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Supply Chain Now
Episode 1070

If you're not in balance in one or more of these four areas- leadership, in providing the right tools and supporting professional ambition, and understanding employee work-life balance needs, your people might vote with their feet.

-Beth Morgan, CEO and Founder boom! Global Network

Episode Summary

What exactly does the thriving supply chain professional need to succeed? The past few years have been filled with challenges and uncertainties which are expected to impact all areas of the supply chain for years to come. In some cases, resiliency has been achieved with hard work, creativity, and flexibility from supply chain professionals willing to go the extra mile or muscle through with inferior to help serve customers. In this TEKTOK crossover episode, join Karin and guest Beth Morgan for insights on what the thriving supply chain professional needs to succeed in their career.

Episode Transcript

Welcome to TekTok Digital Supply Chain Podcast, where we will help you eliminate the noise and focus on the information and inspiration that you need to transform your business, impact, supply chain success, and enable you to replace risky inventory with valuable insights. Join your TekTok host, Karin Bursa, the 2020 Supply Chain Pro To Know of the Year. With more than 25 years of supply chain and technology expertise, and the scars to prove it, Karin has the heart of a teacher and has helped nearly 1,000 customers transform their businesses and tell their success stories. Join the conversation, share your insights, and learn how to harness technology innovations to drive tangible business results. Buckle up, it’s time for TekTok. Powered by Supply Chain Now.

Karin Bursa (01:13):

Welcome back supply chain movers and shakers! Karin Bursa here, your host for TekTok, the Digital Supply Chain Podcast. We are here to help you replace risky inventory with valuable insights. And today, I am joined by Beth Morgan, who is the Founder and CEO of boom! Global Network. Beth and I are going to discuss what the thriving supply chain professional needs to succeed. Now, this is a report that is based off of research based on the 2022 annual survey that has been conducted by boom! And you’re going to want to tune in to understand what you need to succeed.

If you are a fan of the show, please subscribe to TekTok. That’s T-E-K-T-O-K. Leave us a review and be sure to follow TekTok on LinkedIn and Twitter. Now, onto today’s guest. Beth Morgan, thank you so much for joining us today on TekTok. I would like to start with a really basic question. You are the founder and CEO of boom! Global Network, what does that mean and why did you start this global network?

Beth Morgan (02:24):

Well, first, Karin, let me say thank you for the invitation to be here. It’s an absolute pleasure. And I’m really happy to spend the next few minutes talking about the results of our survey this year. To wind back, I’ll give you a little bit of the backstory on me. I have been a supply chain industry analyst for most of my career, starting back in the late ’90s, with a Boston-based firm, that many folks out there may remember, AMR Research, which later became part of Gartner.

 

Beth Morgan (02:49):

I continued my career over the last couple of decades or so researching best practices across various aspects of supply chain, from procurement, supplier management, and sustainability in more recent years as well. But in recent years, I’ve focused predominantly on the people side of running a supply chain organization. So, everything from how that organization is organized and managed, but also professional development, leadership development and, of course, diversity, which for many years now has been a topic of, not just conversation, but I think increasing action from companies who want to increase the level of female representation in their businesses.

 

Beth Morgan (03:35):

So, that led me – kind of very long story short, actually – to one day, there was a process of thinking that went behind it and obviously a lot of research to find out that if this was something that was needed. But based on my experiences as an industry analyst, where I had seen the real power of supply chain professionals coming together to share best practices, to share insights, to share learnings, I see a real appetite for that in supply chain. I don’t know whether that’s unique to our profession, but it’s fantastic.

I saw an opportunity to do that in the area of diversity and to bring together women in supply chain around the world to connect with each other, to network, to inspire each other, to support each other, and also learn – and this is everybody, all genders, male and female – how we can create environments and cultures and working systems and practices that not only enable women to be successful in their careers, but actually to create a level playing field for everybody. So, we use this hashtag all the time, #everyonewins. And we really truly believe that. But there are some areas that need a little more work and, you know, that’s what we’re working on.

Karin Bursa (04:42):

That’s fantastic. And thank you for sharing your background. Tell us about boom! Global. Is the intent behind boom! Global to create this level playing field or to make connections?

Beth Morgan (04:58):

Yeah, we came together as a community. It was at the back end of 2019, not long before the pandemic started, but actually it turned out to be perfect timing. We set up as a global online community because, to reach folks around the world, that needed to be online. And fast forward to today, we have members in 46 different countries around the world, which continues to blow my mind. But, you know, that’s supply chain, right? It’s a global endeavor. What we wanted to do was bring women together of all different ages, levels of seniority, but particularly those in their mid-career that were looking to grow their networks, to connect with each other for their jobs, but also to support each other in navigating their career. To share, again, best practices – this is a theme – and really come together to either be inspired or to inspire.

Beth Morgan (05:43):

There are women who have been in the profession longer than others and have reached more senior positions and they want to pay that forward. They want to, you know, talk about their careers, how they navigated their careers in balance with their personal lives, and share that learning back to those women coming behind them. So, as I say, that’s a big part of that. And we do that through the lens of supply chain because I think supply chain is a very unique profession in terms of the skills that we might need and the tasks that we do. So, we definitely look at everything through that.

 

Beth Morgan (06:21):

But we’re also looking at some of the more, let’s call them, sort of common experiences that women in any aspect of business will understand, you know, how to manage a family, for example, in balance with a career, what to do if you’re traveling lots, how can you sort of break some of those glass ceilings that still are out there, how do you manage that. So, that’s why we’ve come together both as women to support each other in that community and to learn from each other. But as I mentioned, also, to open that conversation out to the entire community, actually, and say, “Okay. What do we, as a profession, as leaders of any gender, what can we do to make sure that supply chain is a profession that’s open and welcome and gives opportunity to everybody?”

Karin Bursa (07:03):

I appreciate the hard work that you’re doing as a woman in supply chain that has come up in mostly a male dominated marketplace. I really applaud the work that you’re doing. Do you think that we’ve made progress in these last couple of years? Has COVID and the virtual environment been beneficial?

Beth Morgan (07:24):

Oh, gosh. That’s a really great question. I mean, if we sort of step back from the pandemic question, most people will probably know that Gartner and AWESOME every year create a survey called Women in Supply Chain, which actually tracks our progress of, you know, are there more women coming into the profession, and are they being elevated through the pipeline ,and what does that look like. And we can see that – actually, over the last, I think it’s six years now that that study’s been done. And we’ve been very fortunate as boom! to be a partner on that survey for the last couple of years too – things are moving in the right direction. However, they’re moving very slowly and there’s lots of reasons for that. However, things are moving. What we can see also over that period, though, I think is the level of attention that that’s being given by companies, the level of initiatives, investment in helping make that change happen.

Beth Morgan (08:14):

So, this conversation, you know, has been happening for several years now, but I think it’s never been louder than now and continues to be, even against the backdrop of everything that’s going on in supply chain. I think we all know this, all the disruptions that have been happening over the last couple of years and continue to happen today. But this topic has not dropped off the agenda because it is so important, I think, to many organizations to recognize that having a diverse organization, the benefits that that can bring.

 

Beth Morgan (08:44):

In terms of the pandemic, that’s a really great question because I think two things have happened. Well, lots of things have happened, but two main things. I think one that many people experienced – again, if we think about level playing fields – unless you were on the frontline and that’s a different story, but if you were perhaps one of those workers that had to work from home, you were in lockdown, that everybody was talking like this, talking virtually. That created a little bit more of a level playing field in terms of access to people, to sitting around the virtual table. I think that gave opportunities for more women to be seen and to be visible.

