March 26, 2025 • 33 mins
In this episode of TMSA On the Move, we sit down with Eileen Dabrowski to discuss why companies should prioritize professional development—especially for their sales and marketing teams. Eileen shares insights on how continuous learning drives business success, enhances team performance, and keeps companies ahead in a competitive industry. Plus, she has some exciting news to share that you won’t want to miss! Tune in for an inspiring conversation on investing in people and the future of professional growth in transportation and logistics.
Check out the Transportation Sales and Marketing Association (TMSA) website or engage with us on LinkedIn.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:23):
Hello everyone and welcome to On the Move, a show
where we share transportationsales marketing success stories.
I'm Jennifer Purpose Romaine,executive Director of the
Transportation Marketing andSales Association, which is a
trade nonprofit educating andconnecting marketing and sales
professionals insidetransportation and logistics.
And today on the show I'm veryexcited to have Eileen Dabrowski
(00:46):
, who's been in the industry fora long time but has recently
started here at TMSA as theprograms and membership director
.
So welcome to the show, eileen,welcome to TMSA.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Thank you.
I'm so pumped to be here for somany reasons, which I know
we're going to talk about.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
For sure.
So you've been here now acouple weeks, but I wanted to
wait till the end of the monthto bring you on the show, so you
had like a little bit of timeto adjust from being like a
board member at TMSA to TMSAstaff.
But before we kind of dive intoyour role here at TMSA, let's
talk about your career and whatgot you to logistics in the
(01:22):
first place.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Yeah.
So I think I fall into thebucket of most people who never
expected to end up intransportation.
I ended up here by purehappenstance, started my career
in academia, so had a dual role,did emergency response and
victim advocacy and then, youknow, believed in education and
(01:44):
teaching, got a phone call in2016 from a man named Jason Reed
who owned a company called ReedTMS Logistics, and he said
Eileen, we have no training.
We want you to come on site andlearn our business and build
the training.
And I was like who are thesepeople?
I know nothing about trucks,transportation, anything but
(02:04):
something in my gut told me gocheck it out.
And joining the transportationindustry was the single best
decision I have madeprofessionally, for so many
reasons, which I know we'regoing to get into.
So I started in a corporatetraining role.
I sat in every seat in thecompany, learned to do the job I
believe in teaching by havingthat learned experience and
(02:26):
knowledge and I built everytraining document we had,
onboarded new employees and thenalso inherited, eventually,
marketing as well.
So I was in charge of alllearning, development and
marketing for Retie MS Logisticsand then, in 22, we were
acquired by Warner Enterprises.
And the beautiful thing aboutthat acquisition was that I've
(02:51):
now had the pleasure of workingon both family and an operated
private asset-based 3PL world,and then I also had the
experience of working for alarge publicly traded powerhouse
like Warner.
So I love being able to view thetransportation industry from
both of those lenses, because itallows me, in my opinion, to
(03:12):
better serve TMSA members in mynew role here.
So the really interesting partabout the evolution is that
working with humans, caringabout humans, teaching humans,
is the same, regardless of whatyou are tasked to do.
So it's wonderful for me, formy quality of life, to now get
(03:34):
the opportunity to work with anorganization that I
wholeheartedly, was soincredibly passionate about
growing and supporting and nowit's kind of cool I get to say
it's my job, so I'm grateful.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Yes, well, I'm excited to have you here.
That's definitely a piece of mystory coming into TMSA as well.
It's just really believing inthe organization and what it can
stand for, and I know one ofthe reasons why I wanted to
bring you in was because of yourstrong suit in the programming
and being able to build, and wewant to provide more and more
(04:08):
resources and better educationfor our members and our
conference attendees, and soit's a really, really great fit
and I'm excited to have you here.
So, yay, um, and you do, thenhave that experience in higher
education, development andtraining and development inside
the supply chain.
You have a lot of firsthandexperience with professional
(04:30):
development, so why do you thinkit's imperative for companies
to prioritize this for theirteams?
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Oh my gosh.
So company or employees leave acompany for three primary
reasons.
Right, there's always outliersand exceptions, but at the end
of the day, they don't liketheir boss or their leader, they
don't feel like there's growthopportunities or they don't feel
like the organizational culturehas invested in them as a human
.
And if you address all three ofthose things, which largely is
(04:59):
supported by the foundation ofdo you have a solid onboarding
and recruitment process?
Are your marketing materialsinclusive of the humans that
represent your company?
Do you have career mapping andgrowth plans and educational
programs, not just new employeeorientation, but do you offer
ongoing development, ongoingopportunities to kind of help
(05:20):
your team grow?
Most people if you show themwhat you care about them and
they invest in you.
And I believe the key lies inthree things people, process and
tech.
So we live in this beautifulworld.
2025 is all about automation.
I use AI every day.
I get stuck.
I need to rework.
(05:41):
So I think it's how can we savehumans clicks, how can we get
programming that helps them growas humans?
And, at the root of it all, howcan we understand their
organizational culture that kindof makes that team unique and
support people.
So I think it is the singlemost important thing, which is
kind of sad because, with thefreight market that we've been
(06:03):
in the past couple of years,often the very first thing to go
is employee development andinvesting in your team, and to
me that's a huge mistake,because it should be the total
opposite.
When times get tough, I believewholeheartedly you should
invest in your people more thananything, because that's who's
going to drive your business.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
There was something we saw in the benchmarking study
that TMSA did, that we put outat the end of last year, was
that people weren't hittingtheir sales quotas or their
sales goals but they weren'tinvesting in their people, and
to me that like reallycorrelated.
Well, to get them to be able tohit those goals, hit those
metrics that you want, you haveto be training them continuously
to try different things or havedifferent avenues, or meet
(06:46):
different people or network in adifferent space, or however you
go about that.
But if you're not investing inthat training, then they're not
able to achieve where you wantthem to go.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Exactly.
And you know, at the end of theday, most humans just want to
feel like they're part ofsomething.
And and what I love aboutworking with TMSA is that our
member companies represent sucha diverse kind of stamp of the
transportation industry.
We have small, we have singleperson operations, we have, you
know, larger side, publiclytraded organizations and kind of
(07:18):
everything in between.
And I think it's reallyimportant to understand that
there isn't a one-size-fits-allto the programming we do.
And the beautiful thing aboutwhat we're doing especially now
that I get to be a part of it,I'm really excited is we want to
build kind of different levelsof education and programming.
So if you're an entry level,emerging professional, we want
(07:38):
to have a spot for you to learnand grow and create mentorship
and learning opportunities.
If you're kind of at thatmiddle management level at a
smaller company, we want tocreate the same type of
programming that's going to havea profound impact on you as
human, how you move through theworld and how you serve your
teams.
And then same thing on thelarge director and up.
And what I like about anassociation like TMSA and what I
(08:01):
loved when I was just a memberand when I was on the board of
directors and when I was superinvolved in the task force, is
it is the association, in myopinion, that, no matter the
size?
