ROTC and
the other branches, and wheneverI learned about that program I
was like wait a minute, thatprogram.
(02:28):
I was like wait a minute so Ican do this program, get my
bachelor's, my master's paid for, have a full-time job.
Like what 18 year old would notsee that this is like a great
opportunity.
So my freshman year I decidedthat I was going to apply for
this program.
So fast forward.
I ended up getting accepted.
I go through basic training thesummer after my sophomore year
in college and then after Igraduated from Spelman, I
(02:50):
commissioned as an officer inthe Coast Guard and my first
assignment as an ensign wasaboard the Coast Guard Bark
Eagle, which is a tall ship, isa tall ship and I really wanted
to be assigned to that ship inparticular because it is the
goodwill ambassador trainingplatform public affairs vessel
(03:11):
of this country essentially.
So basically what the ship doesis it about six months out of
the year.
It will travel to different USports as well as overseas, and
it will host foreign governmentsand militaries for different
receptions, for GoodwillAmbassador initiatives.
(03:32):
So I had to work with publicaffairs for the Coast Guard,
with the State Department, withthe Department of Homeland
Security, in order to create ourcommunication plan for each of
our deployments.
So that was really my first jobas a communicator and in
(03:53):
maritime.
So that was basically myintroduction and from there I
knew I wanted to stay incommunications.
I knew that this was somethingfor me, that it was really
interesting and it was fun and Istarted learning on during that
tour on the Bark Eagle, thatcommunications could look so
different.
It transcends all industries.
(04:15):
Everyone needs an effectivecommunicator and you can
basically go anywhere with it.
So from there, that was about10 years ago, and from there
I've really just transitioned todifferent parts of my career.
I love being in the Coast Guard, I love being able to serve my
country, and so, after sevenyears of active duty, I decided
(04:37):
that I was going to take adifferent career path and be
able to, so I could pursuecommunications full time.
But because I love my serviceso much, I decided to stay in
the reserves.
So I've been in the Coast Guardfor about 10 years now.
Speaker 1 (04:52):
I love that story and I think it's so true when you
talked about like communicationsis everywhere.
I started my career injournalism and always gravitated
more towards the industrialspace, which was interesting for
me because previously I wantedto write for the New York Times,
because every journalist yousee in every movie ever known
(05:13):
that's the only place they workand so but you don't hear about
all the other pieces.
And so then I transitioned fromjournalism to marketing and
that's how I feel too, like it'sthere, it needs to be there,
it's in every space, in everyplace.
You just have to find it andthen market things differently
or communicate thingsdifferently, which is really
cool.
So I'm glad you kind of sharethat joy and passion there.
(05:36):
Obviously, your journey thenled you to Wemo, so I would love
for you to tell our audiencekind of more about the
organization and its mission.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Yes, okay.
So while I was active duty inthe Coast Guard stationed down
in Houston Texas, one of thegirls on my team she so.
Once I moved to Houston I wasinspecting US and foreign
flagships and so one of thegirls on my team went out to one
of the shipyards to do a bargeinspection.
(06:06):
And that's when Casey Eckstein,the founder of Wemos, came
running up to her and was likehey, we hardly ever see female
Coast Guard inspectors.
We would love to do a jointevent with the Coast Guard.
So the girl comes back and shesaid hey, ms Brooks, like this
is basically what happened.
I don't know what to do withthis information, I'll pass it
(06:27):
to you.
So I said, okay, sounds good.
So I learned more about it.
I spoke with my command and weended up hosting a joint event
at the unit where we had about30 WMOS members come for lunch
and learn.
I hosted on the Coast Guardside and the Houston chapter
hosted on the Wemos side.
And that was my firstintroduction to Wemos and for me
(06:50):
at that point I think I'd beenin the Coast Guard about five or
six years I was just floored.
I hadn't done anything orjoined a professional
organization outside of themilitary yet.
So this was my firstintroduction to a professional
network of women who also workedin maritime, who were in
different points in their career, and they offer free membership
(07:14):
to active duty military members.