Beth Morgan (09:21):

Now, however, we’re kind of going back. A lot more people are working from home a little bit more with hybrid working, which is great because that means you can have a more balanced lifestyle and, actually, I think be a lot more productive than maybe if you were commuting into the office all of the time. However, we are now at this situation where there are some folks back in the office and there’s a whole sort of question around being visible there too. And those people, men as well as women, actually, who perhaps aren’t in the office, were kind of going back to how things were before. You know, that level of visibility is dropping. So, I’ll say there are pros and cons, but overall, I think the last couple of years have shown us that there are very different ways which we can work and we shouldn’t go back to how exactly how things were before. What can we learn from the benefits that flexible and hybrid working offers? And that certainly benefits women, but that should also benefit men too. Absolutely.

Karin Bursa (10:17):

Totally agree with you, Beth. Let’s dive into research. I was so impressed with your recent report called What the Thriving Supply Chain Professional Needs to Succeed. Tell me a little bit about your inspiration or boom!’s inspiration in doing this research and sharing it with the supply chain community.

Beth Morgan (10:41):

The bigger sort of backstory to this is that ever since boom! was launched, we decided to do an annual survey, which really sort of took the temperature off the profession. It became a conduit for the voice of the profession to talk about topics relevant at that time. So, the first year, we looked at career progression, what were some of the obstacles, enablers, again, for everybody. So, this was an open survey, open to all supply chain professionals of all genders, locations, ethnicities, levels of seniority. Everybody could pitch in on this survey. So, career progression was the first one.

 

Beth Morgan (11:17):

The second year, we looked at the post-pandemic workplace. We were still in the pandemic at that time and looking at, “Okay. Now we’ve kind of got a sense for how things are working.” We talked a little bit earlier about what can we learn from or benefit from flexible hybrid working, how can we take that forward into the future. So, we asked the supply chain profession to tell us how you feel as an individual supply chain professional. You know, what does this mean to you?

 

Beth Morgan (11:42):

This third annual survey, was inspired largely by a rigorous period of consultation with both supply chain leaders and our members in boom! and others in our network to say, “Okay. Given everything that we’ve been through the last two, three years in particular, what are the issues that are concerning you right now? Particularly as supply chain leaders, what’s keeping you up at night when it comes to talent?” One of the big things that came out of that, I think we’ll all be familiar with talk of The Great Resignation and folks leaving, a lot of that driven by the consequences of the pandemic. But looking at there’s so much movement in supply chain, in demand for talent, the talent pool is small. So, if you are a talented supply chain professional, you are in high demand, which is great for you as an individual. But for businesses this is a real concern. How can you keep your people, keep them engaged, keep them product to keep them performing so that you can move forward and do all the things that we need to do in supply chain?

 

Beth Morgan (12:43):

So, that question was, if you really want to retain your best talent and also attract new talent, you need to understand what makes supply chain professionals tick. What do we really need right now, particularly given this backdrop of challenge and disruption that we’ve all experienced the last couple of years? So, that was the very simple question that came out of that process of consultation was, what is it? What Does the Thriving Supply Chain Professional Need to Succeed? The answer then that we wanted to find out was, “Okay. As a company, as a leader, as a manager, as peer, what do we need to deliver to our employees to make that happen?”

Karin Bursa (13:21):

So, a couple of things. First of all, the research respondents were both male and female – correct?

Beth Morgan (13:26):

They were.

Karin Bursa (13:27):

And the research results, therefore, are intended for all supply chain professionals regardless of gender. Is that correct?

Beth Morgan (13:34):

Yes. It’s a really interesting mix actually. So, if we look at the profile – and you’ll see in the report when you download that at the back, you’ll see the demographics of who actually participated in the survey – it takes in a really nice mix of people geographically across industry, across company sizes, across levels of CDRT. So, we have responses from, you know, people who are very early in career to those who are at C-level and everybody in between and also gender. And what’s interesting having worked in research as an industry, most of them – you know, you kind of get into the data and can you cut it this way, can you cut it that way? – is to find out are there any differences. Are there any particular groups, cohorts within that survey base that might be telling a story that, “Oh, hold on a minute. We need to flag this because this group is saying something different from this group.”

Beth Morgan (14:23):

What’s been really interesting about this survey in particular – actually, this is our third annual survey – is that there were hardly any differences between the responses that the participants were giving us, which sort of gave us some pretty loud and clear messages that came out of the research, and I know we’re going to come to those. But there were only a couple of really quite small areas where you could say, “Oh, yeah. Okay. There’s some difference there between how men think and how women think.” Because, you know, it’s not always that simple. Sometimes we look at the data and go, “Oh. That’s kind of surprising.” So, yeah, never make assumptions is the learning from that.

Karin Bursa (14:59):

I think that’s one of the things that is so critical for good analysts is that you’re not approaching it with a bias. We see that (bias) in supply chain all the time. We even talk about forecast bias in the marketplace. But let’s stick with this research because your research uncovered four major calls to action. Again, we’re talking about the recent report from boom! Global Network, which is What the Thriving Supply Team Professional Needs to Succeed. We’re going to make that report available in the show notes, so you can download it, dig into the research, look at some of that demographic information as well.

Beth Morgan, take us through the four calls to action that were uncovered in this 2022 research.

Beth Morgan (15:42):

You’ll see when you download the report and have a look at the data, there is a lot in there, and a lot of that will be very practical and very useful insights. But what we needed to do was draw out of that what are the main messages from that. And there were four areas or calls to action, as you said, which sort of came out really loud and clear. And I hope we did a great job of not leading people, as you said, in any particular direction. We were asking sort of fairly open questions, certainly sort of within a certain scope of the topic at hand. Nevertheless, we didn’t want to lead people. But against that, as I say, these four areas came out.

Beth Morgan (16:22):

These are not in any particular order or importance, but I’ll start with leadership. Because I think it’s always good to start at the top. The survey respondents told us, they were looking for from their employers and from the individuals in their organizations was clear leadership. Now, that might sound really kind of like, “Well, duh.” Well, it kind of is. They’re saying that because perhaps it’s not always there. So, what would really help you thrive in your career? Clear leadership, clear communication of vision, of purpose, of direction. I think that sort of strategic vision level, but also sort of getting more practical as well. You know, where are we going and then how do we get there? So, folks were looking for clarity around that, which is really interesting.

Beth Morgan (17:12):

The second one was the call, again, for leaders, for managers to actively support professional ambition. Now, I think we all know folks in supply chain are super talented, super amazing people. We all know that. They’re also incredibly ambitious. They want to problem solve. They want to succeed. They want to move forward. They want to make progress. They want to innovate. And they want to do that, of course, in their own jobs. So, again, that came through loud and clear is that they wanted to, again, see a path ahead of them perhaps in the organization that they’re working in now or perhaps sort of more generally direction for the future. You know, where could they go in their career? And then, secondly, if there was some kind of skills gap that needed to be filled in that, how am I going to be supported in delivering on that. We know that the number of supply chain professionals moving jobs is higher than ever before. So, either looking to meet an ambition that hasn’t been met where they are or go somewhere else where they will be sort of more proactively supported in their career. You know, lots of more detail behind that, too, but that’s the general focus there. So, that’s the first two.

Karin Bursa (18:21):

That’s the first two – Leadership Clarity and Supporting Professional Ambition. Can I ask you a quick question?

 

Beth Morgan (18:24):

Certainly

Karin Bursa (18:25):

On leading with clarity or leadership, I think that this is really important. Did the research show any indication of how this is playing out or if it is easier or more difficult (maybe) in a hybrid work environment? How we communicate and share that leadership? Because everybody wants to know how they make an impact. Anything specific jump out from the research?