You know a TMSA staff memberever been told no when I've
(08:26):
reached out for help?
Hey, can I run a marketingimage by you?
Hey, do you have a few minutesthat I can pick your brain about
market rates or seasonality orwhatever strategy I'm working on
?
And I think that that is such arare thing.
You know, I think our industry,especially the past couple of
years, has been so competitiveand so driven.
We're all just trying tosurvive.
(08:47):
Tmsa has never lost sight ofthat collaborative nature and
creating a safe space and aplatform to share.
Hey, here's what we're doing.
Well, obviously, we're notgiving out trade secrets and you
know the secret sauce, butwe're supporting each other as
humans and that is what I thinkmakes TMS a unique.
And now that we have thisawesome roadmap and this
(09:09):
foundation laid out, we have themeans to just build this really
member specific programmingthat is dictated by our members.
We ask what do you need?
How can we help, support you,and what do you want to see that
we're not doing?
What do you love that we arecurrently doing that.
You don't want to go away Allof these things, so I'm really
excited.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
Yes, I think, like when you came on board, I'm like
there's probably like 800things that I have 30% of the
way done or to where I want themto be, because there's just so
much that we could be doing forour members and so having more
means to execute on that isreally powerful.
And I do think.
I agree, I think professionaldevelopment is incredibly
(09:52):
important at all times and itshouldn't be the budget that's
cut, and maybe you have to cutthe budget, but it shouldn't be
wiped out.
And how can you still developyour employees, still engage
your employees in a way, even ifyou don't have the budget that
you once did?
I, as a leader, one of thethings I think most about
(10:15):
employees is they really wanttwo things, or I strive to be
able to do two things for myteam.
Number one what is their puzzlepiece in the overall, like,
what do they do?
What is their role?
How does it affect everythingthat's going on?
And then, number two how doesthat puzzle piece fit in with
the other people who have apuzzle piece?
And I think we forget those orboth of those together, like,
(10:37):
even if you remember, okay, thisis what we're doing, okay, this
responsibility might've shifted, but how does that correlate?
Like I, in a little bit we haveour third member of TMSA coming
in, but like I remember sheactually came in a couple weeks
before you.
And then she's like, okay, doesmy, do I still keep doing like
A, b and C when Eileen's here,or is she taking that over?
And I'm like, oh, let's sit andtalk about it.
And sometimes you don'tunderstand how they're supposed
(11:09):
to work together.
It can cause a lot of friction,even when you're just beginning
and everyone's just trying tofind their footing.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
Yes, jen, you said something that resonates so
completely in my soul, and thatis the importance.
So so transportation is like ahundred thousand piece puzzle,
where all the pieces are likethis big and we're trying to,
everything's on fire around usand we're like we have to make
this work.
That is the transportationindustry in a nutshell, and
that's why I love it, cause noneof our days ever look the same
(11:37):
and there's always something newto learn.
I think everybody who knows meknows I'm a huge nerd, love that
kind of thing.
But the thing is, I think theother organizations that in my
career and then working withTMSA, the organizations that are
the most successful embracesomething called cross-training.
So even if you have anorganization that has that
specialist type role, thosespecialists still understand
(12:00):
what comes before them and howtheir puzzle piece fits in, as
you said, jen, and then, moreimportantly, they know what
comes after them.
Transportation's like dominoesIf a single human doesn't do
what they're supposed to, itjust makes everything that much
harder.
And we already battle a lot,because you hear me anybody
who's heard me speak beforethere's only two things we can
(12:21):
control in the entiretransportation kind of life
cycle of a shipment who we putbehind the wheel and how we
communicate.
Literally everything else is oh, please, no whammies, prayers,
whatever you are into as a human, and so getting good at those
two things that we can't controlis everything in this industry.
So learning from each other andalso embracing, hey, even if
(12:45):
this is how we've done itforever, that doesn't mean
there's not a more productive,more efficient way of doing it.
So that's what I love abouthelping organizations understand
how to develop and grow,solutions provider and in kind
(13:06):
of various facets will only helpme better serve our members.
Now that I'm part of TMSAbecause I get it and I've sat in
their seat and I know what itis to sell in transportation.
I know what it is to markettransportation, so I think I'm
really excited.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
The glass is definitely half full as we, as
we move uh forward yay, and youdid talk about your journey to
coming to tmsa a little bit.
But for people who don't know,um, you came to tmsa a couple
years ago, um, you came to anevent and then tmsa decided to
move forward with creating a deichairperson and a task force a
(13:45):
couple years back, and to dothat because we wanted to create
more inclusivity in the market,which we've talked a little bit
about here and also want.
We knew that more people aretalking about like recruitment,
marketing and how things canalign, and so how can TMSA
really help sales and marketingprofessionals understand these
pieces and how it relates towhat you're putting out Like a
(14:07):
big mistake?
That I'll see is like yes, notputting people that represent
your actual company or brand.
I hate stock images.
That's always the first thing,and any like new committee call
like we don't do stock imageshere.
First of all, people have waymore fun at TMSA events than
anywhere else, so let's not putfake people up on our site.
(14:27):
But also, it's just morereflective of who you are.
Or if you say like, oh, theseare our company values and then
they start working for you andthat doesn't align, that's like
a big miss between HR andmarketing.
So we created this task force,we interviewed, we did all this
stuff, and so then you actuallycame on to the board of
directors and led the task force.
(14:49):
You were named the 2024 memberof the year last year, which was
very fun for me because youwere very surprised and I was
literally sitting with you themoments before I got to announce
that, which was hilarious.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Jen, let me just interject.
I was actually getting thetable that I was sitting at
prepared because I was cheeringon the woman that I thought was
gonna be named.
I was like, all right, guys,this is why she rocks and we're
gonna cheer really loudly.
And then I see my face on thewall and it was one of those
moments where I was like thatyou know it takes a while to
process just sat there and myfamily that I was sitting with
(15:26):
was like go, that's you.
So, yeah, that was a, that wasa.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
We'll call it a core memory just because it was so
fun, but I do think that, yeah,I also was a member prior to
coming to TMSA.
I do think there's somethingspecial about having a love for
the organization and coming inand what that experience is like
.
Why do you think that you thencame in and are so passionate
(15:57):
about taking on the rolespecifically dealing with the
programs and helping themembership get more value for
what they're inputting?
Speaker 2 (16:06):
Yeah.
So first of all, I love theidea of working for a growing
association.
Even though TMSA has beenaround 100 years so we
celebrated our 100 year birthdayin 24, which was awesome to be
a part of we still the runway isjust starting, in my opinion,
and kind of like ourtransportation industry has
(16:27):
evolved, so has TMSA and I thinkthat I believe in looking
forward, not kind of backwards.
You always honor the past, butI think our runway moving
forward is what excites me themost.
