“You have to stand up for your team. You have to stand up – stand up and sponsor them no matter what.”
– Crystal Y Davis, CEO and Founder of The Lean Coach, Inc.
“If you shut a voice down, you’re hurting yourself. You’re hurting the organization. So, I say bad leaders are bad listeners.”
– Charles Walker, Army Master Sergeant (Ret.)
We are all inspired by stories of successful leadership. They are empowering, give us something to aspire to, and… help us improve our own performance as leaders in no way. A far better approach is to just cut to the chase and call out the worst, most blatant mistakes in leadership that supply chain leaders have witnessed or experienced first-hand so they can be avoided and learned from.
To help in that effort, Supply Chain Now welcomed two veteran supply chain leaders and entrepreneurs to call out the top things bad leaders do. Crystal Y Davis is the CEO and Founder of The Lean Coach, Inc., and Charles Walker is a retired Army Master Sergeant with over 20 years active duty in Special Operations Logistics.
In this episode, Crystal and Charles pull no punches as they walk Co-hosts Greg White and Scott Luton through the worst leadership mistakes they have seen:
· Running away from conflict in the organization, or attempting to pass it off as an ‘HR problem’
· Failing to take responsibility for their own actions, and failing to hold others accountable for the problems they have created
· Believing that they (the leader) are the smartest person around the table and that no one can possibly have better ideas than they do
Intro/Outro (00:03):
Welcome to supply chain. Now the voice of global supply chain supply chain now focuses on the best in the business for our worldwide audience, the people, the technologies, the best practices, and today’s critical issues. The challenges and opportunities stay tuned to hear from those making global business happen right here on supply chain now. All right,
Scott Luton (00:32):
It looks like we had some technical difficulties on this, uh, April Fool’s Day or Greg someone’s messing with us a production team. What does that say, whoosh? I’m sorry. Well, we have got an outstanding show here today. Uh, so good morning, everybody. Scott Luton and Greg White with you here on the supply chain now welcome to our standing Thursday live stream. And so ignore the bugs on the front end because we’ve got a home run conversation teed up Greg here. It’s April Fool’s Day and we’re here. Wait a minute. I think we’re here. Right? What does that say? We’re here on April Fools. Well, we are not, uh, no fool in here today. We’ve got two awesome speakers. We’re going to be talking about bad leadership practices, right? What not to do. We all learn. And we always talk about great leaders and leadership, best practices and all that.
Scott Luton (01:29):
We’re going to flip the script on that today. And we’re going to talk about things that Charles and crystal have learned from, from bad leaders. And we’re gonna share some, some commentary on that. So Greg, it is April Fools because you just gave up the guests, which is usually my job. That is your job. We’re swamped. We’re swapping roles here on supply chain now on April 1st, but we want everybody, so that’s a heads up. That’s what we’re talking about. This bad leadership practices, what not to do what you’ve learned from folks that are, that are really ineffective leaders. We all have rubbed elbows for the day, right? I think what an appropriate day for this bizarro world. Yes. Right here on supply chain now. So get your, your POV and your thoughts. Ready. We want to hear from all of y’all that are in the cheap seats in the comments, we’re going to feature that all along the way.
Scott Luton (02:18):
We’re going to say hello to a few folks here momentarily as well. Okay. So Greg let’s make a few announcements before we bring on our two run guests here today. Just any announcements. Oh, we’re going to, um, first off we are very pleased to be sponsoring, uh, this event, race against the clock positioning procurement for growth enablement. And this is, uh, Greg is from the folks over at art to procurement. This is our popular mastermind live session for spring 2021. And it’s April 13th and 14th, uh, register for free, which is a great gesture. All about the hot space of procurement, very hot, you know, I, a lot of time evaluating
Greg White (03:00):
Companies. In fact, I just, I just asked for a little help from Kelly Barner. Thank you, Kelly. If you’re listening, um, with this company who has, what I think is a pretty innovative technology and man, we are hearing a lot about procurement. It’s really blurring the line, which I think is a good thing between procurement and supply chain and procurement and supply chain as a combined discipline, something we’re all very conscious of.
Scott Luton (03:29):
Well, and, and you’re, you’re gonna find, uh, uh, leadership best practices, strategies for growth, all kind of focus on procurements, a great event here. Uh, Amanda or clay, if we can drop the link to register in the comments, make it easy for folks. That would be great. Okay. Uh, secondly, so this is cool. One of our favorite things to do is to put our spotlight on all nonprofits out there that are doing big things, right. Really making it happen. So our second quarter, so first quarter nonprofit making it happen was truckers against trafficking, which have trained over a million people to look for trafficking signs. I think they’ve saved like 13, 1400 folks from, uh, human trafficking, which is just a travesty, but for second quarter, it is as we’re announcing today, good, three 60. So get this Greg. Their mission is to transform lives by providing hope, dignity and a sense of renewed possibility to those in need.
Scott Luton (04:24):
They’re the global leader in product philanthropy and purposeful giving. They’ve been around for 37 years. They’ve distributed $10 billion with a B to B dollars in products to those in need. And those needs that might be day-to-day needs. Unfortunately for families in need, people in need. It could be post-disaster challenges, right? Uh, you name it a good three 60 is on a mission to help and you can learn more@goodthreesixtygoodthreesixty.org. So got to get the help, get the word out on this powerful organization. So y’all join us in that if you would, we’ll be talking a lot more about good three 60 in the next three months to come and featuring some of their leadership as well, uh, to help them, you know, put a spotlight on the incredible stuff that they’re doing.
Greg White (05:07):
Well, you know, we talk a lot about circular supply chain and reverse logistics, and this is a great outlet for that as well. Right? So 10 billion with a B that’s incredible. I just would like to note that one of the things they are seeking is technology-based donations right now. So I don’t know what that means, but if you go to their site, I haven’t dug into it. But if you go and go to their site, I’m sure they can give you some details there.
Scott Luton (05:31):
Great call out and we’d drop there again. We want to make it easy. We’re going to be featuring their URL in the show notes and in upcoming shows, but we dropped it in the comments. Y’all check that out.
Greg White (05:40):
Okay. And billion with a B. It
Scott Luton (05:42):
Really talk about moving the needle. Um, so
Greg White (05:45):
Bitcoin now
Scott Luton (05:48):
Really well, and again, look at these pictures
Greg White (05:53):
Of happiness going on there. It
Scott Luton (05:55):
Really is. They’re really, really making it happen here. Okay. So let’s say a load to a few folks, Greg, and then we’re going to bring in all y’all stay tuned. We’ve got two incredible guests here. Let’s see. We have got, uh, Peter is back with us. Peter Boulay has been on a tear. Great to see a Peter Todd rains, Greg
Greg White (06:14):
It’s rain man. Welcome aboard
Scott Luton (06:16):
Paula. Everyone does love the switch. We got, we going to go find it and see where it went. Paula,
Greg White (06:22):
April fuel. So if somebody just wants to throw it in at any time, just
Scott Luton (06:28):
Mervin good evening from Dublin. Great to see ya. Mervin Simon let’s leap into the void together together, man, Simon, uh, Greg, he’s like a couple levels, uh, pay grades above. He is. He I’ll send them out on social the other day. He has some great references. Well,
Greg White (06:48):
I love it. When you say Simon says it just makes so much,
Scott Luton (06:53):
Uh, let’s say [inaudible] nevus is with us. Hello? Greg white from India. Great to see you there.
