Intro/Outro (00:02):
Welcome to Logistics with Purpose presented by Vector Global Logistics in partnership with Supply Chain. Now we spotlight and celebrate organizations who are dedicated to creating a positive impact. Join us for this behind the scenes glimpse of the origin stories change, making progress, and future plans of organizations who are actively making a difference. Our goal isn’t just to entertain you, but to inspire you to go out and change the world. And now here’s today’s episode of Logistics with Purpose.
Enrique Alvarez (00:34):
Good Day. My name’s Enrique Alvarez. I’m the host of Logistics with Purpose. Today we have a very, very special guest with us. And of course, I have a, a really, really good cohost with me as well. Maureen, how are you doing? Good,
Maureen Woolshlager (00:46):
How are you?
Enrique Alvarez (00:47):
I’m doing great. So, um, I guess without further I do, um, have you had a good week so far?
Maureen Woolshlager (00:53):
I have. We had a little bit of hurricane clean up from, uh, hurricane I barreling through, not like anything like Florida, but put my kids to work yesterday, um, picking up pine cones and branches. So I think we’re, we’re all good so far.
Enrique Alvarez (01:07):
It was a terrible storm. So yes, hearts and prayers to everyone in Florida. Um, and today, again, we have a really good friend, uh, really, really amazing guest, working with a great company and, uh, really pleasure to have him here. So, Christopher Husseini, Senior Manager sales at Pac Lloyd. Chris, how you doing today? Good morning.
Christopher Hussaini (01:30):
Good morning. I’m doing well. Thank you Enrique and Maureen for even hav having me. I’m humbled and I, uh, really like the partnership we have with Vector going on at PAC Lloyd. And, and really great to see you in this venue. Again,
Enrique Alvarez (01:44):
We, we love working with, uh, with your team. You guys have a very, very strong team and, uh, we appreciate everything you guys do and we’ll get a little bit more into that throughout this interview. But I just wanna make sure that, uh, to thank you, uh, up for everything that, that you guys, uh, do. Thank you so much. Uh, yeah. And thanks for being here.
Christopher Hussaini (02:03):
Thank you for having me.
Maureen Woolshlager (02:04):
Well, Kristen, break the ice a little and start us off. Why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself, where you grew up, um, your childhood, any fun stories you’d like to share?
Christopher Hussaini (02:14):
Yeah, Okay. I, I’m originally, I’m from Miami, Miami, Florida. And born and raised. I went to high school there and I even went to University of Miami for my undergraduate degree. Uh, I had a good childhood. My father worked for the government, uh, the local government in it and so forth. And my mom was a nurse and, uh, my father’s half, well, he passed one, uh, one about 12 years ago actually. But he was per Persian. He was from Iran, came in the early seventies. And my mom’s American and Miami is a very, uh, culturally eclectic place. And a lot of people think it’s mainly Hispanic, but it’s a lot more diverse than that. So I have really, all my friends are from everywhere in the world and we’re all kind of hybrids or, or whatnot of everything. And I’d say the childhood was good.
Christopher Hussaini (03:02):
Miami’s changed a lot. And I was living there from the, I was born in the late seventies. So from that time to what it is now, it’s obviously evolved, uh, in many ways. Uh, and I was probably one thing that stands out, probably one of the most indelible memories is you’re speaking about hurricanes. I was 15 when Hurricane Andrew wow. Hit us. And I was living in a house. We had moved in maybe within six months and it was, I thought it was some brave kid and I’m gonna sleep in my room. And my mom was crying saying, No, we all have to sleep in the hall. We didn’t know what a hurricane was or what it would be like cuz it was the first in our lifetime. And they convinced me to sleep in the hall. And it was a good thing because the roof in my room collapsed and I probably would not have made it.