You always honor the past, butI think our runway moving
forward is what excites me themost.
And I think because I've sat onthe board of directors for
several years and I know what itis to lead a volunteer based
chair.
You know program and task forceit's.
(16:48):
It can be a really challengingthing.
I think our industry does notoften set up the professionals,
especially in sales andmarketing, who work in it to
have a ton of free time right,there's always a buyer, there's
always something.
And I saw the opportunity andkind of the struggle I had to
get consistent participation anddrive positive change, all
(17:10):
while people battle full-timejobs, you know, on top of just
in a really difficult, dynamicindustry.
So you know, I told Jen I waslike this was years ago.
I was like hey, someday, youknow, maybe when I grow up, I
can work at TMSA and help.
And you know, when they sayyour stars align and kind of
your roadmap is laid out in andeverything happened in one of
(17:33):
those beautifully serendipitousways that just got me to hear
the opportunity presents itselfand I was like wait, this would
allow me to be fully remote.
I'm a family girl at my heart,so my family is like the my
motivating factor.
So being able to not have acrazy commute every day and
getting to do what I love, whichis develop people and build
(17:54):
educational programs, I meanit's sort of like the perfect
sandwich.
And I'm in between because I getto use my passion, use what I
learned in academia and, youknow, doing all my studies but
I've never lost the sight ofdeveloping people and helping
others grow is like my numberone kind of passion project.
So this is kind of cool, youknow, and because of that travel
(18:18):
kind of restrictions and budgetrestrictions that we were
talking about earlier, I alwaysinvested in myself and paid for
myself to go to conference whenwe were under kind of budgetary
restrictions and that investmentin myself is, I believe, what
has allowed me to get to here.
So if you're listening andyou're out there and you're like
(18:38):
, should I invest in myself toattend a conference even if
we're not in budget jail, right,or travel restrictions, I
wholeheartedly believe if youhave the means to do, it invest
in yourself, never stop growingand learning, and you never know
what the future might hold stopgrowing and learning and you
(19:00):
never know what the future mighthold.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
I love that and, like I said before, yeah, we had
talked about it.
It's something that I reallycared about wanting to be able
to do more and take differentskill sets and move us forward.
So it's really cool to have youhere in a whole capacity and
bringing your love of TMSA kindof already together.
If people like, like you saidand I appreciate you know you
should invest in yourselfregardless.
(19:26):
But if, what advice do you havefor people, because you do have
this vast experience andtraining and development what
else should they be doingbesides coming to a conference
like TMSA or engaging?
What else should they be doingto kind of better their
professional development?
What can they be doing besidescoming to a conference like TMSA
or engaging?
What else should they be doingto kind of better their
professional development?
What can they be doing?
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Yeah.
So I could probably teach anentire semester long course on
that exact facet of it.
So every day I'm a routine girl.
It's part of who I am.
I start every day by readingwhat's going on in the market,
what's going on in the industry,what's going on in the teaching
learning space, what who is amarketing genius that I can
learn from.
(20:03):
So if you're not fangirling orguying or personing for the
people who are rock stars indifferent aspects of what you do
, missed opportunity, cause Istart my day with that type of
energy and I try to, if my lifehas not imploded, do the same
thing at the end of the day,because the more I know about
(20:24):
the market, seasonality, rates,what's going on in the industry
obviously we have tariffslooming and things like that.
Understanding how that's goingto impact what we do, regardless
of our role, is everything.
So start and end your day insome type of capacity with
learning.
I mentioned fangirling.
If you meet somebody at aconference, see them online
(20:44):
connect.
I appreciated what I learnedfrom you.
My community and the peoplethat I consider mentors in my
life have so profoundly impactedmy life that I would be nowhere
close to who I am as a human ifit wasn't for them kind of
pushing me and motivating me andgiving me that needed nudge.
I try to surround myself withhumans who inspire and challenge
(21:08):
me.
We'll call it to be better,instead of just pet me in oh,
great job.
And then I ask what's greatabout it?
And they're oh, ask, seekfeedback.
And the other thing you knowthe interesting shift from a
learning and development spacewe've made since COVID.
There's a ton of trainingmaterials online.
So if you don't have the budgetto go to a scholarship, you know
(21:30):
, to go to a trade show, aconference, formal education,
because it's all very expensive.
First of all, look intoscholarships, because there's a
lot of free money out thereGrants, scholarships, emerging
leader programs, grants huge forme.
Get out there and apply.
And also, I believe it kind ofstarts with showing your
(21:51):
organization you are worthinvesting in.
So are you a team player?
Are you eager to help?
Are you always down to learnsomething new?
And, and I think, situatingyourselves?
Cause there's.
We can teach you transportation, we can teach you how to sell,
we can teach you how to market.
We can't teach you to have amotor and to care, and we hope
that integrity is sort of bakedin there some somewhere, cause
(22:13):
that's kind of important as well.
But I think, invest in yourselfand never stop learning.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Yeah, we've talked about that.
Sometimes the hardest thingslike we can train you on skills,
but that that humanity piece,empathy, learning, willing to,
you know, put in the work allthat kind of stuff is infinitely
harder to engage with, and sothat's incredibly important to
kind of self-motivate yourselfto do as well.
Exactly.
Well, I'm like I said, I'msuper excited to have you here,
(22:45):
but we do have a third member ofTMSA HQ that I'm really excited
to bring into the show as well.
So, similar to you and I, thisperson well, her name is Morgan
Berner.
I don't know why I keep sayingthis person as if it's like a
mystery, but she came to TMSA asa member as well and she's been
serving on the recognitioncommittee for the past couple of
(23:07):
years and she also has done alot of stuff that people
probably don't realize was herbehind the scenes, and so I
wanted to give her a lot ofprops before we zoom her in here
.
But if you came to Elevate lastyear and you got to see me
perform my opening number, therewas a slideshow of all of the
history of TMSA, people from thepast, all of that kind of stuff
(23:30):
that was phenomenally done, andshe did the whole thing.
I didn't do any of that besidestry to be like, oh, we're going
to talk about this person atthis time, can you match it?
And she had to hear me singthat piece repeatedly to try to
match.
And do the beginning parts oftrying to match the people that
we were recognizing in the roomto match to the track and all
that stuff the locationannouncements that we've done
(23:52):
for the past couple of years.
She did.
She had work registration lastyear and so I was really excited
.
And we talk about professionaldevelopment.
I officially became her mentorearlier this year and so I was
really excited when thisopportunity came up to bring her
in and be able to actuallyguide her a little bit more
hands-on, whether she liked itor not.
But here she is.
(24:13):
We're going to bring in MortenBertner, who is serving now as
TMSA Marketing Coordinator andPodcast Producer.
Welcome to the show and to TMSA, morgan.
So we've talked about kind of atheme here that we all came to
TMSA first as members and noware serving kind of as TMSA
headquarters.
So what has your experience asa volunteer here been for the
(24:37):
past couple of years?