Beth Morgan (18:51):

You know what? I’m going to actually point folks back to our report from last year when we actually looked at that in a little bit more depth, because we were talking about that whole post-pandemic workplace and how does that sort of hybrid remote working environment, how has that been for you, and what are you looking for, not only from your leaders, but also from perhaps your direct managers as well. Because the feedback from that survey – and, again, that’s on our website. Again, free to download. And if you’d like to make that available to your listeners, absolutely you can.

 

Karin Bursa (19:20):

Absolutely.

 

Beth Morgan (19:20):

It’s out there. It’s free. A mixed experience, again, there was kind of a third of folks who said, “I had a much better experience during this kind of remote situation because I felt closer, I had more access to, blah, blah. You know, it worked really, really well.” There were another third who said, “No. Kind of it worked. It’s okay. Fairly neutral, neither good nor bad, it just worked. You know, it kind of worked.” And then, there were those that said, “This was terrible for me. Absolutely terrible.” I couldn’t get access to what I needed.” You were in back-to-back meetings. You didn’t have time for that kind of the human side of interacting and saying hello, how are you. You know, simple things like that. So, I think we were all learning through that period, and folks still are and still need to in many ways. It’s a different way of being and how can we learn to do that better.

Beth Morgan (20:09):

So, that definitely came out in this year’s survey, particularly around I’d say more of the direct manager, kind of situation. We asked the question, “What are you looking for from your manager?” And the thing that came out top was actually genuine concern and interest for my wellbeing. And that goes back to that very simple human, human need just for kind of a bit of empathy, a bit of social interaction, a bit of understanding from my perspective perhaps because we’re not seeing each other all of the time. Doing that check-in, particularly given the stresses that many people are under. It’s just like, yes, we need to firefight. Yes, we need to get the job done. But that should not be at the expense of establishing those very base human needs for rapport, empathy, support.

Karin Bursa (20:59):

Those are all critically important and are factors that get people to stay, I think, for the long term, feeling connected, feeling seen, feeling like they’re making a difference. I know we could dive into each one of these, but let’s get to the third and fourth calls to action that came from the research. So, the first was, lead with vision and clarity and compassion. The second, actively supporting professional ambition. And, boy, do I have questions for you there! But I want to be sure we’ve got the opportunity to really share some insights here on the total report. What would be the third call to action, Beth?

Beth Morgan (21:34):

The third one was provide the right tools. Give me the right tools that I can use to, not just to be effective and efficient and productive, but to really shine in my job and the work that I’m doing. This was a question, actually, where, again we did not want to lead at all. We asked what I think is quite a fun question, which was kind of, “If you could wave a magic wand and ask for anything at all, either ask for a resource for something to change, for something to stop, or whatever, anything, tell us what you need to really be successful in performing your role as a supply chain professional?” And this is what came out. It wasn’t the only thing, but it was the most popular thing that we heard again, and again, and again, and again through this open question, was, give me the tools to do my job well.

 

Beth Morgan (22:26):

And sort of coming at this from various other questions that we did have in the survey was something we’ve talked about for years, and I’m sure we will continue to talk about it for years as supply chain professionals, is, having access to data, the right data, real time data, integrated data, end to end data. We need clear visibility into that data. So, how can we provide, particularly during this era of digital transformation? So, we’re kind of getting glimpses into what’s possible when you do have access to data. You can do amazing things, particularly in supply chain, will just keep the wheels turning even more smoothly. So, that’s the thing, provide the right tools and then the skills, obviously, the training, and investment in that to go alongside that to make sure that, not only do we just have the tools, but we can make the best of them.

Karin Bursa (23:18):

Given my background in digital supply chain solutions, I’m all about that, but I hear this time and time again. Beth, you made a comment when we first started our conversation about The Great Resignation. And, we’re certainly seeing the baby boomer generation exit the supply chain profession at a faster rate than was anticipated. I think that that’s important to this conversation because the talent that is stepping into those roles today is much more tech savvy earlier in their careers than those that are exiting. They are early in the careers, very tech savvy, asking good questions, and wanting to dive into, not just the data, but the insights from the analysis of that data so that they can make better decisions faster each and every day. So, I love that that was one of the main themes that came out of the research. Let’s hit the fourth call to action.

Beth Morgan (24:20):

The fourth one, and this is one of these classic last but by no means least, is, support for employee work-life needs. I guess another phrase for this would be work-life balance. But not just that, but actually looking at particularly against this backdrop of what we’ve experienced, what we’ve learned from the last couple of years, how can we best support our employees when it comes to that whole balance?

 

Beth Morgan (24:49):

So, this was important for quite a number of the survey respondents was, when they were looking at the things that were kind of almost deal breakers, I think, for either the roles that they currently had or if they were looking at maybe moving to a new position with another employer, they will be checking out access to flexible and/or hybrid working, is that an option. If it’s not, for many people now this is going to be a deal breaker. And we’re seeing kind of mixed experiences now where some companies are saying, “Okay. Back to how things work. Everybody back,” all the time. While there are other employers who are saying, “Actually, you know what? We can make this work. Let’s learn from what we’ve experienced the last couple of years and bake this into this is going to be our new normal now. We’re going to offer flexible working, hybrid working.” Guess where most people are going to go to, they’re probably going to go and want to work for them rather than the ones that say back in the office all the time.

 

Beth Morgan (25:48):

That’s the important thing to remember here is that everybody, I think, is different. So, it’s not about completely working from home all the time. That doesn’t work for some people. Certainly not younger people who perhaps want to be in an office and need support from others in the office as well. But it’s finding sort of that middle ground that I think works for everybody that, depending on what your needs are, you can have the best of both worlds.

Karin Bursa (26:14):

I think that is so spot on. And, the goal here is, not just to retain talent, but it’s to attract and develop the talent that you’re bringing into the organization. Beth, what would you say to any employers that are listening to this podcast? What are the consequences of neglect any of these four areas?

Beth Morgan (26:37):

Well, I think quite simply, if you’re not in balance in one or more of these four areas, so in leadership, in providing the right tools, and supporting professional ambition, and understanding employee work-life balance needs, your people might vote with their feet. And it’s easier than ever to do that now because, as I say, there are so many positions out there that are needing to be filled and fewer people to fill them, so that’s going to continue. So, I think to make sure that there is balance across each of those four areas and to actually check in – a lot of great companies will do pulse surveys throughout the year to check on how their employees are feeling – I think that’s critical now more than ever.

 

Beth Morgan (27:19):

I also want to make sure we bring in, if we have time, just to say, because this was really important from the report, that if you look at the level of stress and burnout that is still quite common across the profession, that actually is a red flag still. If we look at the numbers during the pandemic – we asked the same question last year, we asked again this year – the numbers haven’t changed that much, actually. I’m going to have a look down at my data here so that I get the numbers right. We’ve got 53 percent of the survey respondents saying that they’re stressed occasionally and they’re not burned out. But, actually, 21 percent say they’re burning out, they’re emotionally and physically exhausted. Seven percent are saying they’ve got ongoing burnout symptoms and another 7 percent saying help, I need serious help. Seven percent, that’s high. And only last year, it was 8 percent. So, it’s only gone down 1 percent. So, I think that’s another thing that might be an underlying kind of thing that needs to be just checked on. And, again, I say, the survey responses came from men and women of all ages across all geographies. You know, this is a global – I’m not going to call it a crisis, but it’s a major red flag that employers need to be aware of and do something about.

Karin Bursa (28:37):

That is so important and I do agree with you. And I continue to hear burnout and just exhaustion from many people I speak with in key supply chain roles. You mentioned a couple of things in our discussion, so supply chain is on center stage, we have higher demand for supply chain talent than we’ve had historically, plus that’s combined with The Great Resignation. So, you know, it’s back to demand and supply. I’ve got higher demand. The talent pool is shrinking or the experienced talent pool is shrinking. And I guess I’d really like to know, Beth, your recommendations for the supply chain professionals, for the individuals that are listening to this podcast and thinking about their careers. What would you like them to take away from this research?