Greg White (06:58):
in India. Let’s see if we can figure out if we can find out where in India,
Scott Luton (07:01):
Where you are in India, big country, Kris Kristofferson. Good morning, everyone from North Carolina. First time making one of these Chris. Welcome. Great to have you here naturally
Greg White (07:11):
Pick the right day. Yes,
Scott Luton (07:13):
Sure did. Uh, Natalie, again, she’s back and she’s also North Carolina. So I didn’t know that. Let’s see, David is with us. It’s awesome. Good morning. From the soon to be prison state of Ontario,
Greg White (07:26):
Man. Lockdowns coming again.
Scott Luton (07:29):
We’ve got to break through this for sure. Tom says, Hey guys, I’m really curious on one thing. Oh boy, what’s the hair routine looking stuff up there. That’s all. Greg. Greg is a cool one here. So, uh, I do agree Greg, your hair is looking good.
Greg White (07:43):
It needs, it needs cut up according to my wife and I can’t argue that, but thank you, Tom.
Scott Luton (07:50):
And again, great to have you here on LinkedIn. Thanks so much for joining us. And finally, Gary Smith, hello from rainy Roslyn, New York, Gary. Great to have you at the pallet is right over. Uh Greg’s.
Greg White (08:03):
He wants it bronze, but I feel like it would fall through the floor. If I did that
Scott Luton (08:07):
Pallet check by Gary Smith that loved that, Gary, I hope this finds you well. Uh, we look forward to reconnecting soon. Okay. With no further ado, folks are in store. Um, you got a great conversation teed up. We are really featuring these guests repeat guests because our team and our community are our supply chain. Now family, as it were, were clamoring to have these two guests back with us and their POV. I love that word. Well, I stole it shamelessly from your vocabulary, by the way. So you can’t use it anymore. Gregory. Uh, but crystal David crystal Davis will be joining us, founder, CEO and principal lean practitioner at the lean coach, Inc and Charles Walker, vice president business development with Aurora global solutions. Bring them in. Okay, we’re going to do this manually. Evidently that the swamp is not working. This really is broken. This is force. Uh, uh, I don’t know about this reminds me. We had a guy by the name of Joe Penn on TV and local kids showed in South Carolina. When I was growing up, he would have the kids do this as they bring the cartoon machine and cause they’d play cartoons and all this kind of stuff. So maybe we’ll have to, uh, do a manual switch, uh, moving forward. We’ll see when the one that makes me miss romper room romper.
Greg White (09:30):
Yeah, it was kind of a smarty and Ms. Fran.
Scott Luton (09:34):
Well, um, so let’s talk about, um, we’re gonna, we’re gonna roll first with our lightning round. So Charles and Crystal formally welcome to the show today. Great to have you well, a board we had to get y’all we had to have y’all back. I mean, y’all you call such a stor uh, crystal of course you were on a podcast with us where we kind of talked about your journey and, and of course Charles was with, with, uh, Enrique and us on a previous lab stream, heard a ton from folks, uh, across the community. So great to have you back. And Greg, where are we going to start? Today’s discussion.
Greg White (10:15):
Let’s start with the calendar, Scott. Hey, since it’s April Fool’s Day, I want to simulate some of the other live streams that I’ve seen. So everybody just hang tight for just a second.
Scott Luton (10:25):
Okay. He was still out there. You seen that? Yes. Yeah. We entertained by that.
Greg White (10:41):
I find it somewhat painful, but I don’t know. People must be entertained by it. I’m going to do that. I want to do that a whole show, just like that. I don’t even know what I’ll be doing off screen just every once in a while. I’ll look, go silent. You want it? You want to throw them a mic when that happens. Okay. I’m sorry. It is April fools. Um, so I think the most appropriate question to ask, I’m going to ask Crystal first because asking Charles strikes fear into my heart.
Scott Luton (11:10):
Um, crystal, any
Greg White (11:13):
Big time, practical jokers in your, in your family, has anyone hit you already with something she’s doing it? It’s her. She is the practical joker. Right?
Scott Luton (11:24):
Perfect. So now we know who it is. I don’t like it when it’s done. Yeah.
Greg White (11:45):
People can dish it out, but can’t take it. So is that you and your family? Are you
Scott Luton (11:49):
The practical joker? It would be me. Yeah. Anything planned for today? No,
Crystal Davis (11:54):
I didn’t. My day started really early in chaotic, so I’ve just, I haven’t had time to think of that.
Greg White (11:59):
I hate it. When work gets in the way of recreation,
Crystal Davis (12:03):
Maybe I’ll cover with some of them before the clock strikes into the next day.
Greg White (12:11):
Uh, so you gotta be on your toes till midnight in your head.
Crystal Davis (12:15):
Fair game. Every the whole day is fair game. Yeah. That’s true. April 1st,
Greg White (12:22):
Charles Walker, we know it’s you. So I got to know what, what do you got planned,
Charles Walker (12:28):
Man, really don’t have anything planned for it because I know my brother, I got a brother that he’s going to come up with something. Cause I’m traveling back down there later this evening. And so it’s fair game with him until midnight. So, uh, I’m holding it for him, you know, because around here, you know, nobody’s want to do want to do it because it’s so much going on and somebody tried to play a joke on you they’ll think it’s real right now because with the pandemic going on, people’s like, Oh, that happened for real, you know, cause everything is happening. So right now.
Greg White (12:58):
Yeah. Everyone could believe anything at this point. Yeah,
Charles Walker (13:03):
Exactly. Man. Anything could happen right now? So it might be real. It might not even be an April fool’s joke. It might be real.
Greg White (13:10):
Are you on high defense right now? I mean, knowing that your brother is going to be the one who pulls it, are you on high defense all day,
Charles Walker (13:18):
All full alert, full battle rail, at least in the military full belt.
Greg White (13:26):
And does he still get you sometimes, even though you’re on alert for it,
Charles Walker (13:31):
But it lasts through the whole year. I don’t trust nothing you say now. So he gives me a, now he heard himself because now I don’t believe what he’s saying.
Greg White (13:41):
Todd rains, this is a great day for Todd rains. I’m certain that something is coming.