Christopher Hussaini (03:48):
And then, you know, during the storm we had to run across cuz the windows broke and the rain in the wind and it was insane. We went into my parents’ bedroom, uh, master closet and we were all, except for my dad crying like babies. And my dad wanted to cry, saw it in his eyes, and it was kind of like torture. It felt like, uh, I don’t know what wars, like I’ve never been in it, but it was four hours and we had the eye come over and then like another four hours. And I lived in a hotel for like three months. And, uh, it was a really, really interesting experience. And it was a one I remember, uh, in, in quite some detail. So I’d say that’s kind of on the, the negative side, but I think with the positive that comes out of it, you realize how kind of fortunate we are. We always take things, uh, for granted, at least from my perspective, it’s human nature and just, uh, I, I think that experience and some others going through it and growing up in Miami, it, it was good. And I miss home a little bit, quite candidly.
Maureen Woolshlager (04:47):
So Chris, when you were growing up, did you, uh, your family ever go back and visit where your dad was from?
Christopher Hussaini (04:53):
No, I, ironically, I recently got, uh, a passport from Iran, but uh, it’s due inheritance and all of that, but I’ve never been there, uh, for a number of reasons, you know, with the government, with all of that going on. And even though I don’t speak far c I’m an American, I’ve never spoke, uh, I am considered a citizen and could go to military and all of that. And I would like, I like history, history,
Maureen Woolshlager (05:18):
Citizenship. Is that how Iran works? Is it dual citizenship they allow you to have because of
Christopher Hussaini (05:23):
They don’t recognize the us Oh God. It goes off the blood of the father, so. Got it. Okay. Unfortunately it’s a little archaic or maybe a lot.
Maureen Woolshlager (05:32):
Well I think Brazil does that, but with the mother I believe. Oh, interesting. Yeah, a friend of mine, her kids are like Brazilian. She is a Brazilian passport because her mom is from Brazil but she’s from the US
Christopher Hussaini (05:45):
Interesting. Her
Maureen Woolshlager (05:45):
Kids as well. So I think every country has a different thing. But I was just curious cuz it’s, you know, like said Miami has a really, you know, culturally eclectic place, which would be very interesting to grow up there because you’re just exposed to so many different things when Yeah, I think it opens your eyes up at an early age, which, um, I would, I would argue we need a lot more of that. And uh, but travel, I’m sure anywhere is, is pretty expensive. So I wasn’t sure if you were able to make it back there if
Christopher Hussaini (06:13):
You’re Yeah, I had never been there. I wasn’t born there. I was born in Miami, so I’ve never, I’ve never been there, but at some point if things get better I like to go. I like history, There’s a great history and the people are good people. There’s good food and all of that, uh, you know, uh, the government, not so much from my perspective of this, so.
Enrique Alvarez (06:29):
Right. But that’s, well that’s, uh, that’s an incredible story. And uh, I was just going to ask you for, for a story that shaped who you are. I don’t know if that one is one that actually, um, shaped who you are and what you have become now, but if there’s any other that you might remember, like growing up early days in Miami with your parents and um, your family. Is there anything else that started pushing you towards uh,
Christopher Hussaini (06:53):
Yeah, you know, there’s a probably a couple things. You know, one I don’t often talk about, most people don’t know about me. I was a really late bloomer. So when I was in high school, I looked like I was probably eight, nine years old. I was, I’m not kidding. At first, before I went to private school, I went to a public school for a year and a half and I was the third shortest kid at a 4,000 people 4,000.
Enrique Alvarez (07:19):
Well, and I laugh because I was that kid too, by the way. So I really remind me of my upbringing as well. Rick use any flashbacks there. Yes, that’s what, that’s what I laugh. You just starting
Christopher Hussaini (07:30):
To swear here.
Christopher Hussaini (07:33):
So I’d say that kind of had an effect on me. So it was a kind of thing the girls were, pinch my cheeks that I’m a little kid. Maybe I didn’t really get so much bullied, but I, what I think in retrospect, I really was forced to develop my personality of how to engage owners, how to realize that a lot of people getting the know, you know, almost the saying that you get to know more people in uh, two months that by being genuinely interested in them by then, by trying to get them interested in you. And I think that whole psychological element allowed me later in life to connect better with people and maybe make it a little bit, if there is some degree of a natural in, in sales and business, in the human relationship aspect. I think it, it’s that if I go back to that. So I, I think that has some shape in it in my life. Um, I was in show con karate for nine years and my Oh,
Enrique Alvarez (08:22):
Nice.