Beth Morgan (29:27):

Well, a couple of things. I mean, one thing is, hopefully, we’re asking the right questions. I’m reminded of – what was the T.V. show with Frasier Crane? We’re listening – We’re listening. We want to be your voice through this annual global survey. We will keep repeating these surveys every year. We would love folks to sign up and participate in our future surveys, if you haven’t been one of the wonderful people who has already. Because I think it’s important for the industry, for the sector to hear the voice of the profession. So, definitely, yes, make your individual feelings known because that’s how things change.

 

Beth Morgan (30:04):

The other thing that I would say is that, it comes back to the level of ambition that is clear to see in this sector, is that, if you are not being invested in from that professional development perspective, ask for it. Ask your employers for that. It will benefit them because everybody’s going through this through one degree or other, going through this stage of transformation, of innovation, of growth. You know, be part of that. Step forward. Lean into that, definitely. And if you’re not necessarily getting that for your employee, make time for yourself to learn because supply chain moves fast. I think particularly in a digital area, we ask that question in this report, “Where are the areas of learning that you feel you have gaps and you want to know about?” Sustainability was one, advanced analytics was one, digital transformation. So, there’s lots of these areas that people are hungry to learn about and there are so many great resources out there, listening to podcasts, going on webinars. Just take advantage of it. Soak it all up. Hopefully, it will keep us all growing and learning together.

Karin Bursa (31:13):

Wonderful. And, Beth, congratulations on the growth of boom!

 

Beth Morgan (31:17):

Thank you.

 

Karin Bursa (31:17):

Beth Morgan, CEO and Founder of boom! Global Network, thank you for sharing these insights today. We’ve been talking about What the Thriving Supply Chain Professional Needs to Succeed. This is recent research that was conducted by the team at boom! Global Network. Beth, give us those four areas one more time.

Beth Morgan (31:34):

Absolutely. So, again, in no particular order:

1) Lead with Clarity, Vision, and Compassion
2) Actively Support Professional Ambition
3) Provide the Right Tools
4) And last but by no means least, Support Employee Work Life Needs.

Karin Bursa (31:52):

Fantastic. Thanks so much. And to our listeners, we’re going to make that easy for you to find. You can either check the show notes here with TekTok or you can go to the boom! Global website, and download that research from the website and maybe participate in some future research that the boom! team will, in fact, be conducting. Beth, what time of year does your research kick off? When are you collecting the survey responses?

Beth Morgan (32:18):

Good question. So, currently – where are we now? End of November, early December. We’re in that initial consultation period to get some guidance on what other questions we need to ask. We don’t have an open date yet, but it’s going to be probably towards the end of March next year, ’23, when the next one comes out.

Karin Bursa (32:37):

Excellent.

Beth Morgan (32:37):

Or the survey starts.

Karin Bursa (32:38):

TekTok movers and shakers, I want you to make a mental note of that. And be sure to chime in and participate in this important research that’s going to be led by Beth Morgan and her team at boom! Global Network. Thanks so much, Beth, for joining us today. How can our TekTok listeners connect with you?

Beth Morgan (33:01):

Let me bounce that right back at you, Karin, it’s been a pleasure to be here today. And thanks everybody for listening. We’d love to stay in touch with you. One of the best ways to do is to find our company page on LinkedIn. We post regularly there about what we’re doing within boom!, about our research surveys, and also all the free events that we do throughout the year. So, boom! Global Network, just search for us on LinkedIn. And, yeah, our website is boomglobalnetwork.com. Click on research and you’ll find this and the previous two reports, and also the Gartner/AWESOME Women in Supply Chain reports as well, which have absolutely fantastic data.

Karin Bursa (33:37):

Thank you so much, Beth Morgan, Founder and CEO of boom! Global Network. Thanks again for sharing your insights into What the Thriving Supply Chain Professional Needs to Succeed. Until next episode for TekTok. Remember that our goal with TekTok is to help you eliminate the noise and focus in on the information and inspiration that you need to transform your business and replace risky inventory with valuable insights. If you’re a fan of the show, please leave a review, subscribe and follow TekTok Digital Supply Chain Podcast.

We’ll see you next time on TekTok, which is powered by Supply Chain Now.

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Featured Guests

Beth Morgan is founder and CEO of boom!, the go-to global network connecting a cross-industry community of female supply chain professionals from around the world. With hundreds of members spanning over 40 countries, boom! provides inspiration, learning and mentoring designed to help aspirational women develop their personal and professional skills and build the network they will need to become future leaders. The community is also a conduit for advising supply chain leaders and their HR business partners on strategies for increasing female representation through all echelons of their organisations. Beth’s career as a supply chain industry analyst and advisor has spanned over two decades. Prior to launching boom! she was Research Vice President at Gartner where she advised global Chief Supply Chain Officers and their teams on sustainability and talent management best practices. Based in the UK, Beth is a graduate of the London School of Economics and the University of Leeds, where she currently serves as a mentor on its annual Alumni Leadership Programme. She is also a certified Performance Coach. Connect with Beth on LinkedIn.

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Adrian Purtill

Host, Logistics with Purpose

Adrian Purtill serves as Business Development Manager at Vector Global Logistics, where he consults with importers and exporters in various industries to match their specific shipping requirements with the most effective supply chain solutions. Vector Global Logistics is an asset-free, multi-modal logistics company that provides exceptional sea freight, air freight, truck, rail, general logistic services and consulting for our clients. Our highly trained and professional team is committed to providing creative and effective solutions, always exceeding our customer’s expectations and fostering long-term relationships. With more than 20+ years of experience in both strategy consulting and logistics, Vector Global Logistics is your best choice to proactively minimize costs while having an exceptional service level.

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Kim Winter

Host, Supply Chain Now

The founder of Logistics Executive Group, Kim Winter delivers 40 years of executive leadership experience spanning Executive Search & Recruitment, Leadership Development, Executive Coaching, Corporate Advisory, Motivational Speaking, Trade Facilitation and across the Supply Chain, Logistics, 3PL, E-commerce, Life Science, Cold Chain, FMCG, Retail, Maritime, Defence, Aviation, Resources, and Industrial sectors. Operating from the company’s global offices, he is a regular contributor of thought leadership to industry and media, is a professional Master of Ceremonies, and is frequently invited to chair international events.

He is a Board member of over a dozen companies throughout APAC, India, and the Middle East, a New Zealand citizen, he holds formal resident status in Australia and the UAE, and is the Australia & New Zealand representative for the UAE Government-owned Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA), the Middle East’s largest Economic Free Zone.

A triathlete and ex-professional rugby player, Kim is a qualified (IECL Sydney) executive coach and the Founder / Chairman of the successful not for profit humanitarian organization, Oasis Africa (www. oasisafrica.org.au), which has provided freedom from poverty through education to over 8000 mainly orphaned children in East Africa’s slums. Kim holds an MBA and BA from Massey & Victoria Universities (NZ).

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Kevin Brown

Host, Logistics with Purpose

Kevin Brown is the Director of Business Development for Vector Global Logistics.  He has a dedicated interest in Major Account Management, Enterprise Sales, and Corporate Leadership. He offers 25 years of exceptional experience and superior performance in the sales of Logistics, Supply Chain, and Transportation Management. Kevin is a dynamic, high-impact, sales executive and corporate leader who has consistently exceeded corporate goals. He effectively coordinates multiple resources to solution sell large complex opportunities while focusing on corporate level contacts across the enterprise. His specialties include targeting and securing key accounts by analyzing customer’s current business processes and developing solutions to meet their corporate goals. Connect with Kevin on LinkedIn.

