June 11, 2025 • 26 mins
In this episode of TMSA On the Move, we sit down with Don Friddell, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Brown Integrated Logistics, to explore his impressive career journey and deep-rooted involvement in the transportation and logistics industry. With decades of experience under his belt, Don reflects on the lessons learned, industry shifts witnessed, and the importance of staying connected through organizations like TMSA.
As he steps into a new role within the TMSA community, Don shares what this next chapter means to him, how he hopes to give back to the association, and his vision for helping shape the future of sales and marketing in the industry.
Check out the Transportation Sales and Marketing Association (TMSA) website or engage with us on LinkedIn.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
Hello everyone, welcome to On the Move, a show
where we share transportationsales and marketing success
stories.
I am Jennifer Karpis-Romain,executive Director of the
Transportation Marketing andSales Association, which is a
trade nonprofit educating andconnecting marketing and sales
professionals inside oftransportation and logistics.
And today on the show I haveDon Friedle, vp of Sales and
(00:48):
Marketing at Brown IntegratedLogistics, who was just named
TMSA's president-elect yesterdayat our Elevate conference and
we are so excited to have you onthe show and to have you taking
on this leadership role here atTMSA.
How you doing, don.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Doing great.
Thank you, Jennifer, for thekind words and the invitation.
I'm super excited to be on themove and appreciate all the work
that you're doing at TMSA andall the help that you're giving
people like me.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Thank you.
So you've had a long andsuccessful career in the
industry, so can you walk usthrough your professional
journey and how you got to whereyou are today?
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Sure, yeah.
So I started a long time agowon't give the year but I was
working for a local bank doingmarketing as a marketing
specialist with a really smallteam.
We were supporting threemid-site cities, but we only had
a team of three.
So that's kind of where Ilearned how to do caviar
marketing on a tuna fish budget.
(01:50):
And it worked out well becausethere was a local logistics
company that was looking for amarketing catch-all.
I was internal communications,I was PR, I was advertising
graphic designer.
They did a little bit ofeverything.
So fortunately, a mutualconnection at the bank
introduced me to this companyback in 2003.
(02:11):
The funny thing was they let meknow it was a logistics company
and I was like, oh, that'sinteresting.
The first thing I did after thecall was Google Logistics
because I didn't know what itmeant.
First thing I did after thecall was Google logistics
because I didn't know what itmeant.
So I spent 16 years helping togrow that family run $150
million 3PL into a $620 millionbusiness.
(02:34):
I was a marketing team of one.
My first budget was around$80,000 for advertising.
Most of that was being spent onyellow pages to get Chattanooga
warehousing and when I left Ihad a team of three.
(02:54):
We were using three or fouragencies and my marketing budget
grew to about 1.5 million.
So then I joined TMSA with theformer management team and
things were going great.
And then COVID hit, and at thatpoint I stepped out of the
transportation industry for abrief moment to work for a SaaS
company, and after a year ofthat I was fortunate to be asked
(03:17):
to join the Brown WestLogistics team as VP of Sales
and Marketing and kind of did afull circle return back to the
industry and back to TMSA.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
Yeah, you've had quite the multi-layered
experience here at TMSA.
You were a member at thatformer company, then you worked
for the management company, asyou mentioned, stepped back into
a member when you came back.
So how has that been a journeywith TMSA being a member for so
long, working for a managementcompany?
Speaker 2 (03:49):
stepping out of the industry and then back in.
That's been great.
At least everybody welcomed meback with open arms.
It's like a big family.
I couldn't wait to get back.
But so I first attended my firstattended TMSA event in 2004.
And that was my first full yearin the industry and I didn't
engage.
For about 10 years and that wasone of my biggest regrets just
sat in the back of the room andsoaked up knowledge like a
(04:10):
sponge.
After about 10 years, one of mypartners that I met through
TMSA convinced me to do aCompass Award, which is now
Trailblazer, and we won theaward.
I was asked to speak at theconference and we won the award.
I was asked to speak at theconference and my entire
speaking engagement wasbasically a shameless plug for
TMSA and everything they haddone for me.
(04:30):
So following that, I was askedto join the board and then,
shortly thereafter, to lead theeducation committee and then, as
you said, became TMSA CMO underthe former management team.
But one thing a lot of peopledon't know is the year I took a
(04:51):
hiatus.
I actually drove to Nashvillesince it's close by just to see
all of my TMS friends theweekend before the event and I
couldn't attend because I didn'thave enough vacation, but
otherwise I would have paid forit myself and attended.
So yeah, jumped at the chancewhen I could come back to the
industry.
And then my next phone call washey, I need to get back into
TMSA.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
I actually it's funny that you mentioned that
Nashville Cause.
I remember seeing you and itwas when I was walking in in my
cause.
I was a member first but I andI was a member at that show but
my, my flip-flop broke and Iremember walking into the
elevator and going I need tospeak with you later and then
just disappeared and then I waslike wait the next day.
I'm like wait, I'm sorry thatwas so rude, but I had no shoe
(05:34):
on it felt so unprofessional,but it's really funny.
That was funny.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
We don't remember stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
I remember all of the things that I do like that
because unfortunately I havelike a fair amount of those
types of stories for myself.
But with that, so obviously weknew each other back when we
were both members and then whenyou were at the management
company and then and after, andso when?