So then again, I'm like, whywould I not pursue this
opportunity?
Sounds amazing.
So, basically, wemos is anonprofit organization of women.
We currently have about 1,300members across the United States
, canada, nigeria and Iran, soit's really amazing that we're
(07:40):
starting to have this globalexpansion, that we're starting
to have this global expansion.
We're about eight years old, sostill relatively new.
We have about 13 differentchapters across the United
States primarily, and we're inthe process of becoming a
registered non-governmentalorganization in Nigeria, so
(08:01):
really excited about thatprogression.
Our members represent over 300companies.
We host more than 120 eventseach year and basically our
mission is to recruit, retain,promote and advance women with
maritime careers.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
I love that so much and I came across you because we
have a joint member and she waslike oh, you should learn more
about this.
We, of course, our goal is tobe applicable to all modes of
commercial transport but,admittedly, maritime doesn't
reflect a lot of our membership,but we want it to and we want
(08:41):
to include more of that maritimespace and so loved getting to
hear about your journey andhearing more about Wemos and how
we could potentially supporteach other.
I do think Wemos is doingimportant work to support women
in maritime.
I love organizations that.
Really, we are still a maledominated industry across the
board in transportation andlogistics but the women are, you
(09:02):
know, rising, getting more andmore places.
I loved hearing about thedifferent places you guys are
going, how you guys are growing.
Over the past couple years Is Iknow you just touched on
getting that in Nigeria, but isthat the biggest impact that you
are proud of so far in yourtime at Wemos, or is there
something else you wanted tohighlight?
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Oh man.
So I mean I guess there's beena lot of great developments that
we've had over the past fewyears.
So I came on, bless you.
I came on as our firstpart-time employee.
I transitioned after my tour inHouston, I transitioned into
(09:47):
the Coast Guard Reserves andthen I moved up to New York City
and went to grad school atColumbia to get my master's in
communications.
And this was the first time inmy career where I was like I am
officially pursuing this as acareer opportunity.
I'm going in this direction.
I have this love forcommunications and marketing and
(10:08):
I just want to explore thatmore.
And so at that time, I'dalready been a Wemos member for
about a year and so they broughtme on part time as a social
media intern.
So at that point this was in2022, we barely had a social
media presence.
You know we had things on thewebsite, but you know we we
(10:31):
weren't really telling our story.
We hadn't done um, a survey, amember-wide survey, or had any
type of like data reports, um.
So there was still.
We were still so new and soyoung.
So everything that's transpiredsince then it's just been very
(10:52):
exciting for me because I'vebeen along that journey.
So over the past few yearssince I've been with Wemos, we
have done a member-wide impactsurvey and we've been able to
not only share that digitally,but also well digitally as in on
our website, but also innewsletters, annual reports and
(11:13):
videos.
So we've gotten a lot moremature at telling our story,
which for me, my perspective,I'm like oh my.
God, this is exactly what weneeded to do to share the heart
and soul of our organization.
Other things that we're excitedabout is the fact that we are
expanding globally and we arestarting to receive strong
(11:36):
interest from women abroad whoare like hey, we're also women
in maritime and we want to starta women's chapter here.
So I work a lot with the Cchapters, as we call them, where
we have significant interestand they're wanting to create an
official Wemos chapter.
So I work heavily in supportingthose growing chapters.
(12:00):
We also have launched a annualsponsorship menu, which is
something that's helped us as adifferent revenue stream for the
nonprofit, which is great thatwe have that opportunity.
We're hosting more fundraisingevents across the country which
(12:23):
are aimed at engaging ourmembers in the maritime
community in those activities.
For example, we host a clayshooting tournament, which
several of our members they toldus like hey, we never shot guns
before, but a lot of the guysin our office they go on these
hunting trips, they go to theseclay shoot tournaments.
(12:43):
So those are things I was neverinvolved in because I didn't
feel comfortable doing that.
I'd never done it before.
So not only are we providingshooting lessons, but we're also
hosting an annual clay shoot tobring people in the community
together and making it a morecomfortable environment.