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Jose Miguel Irarrazaval

Host, Logistics with Purpose

Jose Manuel Irarrazaval es parte del equipo de Vector Global Logistics Chile. José Manuel es un gerente experimentado con experiencia en finanzas corporativas, fusiones y adquisiciones, financiamiento y reestructuración, inversión directa y financiera, tanto en Chile como en el exterior. José Manuel tiene su MBA de la Universidad de Pennsylvania- The Wharton School. Conéctese con Jose Manuel en LinkedIn.

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Nick Roemer

Host, Logistics with Purpose

Nick Roemer has had a very diverse and extensive career within design and sales over the last 15 years stretching from China, Dubai, Germany, Holland, UK, and the USA. In the last 5 years, Nick has developed a hawk's eye for sustainable tech and the human-centric marketing and sales procedures that come with it. With his far-reaching and strong network within the logistics industry, Nick has been able to open new avenues and routes to market within major industries in the USA and the UAE. Nick lives by the ethos, “Give more than you take." His professional mission is to make the logistics industry leaner, cleaner and greener.

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Allison Giddens

Host

Allison Krache Giddens has been with Win-Tech, a veteran-owned small business and aerospace precision machine shop, for 15 years, recently buying the company from her mentor and Win-Tech’s Founder, Dennis Winslow. She and her business partner, John Hudson now serve as Co-Presidents, leading the 33-year old company through the pandemic.

She holds undergraduate degrees in psychology and criminal justice from the University of Georgia, a Masters in Conflict Management from Kennesaw State University, a Masters in Manufacturing from Georgia Institute of Technology, and a Certificate of Finance from the University of Georgia. She also holds certificates in Google Analytics, event planning, and Cybersecurity Risk Management from Harvard online. Allison founded the Georgia Chapter of Women in Manufacturing and currently serves as Treasurer. She serves on the Chattahoochee Technical College Foundation Board as its Secretary, the liveSAFE Resources Board of Directors as Resource Development Co-Chair, and on the Leadership Cobb Alumni Association Board as Membership Chair and is also a member of Cobb Executive Women. She is on the Board for the Cobb Chamber of Commerce’s Northwest Area Councils. Allison runs The Dave Krache Foundation, a non-profit that helps pay sports fees for local kids in need.

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Billy Taylor

Host

Billy Taylor is a Proven Business Excellence Practitioner and Leadership Guru with over 25 years leading operations for a Fortune 500 company, Goodyear. He is also the CEO of LinkedXL (Excellence), a Business Operating Systems Architecting Firm dedicated to implementing sustainable operating systems that drive sustainable results. Taylor’s achievements in the industry have made him a Next Generational Lean pacesetter with significant contributions.

An American business executive, Taylor has made a name for himself as an innovative and energetic industry professional with an indispensable passion for his craft of operational excellence. His journey started many years ago and has worked with renowned corporations such as The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. (GT) leading multi-site operations. With over 3 decades of service leading North America operations, he is experienced in a deeply rooted process driven approach in customer service, process integrity for sustainability.

A disciple of continuous improvement, Taylor’s love for people inspires commitment to helping others achieve their full potential. He is a dynamic speaker and hosts "The Winning Link," a popular podcast centered on business and leadership excellence with the #1 rated Supply Chain Now Network. As a leadership guru, Taylor has earned several invitations to universities, international conferences, global publications, and the U.S. Army to demonstrate how to achieve and sustain effective results through cultural acceptance and employee ownership. Leveraging the wisdom of his business acumen, strong influence as a speaker and podcaster Taylor is set to release "The Winning Link" book under McGraw Hill publishing in 2022. The book is a how-to manual to help readers understand the management of business interactions while teaching them how to Deine, Align, and Execute Winning in Business.

A servant leader, Taylor, was named by The National Diversity Council as one of the Top 100 Diversity Officers in the country in 2021. He features among Oklahoma's Most Admired CEOs and maintains key leadership roles with the Executive Advisory Board for The Shingo Institute "The Nobel Prize of Operations" and The Association of Manufacturing Excellence (AME); two world-leading organizations for operational excellence, business development, and cultural learning.  He is also an Independent Director for the M-D Building Products Board, a proud American manufacturer of quality products since 1920.

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Tandreia Bellamy

Host

Tandreia Bellamy retired as the Vice President of Industrial Engineering for UPS Supply Chain Solutions which included the Global Logistics, Global Freight Forwarding and UPS Freight business units. She was responsible for operations strategy and planning, asset management, forecasting, and technology tool development to optimize sustainable efficiency while driving world class service.

Tandreia held similar positions at the business unit level for Global Logistics and Global Freight forwarding. As the leader of the Global Logistics engineering function, she directed all industrial engineering activies related to distribution, service parts logistics (post-sales support), and mail innovations (low cost, light weight shipping partnership with the USPS). Between these roles Tandreia helped to establish the Advanced Technology Group which was formed to research and develop cutting edge solutions focused on reducing reliance on manual labor.

Tandreia began her career in 1986 as a part-time hourly manual package handling employee. She spent the great majority of her career in the small package business unit which is responsible for the pick-up, sort, transport and delivery of packages domestically. She held various positions in Industrial Engineering, Marketing, Inside and On-road operations in Central Florida before transferring to Atlanta for a position in Corporate Product Development and Corporate Industrial Engineering. Tandreia later held IE leadership roles in Nebraska, Minnesota and Chicago. In her final role in small package she was an IE VP responsible for all aspects of IE, technology support and quality for the 25 states on the western half of the country.
Tandreia is currently a Director for the University of Central Florida (UCF) Foundation Board and also serves on their Dean’s Advisory Board for the College of Engineering and Computer Science. Previously Tandreia served on the Executive Advisory Board for Virginia Tech’s IE Department and the Association for Supply Chain Management. She served on the Board of Trustees for ChildServ (a Chicago child and family services non-profit) and also served on the Texas A&M and Tuskegee Engineering Advisory Boards. In 2006 she was named Business Advisor of the Year by INROADS, in 2009 she was recognized as a Technology All-Star at the Women of Color in STEM conference and in 2019 she honored as a UCF Distinguished Aluma by the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Systems.

Tandreia holds a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from Stanford University and a master’s degree in Industrial Engineering and Management Systems from UCF. Her greatest accomplishment, however, is being the proud mother of two college students, Ruby (24) and Anthony (22).

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Marty Parker

Host

Marty Parker serves as both the CEO & Founder of Adæpt Advising and an award-winning Senior Lecturer (Teaching Professor) in Supply Chain and Operations Management at the University of Georgia. He has 30 years of experience as a COO, CMO, CSO (Chief Strategy Officer), VP of Operations, VP of Marketing and Process Engineer. He founded and leads UGA’s Supply Chain Advisory Board, serves as the Academic Director of UGA’s Leaders Academy, and serves on multiple company advisory boards including the Trucking Profitability Strategies Conference, Zion Solutions Group and Carlton Creative Company.

Marty enjoys helping people and companies be successful. Through UGA, Marty is passionate about his students, helping them network and find internships and jobs. He does this through several hundred one-on-one zoom meetings each year with his students and former students. Through Adæpt Advising, Marty has organized an excellent team of affiliates that he works with to help companies grow and succeed. He does this by helping c-suite executives improve their skills, develop better leaders, engage their workforce, improve processes, and develop strategic plans with detailed action steps and financial targets. Marty believes that excellence in supply chain management comes from the understanding the intersection of leadership, culture, and technology, working across all parts of the organization to meet customer needs, maximize profit and minimize costs.