So that Nashville show isactually when I started talking
about whether I should then, youknow, take the executive
(06:04):
director role here at TMSA andyou were one of the first people
I called because I wanted toknow what I was getting into and
what that transition from beinga board member to association
leadership, what that is like,and it really values your
opinion and to me I think itreally speaks to the testament.
Like you said, it's kind of afamily people getting to know
each each other.
You can really form these typebonds inside the association.
(06:26):
So how have those connectionsreally helped shape your career?
Speaker 2 (06:31):
yes, I'm pretty sure I told you it was going to be
challenging, which I'm sureyou've seen, but it is a
rewarding challenge.
Um, the relationships I'vebuilt at tmsa are unlike any
organization I've ever been apart of.
I've been mentored, I'vementored and most of the time
that's been across competitors.
What I love about TMSA itcreated a space where peers can
(06:55):
support each other instead ofguarding trade secrets.
The openness at TMSA is superrare and I mean I've heard that
from so many people, a lot ofour partner members and a lot of
our member members, so I knowthat to be true.
That's our culture and I thinkthat's what makes it so great
and especially so great foryoung people starting in the
industry, like I was many yearsago.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Absolutely so.
You have been in marketingsales for a long time in the
industry.
What are some of the biggestchanges and shifts you've seen
for sales and marketing insidethe industry?
Speaker 2 (07:30):
By far technology.
When I started, I remembertalking about my first tracking
mechanism for where marketingROI was was using an Excel
spreadsheet that we called thelead log and as a lead would
come in from the website, comein from a phone call, we would
log it into Excel and then atthe end of the year we would see
(07:51):
what worked, what didn't, whatclosed, what didn't.
I mean that was even before wehad a CRM, so later we adopted a
CRM and then marketingautomation, and I mean that just
totally changed the game.
In my opinion.
It gave marketers and evensales a seat at the C-level
table, because it made us morerelevant.
(08:14):
It showed what we were doing,it proved what we were doing.
It got more resources for us todo more budgeting or to do more
advertising, to do more leadgen.
And now I think we're seeingprobably one of the biggest
changes in any industry andthat's artificial intelligence.
I can only imagine what I couldhave done as a marketing person
(08:36):
of one if I had had AI backthen.
I feel like now, if you are amarketing department of one, you
can work like you're amarketing team of 10.
It's like having your ownwriters and your own team and
even people to take notes andeverything else, so it can
(08:56):
really help you to accelerateand do more things with less
resources.
So that's the biggest change.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Technology and do more things with less resources.
So that's the biggest change.
Technology, yeah, I agree.
I mean, I think even somethingsimple like ChatGPT when you're
trying to form your thoughts orlike you can use it as a talking
, because I'll even I'll be likeoh you know, type this up and
it'll be a bit like, but likeless cheesy.
That's probably my biggestthing that I put into ChatGPT,
because I always feel like it'ssuper, like high on the cheese
(09:24):
when it starts, but I'm like no,make it sound like a real
person, and then it'll do that.
And like keep editing itthrough, like even simple things
.
Or sometimes, if you're in a badmood and you need to write an
email and you want to make surethat it doesn't your personal
feelings on your day, it doesn'tget in that way.
This sound nicer.
Simple things like that can goreally far, I feel like, for
(09:46):
anyone, let alone in sales andmarketing, but that kind of
stuff can really help.
So I agree, like when you'rethat one person team using the
AI, you can bounce your ideasoff of other people, but through
the computer and then, being inTMSA, you then have this
collaborative space, a lot ofother people who are one-person
marketing teams or two-personteams.
(10:07):
They're kind of going throughthose same challenges, figuring
out what tools, what works, whatdoesn't.
So it's really great.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Yeah, it's like having an administrative
assistant, because I can justtell it like, hey, I need to
send this email to a customerasking for a rate increase
because of dah, dah, dah, dah,and it like fills in the blanks
into your point.
Sometimes it's like, well, Ineed you to be more direct or I
need you to be more professional, where I need that to be more
succinct, because these peopleare not going to read all those
(10:36):
words and stuff.
Like that used to, I would toilover an email for hours If it
was a, if it was a touchysituation.
Now I can knock it out in 10minutes with the help of ChatGPT
.
So it's really changed the game.
It's made me much moreefficient and I hate to say it,
but much more professional.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
I think that makes a lot of sense and it's changing
and evolving and there's morethings that you mentioned to
like the, the note takers, likehaving the AI overview.
I mean, I feel like I'm inmeetings all day, every day, and
they blur together sometimesand so having that overview be
like okay, no, this is what Iwas talking about with that
(11:18):
person.
And just even like the nextsteps follow up, making sure
that you are doing what you saidyou would do in the meeting
Always great.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
Exactly.
Yeah, I've got another tool Iuse for sales meetings and such,
and it will even you know afterthe meeting.
Would you like me to draft afollow-up email?
So it'll send a follow-up emailto everybody who was in
attendance, what we talked about, what the key takeaways were
and just things like that.
That would take, as I said, 30minutes to an hour.
Now it's just a click of abutton.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
And I think utilizing AI in that form is really
helpful, because I know there'sconversations around like, oh
well, ai take human jobs andthings like that.
But, like, I want it to help mebe more efficient so I can be
more personable, so I can pickup the phone more and have real
conversations, so I can seepeople in person more, so I can
build those relationships.
That administrative piece thatused to, like you said like this
writing this email could takehours because it was so touchy
(12:15):
and I wanted to make sure Iwrote it perfectly.