Christopher Hussaini (08:23):
Yeah, my best friend, his father was, uh, one of the highest rank, he was Mr. Japan twice is, uh, still alive. Wow. And she, on sugimoto, he taught Schwarzenegger for total recall, did the Miami Vice fight quarter. Wow. Anyway, but very tough. And you know, part of the reason I guess I was small and I got stuck here so I to get picked on. Right, right. And I think the discipline on that was really, really good cuz it helped school and university to a high degree because it’s like, oh, this is nothing, I have to do this. Right, Right. And then I’d say kind of, uh, in a difficult one was I, I I mentioned my father, he died when he was young, 61. Wow. And that was a very, very difficult thing cause he was my best friend. But I’d say the gift he gave me when he passed away was the fact that probably not many days are gonna be as bad. So that was my bottom right. That’s how I felt the bottom was. So everything, no matter what a bad day would a hard challenge or whatever, it’s all relative. And uh, it’s not that big a deal. I’m able to recover it. I, I’ve noticed that, uh, many times in life off different things, sometimes difficult things. Right.
Enrique Alvarez (09:28):
Wow. Right. But it puts things into perspective for sure. Right. Yeah,
Christopher Hussaini (09:32):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it does.
Maureen Woolshlager (09:34):
Well if you could turn back time and talk to your 21 year old self, what would you tell
Christopher Hussaini (09:39):
Him? Well, uh, probably a lot. There’s a lot. I would definitely tell him it’s
Maureen Woolshlager (09:44):
Your top three
Christopher Hussaini (09:46):
<laugh>. The top three. Okay. I’d say one of them, obviously knowing what I know now, which I didn’t in terms of even spending more time with my father, I was the kind of guy, particularly in university every winter, every summer I was traveling Europe, maybe when kids are spending money on their car, the rims, I was like, Forget it, I’m going to Europe. I love to travel. I I love that. So I was doing that a lot and I was away a lot of those times. So maybe I wanna scale that back a little bit. Uh, I think also probably telling myself that time goes by quick and the older I get, the quicker it goes by. So I think probably I would’ve invested in a lot of different ways, knowing what I know, uh, and knowing that it’ll get there. I’d say that in terms of the kind of investment and then I think in the professional, I’d probably tell myself, and it took me a little bit later in, in life, probably my early mid thirties, to really realize, sadly it doesn’t even matter, at least in a large corporation, from my perspective, being effective is very important, but your brand also matters.
Christopher Hussaini (10:48):
Yeah. Right. So making sure I remember when I had first started, uh, in this industry, I was young, mid twenties, I, I was good in my job, but there was a few times even on a tonight, on Friday, like I was, uh, uh, you know, not sleeping really well and those kind of things could affect one’s image even though the effect is there. Right. And that’s something I learned a little bit later that it, it’s right or wrong, perception, uh, perception is viewed as important. Right,
Enrique Alvarez (11:16):
Absolutely. Yeah. And, um, I couldn’t agree with you more, right? Effectiveness is definitely critical, but everyone has its own personal brand and then companies have their brands as well and they’re getting more important I think. Uh, uh, and I think they’ll be critical, uh, going forward. Now, if we switch gears a little bit and just tell us a little bit more about your professional journey and, and we’ll talk a little bit more about Pac Lloyd and, and your career path with them. But before that, tell us a little bit more how you kind of started looking to logistics as a, as a potential career path.
Christopher Hussaini (11:49):
Yeah, it’s a good question. And it’s probably not the traditional one. I’d love to say it, it was planned and it was all, that’s not how it
Enrique Alvarez (11:55):
Happened. So no, no one gets into logistics like that, I
Christopher Hussaini (11:58):
Don’t think. Yeah, yeah. Uh,
Maureen Woolshlager (11:59):
But then you never wanna get out of it. That’s the thing. That’s true. Get go by accident, but then you don’t wanna leave it.