What has your experience as a?
Speaker 3 (24:38):
volunteer here been for the past couple of years.
Yeah, so I mean you basicallysaid everything.
I started as a partner member acouple of years ago and that's
when I did a lot of those videosthat you're talking about.
And then last year, around thistime I think, I joined the
recognition committee and Ihelped with the Trailblazer
(25:00):
Awards.
And then I recently over thelast six months, I'd say took
over the social media side ofrecognition committee.
And then I went to TMSA lastyear.
I worked under Tiffany atregistration, which was a lot of
fun.
And then you offered to be mymentor at the end of last year
for 2025.
And so when this opportunitypresented itself, I knew I had
to take it.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
And what are you most looking forward to being an
official part of TMSA HQ?
Speaker 3 (25:28):
I'm looking forward to a lot.
If I could say everything Iwould, but I am looking forward
most to growing the TMSAcommunity.
I've gotten to know a lot ofpeople already just working here
over the last like two monthsand I'm excited to grow in that.
And then I'm excited to be moreinvolved with recognition and
(25:51):
with Elevate this year and learnoverall.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
Well, I love that.
We're excited to have you hereand to be taking more hands on
role.
You did mention recognition, soI was going to take the time to
do we have this week is crazyfor TMSA because we have a lot
of things going on, but if youare interested in submitting for
a TMSA Trailblazer, a TMSARising Star or a Purpose Award,
(26:19):
you have just two more days todo it.
When this goes live, allsubmissions are due at the end
of this week, friday, march 28th.
So please get those in.
We love seeing what you guysare doing and how you're doing
it and to recognize people.
And while we've spent a lot oftime on this interview talking
about how we can personallydevelop ourselves, I do want to
do a shout out to the RisingStar category.
(26:41):
That was created specificallyfor leaders and bosses to be
able to recognize members oftheir team who've been in the
industry five years or less butare doing outstanding work.
So, um, submit, it's free formembers, it is a charge for
non-members, but go in andsubmit and we are excited to see
all the things that you guysare doing.
And then, with that as well, um, I didn't even click that, it
(27:03):
just popped up because it knewor maybe, morgan, you clicked it
I don't know, but, um, it'sreally funny that it came up.
But elevate registration ournext pricing will increase on
saturday.
So if you are trying to lock inyour price for elevate, to go
in, scan this qr code.
Those prices are locked inthrough Friday, march 28th.
(27:26):
So on Saturday I have a busymorning changing all kinds of
things on our website.
So go in, get your registration, all that.
If you are interested inbundling your prices for Elevate
and Executive Summit, you canjust add your Executive Summit
registration right on yourElevate registration and get a
$200 discount, and then also onFriday we'll put this one up
(27:48):
here in the corner is the lastday that you can submit somebody
to be part of our volunteerprogram, which is something that
Morgan will also be helpingwith and helping to coordinate.
So the volunteer program is formembers of TMSA and Next
Generation Trucking and you'reable to submit some junior team
members that maybe won't getevent experience otherwise or
won't get to attend Elevate.
(28:10):
So we're waiving theirregistration fees.
They can come work with us fora little bit, help us pack some
swag bags and direct people intobreakout rooms, but besides
that they get to attend the restof conference.
But we want to make sure thesepeople know that they got picked
, and so we were closingsubmissions on Friday.
So so many things going on thisweek and at TMSA, holistically,
(28:31):
but we wanted to make sure doggywanted to make sure that you I
don't know why that scared me somuch, but so I am thankful for
both of you coming into TMSA.
It's been so much fun workingwith you both in a volunteer
capacity, and so I'm excitedthat you guys are now here, and
(28:52):
so with that, I will let Morganpop back out of the screen as
she continues to produce thispodcast and I will wrap up with
Wiley.
Thanks, morgan, for popping in.
So any other last thoughts,anything else that you're really
looking forward to?
I, of course, have my lastquestion.
I ask anybody wanted to kind ofgive the space for you.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
You are a dog lover.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
It's who you are, so I'm not surprised there's a
rescue pup not far from me.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
Shameless plug there, as it happens to be a relief
rescue week in the industry.
Now I just want to say howthankful I am to everybody that
I've met, not only in thetransportation as a whole, but
at both of the companies thatI've been fortunate enough to
work at.
I know that those relationshipsare only going to help, and now
I get to support ourtransportation community in a
(29:40):
different way, being part of anindustry association that allows
me to directly serve and betterthe lives of our members and
partners.
So I'm really excited.
If you're not signed up forElevate, it is one of my
favorite events of the year.
The energy, the networking, thethought leadership, the
collaboration that happens is soprofound, and Austin is just an
(30:02):
amazing city, full of art,culture, people, great food.
So if you're looking for a kindof check multiple boxes event,
elevate is for you.
So definitely sign up.
Save yourself some money beforethe rates go up on Saturday.
I look forward to working withyou and if you're a member or
interested in being a member,please connect with me.
(30:23):
I am happy to help figure outhow we can make the most of your
TMSA membership.
Speaker 1 (30:29):
Love that.
Thank you, and this is the lastquestion I ask everybody who
comes on the show, and that isif you could go back in time and
advise a younger Eileenanything, and this could be
personally or professionally.
When would you go back to andwhat would you say?
Speaker 2 (30:43):
Oh gosh, I think I've needed a swift kick in the
behind probably since I startedmoving my body.
You know, I think one of thethings, especially if you move
through the world a bitdifferently as a human or you're
a minority in any type of wayor you just don't feel
represented it really startswith believing in yourself here
(31:05):
and here.
And I was fortunate in life tohave lots of people believed in
me and I was the last one tokind of get to that party.
So I wish that I could tellyounger me like you're gonna
mess up, it's cool, but youshould believe in yourself
because you're meant to be hereand lots of good things come to
people who put good into theworld.
(31:32):
So I've done lots of work to getto where I am, to love what's
in here and here, and although Imay not ever fully love kind of
what the world sees, I am somuch further along that.
So if you are out there and youthink you can't do it or you
shouldn't do it, go ahead andgive yourself a little love,
love, nope, as I call it andlight that fire, because you
absolutely can and I promise you, if I can learn this industry
(31:53):
with no training.
I promise you're good becausethere's lots of support out
there for you.
So joining transportation rocksand I'd love to see more
diversity kind of continue tojoin our industry, so yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
Well, I love that note.
I think it's something thateverybody can learn from and I
think it's really important.
And just feel good, loveyourself and move forward.
That's all we got to do, so Ilove that.
Thank you for coming on theshow today.
Thank you for coming to teamtmsa.
(32:29):
We did talk a fair amount aboutelevate, but if you're excited
to hear about one of ourspeakers, you can join us on
next week's show where Iinterview robert bain, who is
the strongest man in logistics,and we will be talking all about
that and what that actuallymeans for his business and for
his brand and how he merges allthose things together, which I'm
excited about.