Now we have these tools thatcan help us move faster so that
we can be humans more, and so Ifeel like that is a really great
value add if you're using iteffectively like that.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
That's a good point, because I've recently been
listening to a sales trainingbook and or best practices, and
it says that the only time thatyou are doing your job as a
salesperson is when you'reface-to-face with a customer
selling.
So anything we can do to makethose non-value-added, those
(12:48):
non-face-to-face selling momentsquicker is going to make us
more successful and ultimatelyget us promoted and where we
want to be in life.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Absolutely so.
Looking over your career, isthere a particular moment or a
particular project that you'vebeen especially proud of that
stays with you today?
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Yeah, I would say kind of touched on a little bit,
but probably most proud ofbuilding something from scratch
at my first 3PL that I worked atand just taking a regional
Southeastern 3PL that nobodyknew of and taking it to a top
10 3PL that other companiesactually strive to be.
I used to come to the TMSAevents and I'd say, oh, I worked
(13:34):
for this company and they'relike they didn't, they'd never
heard of it.
And then later they're like, oh, I want to talk to you, I want
to talk about what you're doingon your blog and what you're
doing on this and that newcontent that you're releasing.
So it was really satisfying togo from somebody that nobody had
ever heard of, a company thatnobody had ever heard of, to
(13:57):
somebody or a company thatpeople looked up to, that people
looked up to and similar intmsa.
I remember back in the day whenI first started going, there
were all these cmos and vps andI could name off a long list of
names.
They were presidents of tmsaand they were on the board.
I'm like, wow, look at thosepeople.
(14:17):
And, um, you know, prettyexcited to say that now I am on
the board and now I am running asales and marketing department.
So overall, I think just thattransition from a marketing team
of one to having a team, beinga leader, being a part of TMSA
(14:37):
and being on the board isprobably one of the highlights
of my career, for sure.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
Well, that is great to hear because you are stepping
into that president-elect rolehere at TMSA, and so I just want
to give some guidance to peoplewho don't know.
So when you come into thepresident role at TMSA, you're
actually making a five-yearcommitment to the organization,
because you do one year aspresident-elect, two years as
(15:04):
president and two years aspresident and then two years as
chairperson.
So it is not a smallundertaking or commitment when
people make this decision, andso many of the people, such as
yourself, have been on the board, have been serving TMSA for
years and years and years, so towant to give back for five more
years as the bare minimum is ahuge thing.
So it's not to scare you off,but you've already been voted
(15:26):
and you've already agreed.
So here we go.
But what are some of your goals,some of the priorities that
you're thinking about as youwalk towards the presidency?
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Yeah, so probably the biggest thing is to have
methodical growth, not chasingsize for the sake of size.
I really like the intimacy andthe opportunity authenticity of
our events, so we have tomaintain that, but also by
building enough scale to growyour staff, to grow our reach
(15:58):
and to grow our capabilities andour service offering to our
members, because ultimately, ifwe're not providing value for
our members, then we're notgoing to be there in the future.
And probably the main reasonfor growth is to ensure that
TMSA is positioned to be aroundfor another 100 years and to be
relevant and to be talking aboutAI and all these things that
(16:20):
are completely changing theworld of marketing in general,
let alone marketing and thelogistics and transportation
areas areas?
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Absolutely, and so you mentioned before that in the
past you co-chaired theeducation committee.
You're currently co-chair ofthe membership committee, so
you've been around big chunks ofwhat Team SA is all about,
helping provide that guidancefor our educational track, for
guiding our members.
How do you hope, aspresident-elect or, you know, as
we move forward into yourpresidency to support and engage
members, especially thosepeople who are newer to the
(16:56):
industry or to the association?
Speaker 2 (16:58):
Yeah.
So I like to say no sales ormarketing pro left behind.
I remember what it's like beinga of one and unsure where to go
, where to start, having no ideawhat LTL, tl, cms and all the
other acronyms we have in thisindustry meant.
(17:21):
So I want to be there for thosetype members and also the
members like myself.
But I think the biggest thingthat we can do as professionals
who grew through thisassociation is to give back to
those newer members that needthat helping hand, that need a
mentor, that need to know whereto go, where to start, what to
(17:41):
do, and I want those individualsto be feel seen, feel supported
and feel connected through TMSAand our mentorship and
resources.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
I love that.
I think that is really, reallyimportant.
We see new people coming intoTMSA, into the industry, every
day, and so many of them aredoing that on really small
marketing teams.
So how can we engage?
How can we help them?
Those are all things I'mlooking forward to working on
with you over the next fiveyears, together in your
(18:15):
presidential track.
So I know TMSA has meant somuch to you over the years.
Why do you believeorganizations like TMSA are
vital for professionals insidethe space, especially in a
market like we're in, wherepeople are really paying
attention to every dollar thatthey spend?
Speaker 2 (18:34):
Yeah, I can just remember when I was fighting for
every piece of marketing dollarI could get or resources.
Tools like the TMSA MetricStudy were just extremely
helpful for me to benchmark whatwe were not doing and that we
were in the bottom, bottom,bottom tier of spending, uh,
bottom tier of staffing, um.
(18:56):
So I was able to use tools likethat to be like hey look, this
is, this is what the rest of theindustry is doing.
We are so far behind and really150 million dollar company
wasn't small, but they werestill used to growing by word of
mouth and reputation, and toreally grow we had to put
resources in place and movethings forward.