Christopher Hussaini (12:04):
It’s kind of like the Godfather three. They, you try to get out, they pull you back in. Right. Think that’s the, So I would say, you know, after I graduated University of Miami, as I mentioned, and I also mentioned, I love to travel. So I found a really interesting way to get my father’s approval to be in Europe. But under a good thing. I got into a really good school in, in England for my masters. But you know, the main, and it was in computer science, something disparate for my study, but it was good. It was highly ranked. I went to University of York there in York, nice, uh, United Kingdom and uh, and it was only a year. So the sell is, hey, it’s a good school. I’m continuing my educational, I have a masters, it’s one year. And then of course I loved, I got to also travel to Europe and it was a phenomenal experience.
Christopher Hussaini (12:47):
I have friends from all over the world, super multicultural friends to this day from all over. And then I came back and I, you know, probably not unlike a lot of people, I thought I was gonna light the world on fire and I went to start this company that the idea was good and it was basically, without exaggerating, it was the precursor, the Airbnb. But 10 years before, cuz again, me traveling would always stay in rentals, apartment rentals, wherever in Europe. Cuz I always liked the space, the flexibility, all of these things. How could we have the renters and, and the host and assign them. And there was a series of misfortunes that occurred and then it didn’t work out right. I’d say one is funding development. Uh, we had a developer, unfortunately he was a 47 year old vegetarian that died of a heart attack. But I’d also, if I’m putting blame also myself, I’d say I probably didn’t really fully have the grit that was needed to stay of the course. So it didn’t work out. And probably after six months partying on South Beach, my father’s like, you have a master’s son, you need to get a job.
Enrique Alvarez (13:55):
And that’s right.
Christopher Hussaini (13:55):
So I, I started off in Evergreen. I didn’t know, uh, really think about probably like most people out of the industry, how does our clothes, how does really most commodities get from here to there? They didn’t really put a lot of thought to it. And that’s kind of how I fell into it.
Enrique Alvarez (14:09):
Wow. That’s a, that’s you’re right. Not a very common, uh, path though. Where’s logistics? So we’re just really, we’re looking for a job. Evergreen offered it and that was it.
Maureen Woolshlager (14:19):
But isn’t it weird now that like you, you know, you started with Evergreen, you weren’t thinking about like, how did things get from A to B? Right? But now that’s all you think about. You’re like, Oh, I wonder how that got there. Or, you know, it’s like, how did I not think of that before? And now I always feel I get caught up in that sometimes.
Christopher Hussaini (14:39):
Yeah, it’s really interesting, like how much, I guess in anything, whether it’s how much of it relies on kind of timing and locked and how much is that intersection? It’s interesting point.
Maureen Woolshlager (14:49):
Yeah, I agree.
Enrique Alvarez (14:50):
Chris, you still have that kind of, uh, entrepreneurship bo in you, I mean, it seems like you’ve been very entrepreneurial. Um, and, and I guess, hey, Airbnb, that’s a, that’s a well
Christopher Hussaini (15:00):
Didn’t work out. They, they, they made it happen. But yeah, uh,
Enrique Alvarez (15:03):
It was a great idea though. I mean, super validating the fact that, uh, someone else ran with it.
Christopher Hussaini (15:08):
But it goes to show that it’s not just the idea and it’s other. Right. Yeah, I’d say I do. But one thing I’ve certainly learned, and, and I guess I also learned the hard way, it’s probably better not to put all your eggs in one basket, do something so you’re secure and then you, you know, if something takes off then you can make that decision later. That’s probably how I, I, I would view, but I’d say that’s the drive I have. I’d stayed in the business side and in, in Hapag and all of that. And uh, you know, I, I, the foray is into that and to channel that, the hunger, the fun, the winning. I love that aspect. I,
Maureen Woolshlager (15:42):
So is that how when you were at Evergreen and then later when, when you were at Hapag or still are at Hapag mm-hmm. <affirmative>, how did you get into the sales aspect of it is?