Same with golf golfing as well.
(13:04):
We have a golf tournament anddo golfing lessons.
Another thing that's reallyexciting that we've started over
the last couple of years is ajunior chapter at Texas A&M
University.
So something that we're reallyworking on is creating this
pipeline for women who are youngwomen who are studying maritime
(13:26):
or who are interested inmaritime and they are trying to
get their foot in the door.
They're trying to see what thatlooks like.
So we're starting these juniorchapters at universities and at
some point it will also beexpanded to high schools as well
, and they're structured thesame as an official WMOS chapter
(13:48):
, where they have lunch andlearns, they have speaker events
and then they also are in closeproximity to the Houston
chapter, about an hour south, sothey're able to have
partnership with them.
And the last thing I'll mentionthat we've been able to start up
in the last couple of years isa mentoring program.
(14:10):
So the mentoring program thementors have to be WMOS members
and the mentees, or as we callthem, our protégés.
They can be any woman in theindustry or interested in
joining the industry and we pairthem with the WMOS member, and
(14:32):
so we now have over 120 womenwho are involved in that program
and it's just continuing togrow as we promote it at
different conferences or on ourwebsite, social media, word of
mouth, et cetera.
So, yeah, we have a lot ofamazing things that WMOS has
grown to that we're excited for,and so many more places to go.
(14:53):
But that's a few things thatwe've accomplished in the last
few years.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
I think that's amazing, especially because,
like you said, you are the onepaid staffer, so like what
you're able to accomplish withyour community.
It's phenomenal.
So love hearing all that.
So what advice would you giveto other women in logistics or
in maritime who are looking tobuild confidence in leadership
(15:19):
and communication?
Love that you guys have amentorship program.
That's something I want to getstarted and we have like little
pieces but like holistically.
I love that you guys were ableto launch that.
But besides that, what advicewould you give?
Speaker 2 (15:30):
Yes, my biggest piece of advice is to get connected,
join an organization networkwith other people in the
industry, people who havesimilar backgrounds, shared
interests as you.
Because as you start gettingmore connected and meeting other
people who have had certainchallenges that you also share,
(15:54):
you start realizing it's notjust me.
There are other people out therewho have similar experiences as
me and, at least for me, itmade me feel less alone in that
struggle.
So that's a reason I think Ijust loved Wemos so much and why
(16:15):
I've been just sowholeheartedly involved in this
organization for the last fouryears three years as an employee
and one year as a member, threeyears as an employee and one
year as a member and becausejust being able to build
community and just connect withpeople in such an authentic way
(16:36):
it makes me feel just moreconnected and it makes me feel
more confident and assured, inthat you know, what I'm feeling
is not unique to me and thereare other people who have
experienced this.
And then it just I don't knowwhat else to say other than it
(16:59):
makes me feel it makes me beable to bring my whole self to
work.
Because then I'm like, okay,it's not just me, I'm good, so
now I can continue on my way andget out of my head a bit.
Speaker 1 (17:11):
I think that's really great advice.
Obviously, we're both workingfor these nonprofits in this
space that are all aboutconnecting people, and I think
that getting involved, gettingconnected, is a huge piece of
that.
I think, in terms of leadership, one of the best things I did
was become a mentor, because Ihave like a terrible and I still
(17:34):
do is getting a little bitbetter but like an imposter
syndrome, because I'm like Idon't know what I'm talking
about ever and other peoplethink I do, which is great and I
love that.
But it wasn't until I startedreally mentoring the people who
are really up and coming, thosecoming out of college, those
like fresh into their careers.
(17:55):
I was like, oh, I really dohave something to offer, like
I'm in this midpoint ish of mycareer.
So I don't feel like I'm thisperson that's been in this space
forever, that has all of theanswers.
But I started to realize like,oh, I do provide value and they
are looking to me for this typeof advice and that helped me
(18:15):
substantially and it pushed melike I remember the first time I
applied to be a mentor.