(19:19):
So also the peer conversationshelped.
I had a lot of conversationswith competitors at other
companies and there were eventimes when something you know
controversial would come up orGDPR would come up, and I could
lean on those relationships eventhough we were competitors.
I've always said that it's kindof us against the big guys.
(19:41):
So if you're a midsize player,if you're a small size player,
we're willing to.
There's enough of the pie outthere that we can help each
other and just try to surviveand win.
But I think when every dollaris scrutinized that community
knowledge becomes a strategicadvantage for you and your
(20:02):
company.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Yeah, I think professional development is
really important and youremployees want to know that
you're investing in them and sothat they can give back to you
and your company, and so spaceslike tmsa, where you can meet
the network, where you can getthe education, where you can get
ideas to immediately implementwhen you go back to the office,
that stuff is crucial, and sothat's kind of what um elevate
(20:27):
is all about, which is this weekthat this episode will air and
then then now we will be gearingup for Executive Summit, which
will be October 22nd through the23rd in Chicago, and that's our
executive event that's gearedtowards what's going on for next
year in budget season.
So very timely, excited to getstarted or continue on with
(20:50):
getting that show off the ground.
To get started or continue onwith getting that show off the
ground.
So one last question for youthat I ask everybody who comes
on the show but if you could goback in time and advise a
younger Don anything and thiscould be personally or
professionally when would you goback to and what would you tell
him?
Speaker 2 (21:07):
I think this might be personally and professionally.
If I could go back to youngerDon, maybe five years into the
logistics industry, I'd firsttell him to enjoy his hair,
because it's not going to bethere much longer.
But, more seriously, this is amistake I made, spending 16
(21:28):
years at the same company.
So I'm pretty passionate aboutletting young people know not to
make the mistake that I made,and that's manage your career.
You got to know your marketvalue.
Don't wait for someone tonotice and promote you.
You have to be an advocate foryourself.
I spent many years and 16 yearsand the only times I got any
(21:50):
substantial raises was when I'dget a job opportunity and they'd
be like we don't want you toleave, here's a bump.
And so at the end of my career,I was pretty much a VP with a
director title and I was gettingcalls from recruiters and
basically I still remember tothis day.
I had a recruiter call and hesaid I still remember to this
(22:12):
day I had a recruiter call andhe said Don, I hate to tell you
this, but you've mismanaged yourcareer.
You should be making twice whatyou're making right now and I
don't know that I can ask mycustomer who is recruiting for
to double bump you.
So that was when I was like,okay, I've got to make some
(22:34):
changes.
And I made several changes,made a few career moves and as
well as fighting for my salaryto get it where it should have
been.
But I encourage everybodywhether you're starting out or
it's easier, if you're startingout because you want to start
managing on the first day andmake sure that you're getting
paid what you're worth and youcontinue to that whole time it's
not greedy, it's if they pulledsomeone else into your position
(22:57):
, they're going to be payingthat person market wages.
So don't stay in a position for20 years and look back and
realize that you're way behindon the salary chart.
But I encourage people to usethings like salarycom, Glassdoor
, even chat, GPT.
You can ask it.
You know what is the person ofthis caliber and this career,
(23:19):
what are they making in theindustry?
And it'll come back.
It'll just like query all thepostings out there and tell you
what the job pays.
So I just say, make sure you'regetting paid what you're worth
and if your company is notwilling to pay you what you're
worth, there's one out therethat will.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
I think that's really good to hear.
For a lot of people, I think weget scared to ask for more or
not know where to start.
So, utilizing those resourcesand I do I think that no one
will care about you and yourcareer more than you will.
So if you're not stepping up,if you're not doing those tools.
Those are even conversations Ihave with like younger people
(24:01):
who are like, oh, I don't knowif I want to work like a
full-time job, I want to be moreproject-based, especially in
like that marketing space, andI'm like, are you going to
handle your own professionaldevelopment in your career?
Because, like, when you work ata company, you can get a lot of
professional developmentcovered for you or you can put
those building blocks together,but if you're project based,
they, they do not care aboutyour professional development at
(24:24):
all.
They care about whateverproject you're giving them that
day.
And so, really putting thoseplaces or like, do you thrive on
like positive reinforcements?
If you're a project-basedemployee, you're not getting any
of that like you, and so andnot all companies are the same
when it comes to stuff like thatsome companies will really
invest in their employees, makesure that they're being
(24:44):
developed, that they see theirpath forward.
They understand their piece ofthe puzzles.
Others don't, so I.
So my career has been very allover the place when you look at
things like that.
I just always wanted to beprepared for the next step.
I wanted to make the decisionsbased on what I wanted for my
career, not what I needed to do.
So navigating it's important.
(25:08):
Absolutely Well thank you somuch for coming on the show and
I am excited to.
We've worked together for manyyears in a few different ways,
but we will be now as thepresident elect for a year and
then you will become presidentnext year.
So I'm excited to work togetherand thank you for coming on the
show.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
Absolutely.
Thank you for having me again.
Thank you for all the work thatyou and the TMSA are doing
under your leadership,appreciate this opportunity to
kind of come full circle frommember to volunteer, to staff
and now like a returning voicein the community.
So just really thank you forthis opportunity and I thank you
for the opportunity to serve aspresident elect and to work
(25:49):
together for five years.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
Thank you, thank you.