Charles Walker (13:46):
Right. Um,
Greg White (13:48):
So, and, and probably coming during this show, but I’m on too high of alert. He won’t get me. All right, Scott, what about you? Who’s uh, who’s the practical joker in your family? Uh, so
Scott Luton (14:01):
I like, I like a lot of practical jokes. I mess with the kids. Uh, pretty often the last dad practical joke I did is I grabbed a mouse computer mouse and uh, the kids were upstairs and I wrapped it in a, in a towel and I had Amanda shriek and, and, and she said, Oh, that’s got a mouse. That’s got, I had all three kids wrapped around. I want to say, I want to say it uncovered this computer mouse. And they moaned and true dad joke fashion. But we count with
Charles Walker (14:32):
That is a bad joke. I might just deal. That was that
Scott Luton (14:38):
The rolling of the eyes that my oldest gave me for the next two hours would have power hook. The communities would have power, power grids everywhere. But uh, Hey, you gotta, life’s short. You gotta enjoy the small things. Right. Right.
Greg White (14:52):
All right. So, so we’ve got past that and I’m watching you rains. Um, we’ve got past that a little bit, but I am strangely I’m so super gullible that it’s easy to take advantage of me and Charles kind of like you, I get into the day, I forget. It’s it’s April fool’s day and you could tell me anything and I would believe it. So I’m an easy target on a day like this, um, even on high alert I will.
Crystal Davis (15:24):
Right.
Greg White (15:26):
All right. Well, so let’s talk about something else. That’s really important today, particularly to Scott, um, in particularly here in Atlanta and in St. Louis, Missouri for Mr. Todd rains. And that is, it is the first day of baseball season. So Chris, Oh man, that was, that was very, you guys hear that? Yeah, that was very man. My it’s my computer. That’s playing April fool’s jokes on me. Um, anyway, it is the first day of baseball season, crystal, big baseball fan. I mean, you went to Mississippi state, they’ve got a pretty legendary baseball program there.
Charles Walker (16:05):
So profile. Um, I only liked to watch when it starts to approach the world series. Um, growing up, my grandad loved baseball and he come over to our house and the game would go, so doggone long, he fall asleep. So like, I’ll just wait till the, to all the excitement. But, uh, if I had to pick a team, you know, uh, of course the Braves are a favorite, uh, but growing up, uh, and this is probably going to be like, what? Growing up, my family loved the Cubs
Greg White (16:39):
WGN was everywhere. Right.
Crystal Davis (16:42):
Everywhere. It was everywhere. Yeah. So, yeah.
Greg White (16:45):
Yeah. That’s not, that’s not uncommon. I don’t think in your, from Jackson, Mississippi
Crystal Davis (16:50):
Jackson, Mississippi, Mississippi. Yeah.
Greg White (16:54):
Uh, alright. Charles, what about you?
Charles Walker (16:57):
No, I’m not. Uh, I’m not, I’m just like crystal on that. You know, I support the Braves here. Uh, but you know, I grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, man. We had the Birmingham barons, so I mostly looked at it like that. Uh, I wait to the, to the world series where I get excited about it. I won’t just sit there and look at it for real. And, but I, I support the Braves here, you know, but that’s about it for baseball for me. No, not
Greg White (17:24):
We know about you. Yes. I mean, is there a bigger Braves fan, but I think since we’re all sort of bandwagon Braves fans, what’s the prediction for the season? How are they looking? Oh, well, you know, um, there’s some pieces that we couldn’t get, uh, you know, the Braves aren’t they used to be under Ted Turner used to be the big spenders and payrolls and top three or four teams in the league, but times have changed. But if the pitching staff healthy and
Scott Luton (17:50):
We’ve got a, we’ve got a good offense. Uh, so I’m, I’m excited to where we go. I think the bullpen everybody’s looking at the bullpen or some, some, some needs there, but Hey, that’s every team in the majors. So I’m looking forward to just having baseball back. It gives Elma about y’all, but we’re all seeking out some sense of normalcy, every little shred of normalcy we can get and it’s comfort food, and it’ll be good as true. I agree with you. And it also, they need to stop getting those right down to the tip of winning and then ever since 95, every single ever since 95, but Hey, Hey, you know, um, uh, at least we, uh, you know, we’ve lived to see one world series and that’s more than a lot of folks and a lot of teams. So we’ll see, we’ll see what happens from here, but I should point out, at least we’ve got baseball in our city, Peter, you know, mantra, the expos played Montreal forever, and they are now the nationals, the nationals, that same franchise, so packed up.
Greg White (18:46):
So I did a lot of work with implementing technology in Canada. And, um, there was a com uh, grocer called probably go up there and Rona, which is like, was, I would say, they’re the home Depot, Canada, but now home depots.
Scott Luton (19:00):
Okay.
Greg White (19:03):
But back then, this was late nineties. They were a tops. And I would go to expos games, me and 1200 of Luke Flonase, best friends would be there. So Peter must have been one of the 1200 other people at those games, you know, and that was played in the Olympic stadium, had this big lid that they could lift up. Couldn’t lower it down because they couldn’t get the winch to lift it back up if they did. So it was open all the time. And I mean, it would be wickedly cold in Montreal.
Scott Luton (19:32):
The sad thing is the year of the strike in 94, the expos had one of the best teams assembled. Uh, and they were leading the Braves in the division about five or six games that team would have vied for a world series. And that’s a shame that, that never got finished, but, but Hey, baseball is back and it’s great. It’s great. Great things. So let’s talk, let’s shift gears. I think we could, we could probably have more fun with this lightning round, uh, and, and practical jokes. Holy cow, the production team, and has already gotten this, uh, on this April fool’s day. Let’s talk leadership. Both of y’all are actually all three of y’all though. Greg, in there, your dynamic, your leadership, uh, leaders and, um, action oriented. And, uh, and, and I’ve learned frankly from all three of you, um, uh, I guess I had the opportunity to rub elbows and work alongside Greg all the time. So I see it more often, but crystal and Charles, uh, it’s evident in, in, in our conversations, what y’all share on social, what you do. So it’s great to have you all here. So let’s, um, we’re gonna be talking about what we’ve learned from the ineffective leaders though, the bad leaders. So, Chris, I want to start with you and we’re going to get your top three lessons learned from bad leaders, but, uh, crystal what’s, uh, what’s the first thing on your list. All right. So the first on my list, I’ll
Crystal Davis (20:48):
Tell it in a little story. So I was working as an engineer in Mexico, and I had a, a little a situation with one of the manufacturing managers. And I went to my boss and told him about it and he didn’t support me. And I got so angry because I was the, the incident was so, so grossly wrong towards me that there was no way that I could be questioned about my actions. And I got so mad. I told him, I said, you know what, I’m going to go. I want to quit this job. I’m going to go find me a job at McDonald’s work the fry machine until I make enough money to pay my parents back from my college education from Mississippi state, you know,
Charles Walker (21:27):
Continue another day at that place
Crystal Davis (21:31):
Do, but my point is you have to like stand up for your team. You have to stand up, stand up and, and sponsor them no matter what right. You, whether or not they need to be corrected or not, you have to support them and support them. And support also means correcting them when it’s, when necessary or correcting behavior when necessary. But if people don’t feel like they have your support and especially people that work hard for the organization, right? Like sacrificing and working overtime or working weekends, or, you know, missing out on kids’ activities, you don’t support them. That is like the worst form of a slap in the face. Right. So that’s my first,
Scott Luton (22:14):
Uh, that’s a great, that’s a great one. And unfortunately it is prevalent, you know, I think it’s, it’s, it’s really prevalent. Uh, cause folks, humans, all of us take sometimes take the easy way out and it’s easier probably not to address and create the conflict even though the conflicts needed right. Conflicts needed when there’s misbehavior and injustices. Right. Crystal.