And I will see everybody nextweek, or at elevate or in a
(32:53):
committee call, or however.
You'll see me next.
So thank you so much for comingon and I'll see you guys later.
Bye everyone, thank you.
Hello everyone and welcome to On the Move, a show
where we share transportationsales marketing success stories.
I'm Jennifer Purpose Romaine,executive Director of the
Transportation Marketing andSales Association, which is a
trade nonprofit educating andconnecting marketing and sales
professionals insidetransportation and logistics.
And today on the show I'm veryexcited to have Eileen Dabrowski
(00:46):
, who's been in the industry fora long time but has recently
started here at TMSA as theprograms and membership director
.
So welcome to the show, eileen,welcome to TMSA.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Thank you.
I'm so pumped to be here for somany reasons, which I know
we're going to talk about.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
For sure.
So you've been here now acouple weeks, but I wanted to
wait till the end of the monthto bring you on the show, so you
had like a little bit of timeto adjust from being like a
board member at TMSA to TMSAstaff.
But before we kind of dive intoyour role here at TMSA, let's
talk about your career and whatgot you to logistics in the
(01:22):
first place.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Yeah.
So I think I fall into thebucket of most people who never
expected to end up intransportation.
I ended up here by purehappenstance, started my career
in academia, so had a dual role,did emergency response and
victim advocacy and then, youknow, believed in education and
(01:44):
teaching, got a phone call in2016 from a man named Jason Reed
who owned a company called ReedTMS Logistics, and he said
Eileen, we have no training.
We want you to come on site andlearn our business and build
the training.
And I was like who are thesepeople?
I know nothing about trucks,transportation, anything but
(02:04):
something in my gut told me gocheck it out.
And joining the transportationindustry was the single best
decision I have madeprofessionally, for so many
reasons, which I know we'regoing to get into.
So I started in a corporatetraining role.
I sat in every seat in thecompany, learned to do the job I
believe in teaching by havingthat learned experience and
(02:26):
knowledge and I built everytraining document we had,
onboarded new employees and thenalso inherited, eventually,
marketing as well.
So I was in charge of alllearning, development and
marketing for Retie MS Logisticsand then, in 22, we were
acquired by Warner Enterprises.
And the beautiful thing aboutthat acquisition was that I've
(02:51):
now had the pleasure of workingon both family and an operated
private asset-based 3PL world,and then I also had the
experience of working for alarge publicly traded powerhouse
like Warner.
So I love being able to view thetransportation industry from
both of those lenses, because itallows me, in my opinion, to
(03:12):
better serve TMSA members in mynew role here.
So the really interesting partabout the evolution is that
working with humans, caringabout humans, teaching humans,
is the same, regardless of whatyou are tasked to do.
So it's wonderful for me, formy quality of life, to now get
(03:34):
the opportunity to work with anorganization that I
wholeheartedly, was soincredibly passionate about
growing and supporting and nowit's kind of cool I get to say
it's my job, so I'm grateful.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Yes, well, I'm excited to have you here.
That's definitely a piece of mystory coming into TMSA as well.
It's just really believing inthe organization and what it can
stand for, and I know one ofthe reasons why I wanted to
bring you in was because of yourstrong suit in the programming
and being able to build, and wewant to provide more and more
(04:08):
resources and better educationfor our members and our
conference attendees, and soit's a really, really great fit
and I'm excited to have you here.
So, yay, um, and you do, thenhave that experience in higher
education, development andtraining and development inside
the supply chain.
You have a lot of firsthandexperience with professional
(04:30):
development, so why do you thinkit's imperative for companies
to prioritize this for theirteams?
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Oh my gosh.
So company or employees leave acompany for three primary
reasons.
Right, there's always outliersand exceptions, but at the end
of the day, they don't liketheir boss or their leader, they
don't feel like there's growthopportunities or they don't feel
like the organizational culturehas invested in them as a human
.
And if you address all three ofthose things, which largely is
(04:59):
supported by the foundation ofdo you have a solid onboarding
and recruitment process?
Are your marketing materialsinclusive of the humans that
represent your company?
Do you have career mapping andgrowth plans and educational
programs, not just new employeeorientation, but do you offer
ongoing development, ongoingopportunities to kind of help
(05:20):
your team grow?
Most people if you show themwhat you care about them and
they invest in you.
And I believe the key lies inthree things people, process and
tech.
So we live in this beautifulworld.
2025 is all about automation.
I use AI every day.
I get stuck.
I need to rework.
(05:41):
So I think it's how can we savehumans clicks, how can we get
programming that helps them growas humans?
And, at the root of it all, howcan we understand their
organizational culture that kindof makes that team unique and
support people.
So I think it is the singlemost important thing, which is
kind of sad because, with thefreight market that we've been
(06:03):
in the past couple of years,often the very first thing to go
is employee development andinvesting in your team, and to
me that's a huge mistake,because it should be the total
opposite.
When times get tough, I believewholeheartedly you should
invest in your people more thananything, because that's who's
going to drive your business.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
There was something we saw in the benchmarking study
that TMSA did, that we put outat the end of last year, was
that people weren't hittingtheir sales quotas or their
sales goals but they weren'tinvesting in their people, and
to me that like reallycorrelated.
Well, to get them to be able tohit those goals, hit those
metrics that you want, you haveto be training them continuously
to try different things or havedifferent avenues, or meet
(06:46):
different people or network in adifferent space, or however you
go about that.
But if you're not investing inthat training, then they're not
able to achieve where you wantthem to go.
Speaker 2 (06:55):
Exactly.
And you know, at the end of theday, most humans just want to
feel like they're part ofsomething.
And and what I love aboutworking with TMSA is that our
member companies represent sucha diverse kind of stamp of the
transportation industry.
We have small, we have singleperson operations, we have, you
know, larger side, publiclytraded organizations and kind of
(07:18):
everything in between.
And I think it's reallyimportant to understand that
there isn't a one-size-fits-allto the programming we do.
And the beautiful thing aboutwhat we're doing especially now
that I get to be a part of it,I'm really excited is we want to
build kind of different levelsof education and programming.
So if you're an entry level,emerging professional, we want
(07:38):
to have a spot for you to learnand grow and create mentorship
and learning opportunities.
If you're kind of at thatmiddle management level at a
smaller company, we want tocreate the same type of
programming that's going to havea profound impact on you as
human, how you move through theworld and how you serve your
teams.
And then same thing on thelarge director and up.
And what I like about anassociation like TMSA and what I
(08:01):
loved when I was just a memberand when I was on the board of
directors and when I was superinvolved in the task force, is
it is the association, in myopinion, that, no matter the
size?
You know a TMSA staff memberever been told no when I've
(08:26):
reached out for help?
Hey, can I run a marketingimage by you?
Hey, do you have a few minutesthat I can pick your brain about
market rates or seasonality orwhatever strategy I'm working on
?