Hello everyone, welcome to On the Move, a show
where we share transportationsales and marketing success
stories.
I am Jennifer Karpis-Romain,executive Director of the
Transportation Marketing andSales Association, which is a
trade nonprofit educating andconnecting marketing and sales
professionals inside oftransportation and logistics.
And today on the show I haveDon Friedle, vp of Sales and
(00:48):
Marketing at Brown IntegratedLogistics, who was just named
TMSA's president-elect yesterdayat our Elevate conference and
we are so excited to have you onthe show and to have you taking
on this leadership role here atTMSA.
How you doing, don.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Doing great.
Thank you, Jennifer, for thekind words and the invitation.
I'm super excited to be on themove and appreciate all the work
that you're doing at TMSA andall the help that you're giving
people like me.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Thank you.
So you've had a long andsuccessful career in the
industry, so can you walk usthrough your professional
journey and how you got to whereyou are today?
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Sure, yeah.
So I started a long time agowon't give the year but I was
working for a local bank doingmarketing as a marketing
specialist with a really smallteam.
We were supporting threemid-site cities, but we only had
a team of three.
So that's kind of where Ilearned how to do caviar
marketing on a tuna fish budget.
(01:50):
And it worked out well becausethere was a local logistics
company that was looking for amarketing catch-all.
I was internal communications,I was PR, I was advertising
graphic designer.
They did a little bit ofeverything.
So fortunately, a mutualconnection at the bank
introduced me to this companyback in 2003.
(02:11):
The funny thing was they let meknow it was a logistics company
and I was like, oh, that'sinteresting.
The first thing I did after thecall was Google Logistics
because I didn't know what itmeant.
First thing I did after thecall was Google logistics
because I didn't know what itmeant.
So I spent 16 years helping togrow that family run $150
million 3PL into a $620 millionbusiness.
(02:34):
I was a marketing team of one.
My first budget was around$80,000 for advertising.
Most of that was being spent onyellow pages to get Chattanooga
warehousing and when I left Ihad a team of three.
(02:54):
We were using three or fouragencies and my marketing budget
grew to about 1.5 million.
So then I joined TMSA with theformer management team and
things were going great.
And then COVID hit, and at thatpoint I stepped out of the
transportation industry for abrief moment to work for a SaaS
company, and after a year ofthat I was fortunate to be asked
(03:17):
to join the Brown WestLogistics team as VP of Sales
and Marketing and kind of did afull circle return back to the
industry and back to TMSA.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
Yeah, you've had quite the multi-layered
experience here at TMSA.
You were a member at thatformer company, then you worked
for the management company, asyou mentioned, stepped back into
a member when you came back.
So how has that been a journeywith TMSA being a member for so
long, working for a managementcompany?
Speaker 2 (03:49):
stepping out of the industry and then back in.
That's been great.
At least everybody welcomed meback with open arms.
It's like a big family.
I couldn't wait to get back.
But so I first attended my firstattended TMSA event in 2004.
And that was my first full yearin the industry and I didn't
engage.
For about 10 years and that wasone of my biggest regrets just
sat in the back of the room andsoaked up knowledge like a
(04:10):
sponge.
After about 10 years, one of mypartners that I met through
TMSA convinced me to do aCompass Award, which is now
Trailblazer, and we won theaward.
I was asked to speak at theconference and we won the award.
I was asked to speak at theconference and my entire
speaking engagement wasbasically a shameless plug for
TMSA and everything they haddone for me.
(04:30):
So following that, I was askedto join the board and then,
shortly thereafter, to lead theeducation committee and then, as
you said, became TMSA CMO underthe former management team.
But one thing a lot of peopledon't know is the year I took a
(04:51):
hiatus.
I actually drove to Nashvillesince it's close by just to see
all of my TMS friends theweekend before the event and I
couldn't attend because I didn'thave enough vacation, but
otherwise I would have paid forit myself and attended.
So yeah, jumped at the chancewhen I could come back to the
industry.
And then my next phone call washey, I need to get back into
TMSA.
Speaker 1 (05:11):
I actually it's funny that you mentioned that
Nashville Cause.
I remember seeing you and itwas when I was walking in in my
cause.
I was a member first but I andI was a member at that show but
my, my flip-flop broke and Iremember walking into the
elevator and going I need tospeak with you later and then
just disappeared and then I waslike wait the next day.
I'm like wait, I'm sorry thatwas so rude, but I had no shoe
(05:34):
on it felt so unprofessional,but it's really funny.
That was funny.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
We don't remember stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
I remember all of the things that I do like that
because unfortunately I havelike a fair amount of those
types of stories for myself.
But with that, so obviously weknew each other back when we
were both members and then whenyou were at the management
company and then and after, andso when?
So that Nashville show isactually when I started talking
about whether I should then, youknow, take the executive
(06:04):
director role here at TMSA andyou were one of the first people
I called because I wanted toknow what I was getting into and
what that transition from beinga board member to association
leadership, what that is like,and it really values your
opinion and to me I think itreally speaks to the testament.
Like you said, it's kind of afamily people getting to know
each each other.
You can really form these typebonds inside the association.
(06:26):
So how have those connectionsreally helped shape your career?
Speaker 2 (06:31):
yes, I'm pretty sure I told you it was going to be
challenging, which I'm sureyou've seen, but it is a
rewarding challenge.