It pushed and it was at like awomen in STEM program, which
felt really uncomfortable for mebecause I never thought of
myself as like super math ortechie, but I was working at a
tech firm at the time as amarketer, but still and so like
pushing myself out of thatcomfort zone, exploring my own
(18:39):
horizons and then helping thepeople who are upcoming, or just
like we talked about at thebeginning, like communications
marketing it's everywhere, buthow can we make it applicable to
the spaces we're working in?
Beginning, like communicationsmarketing, it's everywhere, but
how can we make it applicable tothe spaces we're working in?
So that was like a huge thingfor me is realizing I do provide
value and helped me become amore confident and competent
leader because I was shapingthat as I went along.
So that's always my adviceDon't be afraid to be a mentee
(19:03):
or a mentor.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
Absolutely, and I will say that it's something
that I'm glad I found relativelyjunior in my career.
So whenever I was active dutyand even now, like being in the
Coast Guard as an officer youare put into leadership
positions very junior in yourcareer.
So whenever I was stationed onthe ship I was 22 years old,
(19:27):
fresh out of college, I majoredin economics and Spanish, so I
had no navigation background andnow I'm managing initially was
a team of two and they weresubject matter experts.
They were probably mid thirtiesat the time and I was very
intimidated.
(19:47):
I was very intimidated becauseI felt like I'm being put in
this completely new position ofresponsibility with something
don't have a background in.
So imposter syndrome is real.
And I was also lacked so muchconfidence in myself during that
period of my life, lacked somuch confidence in myself during
that period of my life,questioned everything I said,
(20:18):
everything I did, because I justfelt like I was not qualified
for the role I was interested tobe in by the Coast Guard and by
my leadership, and so I had areally hard time in that role
for so many different reasonsand I think at that point in my
career if I would have had thatsupport system on the ship of
being able to connect withpeople, especially since we were
(20:40):
gone so much.
You know, it's like really hardto have community when you're
stationed on a ship If thepeople that you're on a ship
with aren't in that communityfor you, you know, like people
that you connect with reallywell.
So that's why, whenever I foundWemos, I was like, wow, this is
(21:00):
amazing, because it's otherwomen who have been like, yes,
I've had imposter syndrome.
Yes, I really struggled.
Or whenever I've spoken towomen who've been full-time
employees, have children, youknow, and and it's just like
amazing to hear the thedifferent experiences people
have.
And I think the beauty of Wemosis that it really brings people
(21:22):
together from so many differentbackgrounds.
But you can come together andbe like, oh, that's amazing,
what have you done?
And then just being able totalk about that, um, that's why
I say you know, being able tocreate that connection in a very
authentic way and it makes youfeel more comfortable and
confident and being able to showup to work, because you realize
like you aren't the only onewho has that experience.
(21:45):
So, yeah, it's been lifechanging for me and that's why I
really try and promote theorganization because I see the
differences made for me, so Iknow it will be able to make a
difference for other people aswell.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
I see the differences made for me, so I know it will
be able to make a difference forother people as well.
I do think there's a lot ofcrossover between your military
service and then your nonprofitwork at Wemos, particularly when
we're talking about liketeamwork, resilience,
mission-driven focus.
Do you feel like those?
Speaker 2 (22:10):
two roles really complement each other,
absolutely, absolutely,no-transcript.
(22:46):
I've always had to wear manyhats, especially like growing up
, being the, you know, oldest offour siblings, being a daughter
also being, you know know, veryinvolved in everything I did
bands, uh, sports, everything.
So even from a young age, likeI, had to wear many hats and I
had to show up in different ways, and it's been the same as an
(23:08):
adult as well.
And so now, being a working forWemos it's, I'm just keeping on,
keeping on doing what I dohonestly, because I've already
been conditioned for this, and Ithink that that's why, um, the
board of directors and I workreally well together is because
they understand, like, where I'mcoming from and what I bring to
(23:31):
the table, and it's, I think,just just a beautiful blend of
just cultures and backgrounds tobe able to make Wemos into what
it is today.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
So, yes, I love that, and I'm excited to announce.
One of the reasons why we'rehaving you on the show and
talking about all this stuff isthat we are doing a joint
webinar TMS and Wemos.