And I think that that is such arare thing.
You know, I think our industry,especially the past couple of
years, has been so competitiveand so driven.
We're all just trying tosurvive.
(08:47):
Tmsa has never lost sight ofthat collaborative nature and
creating a safe space and aplatform to share.
Hey, here's what we're doing.
Well, obviously, we're notgiving out trade secrets and you
know the secret sauce, butwe're supporting each other as
humans and that is what I thinkmakes TMS a unique.
And now that we have thisawesome roadmap and this
(09:09):
foundation laid out, we have themeans to just build this really
member specific programmingthat is dictated by our members.
We ask what do you need?
How can we help, support you,and what do you want to see that
we're not doing?
What do you love that we arecurrently doing that.
You don't want to go away Allof these things, so I'm really
excited.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
Yes, I think, like when you came on board, I'm like
there's probably like 800things that I have 30% of the
way done or to where I want themto be, because there's just so
much that we could be doing forour members and so having more
means to execute on that isreally powerful.
And I do think.
I agree, I think professionaldevelopment is incredibly
(09:52):
important at all times and itshouldn't be the budget that's
cut, and maybe you have to cutthe budget, but it shouldn't be
wiped out.
And how can you still developyour employees, still engage
your employees in a way, even ifyou don't have the budget that
you once did?
I, as a leader, one of thethings I think most about
(10:15):
employees is they really wanttwo things, or I strive to be
able to do two things for myteam.
Number one what is their puzzlepiece in the overall, like,
what do they do?
What is their role?
How does it affect everythingthat's going on?
And then, number two how doesthat puzzle piece fit in with
the other people who have apuzzle piece?
And I think we forget those orboth of those together, like,
(10:37):
even if you remember, okay, thisis what we're doing, okay, this
responsibility might've shifted, but how does that correlate?
Like I, in a little bit we haveour third member of TMSA coming
in, but like I remember sheactually came in a couple weeks
before you.
And then she's like, okay, doesmy, do I still keep doing like
A, b and C when Eileen's here,or is she taking that over?
And I'm like, oh, let's sit andtalk about it.
And sometimes you don'tunderstand how they're supposed
(11:09):
to work together.
It can cause a lot of friction,even when you're just beginning
and everyone's just trying tofind their footing.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
Yes, jen, you said something that resonates so
completely in my soul, and thatis the importance.
So so transportation is like ahundred thousand piece puzzle,
where all the pieces are likethis big and we're trying to,
everything's on fire around usand we're like we have to make
this work.
That is the transportationindustry in a nutshell, and
that's why I love it, cause noneof our days ever look the same
(11:37):
and there's always something newto learn.
I think everybody who knows meknows I'm a huge nerd, love that
kind of thing.
But the thing is, I think theother organizations that in my
career and then working withTMSA, the organizations that are
the most successful embracesomething called cross-training.
So even if you have anorganization that has that
specialist type role, thosespecialists still understand
(12:00):
what comes before them and howtheir puzzle piece fits in, as
you said, jen, and then, moreimportantly, they know what
comes after them.
Transportation's like dominoesIf a single human doesn't do
what they're supposed to, itjust makes everything that much
harder.
And we already battle a lot,because you hear me anybody
who's heard me speak beforethere's only two things we can
(12:21):
control in the entiretransportation kind of life
cycle of a shipment who we putbehind the wheel and how we
communicate.
Literally everything else is oh, please, no whammies, prayers,
whatever you are into as a human, and so getting good at those
two things that we can't controlis everything in this industry.
So learning from each other andalso embracing, hey, even if
(12:45):
this is how we've done itforever, that doesn't mean
there's not a more productive,more efficient way of doing it.
So that's what I love abouthelping organizations understand
how to develop and grow,solutions provider and in kind
(13:06):
of various facets will only helpme better serve our members.
Now that I'm part of TMSAbecause I get it and I've sat in
their seat and I know what itis to sell in transportation.
I know what it is to markettransportation, so I think I'm
really excited.
Speaker 1 (13:22):
The glass is definitely half full as we, as
we move uh forward yay, and youdid talk about your journey to
coming to tmsa a little bit.
But for people who don't know,um, you came to tmsa a couple
years ago, um, you came to anevent and then tmsa decided to
move forward with creating a deichairperson and a task force a
(13:45):
couple years back, and to dothat because we wanted to create
more inclusivity in the market,which we've talked a little bit
about here and also want.
We knew that more people aretalking about like recruitment,
marketing and how things canalign, and so how can TMSA
really help sales and marketingprofessionals understand these
pieces and how it relates towhat you're putting out Like a
(14:07):
big mistake?
That I'll see is like yes, notputting people that represent
your actual company or brand.
I hate stock images.
That's always the first thing,and any like new committee call
like we don't do stock imageshere.
First of all, people have waymore fun at TMSA events than
anywhere else, so let's not putfake people up on our site.
(14:27):
But also, it's just morereflective of who you are.
Or if you say like, oh, theseare our company values and then
they start working for you andthat doesn't align, that's like
a big miss between HR andmarketing.
So we created this task force,we interviewed, we did all this
stuff, and so then you actuallycame on to the board of
directors and led the task force.
(14:49):
You were named the 2024 memberof the year last year, which was
very fun for me because youwere very surprised and I was
literally sitting with you themoments before I got to announce
that, which was hilarious.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Jen, let me just interject.
I was actually getting thetable that I was sitting at
prepared because I was cheeringon the woman that I thought was
gonna be named.
I was like, all right, guys,this is why she rocks and we're
gonna cheer really loudly.
And then I see my face on thewall and it was one of those
moments where I was like thatyou know it takes a while to
process just sat there and myfamily that I was sitting with
(15:26):
was like go, that's you.
So, yeah, that was a, that wasa.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
We'll call it a core memory just because it was so
fun, but I do think that, yeah,I also was a member prior to
coming to TMSA.
I do think there's somethingspecial about having a love for
the organization and coming inand what that experience is like
.
Why do you think that you thencame in and are so passionate
(15:57):
about taking on the rolespecifically dealing with the
programs and helping themembership get more value for
what they're inputting?
Speaker 2 (16:06):
Yeah.
So first of all, I love theidea of working for a growing
association.
Even though TMSA has beenaround 100 years so we
celebrated our 100 year birthdayin 24, which was awesome to be
a part of we still the runway isjust starting, in my opinion,
and kind of like ourtransportation industry has
(16:27):
evolved, so has TMSA and I thinkthat I believe in looking
forward, not kind of backwards.
You always honor the past, butI think our runway moving
forward is what excites me themost.
You always honor the past, butI think our runway moving
forward is what excites me themost.
And I think because I've sat onthe board of directors for
several years and I know what itis to lead a volunteer based
chair.
You know program and task forceit's.
(16:48):
It can be a really challengingthing.