Crystal Davis (22:35):
Right. Absolutely. Absolutely. Yep.
Scott Luton (22:38):
All right. So starting on a high note on that one and, and folks we want to hear from y’all tell us, tell us what you’ve learned from folks, bad leader stories. That’s right. That’s what it is. And by the way, hello, Larry Klein. Great to have you back, I think. All right. So Charles, as we break the seal off, uh, your perspective here today, what’s, what’s one of the items on your list.
Charles Walker (23:02):
Well, you know, I agree with crystal on that too, but I look at, there are some, some common, some coming out between good leadership and there’s some coming out as in bad leadership. And one of when I found one unit, one company I was with, it was the avoidance of conflict and just, just totally avoidant it, you know, like you see the wrongdoing in the organization and then some leaders just avoid it all together. They want nothing to do with it. You’ll hear things like that’s an HR problem. As soon as the HR I’m saying, but it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s rampant throughout the organization. I think that as a leader, you should not be afraid, uh, or avoid conflict. You know, it just, we, it is, you know, because once you face it, just follow the, uh, the rules of the organization culture and, and the mission statement, and just bring that up. We can stay neutral and get an understanding of what’s going on, but do not run from conflict because conflict, it will dilute your organization and everything had to go wrong. So I think that people should learn how to deal with conflict resolution in a professional manner where people respect you as a leader. And they said he don’t run from it. Uh, so I think the main one that I had on my list today, although there’s many more conflict resolution is you really need that today in, uh, in leadership,
Scott Luton (24:16):
You know, I worked for an organization, had a great CEO, uh, very values driven, great leader. And he used to say, uh, conflict today is good for folks. Uh, and, and, you know, initially when I heard that, I was like, eh, I don’t know. But the more I think about it, that is probably a good way to live. Uh, Greg, I’m gonna get your take in a minute. Paula though says, um, I had a boss that did not support or stand up for me. So I found another job in the company with a promotion.
Charles Walker (24:42):
Hey, I love that
Scott Luton (24:44):
Drew says, if they are bad, they aren’t leaders. They’re simply managers, bad managers. Wow,
Charles Walker (24:50):
Great.
Greg White (24:52):
She just did it to us again. Wait, do that again, crystal.
Scott Luton (25:01):
So Greg comment here, crystals and Charles they’re their first, uh, items from the list are very related. Give us a take before moving on to the second one.
Greg White (25:09):
Yeah. I think that, you know, the, both of what crystal and Charles had talked about and actually most of these examples so far is I think maybe at a higher level, or at least my perspective is one of the most egregious offenses a leader can make. And that is sacrificing the totality of the organization for the one exception, right? Not the good of the organization are not supporting the morale of the organization in order to avoid conflict or by failing to support someone who has been wrong. And that is incredibly erosive to an organization, right? How many times have, I mean, look, I’ve been party to it. I’ve probably done the bad leader thing. At least once in allowing someone who was obviously terminal to the culture, detrimental to the mission to the organization and not, not addressing that quickly enough and, and then seeing it or erode organization. So I developed this philosophy kind of on my own, as I realized I was failing, it was it’s either one of us or it’s all of us, right? Either this one bad Apple has to go or the whole, a whole bushel is ruined. So I just had to tell myself that over and over as a young leader to get to the point where I would make those cuts, I love that
Scott Luton (26:30):
Let’s hear from the, uh, our community a bit T squared who holds down the Fort for us on YouTube. Great to have you here at T squared. Crystal just gave us a smorgasbord in that response. And Charles gave us an entree nourishment. Natalie says, Hey, bad leaders are complacent. Don’t push beyond romance. Yeah, that’s good. Yeah, that is good. Uh, Larry says I’ve learned to handle conflict of thing. He says at the lowest level possible. If employees see you, hint, if they employees see you will handle their issues, they’ll do anything you ask the leaders I work the hardest for are those that I’ve known had my back. Excellent point. I agree with one final comment from the, uh, rain man, uh, Todd rains being directed to reallocate away from a fee warehouse by VP. And then when the fee, all right. So, uh, Greg Moore, April barrels up. So basically his boss told him to do something. And then when the business partner complained, he threw Todd under the bus, um, to thank you for all. And I’ll keep them coming. We’re talking about, uh, bad leadership today and what we’ve learned from bad leaders or as I think drew put it bad managers. So does it, we all know there’s a big difference. Okay. So let’s keep driving here. So crystal, what is second on your list?
Crystal Davis (27:49):
I second on my list is when they actually are the ones creating the chaos in the organization, not setting priorities, not honoring their word. Um, you know, when that leader is the one that’s driving, the chaos and the instability in the organization, that one
Scott Luton (28:09):
April, I wonder just had someone pop into their head. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, um, and, and unfortunately that happens quite a bit, you know, I, I hate politics and, um, and it just, it’s so corrosive, uh, to an organization. Right. And, and I’ve been fortunate to not work in too many political organism organizations. I mean, who can afford that, but, um, you know, there’s leaders that, that do more harm than good is kind of what I’m hearing crystal talk about. All right. So a lot of good stuff here. Um, and we’ve got some more comments. I’ll share a materially, Charles, what second up on your list?
Charles Walker (28:44):
The second one on mine was those leaders that do not take responsibility or accountability for their own actions. Therefore they can’t take responsibility for the action of the organization. You see, like if the organization is looking at you as the leader and you know, you’re not setting an example. So therefore you allow the chaos to continue because you know, you can’t say anything and that’s a bad position to be in. That’s a bad organization to be in as well, because you have to take accountability for some of the projects you can task that has to be done. You have to say, we fail pointing the blame, but if you got bad character, you can’t do that. You can’t step out. So that’s, that’s one of the ones I really look at a lot and I say anybody can be guilty because in leadership, we’re continuously growing all of us. We are learning from our mistakes as we get older and we get in these positions, we have to realize that we hold ourself accountable for our people, man, we gotta stand up for our people. I learned that in the military, if you do for
Crystal Davis (29:42):
Your people, you know, you take care of them, man. They’ll fight. They’ll fight for you, man. And I I’ve learned to do that. I take responsibility for my actions and the actions of my guys. And that’s just the way I go with it. You know, if I got to discipline them, I’ll do that outside of everything, up in front of somebody we’ll deal with it. I’ll take responsibility. So I think that’s a good leader.