Um, the relationships I'vebuilt at tmsa are unlike any
organization I've ever been apart of.
I've been mentored, I'vementored and most of the time
that's been across competitors.
What I love about TMSA itcreated a space where peers can
(06:55):
support each other instead ofguarding trade secrets.
The openness at TMSA is superrare and I mean I've heard that
from so many people, a lot ofour partner members and a lot of
our member members, so I knowthat to be true.
That's our culture and I thinkthat's what makes it so great
and especially so great foryoung people starting in the
industry, like I was many yearsago.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Absolutely so.
You have been in marketingsales for a long time in the
industry.
What are some of the biggestchanges and shifts you've seen
for sales and marketing insidethe industry?
Speaker 2 (07:30):
By far technology.
When I started, I remembertalking about my first tracking
mechanism for where marketingROI was was using an Excel
spreadsheet that we called thelead log and as a lead would
come in from the website, comein from a phone call, we would
log it into Excel and then atthe end of the year we would see
(07:51):
what worked, what didn't, whatclosed, what didn't.
I mean that was even before wehad a CRM, so later we adopted a
CRM and then marketingautomation, and I mean that just
totally changed the game.
In my opinion.
It gave marketers and evensales a seat at the C-level
table, because it made us morerelevant.
(08:14):
It showed what we were doing,it proved what we were doing.
It got more resources for us todo more budgeting or to do more
advertising, to do more leadgen.
And now I think we're seeingprobably one of the biggest
changes in any industry andthat's artificial intelligence.
I can only imagine what I couldhave done as a marketing person
(08:36):
of one if I had had AI backthen.
I feel like now, if you are amarketing department of one, you
can work like you're amarketing team of 10.
It's like having your ownwriters and your own team and
even people to take notes andeverything else, so it can
(08:56):
really help you to accelerateand do more things with less
resources.
So that's the biggest change.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Technology and do more things with less resources.
So that's the biggest change.
Technology, yeah, I agree.
I mean, I think even somethingsimple like ChatGPT when you're
trying to form your thoughts orlike you can use it as a talking
, because I'll even I'll be likeoh you know, type this up and
it'll be a bit like, but likeless cheesy.
That's probably my biggestthing that I put into ChatGPT,
because I always feel like it'ssuper, like high on the cheese
(09:24):
when it starts, but I'm like no,make it sound like a real
person, and then it'll do that.
And like keep editing itthrough, like even simple things
.
Or sometimes, if you're in a badmood and you need to write an
email and you want to make surethat it doesn't your personal
feelings on your day, it doesn'tget in that way.
This sound nicer.
Simple things like that can goreally far, I feel like, for
(09:46):
anyone, let alone in sales andmarketing, but that kind of
stuff can really help.
So I agree, like when you'rethat one person team using the
AI, you can bounce your ideasoff of other people, but through
the computer and then, being inTMSA, you then have this
collaborative space, a lot ofother people who are one-person
marketing teams or two-personteams.
(10:07):
They're kind of going throughthose same challenges, figuring
out what tools, what works, whatdoesn't.
So it's really great.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Yeah, it's like having an administrative
assistant, because I can justtell it like, hey, I need to
send this email to a customerasking for a rate increase
because of dah, dah, dah, dah,and it like fills in the blanks
into your point.
Sometimes it's like, well, Ineed you to be more direct or I
need you to be more professional, where I need that to be more
succinct, because these peopleare not going to read all those
(10:36):
words and stuff.
Like that used to, I would toilover an email for hours If it
was a, if it was a touchysituation.
Now I can knock it out in 10minutes with the help of ChatGPT
.
So it's really changed the game.
It's made me much moreefficient and I hate to say it,
but much more professional.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
I think that makes a lot of sense and it's changing
and evolving and there's morethings that you mentioned to
like the, the note takers, likehaving the AI overview.
I mean, I feel like I'm inmeetings all day, every day, and
they blur together sometimesand so having that overview be
like okay, no, this is what Iwas talking about with that
(11:18):
person.
And just even like the nextsteps follow up, making sure
that you are doing what you saidyou would do in the meeting
Always great.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
Exactly.
Yeah, I've got another tool Iuse for sales meetings and such,
and it will even you know afterthe meeting.
Would you like me to draft afollow-up email?
So it'll send a follow-up emailto everybody who was in
attendance, what we talked about, what the key takeaways were
and just things like that.
That would take, as I said, 30minutes to an hour.
Now it's just a click of abutton.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
And I think utilizing AI in that form is really
helpful, because I know there'sconversations around like, oh
well, ai take human jobs andthings like that.
But, like, I want it to help mebe more efficient so I can be
more personable, so I can pickup the phone more and have real
conversations, so I can seepeople in person more, so I can
build those relationships.
That administrative piece thatused to, like you said like this
writing this email could takehours because it was so touchy
(12:15):
and I wanted to make sure Iwrote it perfectly.
Now we have these tools thatcan help us move faster so that
we can be humans more, and so Ifeel like that is a really great
value add if you're using iteffectively like that.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
That's a good point, because I've recently been
listening to a sales trainingbook and or best practices, and
it says that the only time thatyou are doing your job as a
salesperson is when you'reface-to-face with a customer
selling.
So anything we can do to makethose non-value-added, those
(12:48):
non-face-to-face selling momentsquicker is going to make us
more successful and ultimatelyget us promoted and where we
want to be in life.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Absolutely so.