I think our industry does notoften set up the professionals,
especially in sales andmarketing, who work in it to
have a ton of free time right,there's always a buyer, there's
always something.
And I saw the opportunity andkind of the struggle I had to
get consistent participation anddrive positive change, all
(17:10):
while people battle full-timejobs, you know, on top of just
in a really difficult, dynamicindustry.
So you know, I told Jen I waslike this was years ago.
I was like hey, someday, youknow, maybe when I grow up, I
can work at TMSA and help.
And you know, when they sayyour stars align and kind of
your roadmap is laid out in andeverything happened in one of
(17:33):
those beautifully serendipitousways that just got me to hear
the opportunity presents itselfand I was like wait, this would
allow me to be fully remote.
I'm a family girl at my heart,so my family is like the my
motivating factor.
So being able to not have acrazy commute every day and
getting to do what I love, whichis develop people and build
(17:54):
educational programs, I meanit's sort of like the perfect
sandwich.
And I'm in between because I getto use my passion, use what I
learned in academia and, youknow, doing all my studies but
I've never lost the sight ofdeveloping people and helping
others grow is like my numberone kind of passion project.
So this is kind of cool, youknow, and because of that travel
(18:18):
kind of restrictions and budgetrestrictions that we were
talking about earlier, I alwaysinvested in myself and paid for
myself to go to conference whenwe were under kind of budgetary
restrictions and that investmentin myself is, I believe, what
has allowed me to get to here.
So if you're listening andyou're out there and you're like
(18:38):
, should I invest in myself toattend a conference even if
we're not in budget jail, right,or travel restrictions, I
wholeheartedly believe if youhave the means to do, it invest
in yourself, never stop growingand learning, and you never know
what the future might hold stopgrowing and learning and you
(19:00):
never know what the future mighthold.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
I love that and, like I said before, yeah, we had
talked about it.
It's something that I reallycared about wanting to be able
to do more and take differentskill sets and move us forward.
So it's really cool to have youhere in a whole capacity and
bringing your love of TMSA kindof already together.
If people like, like you saidand I appreciate you know you
should invest in yourselfregardless.
(19:26):
But if, what advice do you havefor people, because you do have
this vast experience andtraining and development what
else should they be doingbesides coming to a conference
like TMSA or engaging?
What else should they be doingto kind of better their
professional development?
What can they be doing besidescoming to a conference like TMSA
or engaging?
What else should they be doingto kind of better their
professional development?
What can they be doing?
Speaker 2 (19:43):
Yeah.
So I could probably teach anentire semester long course on
that exact facet of it.
So every day I'm a routine girl.
It's part of who I am.
I start every day by readingwhat's going on in the market,
what's going on in the industry,what's going on in the teaching
learning space, what who is amarketing genius that I can
learn from.
(20:03):
So if you're not fangirling orguying or personing for the
people who are rock stars indifferent aspects of what you do
, missed opportunity, cause Istart my day with that type of
energy and I try to, if my lifehas not imploded, do the same
thing at the end of the day,because the more I know about
(20:24):
the market, seasonality, rates,what's going on in the industry
obviously we have tariffslooming and things like that.
Understanding how that's goingto impact what we do, regardless
of our role, is everything.
So start and end your day insome type of capacity with
learning.
I mentioned fangirling.
If you meet somebody at aconference, see them online
(20:44):
connect.
I appreciated what I learnedfrom you.
My community and the peoplethat I consider mentors in my
life have so profoundly impactedmy life that I would be nowhere
close to who I am as a human ifit wasn't for them kind of
pushing me and motivating me andgiving me that needed nudge.
I try to surround myself withhumans who inspire and challenge
(21:08):
me.
We'll call it to be better,instead of just pet me in oh,
great job.
And then I ask what's greatabout it?
And they're oh, ask, seekfeedback.
And the other thing you knowthe interesting shift from a
learning and development spacewe've made since COVID.
There's a ton of trainingmaterials online.
So if you don't have the budgetto go to a scholarship, you know
(21:30):
, to go to a trade show, aconference, formal education,
because it's all very expensive.
First of all, look intoscholarships, because there's a
lot of free money out thereGrants, scholarships, emerging
leader programs, grants huge forme.
Get out there and apply.
And also, I believe it kind ofstarts with showing your
(21:51):
organization you are worthinvesting in.
So are you a team player?
Are you eager to help?
Are you always down to learnsomething new?
And, and I think, situatingyourselves?
Cause there's.
We can teach you transportation, we can teach you how to sell,
we can teach you how to market.
We can't teach you to have amotor and to care, and we hope
that integrity is sort of bakedin there some somewhere, cause
(22:13):
that's kind of important as well.
But I think, invest in yourselfand never stop learning.
Speaker 1 (22:21):
Yeah, we've talked about that.
Sometimes the hardest thingslike we can train you on skills,
but that that humanity piece,empathy, learning, willing to,
you know, put in the work allthat kind of stuff is infinitely
harder to engage with, and sothat's incredibly important to
kind of self-motivate yourselfto do as well.
Exactly.
Well, I'm like I said, I'msuper excited to have you here,
(22:45):
but we do have a third member ofTMSA HQ that I'm really excited
to bring into the show as well.
So, similar to you and I, thisperson well, her name is Morgan
Berner.
I don't know why I keep sayingthis person as if it's like a
mystery, but she came to TMSA asa member as well and she's been
serving on the recognitioncommittee for the past couple of
(23:07):
years and she also has done alot of stuff that people
probably don't realize was herbehind the scenes, and so I
wanted to give her a lot ofprops before we zoom her in here
.
But if you came to Elevate lastyear and you got to see me
perform my opening number, therewas a slideshow of all of the
history of TMSA, people from thepast, all of that kind of stuff
(23:30):
that was phenomenally done, andshe did the whole thing.
I didn't do any of that besidestry to be like, oh, we're going
to talk about this person atthis time, can you match it?
And she had to hear me singthat piece repeatedly to try to
match.
And do the beginning parts oftrying to match the people that
we were recognizing in the roomto match to the track and all
that stuff the locationannouncements that we've done
(23:52):
for the past couple of years.
She did.
She had work registration lastyear and so I was really excited
.
And we talk about professionaldevelopment.
I officially became her mentorearlier this year and so I was
really excited when thisopportunity came up to bring her
in and be able to actuallyguide her a little bit more
hands-on, whether she liked itor not.
But here she is.
(24:13):
We're going to bring in MortenBertner, who is serving now as
TMSA Marketing Coordinator andPodcast Producer.
Welcome to the show and to TMSA, morgan.
So we've talked about kind of atheme here that we all came to
TMSA first as members and noware serving kind of as TMSA
headquarters.
So what has your experience asa volunteer here been for the
(24:37):
past couple of years?
What has your experience as a?
Speaker 3 (24:38):
volunteer here been for the past couple of years.
Yeah, so I mean you basicallysaid everything.
I started as a partner member acouple of years ago and that's
when I did a lot of those videosthat you're talking about.