Scott Luton (30:02):
Agreed a lot of good stuff there, Charles. And, uh, let’s see here, going back to, uh, Crystal’s first point, our second point, chaos, Natalie says great point, crystal. This is so applicable for leaders at all levels, especially those that aren’t those that aren’t managers are more leaders and managers. Excellent. Right there. Gary shares his top three bad leader traits, not communicating with staff on support with staff and three, if humility Is it well, I’ll own that point. Uh, and Greg, will you get your way in here? Just a second, but crystal, go ahead. Since Gary mentioned that, go ahead and show you.
Crystal Davis (30:40):
Yeah, so I, I framed it up a little bit differently, but it results in the same and, and leaders that think that they are the only ones with the answer. And so they don’t show respect to the talent that they have on the team. They don’t, uh, encourage the, their team to, uh, exude the best of what they have to bring to the table. And they don’t allow their team to grow. And it also creates mistrust, right? Because then people won’t share, they won’t share when their problems are opportunities or when they see certain things because they don’t feel like they have a voice when your answer is the only answer that matters.
Scott Luton (31:17):
Well said, crystal, I liked that. I need to Greg, what are you thinking here?
Greg White (31:24):
I’m thinking so many things, but, um, I’ll narrow it down to communication. Communication is absolutely critical and it, it’s hard. It’s hard to do, you know, that’s what, that’s what leaders do though. They do the hard things. They’re out front when, you know, when their people are facing a challenge and they’re in the back when their people have succeeded. Right? But the indication is so critical because that gives people, the things that they seek in a job, relevant, relevance, respect, responsibility. And there are other words that don’t start with R but I mean, it does all those things. You have to allow people to understand what their purpose is and you know, the why we’re doing this, the, what it accomplishes the, you know, how that it needs to get done. And you have to do that through communication. And it’s really, really difficult, but it’s absolutely necessary. And I’ve seen some awful communicators, again, guilty as charged on more than one. Yeah. It’s not, it’s not a consistent problem for me, for me, but believe me, well, I don’t know. Maybe there’s some people who’ve worked for me who would argue that it is, I’d love to hear from you if you think so. But I worked again, worked really hard at it, but I know I have been terrible at communication at least from time to time. So
Charles Walker (32:40):
That’s really, really,
Scott Luton (32:42):
It’s hard to do because sometimes you have to decide what and how to communicate certain things, right? Because there are things that the line staff needs to know. And there are things that it’s better. They don’t know. And making that differentiation is, is sometimes very difficult, but always clear purpose, right? Clear goals and clear expectations. So, all right. A lot of good stuff there. And by the way, if you work for Greg and you want to throw some stones, we want to hear from you today during the last year
Charles Walker (33:11):
Right now, I’m not lying. I’ve got my pen,
Scott Luton (33:18):
Charles, I’m coming to you next. But I won’t share a couple of comments before I do a lot of stuff here. Simon says a boss who sets a task. And after you deliver it, they complain that they wanted the opposite done. Suck it up, work extra hard to deliver the opposite. And then when you redeliver, they complain, it should’ve been, it should’ve been the opposite
Charles Walker (33:40):
That Picasso started with a blank canvas. So if you want something different, frame it up, give us, give us the, uh, draw it out. Even Picasso’s started with a blank,
Scott Luton (33:58):
C squared says bad managers seem to conveniently forget to tell their subordinates, the rules of the road of the organization, written and unwritten and you know, baseball. Season’s really bad about unwritten rules.
Charles Walker (34:09):
So as Leah,
Scott Luton (34:11):
Great to see you here today. Uh, she showed up late. One of our favorite topics is leadership while you’re in the right place. And we look forward to your POV here today, Rhonda, hello, Rhonda says our team can feel if we actually care for them as a person or not feeling valued helps us all show up as our best selves.
Charles Walker (34:28):
For sure. Excellent. Palantir is absolutely right. Rhonda is correct.
Scott Luton (34:33):
Charles, on that note, I agree with you on that note. What’s your third and final item here?
Charles Walker (34:38):
My third one, man, it’s very important and it’s important in our life is important in our job, in everything we do most bad managers or leaders. They are not good listeners because man, you know, when you, when you, I know we all have been through this with it, we’ve been in a meeting, right? The leader, actually, anybody have any, any, anything to add or any questions, anything, everybody go radio silent. They want to get out in the hallway. They talk about what they would have done, what they would have said because they know that their leader is not a good listener. So he won’t get all that good information and he’d get in the hallway and being a good listener. It’s got a lot to do with looking at your people’s body language, their tone. It’s just not sitting back and being the last person to speak.
Charles Walker (35:21):
You got to understand who your team is. It’s certain bilingual person. Have you tell it, they agitated about something or whatever they want to speak. Or if a guy’s not paying attention around them around the meeting. You know, I w I’d like to put a round table with my guy. That’s like, Hey, not a straight table is round. I’m looking, everybody’s looking at each other. And then I can’t offer me. And you you’re able to express yourself as long as it’s productive and conducive to what we’re trying to accomplish. I’m welcoming all, I’m listening to everything people say, because they have something to say, but they gotta be free to say it, man, if you’re your smartest people around that table, if you shut that voice down, you’re hurting yourself. You’re hurting the organization. So I say bad leaders are bad listeners.
Greg White (36:07):
Greg, what w what, uh, piggyback on those comments from Charles? Well, listening is the absolutely most critical thing, because look as a, as a leader, uh, I mean, one of the things that you have to do is you have to break down barriers and remove hurdles for your people. And you can’t know what those are that, you know, you can’t know what those are, unless you actually listen. Right? And sometimes that might mean you need to change something in another part of the business to facilitate something for your sales team or for your accounting team or whatever. Right. So yeah, you have to understand those things. And man, if you don’t, if you don’t listen, I don’t understand how you could lead because you get almost all of your best leadership knowledge from what’s going on in a day.
Charles Walker (36:50):
That’s right. That’s right. In a Greg, a good way to do that, man. I found, and I practice it, man. I’ll paraphrase. What you’re telling me. I was like, so I understand you saying this and they feel so good that you do that because they feel like you’re listening. So I’m getting that. You’re saying this, and we should do this. When you do that, man, you get a whole nother stream of things they want to tell you. And then, you know, you started like, like you’re writing it down. You ain’t even gotta be writing it down, but act like you’re writing it down, but be able to paraphrase what that person is saying. And it works good relationships to your wife, be like, Oh, you hurt. You might be all. You might get a little lucky, man. I’m going to write that down.