It will be on August 26th and,as I mentioned, I'm having tech
issues, so we're doing thisinterview in Zoom and not on our
normal streaming platform, butwe will put the registration
(24:05):
link in the show notes insteadof popping it nicely on the
screen like I normally do.
However, I'm really pumpedabout it.
What we're going to do is we'regoing to feature a TMSA member,
so IMC Logistics will be comingon, and then WeMost member,
port Houston, will also becoming on, and we're talking
about the full scope of whathappens in all the parts of
logistics, because we felt likesometimes, people who are more
(24:28):
on land don't understand whathappens in the maritime, and
vice versa, so we wanted to dothis joint collaboration.
So what are you looking forwardto for this webinar?
Speaker 2 (24:38):
Yes, I'm really looking forward to the
opportunity to be able topartner with TMSA and really
start this foundation ofpartnership, also being able to
share what not only Wemos iswhat we do, but also the
importance of the maritimeindustry and how it's vital for
(24:58):
commerce across the country, andalso how maritime connects us
globally as well.
So, yeah, I'm really excitedfor this joint webinar and thank
you so much for the opportunity.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
Absolutely so.
If you want to learn about Portto Pavement, join us on August
26th.
You will hear from bothorganizations and both of our
members.
I'm really looking forward tothis because one of my missions
as the executive director atTMSA is to really serve all
commercial modes of transportand make sure that we're
(25:31):
providing education andresourcing for all of those, and
I think one of the ways we cando that best is by partnering
with other industry associations, that we cover everything for
sales and marketing people.
But then we have these otherwonderful industry associations
that are segmented to one of thecommercial modes, and so being
able to partner with stuff likethis and expand both of our
(25:53):
educations, I think is prettypowerful for both organizations.
So I'm excited about it andlooking forward to August 26.
So hopefully all of you guyswill join us.
And that takes me to my lastquestion that I ask everybody
who comes on the show and ifthat's, if you could go back in
time and advise a younger selfanything personally or
(26:15):
professionally, when would yougo back to and what advise a
younger self?
Anything personally orprofessionally, when would you
go back to and what would youtell?
Speaker 2 (26:18):
her, I would go back to myself my junior or senior
year in high school and I wouldtell her that, yes, angelica,
you are planned and you are typea, and the older you get, the
more you will become rooted inthat.
However, life doesn't always goaccording to plan, and that is
(26:43):
okay, and whenever you embracechange and opportunities as they
come, you will be able toexplore and experience so much
that is outside of your realm ofimagination, because, as a
young person who grew up in arelatively small city, your
(27:03):
scope is relatively narrow, andthen the more you speak to
people, the more you get out andexperience and explore, the
broader your scope will become,and explore the broader your
scope will become.
So don't limit yourself, it'sokay.
Change is inevitable.
Just roll with it, that's whatI would tell her.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
I think I'm still learning how to roll with it and
accept change, but it's a goodlesson for us all.
Thank you so much for coming onthe show and sharing your
journey.
I do want to give a specialshout out to Alexa at OpenTug,
who connected us and does somuch for both of our
organizations, and I'm excitedto continue to work with her.
(27:46):
I know she has a personalmission to get more maritime
folks into TMSA, so love that.
This will be our last on themove for the summer, as
everybody goes into, you know,kind of more personal life.
We thought we would take alittle breaky break, but fun
fact about on the move, we onlyfeature people that are
associated with TMSA.
(28:07):
So either industry partnershipslike we most, our members, our
speakers, any of that.
So if you're interested incoming on the show, we will be
back in September and we'reexcited to highlight, so we will
also put the link to come onthe show, tell us what you want
to highlight and we will seeeverybody in the fall.
But don't forget August 28th or26th August 26th the Wemos and
(28:30):
TMSA webinar.
Um, and excited for all of theabove and to get back into the
swing of things.
So thank you, angelica, forcoming on the show and for
partnering for this webinar, andthank you everybody for
listening, and I will catch youguys all in a few months.
Bye you.
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