Christopher Hussaini (15:51):
Yeah, it’s a good question. So I started off actually in sales. I started off in, uh, I was in inside sales for a little bit less than a year. And uh, I remember there was a senior rep that left and I got my opportunity. Um, and you know, I guess I was doing well and they put trust in me and I remember, and a lot of things come back to my father. I, you know, I was a young kind of somewhat a young kid there. And I remember even asked my dad, Should I go ahead and take it, I guess on the confidence? And he basically says, Chris, you’re, you’re a hardworking guy in life. It’s always better to say yes. And if you don’t like it, you could always go back. Sometimes you don’t get the chance again. And I think that was very good advice and it did that and further build confidence in successes and kind of put it like, Hey, you know what, now I’m on this, I need to perform at a higher level. And I think that with maybe kind of the back and a good foundation, it, it really was a good message that if sometimes if we don’t push ourselves or go to the kind of the next level, we don’t really know what we could do. Right. Absolutely. And if you play it safe, you’re uh, you know, it’s easy to play it safe, but you’re never gonna know if you don’t push yourself. From my perspective.
Enrique Alvarez (16:57):
No, you’re, do you
Maureen Woolshlager (16:58):
Ever think you’d be in sales? Yeah.
Christopher Hussaini (17:00):
Yeah. I think it comes natural. It’s something I also like, because I think there’s a lot of psychology in sales as well. If you’re doing consultative selling, really of getting to know the customer’s needs get and finding a solution of that and not trying to sell a precan thing, but what are your needs? What and what are those, How could we have a solution that we could find something creative? Because I think there are sometimes out the box creative solutions to things, particularly in this industry, Right? Yeah. Which is very difficult.
Enrique Alvarez (17:25):
Well, sounds like your dad was a very, very smart individual as well. What was his name? Chris?
Christopher Hussaini (17:30):
My dad’s name was Masu Husan. Masu
Enrique Alvarez (17:34):
Masu, Yeah. Very, very good. Uh, piece of advice there. And you took it, you ran with it, and then you’ve made a whole career out of, out of that. So, uh, congratulations to you. Um, there’s a lot of sales reps and people in the commercial area that are listening to us. Is there like any kind of secret to what you would think, especially in this industry, especially now that’s getting kind of tougher and tougher and, and in Miami that I know it’s a very competitive market when you started?
Christopher Hussaini (17:59):
Yeah, I mean, uh, it has changed. I know we’re getting it probably into the pandemic part of the conversation the past two years. I don’t think anybody who has been in this industry, whether it’s five years, 30 years, has seen this. And so I don’t think there was a blueprint for it. So I would, and there have been a lot of, unfortunately a lot of pain associated with it in terms of operational and, and, and all of that. So I think in terms of the sales, it just, it comes down to a few basic things that it makes it sound it easier by being basic, uh, than what they really are. Cuz it’s really hard to do with the discipline. I think it’s, first of all, it’s knowing your products for the solutions and knowing your customers. I think it’s also asking a lot of open ended questions and trying to be consultative selling for our customers to try to sometimes find those creative solutions. And a lot of sales on the carrier from my perspective is the internal sales, right? It’s all these internal stakeholders. How do you help on behalf of the customer to help the comp the customer navigate the company, Particularly as you’re a global company with a lot of offices, a lot of moving parts and help with that. And it’s the constantly being in between. It’s true account management from my perspective.
Enrique Alvarez (19:14):
Absolutely. Yeah. And especially with, um, yeah, the scope of global supply chain, right? It’s tons, tons of moving parts. Is there, um, in your career or since you’ve started in logistics or supply chain, is there like, uh, specific or a key moment that, that you thought this was very strategic or, or, or a moment that you were mostly proud of since, since you started? What, what were you most proud of since, since you started this
Christopher Hussaini (19:39):
Industry? Yeah, Yeah, it’s really interesting. I really liked when I was a sales rep and I was that for quite a while and I really got it. I felt I had good relationships and was able to be successful in that. But I would say really, and I didn’t think so at the time when I got the opportunity to move into management where it was less about me and more about the team and finding the strategy, the st the cohesion, building the culture of the team, helping mentor and, and have maybe some of the more junior in their career or less experience in the industry, not have to go through the same mistakes I have and and teach them the shortcuts and empowering and engaging them. And the reward from that, from my perspective is something that I really can’t place that I, I, I didn’t realize I would find so much joy out of it. And it’s something I really, really, really like. It’s the role of a coach, right? And uh, and I’d say that I’m pretty proud of that and I’d like to believe, and hopefully my team will say the same, that we have a great culture, we all get along, we work well collaboratively, no sharp elbows, this kind of stuff. And, and we could all win for people to win. Others don’t have to fail.