Charles Walker (37:42):
The beautiful part about listening is you actually create a connection with people, right? If you’re not listening for it with some type of intention, you create a connection. Most people, most people will be okay. If a, if a leader doesn’t choose to do what they suggested, as long as they felt heard. Right? So heard, you know, you did listen to me, you know, and you can learn a lot of that from LinkedIn. I’ve learned a lot from Greg and Scott. I’m always chiming in because I liked when I actually strategically seek out people to communicate with only then I’m very strategic about who I’m communicating with because I’m learning. I want to, I want to learn from them as well. And I always give them feedback. I appreciate you because it helped my day and helping my life. When I, when somebody gives me some good feedback on something, I say, Hey, I appreciate that because they don’t have to do it. You don’t,
Scott Luton (38:36):
It’s interesting. You point out kind of how digital relationships have been so powerful, recent times, I’ve learned a lot, uh, you know, across these different social channels for sure. And then really built relationships. I mean, kind of, this is just an illustration of that. Yeah, that’s right. All right. I want to share this from Todd rains, taking a beating. When someone on your team falls short is critical. No one wants to hear it’s not my fault from anyone, especially leadership, we must be accountable, take the hit and resolve issues. So they don’t reoccur. Excellent point. We would agree. Yeah. As Aaliyah says, um, generally onboarding and job training has really been undervalued. I saw the importance of that early on. Even the part-time jobs during college, trying to integrate that into the organization that she’s working for. Now. I love that positively simulation. Yeah. Excellent point.
Greg White (39:31):
It’s funny. What both of those kind of go to is something that somebody said to me a long time ago, and that is if the student hasn’t learned the teacher hasn’t taught and that’s essentially, I mean, that is essentially what leadership is. You have to work hard to make sure the student learns. Right. And if they don’t learn, if they fail, like Todd’s talking about, you have to take that bullet and assume that you didn’t know,
Scott Luton (39:57):
Communicate the goals, actions appropriately. Right. Take accountability.
Greg White (40:03):
Um, and I think that’s, that is such a critical leadership trait. And I, I wish I could remember who said that. I know it’s been said a thousand times, crystal clearly you’ve heard it, but I wish I could remember who said that to me, but man, I, I definitely drank that in when they,
Scott Luton (40:21):
Yeah. I think in a guy named Charles say that to you, man, what that right. It seems like that was much younger. Were you, man, if you’re not open to learning as a lead, then you don’t, you don’t get it right?
Greg White (40:43):
Oh yeah. You’re not a leader. You’re not a leader because you’re in a position of authority. You’re a leader because people follow you and people follow you. You have to inspire people to follow you.
Scott Luton (40:55):
There you go. Excellent point, Charles should beat me to it on the last three last time, we’re all set. We shouldn’t worry about creating more followers. We should be worried and focused on creating more leaders. I love that. All right. So Larry says the leader should set the vision and Cod the train, not always drive it, let them do their jobs and deal with it if they don’t excellent point there. Uh, and Gary adds to that. Yes. Bad leaders have no vision. They, it says the lack of it can create a chasm too big to traverse between your teams. Excellent point there, David. Okay. Uh, we’ve got, we’ve got a couple more minutes here to dive into this popular topic of not just leadership but bad leadership. And I want to add one that we talked about pre-show and this is probably, and there’s always worst-case scenarios and these conversations like this, I think we’ve talked, touched a lot on, uh, attributes that, you know, like communication, any good leader can have a lapse with communication.
Scott Luton (41:55):
Right. But are you self-aware enough to address it and get intentional about getting better? I think that’s what really sets apart know good leaders. But on the flip side of this worst-case scenario, I think I share with you all, you know, when I was in the air force and got on to my first duty station, that sharp force base in Sumter, South Carolina, one of the office leaders, I used the little leaders, very loosely sat me down my first day in the office. So to speak one-on-one and said, you will fear me. You being me, the young airman, uh, I may have had a Stripe on my sleeve maybe at the time. And he had been in for 15 years or so, uh, was the, uh, senior enlisted manager. And that moment was seared in my brain and right away, and now did for him for a little while right away.
Scott Luton (42:40):
Um, I never want to be that guy or that person or that, or have that type of mentality. And I think, you know, when we think about what we learned from bad leaders, you really crystallize and can visualize what the type of leader you don’t want to be. And I think that is probably one of the best lessons learned from some of the folks that we not have the pleasure of working with or for. So, but what else? Uh, as we, as we start to wrap, and of course, we’re going to make sure folks know how to connect with, uh, crystal and Charles here today, and crystal will touch on your podcast too. But, um, if folks let’s, let’s wrap on we’ll wrap on this last question and I’ll pose this all three of y’all. If folks had to remember one thing and cause this goldfish era, you’ve got seven seconds of attention, right? Everything’s divided attention. So if there’s one thing from this really healthy conversation we’re having that folks should really lock in on what would that be? Chris, let’s start with you. What’s that one thing that folks got to take away from this conversation?
Crystal Davis (43:33):
Uh, the one thing I would say that you should take away, uh, if you are in a leadership role is to learn how to ask great questions. One thing that I would say learn how to ask great questions and all of those other attributes that we talked about listening communication will come about when you start, when you really start to ask great questions. Excellent.
Scott Luton (43:55):
I think you can learn, you know, despite all the presentation, oratorical skills, all this stuff, you can really learn a lot of how, how bright and powerful, um, capable folks are from really good question.
Crystal Davis (44:07):
That’s right. That’s right. You can learn a tremendous amount and then you start to learn more about what they don’t know or understand. And that’s when you start, don’t be afraid to be the dumbest person in the room.
Scott Luton (44:22):
So great point. I’m uh, I’m a bring Drew’s comment. I saw earlier here, drew says as a leader, if you are or think you are the smartest one, you’re in Rome. I love that. All right. So crystal asked good questions, Charles. What’s your one thing that folks really got to take away from the conversation?
Charles Walker (44:41):
I would say, I always believe in the three CS, you know, we talked about that all the time, collaborate, cooperate, and communicate. But I would say the takeaway Vanessa today be the leader that you always wanted to be. You know, we all, when we was in, when we started off in the military, where everything, we found those great guys, we knew the attributes of those guys. Then we got into civilian sector. We started getting with these organizations, like we can easily point out the bad leader. That’s too easy, man. There’s no challenge there, but the good ones be that guy, be that good leader that you can think of your mindset. I want to be that guy or very close to him. And I think you’ll be successful because you’ll be continuing to learn. And man, every day you learn, you can learn something every day. It’s a learning experience. So either man be that leader, you always wanted to be,
Scott Luton (45:27):
Uh, in our conversation we had, uh, on veteran voices, Charles, you shared the story of a Colonel that, um, I can’t remember her name, but I can remember. Yes. And she went and learned how to jump out of planes because the folks that she was managing leading, that’s what, that’s one thing they had to do their paratroopers. Right. And I remember that conversation cause you were, you were asking her, Charles w you don’t have to do this for a full bird, Colonel, you know, you know, and her response
Charles Walker (46:00):
Because you guys are, you, you, I can’t really lead you guys on this. I know the experience of what you were experiencing as a jump master or whatever she wanted to be inside the whole experience of it. So she can be, she can feel what you’re feeling when you express it to her. She wants to be a part of the feeling. And I think that’s, that’s leadership, man, that’s it?