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Laura Lopez

Marketing Coordinator

Laura Lopez serves as our Supply Chain Now Marketing Coordinator. She graduated from Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Occidente in Mexico with a degree in marketing. Laura loves everything digital because she sees the potential it holds for companies in the marketing industry. Her passion for creativity and thinking outside the box led her to pursue a career in marketing. With experience in fields like accounting, digital marketing, and restaurants, she clearly enjoys taking on challenges. Laura lives the best of both worlds - you'll either catch her hanging out with her friends soaking up the sun in Mexico or flying out to visit her family in California!

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Jake Barr

Host

An acknowledged industry leader, Jake Barr now serves as CEO for BlueWorld Supply Chain Consulting, providing support to a cross section of Fortune 500 companies such as Cargill, Caterpillar, Colgate, Dow/Dupont, Firmenich, 3M, Merck, Bayer/Monsanto, Newell Brands, Kimberly Clark, Nestle, PepsiCo, Pfizer, Sanofi, Estee Lauder and Coty among others. He's also devoted time to engagements in public health sector work with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. At P&G, he managed the breakthrough delivery of an E2E (End to End) Planning Transformation effort, creating control towers which now manage the daily business globally. He is recognized as the architect for P&G’s demand driven supply chain strategy – referenced as a “Consumer Driven Supply Chain” transformation. Jake began his career with P&G in Finance in Risk Analysis and then moved into Operations. He has experience in building supply network capability globally through leadership assignments in Asia, Latin America, North America and the Middle East. He currently serves as a Research Associate for MIT; a member of Supply Chain Industry Advisory Council; Member of Gartner’s Supply Chain Think Tank; Consumer Goods “League of Leaders“; and a recipient of the 2015 - 2021 Supply Chain “Pro’s to Know” Award. He has been recognized as a University of Kentucky Fellow.

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Marcia Williams

Host

Marcia Williams, Managing Partner of USM Supply Chain, has 18 years of experience in Supply Chain, with expertise in optimizing Supply Chain-Finance Planning (S&OP/ IBP) at Large Fast-Growing CPGs for greater profitability and improved cash flows. Marcia has helped mid-sized and large companies including Lindt Chocolates, Hershey, and Coty. She holds an MBA from Michigan State University and a degree in Accounting from Universidad de la Republica, Uruguay (South America). Marcia is also a Forbes Council Contributor based out of New York, and author of the book series Supply Chains with Maria in storytelling style. A recent speaker’s engagement is Marcia TEDx Talk: TEDxMSU - How Supply Chain Impacts You: A Transformational Journey.

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Luisa Garcia

Host, Logistics with Purpose

Luisa Garcia is a passionate Marketer from Lagos de Moreno based in Aguascalientes. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing from Universidad Autonoma de Aguascalientes, Mexico. She specializes in brand development at any stage, believing that a brand is more than just a name or image—it’s an unforgettable experience. Her expertise helps brands achieve their dreams and aspirations, making a lasting impact. Currently working at Vector Global Logistics in the Marketing team and as podcast coordinator of Logistics With Purpose®. Luisa believes that purpose-driven decisions will impact results that make a difference in the world.

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Astrid Aubert

Host, Logistics with Purpose

Astrid Aubert was born in Guadalajara, she is 39 years old and has had the opportunity to live in many places. She studied communication and her professional career has been in Trade Marketing for global companies such as Pepsico and Mars. She currently works as Marketing Director Mexico for Vector Global Logistics. She is responsible for internal communications and marketing strategy development for the logistics industry. She is a mother of two girls, married and lives in Monterrey. She defines herself as a creative and innovative person, and enjoys traveling and cooking a lot.

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Sofia Rivas

Host, Supply Chain Now en Espanol

Sofia self-identifies as Supply Chain Ambassador, her mission is to advocate for the field and inspire young generations from diverse backgrounds and cultures to join the industry so that thought diversity is increased and change accelerated. Recognized as Linkedin Top Voice and Linkedin Community Top Voice in Supply Chain Management, as well as Emerging Leader in Supply Chain by CSCMP 2024, Top Women in Supply Chain by Supply & Demand Executive 2023, and Coup de Coeur Global Women Leaders in Supply Chain by B2G Consulting in 2021. 

Public speaker at multiple international events from keynotes and panels, to webinars and guest lectures for bachelor's and master's degrees, discussing topics such as sustainability, women in the industry, technology and innovation. Writer at different online magazines on logistics, supply chain and technology. Podcast host and guest on different recognized programs in the industry. Sofia has more than 5 years of experience from academic research and field studies to warehouse operations, demand planning and network design. She has worked in manufacturing, airport operations, e-commerce retail, and technology hardware across Latin America, North America and Europe. 

Currently working as Supply Chain Network Design and Optimization Manager at HP within their Global Supply Chain and Logistics team. 

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Karin Bursa

Host

Karin Bursa is the 2020 Supply Chain Pro to Know of the Year and the Host of the TEKTOK Digital Supply Chain Podcast powered by Supply Chain Now. With more than 25 years of supply chain and technology expertise (and the scars to prove it), Karin has the heart of a teacher and has helped nearly 1,000 customers transform their businesses and share their success stories. Today, she helps B2B technology companies introduce new products, capture customer success and grow global revenue, market share and profitability. In addition to her recognition as the 2020 Supply Chain Pro to Know of the Year, Karin has also been recognized as a 2019 and 2018 Supply Chain Pro to Know, 2009 Technology Marketing Executive of the Year and a 2008 Women in Technology Finalist. 

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Vin Vashishta

Host

Vin Vashishta is the author of ‘From Data To Profit’ (Wiley 2023). It’s the playbook for monetizing data and AI. Vin is the Founder of V-Squared and built the business from client 1 to one of the world’s oldest data and AI consulting firms. His background combines nearly 30 years in strategy, leadership, software engineering, and applied machine learning.

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Trisha Cordes

Administrative Assistant

Trisha is new to the supply chain industry – but not to podcasting. She’s an experienced podcast manager and virtual assistant who also happens to have 20 years of experience as an elementary school teacher. It’s safe to say, she’s passionate about helping people, and she lives out that passion every day with the Supply Chain Now team, contributing to scheduling and podcast production.

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Scott W. Luton

Founder, CEO, & Host

As the founder and CEO of Supply Chain Now, you might say Scott is the voice of supply chain – but he’s too much of a team player to ever claim such a title. One thing’s for sure: he’s a tried and true supply chain expert. With over 15 years of experience in the end-to-end supply chain, Scott’s insights have appeared in major publications including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and CNN. He has also been named a top industry influencer by Thinkers360, ISCEA and more.

From 2009-2011, Scott was president of APICS Atlanta, and he continues to lead initiatives that support both the local business community and global industry. A United States Air Force Veteran, Scott has also regularly led efforts to give back to his fellow veteran community since his departure from active duty in 2002.

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Greg White

Principal & Host

When rapid-growth technology companies, venture capital and private equity firms are looking for advisory, they call Greg – a founder, board director, advisor and catalyst of disruptive B2B technology and supply chain. An insightful visionary, Greg guides founders, investors and leadership teams in creating breakthroughs to gain market exposure and momentum – increasing overall company esteem and valuation.

Greg is a founder himself, creating Blue Ridge Solutions, a Gartner Magic Quadrant Leader in cloud-native supply chain applications, and bringing to market Curo, a field service management solution. He has also held leadership roles with Servigistics (PTC) and E3 Corporation (JDA/Blue Yonder). As a principal and host at Supply Chain Now, Greg helps guide the company’s strategic direction, hosts industry leader discussions, community livestreams, and all in addition to executive producing and hosting his original YouTube channel and podcast, TEChquila Sunrise.