Enrique Alvarez (20:50):
I like that.
Maureen Woolshlager (20:52):
Yeah. And you know, Chris, we love it at Vector. We love working with you. So it’s, it’s a pleasure to have you on here to talk about, give you the opportunity to talk about your culture, your work environment, things like that. Can you tell us anything more about how Hapag is different or unique within the steamship line or transportation industry?
Christopher Hussaini (21:11):
Yeah, yeah. I would say obviously we’re a very large organization with over 14,000 employees, hundreds of offices all over the world. Uh, and I do think that there’s a, I I would say what really separates us is our culture. And we have really, particularly locally, we have really, really great leadership and it’s really, the culture is what’s the glue that keeps us together. So I’d say in terms of the culture, uh, it’s really strong in terms of coaching and coaching and development in terms of, uh, commitment to excellence in terms of open communication and trust. Uh, and it creates a really, really good environment and particularly that we empower, engage and not micromanage and give the tools and say, Hey, here’s the goal, here’s how we wanna get there. Of course there’s coaching, development, how to do it, but not to necessarily micromanage. Cuz usually I think micromanagement comes through a lack of trust.
Christopher Hussaini (22:05):
And if you have the right employees and, and, and, and, and you, you should trust them. And we have to give those opportunities to do that. So I’d say that’s a big thing. And another thing I’d say that is really good on the tool side, we have really great visibility into our costs. Our, uh, there’s empowerment on the sales team in order to make decisions. Of course there’s certain things checked by our trade management on the sales side and to go after different businesses and be agile. So I’d say there’s that compared to some of my, uh, experience with some other heritage.
Enrique Alvarez (22:37):
No, that makes, uh, sense. And hey, um, and you can tell, I mean I’m sure that people that are listening to this interview and people that have had the pleasure working with, uh, not only Pac but some of the other steamship lines, you can start to kind of pinpoint what, uh, the culture of each organization is. And, and you’re, I think, uh, very, very, uh, I guess on point when it says, uh, coaching and trusting and very open and visibility and excellence. And I think you’re right and probably, uh, that’s why, uh, I think a lot of companies like working with you guys because of that culture that you have. You have been, uh, developing and you continue to develop. So thank you so much.
Christopher Hussaini (23:16):
No, I mean, it’s a process. We’re not where we’d like to be and you know, one of our, our our goals is to be number one for quality and we’re not there, right? It’s been, it’s, it’s difficult, but we we’re determined to get there and there’s, you know, other stuff we’re doing in order to uh, put us on that, on that map to, to get there.
Enrique Alvarez (23:34):
So you briefly talked a little about the pandemic and, and of course we’re gonna bring it up, uh, cuz it was, uh, as you said, very unexpected. No one was ready, one of those, uh, incredible worldwide historic events, I would say. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, what were some of the biggest challenges and how did you, your team and, and hap haak kind of overcame it?
Christopher Hussaini (23:55):
Yeah. Uh, so what I would say is, and, and some of what I’m gonna say is my perspective. So it’s not necessarily official hap act one, so that’s fine. Disclaimer. I’d say in the beginning, I think most thought that in the very beginning, non expected is that we’re all gonna take an insane hit. There’s gonna be maybe companies going out of business we didn’t know. So there was probably some degree of that kind of a stance and initially there was a dip. And then overall, and again, here’s my perspective, I follow different economist. I’m not an economist or I follow on Larry Summers, stuff like that. It does seem to me, just looking back, the response to the pandemic, right or wrong, not making a judgment. And I know where we had to do it with everything closing down, funneled all the demand, really one mainstream of purchasing, which is online in retail, and then you throw in extra stimulus for needed reasons.