Looking over your career, isthere a particular moment or a
particular project that you'vebeen especially proud of that
stays with you today?
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Yeah, I would say kind of touched on a little bit,
but probably most proud ofbuilding something from scratch
at my first 3PL that I worked atand just taking a regional
Southeastern 3PL that nobodyknew of and taking it to a top
10 3PL that other companiesactually strive to be.
I used to come to the TMSAevents and I'd say, oh, I worked
(13:34):
for this company and they'relike they didn't, they'd never
heard of it.
And then later they're like, oh, I want to talk to you, I want
to talk about what you're doingon your blog and what you're
doing on this and that newcontent that you're releasing.
So it was really satisfying togo from somebody that nobody had
ever heard of, a company thatnobody had ever heard of, to
(13:57):
somebody or a company thatpeople looked up to, that people
looked up to and similar intmsa.
I remember back in the day whenI first started going, there
were all these cmos and vps andI could name off a long list of
names.
They were presidents of tmsaand they were on the board.
I'm like, wow, look at thosepeople.
(14:17):
And, um, you know, prettyexcited to say that now I am on
the board and now I am running asales and marketing department.
So overall, I think just thattransition from a marketing team
of one to having a team, beinga leader, being a part of TMSA
(14:37):
and being on the board isprobably one of the highlights
of my career, for sure.
Speaker 1 (14:43):
Well, that is great to hear because you are stepping
into that president-elect rolehere at TMSA, and so I just want
to give some guidance to peoplewho don't know.
So when you come into thepresident role at TMSA, you're
actually making a five-yearcommitment to the organization,
because you do one year aspresident-elect, two years as
(15:04):
president and two years aspresident and then two years as
chairperson.
So it is not a smallundertaking or commitment when
people make this decision, andso many of the people, such as
yourself, have been on the board, have been serving TMSA for
years and years and years, so towant to give back for five more
years as the bare minimum is ahuge thing.
So it's not to scare you off,but you've already been voted
(15:26):
and you've already agreed.
So here we go.
But what are some of your goals,some of the priorities that
you're thinking about as youwalk towards the presidency?
Speaker 2 (15:36):
Yeah, so probably the biggest thing is to have
methodical growth, not chasingsize for the sake of size.
I really like the intimacy andthe opportunity authenticity of
our events, so we have tomaintain that, but also by
building enough scale to growyour staff, to grow our reach
(15:58):
and to grow our capabilities andour service offering to our
members, because ultimately, ifwe're not providing value for
our members, then we're notgoing to be there in the future.
And probably the main reasonfor growth is to ensure that
TMSA is positioned to be aroundfor another 100 years and to be
relevant and to be talking aboutAI and all these things that
(16:20):
are completely changing theworld of marketing in general,
let alone marketing and thelogistics and transportation
areas areas?
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Absolutely, and so you mentioned before that in the
past you co-chaired theeducation committee.
You're currently co-chair ofthe membership committee, so
you've been around big chunks ofwhat Team SA is all about,
helping provide that guidancefor our educational track, for
guiding our members.
How do you hope, aspresident-elect or, you know, as
we move forward into yourpresidency to support and engage
members, especially thosepeople who are newer to the
(16:56):
industry or to the association?
Speaker 2 (16:58):
Yeah.
So I like to say no sales ormarketing pro left behind.
I remember what it's like beinga of one and unsure where to go
, where to start, having no ideawhat LTL, tl, cms and all the
other acronyms we have in thisindustry meant.
(17:21):
So I want to be there for thosetype members and also the
members like myself.
But I think the biggest thingthat we can do as professionals
who grew through thisassociation is to give back to
those newer members that needthat helping hand, that need a
mentor, that need to know whereto go, where to start, what to
(17:41):
do, and I want those individualsto be feel seen, feel supported
and feel connected through TMSAand our mentorship and
resources.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
I love that.
I think that is really, reallyimportant.
We see new people coming intoTMSA, into the industry, every
day, and so many of them aredoing that on really small
marketing teams.
So how can we engage?
How can we help them?
Those are all things I'mlooking forward to working on
with you over the next fiveyears, together in your
(18:15):
presidential track.
So I know TMSA has meant somuch to you over the years.
Why do you believeorganizations like TMSA are
vital for professionals insidethe space, especially in a
market like we're in, wherepeople are really paying
attention to every dollar thatthey spend?
Speaker 2 (18:34):
Yeah, I can just remember when I was fighting for
every piece of marketing dollarI could get or resources.
Tools like the TMSA MetricStudy were just extremely
helpful for me to benchmark whatwe were not doing and that we
were in the bottom, bottom,bottom tier of spending, uh,
bottom tier of staffing, um.
(18:56):
So I was able to use tools likethat to be like hey look, this
is, this is what the rest of theindustry is doing.
We are so far behind and really150 million dollar company
wasn't small, but they werestill used to growing by word of
mouth and reputation, and toreally grow we had to put
resources in place and movethings forward.
(19:19):
So also the peer conversationshelped.
I had a lot of conversationswith competitors at other
companies and there were eventimes when something you know
controversial would come up orGDPR would come up, and I could
lean on those relationships eventhough we were competitors.
I've always said that it's kindof us against the big guys.
(19:41):
So if you're a midsize player,if you're a small size player,
we're willing to.
There's enough of the pie outthere that we can help each
other and just try to surviveand win.