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Chris Barnes

Principal, Supply Chain Now
Host of Supply Chain is Boring

Talk about world-class: Chris is one of the few professionals in the world to hold CPIM-F, CLTD-F and CSCP-F designations from ASCM/APICS. He’s also the APICS coach – and our resident Supply Chain Doctor. When he’s not hosting programs with Supply Chain Now, he’s sharing supply chain knowledge on the APICS Coach Youtube channel or serving as a professional education instructor for the Georgia Tech Supply Chain & Logistic Institute’s Supply Chain Management (SCM) program and University of Tennessee-Chattanooga Center for Professional Education courses.

Chris earned a BS in Industrial Engineering from Bradley University, an MBA with emphasis in Industrial Psychology from the University of West Florida, and is a Doctoral in Supply Chain Management candidate.

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Tyler Ward

Director of Sales

Tyler Ward serves as Supply Chain Now's Director of Sales. Born and raised in Mid-Atlantic, Tyler is a proud graduate of Shippensburg University where he earned his degree in Communications. After college, he made his way to the beautiful state of Oregon, where he now lives with his wife and daughter.

With over a decade of experience in sales, Tyler has a proven track record of exceeding targets and leading high-performing teams. He credits his success to his ability to communicate effectively with customers and team members alike, as well as his strategic thinking and problem-solving skills.

When he's not closing deals, you can find Tyler on the links or cheering on his favorite football and basketball teams. He also enjoys spending time with his family, playing pick-up basketball, and traveling back to Ocean City, Maryland, his favorite place!

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Kevin L. Jackson

Host of Digital Transformers

Kevin L. Jackson is a globally recognized Thought Leader, Industry Influencer and Founder/Author of the award winning “Cloud Musings” blog.  He has also been recognized as a “Top 5G Influencer” (Onalytica 2019, Radar 2020), a “Top 50 Global Digital Transformation Thought Leader” (Thinkers 360 2019) and provides strategic consulting and integrated social media services to AT&T, Intel, Broadcom, Ericsson and other leading companies. Mr. Jackson’s commercial experience includes Vice President J.P. Morgan Chase, Worldwide Sales Executive for IBM and SAIC (Engility) Director Cloud Solutions. He has served on teams that have supported digital transformation projects for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the US Intelligence Community.  Kevin’s formal education includes a MS Computer Engineering from Naval Postgraduate School; MA National Security & Strategic Studies from Naval War College; and a BS Aerospace Engineering from the United States Naval Academy. Internationally recognizable firms that have sponsored articles authored by him include Cisco, Microsoft, Citrix and IBM.  Books include “Click to Transform” (Leaders Press, 2020), “Architecting Cloud Computing Solutions” (Packt, 2018), and “Practical Cloud Security: A Cross Industry View” (Taylor & Francis, 2016). He also delivers online training through Tulane University, O’Reilly Media, LinkedIn Learning, and Pluralsight.  Mr. Jackson retired from the U.S. Navy in 1994, earning specialties in Space Systems Engineering, Carrier Onboard Delivery Logistics and carrier-based Airborne Early Warning and Control. While active, he also served with the National Reconnaissance Office, Operational Support Office, providing tactical support to Navy and Marine Corps forces worldwide.

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Enrique Alvarez

Host of Logistics with Purpose and Supply Chain Now en Español

Enrique serves as Managing Director at Vector Global Logistics and believes we all have a personal responsibility to change the world. He is hard working, relationship minded and pro-active. Enrique trusts that the key to logistics is having a good and responsible team that truly partners with the clients and does whatever is necessary to see them succeed. He is a proud sponsor of Vector’s unique results-based work environment and before venturing into logistics he worked for the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). During his time at BCG, he worked in different industries such as Telecommunications, Energy, Industrial Goods, Building Materials, and Private Banking. His main focus was always on the operations, sales, and supply chain processes, with case focus on, logistics, growth strategy, and cost reduction. Prior to joining BCG, Enrique worked for Grupo Vitro, a Mexican glass manufacturer, for five years holding different positions from sales and logistics manager to supply chain project leader in charge of five warehouses in Colombia.

He has an MBA from The Wharton School of Business and a BS, in Mechanical Engineer from the Technologico de Monterrey in Mexico. Enrique’s passions are soccer and the ocean, and he also enjoys traveling, getting to know new people, and spending time with his wife and two kids, Emma and Enrique.

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Kelly Barner

Host of Dial P for Procurement

Kelly is the Owner and Managing Director of Buyers Meeting Point and MyPurchasingCenter. She has been in procurement since 2003, starting as a practitioner and then as the Associate Director of Consulting at Emptoris. She has covered procurement news, events, publications, solutions, trends, and relevant economics at Buyers Meeting Point since 2009. Kelly is also the General Manager at Art of Procurement and Business Survey Chair for the ISM-New York Report on Business. Kelly has her MBA from Babson College as well as an MS in Library and Information Science from Simmons College and she has co-authored three books: ‘Supply Market Intelligence for Procurement Professionals’, ‘Procurement at a Crossroads’, and ‘Finance Unleashed’.

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Mary Kate Soliva

Host, Veteran Voices

Mary Kate Soliva is a veteran of the US Army and cofounder of the Guam Human Rights Initiative. She is currently in the Doctor of Criminal Justice program at Saint Leo University. She is passionate about combating human trafficking and has spent the last decade conducting training for military personnel and the local community.

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Constantine Limberakis

Host

Constantine Limberakis is a thought leader in the area of procurement and supply management. He has over 20 years of international experience, playing strategic roles in a wide spectrum of organizations related to analyst advisory, consulting, product marketing, product development, and market research.Throughout his career, he's been passionate about engaging global business leaders and the broader analyst and technology community with strategic content, speaking engagements, podcasts, research, webinars, and industry articles.Constantine holds a BA in History from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and an MBA in Finance & Marketing / Masters in Public & International Affairs from the University of Pittsburgh.

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Amanda Luton

Vice President, Production

Amanda is a production and marketing veteran and entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience across a variety of industries and organizations including Von Maur, Anthropologie, AmericasMart Atlanta, and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Amanda currently manages, produces, and develops modern digital content for Supply Chain Now and their clients. Amanda has previously served as the VP of Information Systems and Webmaster on the Board of Directors for APICS Savannah, and founded and managed her own successful digital marketing firm, Magnolia Marketing Group. When she’s not leading the Supply Chain Now production team, you can find Amanda in the kitchen, reading, listening to podcasts, or enjoying time with family.

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Clay Phillips

Business Development Manager

Clay is passionate about two things: supply chain and the marketing that goes into it. Recently graduated with a degree in marketing at the University of Georgia, Clay got his start as a journalism major and inaugural member of the Owl’s football team at Kennesaw State University – but quickly saw tremendous opportunity in the Terry College of Business. He’s already putting his education to great use at Supply Chain Now, assisting with everything from sales and brand strategy to media production. Clay has contributed to initiatives such as our leap into video production, the guest blog series, and boosting social media presence, and after nearly two years in Supply Chain Now’s Marketing Department, Clay now heads up partnership and sales initiatives with the help of the rest of the Supply Chain Now sales team.

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Chantel King

Social Media Manager

My name is Chantel King and I am the Social Media Specialist at Supply Chain Now. My job is to make sure our audience is engaged and educated on the abundant amount of information the supply chain industry has to offer.

Social Media and Communications has been my niche ever since I graduated from college at The Academy of Art University in San Francisco. No, I am not a West Coast girl. I was born and raised in New Jersey, but my travel experience goes way beyond the garden state. My true passion is in creating editorial and graphic content that influences others to be great in whatever industry they are in. I’ve done this by working with lifestyle, financial, and editorial companies by providing resources to enhance their businesses.

Another passion of mine is trying new things. Whether it’s food, an activity, or a sport. I would like to say that I am an adventurous Taurus that never shies away from a new quest or challenge.