And then last year, around thistime I think, I joined the
recognition committee and Ihelped with the Trailblazer
(25:00):
Awards.
And then I recently over thelast six months, I'd say took
over the social media side ofrecognition committee.
And then I went to TMSA lastyear.
I worked under Tiffany atregistration, which was a lot of
fun.
And then you offered to be mymentor at the end of last year
for 2025.
And so when this opportunitypresented itself, I knew I had
to take it.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
And what are you most looking forward to being an
official part of TMSA HQ?
Speaker 3 (25:28):
I'm looking forward to a lot.
If I could say everything Iwould, but I am looking forward
most to growing the TMSAcommunity.
I've gotten to know a lot ofpeople already just working here
over the last like two monthsand I'm excited to grow in that.
And then I'm excited to be moreinvolved with recognition and
(25:51):
with Elevate this year and learnoverall.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
Well, I love that.
We're excited to have you hereand to be taking more hands on
role.
You did mention recognition, soI was going to take the time to
do we have this week is crazyfor TMSA because we have a lot
of things going on, but if youare interested in submitting for
a TMSA Trailblazer, a TMSARising Star or a Purpose Award,
(26:19):
you have just two more days todo it.
When this goes live, allsubmissions are due at the end
of this week, friday, march 28th.
So please get those in.
We love seeing what you guysare doing and how you're doing
it and to recognize people.
And while we've spent a lot oftime on this interview talking
about how we can personallydevelop ourselves, I do want to
do a shout out to the RisingStar category.
(26:41):
That was created specificallyfor leaders and bosses to be
able to recognize members oftheir team who've been in the
industry five years or less butare doing outstanding work.
So, um, submit, it's free formembers, it is a charge for
non-members, but go in andsubmit and we are excited to see
all the things that you guysare doing.
And then, with that as well, um, I didn't even click that, it
(27:03):
just popped up because it knewor maybe, morgan, you clicked it
I don't know, but, um, it'sreally funny that it came up.
But elevate registration ournext pricing will increase on
saturday.
So if you are trying to lock inyour price for elevate, to go
in, scan this qr code.
Those prices are locked inthrough Friday, march 28th.
(27:26):
So on Saturday I have a busymorning changing all kinds of
things on our website.
So go in, get your registration, all that.
If you are interested inbundling your prices for Elevate
and Executive Summit, you canjust add your Executive Summit
registration right on yourElevate registration and get a
$200 discount, and then also onFriday we'll put this one up
(27:48):
here in the corner is the lastday that you can submit somebody
to be part of our volunteerprogram, which is something that
Morgan will also be helpingwith and helping to coordinate.
So the volunteer program is formembers of TMSA and Next
Generation Trucking and you'reable to submit some junior team
members that maybe won't getevent experience otherwise or
won't get to attend Elevate.
(28:10):
So we're waiving theirregistration fees.
They can come work with us fora little bit, help us pack some
swag bags and direct people intobreakout rooms, but besides
that they get to attend the restof conference.
But we want to make sure thesepeople know that they got picked
, and so we were closingsubmissions on Friday.
So so many things going on thisweek and at TMSA, holistically,
(28:31):
but we wanted to make sure doggywanted to make sure that you I
don't know why that scared me somuch, but so I am thankful for
both of you coming into TMSA.
It's been so much fun workingwith you both in a volunteer
capacity, and so I'm excitedthat you guys are now here, and
(28:52):
so with that, I will let Morganpop back out of the screen as
she continues to produce thispodcast and I will wrap up with
Wiley.
Thanks, morgan, for popping in.
So any other last thoughts,anything else that you're really
looking forward to?
I, of course, have my lastquestion.
I ask anybody wanted to kind ofgive the space for you.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
You are a dog lover.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
It's who you are, so I'm not surprised there's a
rescue pup not far from me.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
Shameless plug there, as it happens to be a relief
rescue week in the industry.
Now I just want to say howthankful I am to everybody that
I've met, not only in thetransportation as a whole, but
at both of the companies thatI've been fortunate enough to
work at.
I know that those relationshipsare only going to help, and now
I get to support ourtransportation community in a
(29:40):
different way, being part of anindustry association that allows
me to directly serve and betterthe lives of our members and
partners.
So I'm really excited.
If you're not signed up forElevate, it is one of my
favorite events of the year.
The energy, the networking, thethought leadership, the
collaboration that happens is soprofound, and Austin is just an
(30:02):
amazing city, full of art,culture, people, great food.
So if you're looking for a kindof check multiple boxes event,
elevate is for you.
So definitely sign up.
Save yourself some money beforethe rates go up on Saturday.
I look forward to working withyou and if you're a member or
interested in being a member,please connect with me.
(30:23):
I am happy to help figure outhow we can make the most of your
TMSA membership.
Speaker 1 (30:29):
Love that.
Thank you, and this is the lastquestion I ask everybody who
comes on the show, and that isif you could go back in time and
advise a younger Eileenanything, and this could be
personally or professionally.
When would you go back to andwhat would you say?
Speaker 2 (30:43):
Oh gosh, I think I've needed a swift kick in the
behind probably since I startedmoving my body.
You know, I think one of thethings, especially if you move
through the world a bitdifferently as a human or you're
a minority in any type of wayor you just don't feel
represented it really startswith believing in yourself here
(31:05):
and here.
And I was fortunate in life tohave lots of people believed in
me and I was the last one tokind of get to that party.
So I wish that I could tellyounger me like you're gonna
mess up, it's cool, but youshould believe in yourself
because you're meant to be hereand lots of good things come to
people who put good into theworld.
(31:32):
So I've done lots of work to getto where I am, to love what's
in here and here, and although Imay not ever fully love kind of
what the world sees, I am somuch further along that.
So if you are out there and youthink you can't do it or you
shouldn't do it, go ahead andgive yourself a little love,
love, nope, as I call it andlight that fire, because you
absolutely can and I promise you, if I can learn this industry
(31:53):
with no training.
I promise you're good becausethere's lots of support out
there for you.
So joining transportation rocksand I'd love to see more
diversity kind of continue tojoin our industry, so yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
Well, I love that note.
I think it's something thateverybody can learn from and I
think it's really important.
And just feel good, loveyourself and move forward.
That's all we got to do, so Ilove that.
Thank you for coming on theshow today.
Thank you for coming to teamtmsa.
(32:29):
We did talk a fair amount aboutelevate, but if you're excited
to hear about one of ourspeakers, you can join us on
next week's show where Iinterview robert bain, who is
the strongest man in logistics,and we will be talking all about
that and what that actuallymeans for his business and for
his brand and how he merges allthose things together, which I'm
excited about.
And I will see everybody nextweek, or at elevate or in a
(32:53):
committee call, or however.
You'll see me next.
So thank you so much for comingon and I'll see you guys later.
Bye everyone, thank you.
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