But I think when every dollaris scrutinized that community
knowledge becomes a strategicadvantage for you and your
(20:02):
company.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
Yeah, I think professional development is
really important and youremployees want to know that
you're investing in them and sothat they can give back to you
and your company, and so spaceslike tmsa, where you can meet
the network, where you can getthe education, where you can get
ideas to immediately implementwhen you go back to the office,
that stuff is crucial, and sothat's kind of what um elevate
(20:27):
is all about, which is this weekthat this episode will air and
then then now we will be gearingup for Executive Summit, which
will be October 22nd through the23rd in Chicago, and that's our
executive event that's gearedtowards what's going on for next
year in budget season.
So very timely, excited to getstarted or continue on with
(20:50):
getting that show off the ground.
To get started or continue onwith getting that show off the
ground.
So one last question for youthat I ask everybody who comes
on the show but if you could goback in time and advise a
younger Don anything and thiscould be personally or
professionally when would you goback to and what would you tell
him?
Speaker 2 (21:07):
I think this might be personally and professionally.
If I could go back to youngerDon, maybe five years into the
logistics industry, I'd firsttell him to enjoy his hair,
because it's not going to bethere much longer.
But, more seriously, this is amistake I made, spending 16
(21:28):
years at the same company.
So I'm pretty passionate aboutletting young people know not to
make the mistake that I made,and that's manage your career.
You got to know your marketvalue.
Don't wait for someone tonotice and promote you.
You have to be an advocate foryourself.
I spent many years and 16 yearsand the only times I got any
(21:50):
substantial raises was when I'dget a job opportunity and they'd
be like we don't want you toleave, here's a bump.
And so at the end of my career,I was pretty much a VP with a
director title and I was gettingcalls from recruiters and
basically I still remember tothis day.
I had a recruiter call and hesaid I still remember to this
(22:12):
day I had a recruiter call andhe said Don, I hate to tell you
this, but you've mismanaged yourcareer.
You should be making twice whatyou're making right now and I
don't know that I can ask mycustomer who is recruiting for
to double bump you.
So that was when I was like,okay, I've got to make some
(22:34):
changes.
And I made several changes,made a few career moves and as
well as fighting for my salaryto get it where it should have
been.
But I encourage everybodywhether you're starting out or
it's easier, if you're startingout because you want to start
managing on the first day andmake sure that you're getting
paid what you're worth and youcontinue to that whole time it's
not greedy, it's if they pulledsomeone else into your position
(22:57):
, they're going to be payingthat person market wages.
So don't stay in a position for20 years and look back and
realize that you're way behindon the salary chart.
But I encourage people to usethings like salarycom, Glassdoor
, even chat, GPT.
You can ask it.
You know what is the person ofthis caliber and this career,
(23:19):
what are they making in theindustry?
And it'll come back.
It'll just like query all thepostings out there and tell you
what the job pays.
So I just say, make sure you'regetting paid what you're worth
and if your company is notwilling to pay you what you're
worth, there's one out therethat will.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
I think that's really good to hear.
For a lot of people, I think weget scared to ask for more or
not know where to start.
So, utilizing those resourcesand I do I think that no one
will care about you and yourcareer more than you will.
So if you're not stepping up,if you're not doing those tools.
Those are even conversations Ihave with like younger people
(24:01):
who are like, oh, I don't knowif I want to work like a
full-time job, I want to be moreproject-based, especially in
like that marketing space, andI'm like, are you going to
handle your own professionaldevelopment in your career?
Because, like, when you work ata company, you can get a lot of
professional developmentcovered for you or you can put
those building blocks together,but if you're project based,
they, they do not care aboutyour professional development at
(24:24):
all.
They care about whateverproject you're giving them that
day.
And so, really putting thoseplaces or like, do you thrive on
like positive reinforcements?
If you're a project-basedemployee, you're not getting any
of that like you, and so andnot all companies are the same
when it comes to stuff like thatsome companies will really
invest in their employees, makesure that they're being
(24:44):
developed, that they see theirpath forward.
They understand their piece ofthe puzzles.
Others don't, so I.
So my career has been very allover the place when you look at
things like that.
I just always wanted to beprepared for the next step.
I wanted to make the decisionsbased on what I wanted for my
career, not what I needed to do.
So navigating it's important.
(25:08):
Absolutely Well thank you somuch for coming on the show and
I am excited to.
We've worked together for manyyears in a few different ways,
but we will be now as thepresident elect for a year and
then you will become presidentnext year.
So I'm excited to work togetherand thank you for coming on the
show.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
Absolutely.
Thank you for having me again.
Thank you for all the work thatyou and the TMSA are doing
under your leadership,appreciate this opportunity to
kind of come full circle frommember to volunteer, to staff
and now like a returning voicein the community.
So just really thank you forthis opportunity and I thank you
for the opportunity to serve aspresident elect and to work
(25:49):
together for five years.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (25:53):
Thank you, thank you.
Popular Podcasts
Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club
Welcome to Bookmarked by Reese’s Book Club — the podcast where great stories, bold women, and irresistible conversations collide! Hosted by award-winning journalist Danielle Robay, each week new episodes balance thoughtful literary insight with the fervor of buzzy book trends, pop culture and more. Bookmarked brings together celebrities, tastemakers, influencers and authors from Reese's Book Club and beyond to share stories that transcend the page. Pull up a chair. You’re not just listening — you’re part of the conversation.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com