Scott Luton (46:18):
Yeah. Of that. Okay. Gregory so much good stuff. I love these conversations. I love these two leaders here. We can learn so much from crystal and Charles. What’s one key thing that folks got to take away from this conversation. Well, I think that a twist on the statement, you’re not a leader because you’re in a position of authority. You’re a leader because people follow you. I would encourage and challenge people. You don’t have to be in a position of authority in order to be a leader, right. You can lead from anywhere. And I think that’s the most critical thing. Leadership is inspiring and enabling and empowering people. And, and you can do that from anywhere from the shop floor, from behind a broom. Right? So, um, that’s one of the important leadership lessons. I think it goes directly to what Charles says, right? Don’t create followers, create leaders.
Scott Luton (47:13):
Yeah. We love that. Let’s share a couple of comments here. As we wrap up today’s live stream. I hate, I hate to, I, I wish we could have a three hour live stream here today. David says, echo in what Charles is saying, be the type of leader you want to work for. Peter says, be the change you want to see. I love that Peter, uh, drew says early in my career, I worked for a horrible manager. I learned what not to do, or B is 30 years later. And I still think about him and in situations I think, well, what would Kevin do? And I’ll do the opposite though. That was good. That was good. But wherever Kevin is, I bet he knows who he’s talking about. Simon says best leaders should be self-aware know the different leadership styles and learn how to apply them.
Scott Luton (48:02):
Especially if they aren’t natural and apply them to situations as required. We all have to do that because Scott said, Simon says, Oh God, I’m just such a dad joke, individual folks. Sorry, I can’t, I can’t make any apologies for it. Alright. So I’m always a pleasure. I w we had a wonderful time and appreciate it with both of y’all really enjoyed your earlier appearances. We’ll always love a repeat guests, but, uh, I appreciate y’all’s. Um, you both have had that charisma and you’ve been there done that, and that makes powerful leadership lessons learned and conversation. So let’s make sure folks know how to connect with you both. And then crystal, of course, we want to make sure folks know about the lead lean podcast. So tell us in a nutshell, what’s that podcast about, and then how can folks connect with you?
Crystal Davis (48:54):
In a nutshell, the lead lane podcast is I’m teaching, um, entrepreneurs and business owners about a lot of the practices we do in large companies around lean and agile, but really making it make sense for the small business owners so that they can have operational excellence. So that’s really what I, what I talk about on, on that show. And I will invite all of you to be guest
Scott Luton (49:17):
Yay. You can reach me
Crystal Davis (49:18):
On all forms of social as crystal Y Davis, and, uh, or you can just check me, go to the lean coach Inc com and, um, send me an email.
Scott Luton (49:30):
Awesome. I love that. Let’s make sure out your podcast crystal
Crystal Davis (49:35):
Every week on Tuesday, Tuesday.
Scott Luton (49:38):
Okay, awesome. Um, let’s make sure it is. Yeah. Let’s make sure that, uh, Amanda, if you can, we can drop the link so you can hear more of kind of the crystal store and her journey. If we can drop the link to her, uh, episode with us as well. Great, great practical, uh, lessons learned from that one. Um, uh, the pride of Jackson, Mississippi Hale state. Did you have your cap? I love it. The entire sec is going well. And one of the cool thing from her, her, uh, podcast discussion with us was her dad’s, uh, constant advice, save money and read books. You read a book, save money, and read a book. I love that crystal look forward to having you back. All right. So it is always a blast, Charles. Um, and also, uh, Amanda, I think you’re helping us out here today behind the scenes, uh, veteran, uh, draws on veteran voices with us, where he, he dove into his story. And Charles, you come from a big family. How many brothers and sisters, again?
Charles Walker (50:44):
Seven rows, seven rows and six minutes. It’s 13 of us. 13.
Scott Luton (50:50):
Goodness gracious. What number are you Charles?
Charles Walker (50:53):
I’m number 12, man. They say the smallest one was never the smartest one was number two.
Scott Luton (51:01):
Your family’s tall. Right? You mentioned that before,
Charles Walker (51:05):
Or has a lot of us man, uh, a couple of passed away, but, uh, I got so many nieces and nephew when I go to Birmingham, man, it’s like a family union man. So it’s paying them, had been hard on us because we said,
Scott Luton (51:18):
You know,
Charles Walker (51:20):
We still get close, man. That’s the catch COVID. I already kept from my brother and sister.
Scott Luton (51:29):
Well, Hey, uh, best wishes to your family. And of course your son, how can folks connect with Charles Walker?
Charles Walker (51:36):
Well, right now you can connect with me at Charles at AGS, that’s georgia.com and then our, um, our website is under reconstruction right now because we are going after more government contracts. Are we going PPE heavy because we got a few contract with the VA, but now we’ve got to get the website where people can actually go on and get all the PPE equipment, the gowns or whatever off our website. So, so more to be followed on that. Uh, Scott, now let you and Greg know about that. We’ve got a warehouse here in McDonald’s and you can reach out to me at Charles at AGS. That’s Georgia dot.com.
Scott Luton (52:13):
Love it all the time. Well, I was about to say that, uh, you beat me to it. Folks. Y’all definitely want to connect with Charles and crystal on LinkedIn. They both dropped knowledge all the time. Crystal. I love your leadership tips. You drop in regular business tips. And of course, Charles is a, uh, he’s a, uh, he studies history, uh, and, and you see it reflect in his, his LinkedIn content. So I’ll make sure to do that. And Natalie, I couldn’t have said it better. Uh, Charles and crystal are quickly becoming a favorite guests. I’m with you. We’re big fans. Uh, let’s see here. Great. Uh, Chris has great show. Awesome guests. Well done everyone. Thank you, Chris. And thanks for tuning in for your first time. First time. And Peter says, Greg, in Canada, we have a three-foot long horn to blow no cow bell
Charles Walker (53:02):
Theater.