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Lori Sofian

Marketing Coordinator

Lori is currently completing a degree in marketing with an emphasis in digital marketing at the University of Georgia. When she’s not supporting the marketing efforts at Supply Chain Now, you can find her at music festivals – or working toward her dream goal of a fashion career. Lori is involved in many extracurricular activities and appreciates all the learning experiences UGA has brought her.

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Katherine Hintz

Director, Customer Experience

Katherine is a marketing professional and MBA candidate who strives to unite her love of people with a passion for positive experiences. Having a diverse background, which includes nonprofit work with digital marketing and start-ups, she serves as a leader who helps people live their most creative lives by cultivating community, order, collaboration, and respect. With equal parts creativity and analytics, she brings a unique skill set which fosters refining, problem solving, and connecting organizations with their true vision. In her free time, you can usually find her looking for her cup of coffee, playing with her puppy Charlie, and dreaming of her next road trip.

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Mary Kate Love

Chief of Staff & Host

Mary Kate Love is currently the VP of marketing at Supply Chain Now focused on brand strategy and audience + revenue growth. Mary Kate’s career is a testament to her versatility and innovative spirit: she has experience in start-ups, venture capital, and building innovation initiatives from the ground up: she previously helped lead the build-out of the Supply Chain Innovation Center at Georgia-Pacific and before that, MxD (Manufacturing times Digital): the Department of Defense’s digital manufacturing innovation center. Mary Kate has a passion for taking complicated ideas and turning them into reality: she was one of the first team members at MxD and the first team member at the Supply Chain Innovation Center at Georgia-Pacific.

Mary Kate dedicates her extra time to education and mentorship: she was one of the founding Board Members for Women Influence Chicago and led an initiative for a city-wide job shadow day for young women across Chicago tech companies and was previously on the Board of Directors at St. Laurence High School in Chicago, Young Irish Fellowship Board and the UN Committee for Women. Mary Kate is the founder of National Supply Chain Day and enjoys co-hosting podcasts at Supply Chain Now. Mary Kate is from the south side of Chicago, a mom of two baby boys, and an avid 16-inch softball player. She holds a BS in Political Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

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Joshua Miranda

Marketing Specialist

Joshua is a student from Institute of Technology and Higher Education of Monterrey Campus Guadalajara in Communication and Digital Media. His experience ranges from Plug and Play México, DearDoc, and Nissan México creating unique social media marketing campaigns and graphics design. Joshua helps to amplify the voice of supply chain here at Supply Chain Now by assisting in graphic design, content creation, asset logistics, and more.  In his free time he likes to read and write short stories as well as watch movies and television series.

Donna Krache

Director of Communications and Executive Producer

Donna Krache is a former CNN executive producer who has won several awards in journalism and communication, including three Peabodys.  She has 30 years’ experience in broadcast and digital journalism. She led the first production team at CNN to convert its show to a digital platform. She has authored many articles for CNN and other media outlets. She taught digital journalism at Georgia State University and Arizona State University. Krache holds a bachelor’s degree in government from the College of William and Mary and a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from the University of New Orleans. She is a serious sports fan who loves the Braves. She is president of the Dave Krache Foundation. Named in honor of her late husband, this non-profit pays fees for kids who want to play sports but whose parents are facing economic challenges.

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Vicki White

Controller

Vicki has a long history of rising to challenges and keeping things up and running. First, she supported her family’s multi-million dollar business as controller for 12 years, beginning at the age of 17. Then, she worked as an office manager and controller for a wholesale food broker. But her biggest feat? Serving as the chief executive officer of her household, while her entrepreneur husband travelled the world extensively. She fed, nurtured, chaperoned, and chauffeured three daughters all while running a newsletter publishing business and remaining active in her community as a Stephen’s Minister, Sunday school teacher, school volunteer, licensed realtor and POA Board president (a title she holds to this day). A force to be reckoned with in the office, you might think twice before you meet Vicki on the tennis court! When she’s not keeping the books balanced at Supply Chain Now or playing tennis matches, you can find Vicki spending time with her husband Greg, her 4 fur babies, gardening, cleaning (yes, she loves to clean!) and learning new things.

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Katherine Hintz

Creative Director, Producer, Host

Katherine Hintz, MBA is a marketing professional who strives to unite her love of people with a passion for positive experiences. Having a diverse background, which includes nonprofit work with digital marketing and start-ups, she serves as a leader who helps people live their most creative lives by cultivating community, order, collaboration, and respect. With equal parts creativity and analytics, she brings a unique skill set which fosters refining, problem solving, and connecting organizations with their true vision. In her free time, you can usually find her looking for her cup of coffee, playing with her puppy Charlie, and dreaming of her next road trip.

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Kim Reuter

Host

From humble beginnings working the import docks, representing Fortune 500 giants, Ford, Michelin Tire, and Black & Decker; to Amazon technology patent holder and Nordstrom Change Leader, Kimberly Reuter has designed, implemented, and optimized best-in-class, highly scalable global logistics and retail operations all over the world. Kimberly’s ability to set strategic vision supported by bomb-proof processes, built on decades of hands-on experience, has elevated her to legendary status. Sought after by her peers and executives for her intellectual capital and keen insights, Kimberly is a thought leader in the retail logistics industry.

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Kristi Porter

Host, Logistics with Purpose

Kristi Porter is VP of Sales and Marketing at Vector Global Logistics, a company that is changing the world through supply chain. In her role, she oversees all marketing efforts and supports the sales team in doing what they do best. In addition to this role, she is the Chief Do-Gooder at Signify, which assists nonprofits and social impact companies through copywriting and marketing strategy consulting. She has almost 20 years of professional experience, and loves every opportunity to help people do more good.

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Sofia Rivas Herrera

Host, Supply Chain Now en Espanol

Sofia Rivas Herrera is a Mexican Industrial Engineer from Tecnologico de Monterrey class 2019. Upon graduation, she earned a scholarship to study MIT’s Graduate Certificate in Logistics and Supply Chain Management and graduated as one of the Top 3 performers of her class in 2020. She also has a multicultural background due to her international academic experiences at Singapore Management University and Kühne Logistics University in Hamburg. Sofia self-identifies as a Supply Chain enthusiast & ambassador sharing her passion for the field in her daily life.

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Demo Perez

Host, Supply Chain Now en Espanol

Demo Perez started his career in 1997 in the industry by chance when a relative asked him for help for two just weeks putting together an operation for FedEx Express at the Colon Free Zone, an area where he was never been but accepted the challenge. Worked in all roles possible from a truck driver to currier to a sales representative, helped the brand introduction, market share growth and recognition in the Colon Free Zone, at the end of 1999 had the chance to meet and have a chat with Fred Smith ( FedEx CEO), joined another company in 2018 who took over the FedEx operations as Operations and sales manager, in 2004 accepted the challenge from his company to leave the FedEx operations and business to take over the operation and business of DHL Express, his major competitor and rival so couldn’t say no, by changing completely its operation model in the Free Zone. In 2005 started his first entrepreneurial journey by quitting his job and joining two friends to start a Freight Forwarding company. After 8 months was recruited back by his company LSP with the General Manager role with the challenge of growing the company and make it fully capable warehousing 3PL. By 2009 joined CSCMP and WERC and started his journey of learning and growing his international network and high-level learning. In 2012 for the first time joined a local association ( the Panama Maritime Chamber) and worked in the country’s first Logistics Strategy plan, joined and lead other associations ending as president of the Panama Logistics Council in 2017. By finishing his professional mission at LSP with a company that was 8 times the size it was when accepted the role as GM with so many jobs generated and several young professionals coached, having great financial results, took the decision to move forward and start his own business from scratch by the end of 2019. with a friend and colleague co-founded IPL Group a company that started as a boutique 3PL and now is gearing up for the post-Covid era by moving to the big leagues.

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