Scott Luton (53:06):
I love that. All right. So a big thanks to y’all both Greg, what, before we, um, you know, I don’t know if the swoosh machine is broken or not, so they may just pop out of the stream, but Greg, before, before we, uh, uh, have them depart the stream, any final comments on your end, Greg? Uh, mostly thank
Greg White (53:26):
You for joining us on this day. Thanks for the comedy. Thanks for the comradery. Thanks for the leadership. Really appreciate it. Um, and what, and what a great topic, first of all, I want to thank you both for not only pointing out the flaws of bad leaders, but helping the community to resolve those with your follow on comments to that. I think that’s important as well. Agreed.
Charles Walker (53:49):
And thank you all for the platform, man, because you know, without a platform, the voices will be solid, man. So, you know, we can look at the poly thing that happened in the pandemic as well. People started to communicate with each other, you know, via whatever platform they had and now people are, you know, when people around the world, man, people know that you’ve got a voice and people are more open to speak their voice. So it’s a good thing too.
Greg White (54:13):
Yeah. Thank you. Appreciate it. I’m writing that down. So I’m going to be able to talk for a couple,
Scott Luton (54:19):
Hey, you know, we’re going to wrap with, with Charles and crystal in the shop because, uh, I’ve got no faith in the switch, so y’all stand by for just a second. Cause we want to celebrate and get to see the sausage made yang. All right. Hey, April fool’s day, uh, the production team got us for sure. Uh, Peter says great news. His daughter just FaceTimed us to let let them know that she got into the nursing program. Nice. That is awesome. Um, all right, so I want to, um, Oh, a round of applause. Hey dad, jokes warehouse incorporated here today. That’s all we are.
Greg White (55:01):
Or the leadership man. You instill your qualities into your people, Scott.
Scott Luton (55:06):
I love it. I love it. So really enjoyed today’s conversation, a huge thanks to Charles Walker and crystal Davis. Uh, just dynamos and, and if y’all can’t tell, uh, y’all should seem to appreciate it, but we had a blast. I didn’t know if we were going to be able to get into the last dream we’re enjoying each other’s company so much Greg, and enjoyed these conversations with you. Um, you know, it’s all about making sure, right? And Charles echo your point. Everyone’s got to take on leadership, right? Everyone. I mean, we saw it evident in the conversation here and of course all the comments and everyone experiences things differently, and it’s really important to put a spotlight and, and, um, and, and have that exchange of experiences and ideas. And that’s one of my favorite things about these, these live streams, for sure. But Greg, before I sign off, uh, your final thought here today,
Greg White (55:53):
Uh, I mean, leadership is, is so important. And again, I can’t, I can’t say it enough, you can lead from anywhere. So do, um, and as you said, we see examples of leadership every day, file those away acknowledge those. They are frankly, your lot in life. And if you don’t like as crystal and a few of you have already mentioned, if you don’t like what you’re seeing, do something about it, right? There are people who change their environment and there are people who are changed by their environment. So either change
Scott Luton (56:24):
Your environment or accept that you could be changed by it. Mm. Love that. Yeah. On that note, Hey folks, don’t be a lip service leader. Take action. Deeds, not words. And on that note on behalf of our entire team here, wonderful panelists, all the folks in the comments, the team behind the scenes I’m behalf of Greg white and the whole team Scotland and signing off for now, Hey, do good give forward and be the change that’s needed on that note. We’ll see you next time here on supply chain now. Thanks everybody.
Intro/Outro (56:56):
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Crystal Y Davis, is the CEO and Founder of The Lean Coach, Inc. (TLC). TLC helps their clients to disrupt in lean and in leadership. Our clients call on us to help them transform their organizations while developing leaders, to support rapid growth with lean flow design and to align the business and continuous improvement strategy to drive productivity and cost savings. Crystal is an experienced business process improvement consultant and leadership development coach with over twenty years of experience in the design, development, and implementation of Lean Business System solutions. Crystal has spoken at Lean Six Sigma and Operational Excellence conferences around the world. She has accumulated extensive domestic and international expertise in the design and implementation of lean solutions for the automotive, life sciences, consumer packaged goods, and property preservation industries. Crystal has assisted clients in formulating comprehensive business, operations, manufacturing and supply chain strategies to reduce costs, improve customer service, develop leaders at every level, and increase profitability. Throughout Crystal’s career, she was fortunate to certify as a Black Belt and leadership development trainer and coach; to be mentored by two Toyota sensei in the Toyota Production System; and lead teams to receive awards and recognition from industry organizations for excellence in lean transformations. Crystal was also recognized as Lean Supplier Development Engineer of the Year during her tenure at Delphi. As a teacher, consultant, coach and speaker, Crystal uses practical techniques, innovative methods, and Socratic teaching to engage, captivate, and add value to those she encounters. Crystal holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering and an MBA. Connect with Crystal on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/crystalydavis/
Charles Walker is a military retired Army Master Sergeant with over 20 years active duty in Special Operations Logistics. Served in mainly Special Operations Units including Task Force 160th, 10th Special Forces Group (Germany), 112th signal Battalion, 96th Civil Affairs and Special Operations Support Command, lastly Special Warfare Training Group. He worked in organizations SAIC, Raytheon, Stanley Associates, RGTS and a few others in Program Management Logistics roles. Presently working as the primary business developer for a minority owned, female, veteran small business. Our mission is to acquire government, state and local contracts related to supplies and equipment related to organizational needs and requirements. We have gained much traction with the requisitioning of PPE items required in support of the COVID pandemic. Our capabilities include all logistics supplies and services with warehousing, transportation, storage and distribution being our core components.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Host
Tevon Taylor is a dynamic leader at Pegasus Logistics, where he has made significant contributions to the company’s growth and innovation in the logistics industry. With a background in supply chain management and operations, Tevon combines strategic thinking with hands-on experience to streamline processes and enhance efficiency. Since joining Pegasus Logistics, Tevon has been instrumental in implementing cutting-edge technologies and sustainable practices, driving the company toward a more eco-friendly approach. His leadership style fosters collaboration and empowers teams to excel, making him a respected figure among colleagues and industry peers. Outside of work, Tevon is passionate about mentorship and actively engages in community initiatives, sharing his expertise to inspire the next generation of logistics professionals. His commitment to excellence and continuous improvement has positioned him as a key player in shaping the future of logistics at Pegasus.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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’.
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.
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.
Vice President, Production
Amanda is a seasoned production and marketing professional with over 20 years of experience across diverse industries, including retail, healthcare, and digital marketing. Throughout her career, she has worked with notable organizations such as Von Maur, Anthropologie, AmericasMart Atlanta, and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Currently, Amanda manages, produces, and develops digital content for Supply Chain Now and its clients, delivering modern, engaging solutions for a wide range of audiences.
A former Vice President of Information Systems and Webmaster on the Board of Directors for APICS Savannah, Amanda also founded and led Magnolia Marketing Group, a successful digital marketing firm. Outside of her professional life, she enjoys experimenting in the kitchen, reading, listening to podcasts, and spending time with her family.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).
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.