Christopher Hussaini (24:53):
And there was a huge surge in demand probably in adjust in time infrastructure in the US in terms of that. And it, it has led to a lot of obviously operational challenges and demand surges and spikes in areas that one wouldn’t expected. And then the need to accommodate that. And then with the vessel, you know, the vessels not being, uh, lingering out because of that demand not coming in. It’s creating shortages, rates are going up. So it’s been very, very challenging. And I, I, I’d say obviously on the good side there was a lot of revenue associated with it, which is good for security, but on the same time there’s a lot of pain for our customers, a lot of on the, you know, we get to know our customers such as you and, and, and we take it as also personal and it doesn’t always feel good. Hey, there could be revenue, but there’s a lot of pain, there’s a lot of extra work. There was a lot of, uh, un un unsatisfied customers for a lot of reasons. And uh, and that part is, is not ideal, but I do hope and think just almost going off the analogy of a hurricane, that sometimes what could come good after a tragedy is that you stress tested and you build something. So if there’s another one going in the future, the reaction to it and there’s a learning lesson.
Maureen Woolshlager (26:13):
Yeah, that’s a good point. I mean if you think about when, when you talked about joining Evergreen, um, and then later Hapag thinking about where things come from and how they get there. If there’s a moment or period of time where so many eyes worldwide we’re focused, like where’s my stuff? The pandemic really put more eyes on an environment that was really stretched to its max with capacity. So like you hapag and your customers like us, we had to have a lot more conversations to understand why things were the way they were, but then we also had to have them with our customers who didn’t really understand. They were even further removed from the how, how things work process. So it was definitely of the learning process I would argue for, for everybody within the supply chain. Um, and hopefully I think now people are a little bit more aware of the process, so mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you never wanna feel like you’re making excuses, but there were just some things where I think it was harder to explain to everybody where that domino fell and, you know, we ended up,
Enrique Alvarez (27:16):
I agree. I think in general people are more aware of supply chain logistics, social shipping and everything that has to do with, uh, moving products from one point, uh, to the other. So I think that that’s another benefit, I guess, or or silver lining from such a horrible pandemic, right? People are just more aware of what it entails to ship products around.
Christopher Hussaini (27:36):
Yeah. I guess one could have argued before, hey, you know what, now that everybody knows it was probably for the wrong reasons, right? For challenge, it’s kind of like the silent unsung hero before, right?
Enrique Alvarez (27:48):
It’s absolutely,
Maureen Woolshlager (27:49):
Yeah. I will say there’s less people’s eyes that glaze over when they ask you like, what do you do now versus before the pandemic? Cuz you’re like, I work in transportation, logistics or supply chain. Before they were like, and how about that baseball game or something. Whereas I feel like now they’re like, Oh, you know, a light bulb goes off. So, um, you know, I think it’s, it’s a definite shift, but, you know, one of the ways that, that we’ve worked closer with you and your team is working to help the, the people of Ukraine, um, in the past, you know, six, seven months, I would love for you to talk to our listeners and tell them a little bit about kind of what you guys are doing kind of maybe internally, but also what you have done as part of our initiative, um,
Christopher Hussaini (28:37):
To help Yeah. On the region. Yeah, it’s a great question. I mean this initiative on the personal levels really, really near and dear to my heart. I met my, my wife as Ukrainian, we met in Keve while I was working in Hamburg. And my in-laws are still there. They’re in a city called OME there. Wow. Which is about 85 miles west of Keve. So they’re still there. And I have a lot of friends there as well and I’ve been there many times. So there’s also kind of that, uh, element to it. But what, in terms of what we’re doing, first of all, obviously a lot of credit and kudos to Vector with the purpose driven, uh, organization that you are and what you’ve done for Ukraine and sending the relief shipments and us partnering up locally with you on, on a few of those shipments.
Christopher Hussaini (29:21):
First of all, it was really personally rewarding and we’re really happy for that. So there’s of course what we’ve done with you, we’ve done internal drives in just America in terms of company matches for all the money being, uh, being sent there. We have our, for our personal colleagues, we had an office in Odessa, relocated them and their families to any of our offices anywhere, uh, in Europe or different areas they like to go. Obviously took care of everything to set them up. We also have done a lot of, not only fundraising, but relief with our colleagues at the border, uh, you know, with supplies and, and that stuff’s ongoing and there’s obviously, and sometimes it’s also hard to see the full scope because we’re such a big organization. We’ll see different articles of other stuff being done, but I only only have a small view of it. But, uh, we’ve been, you know, a strong supporter of that and, uh, and as well as many other, uh, I’d say initiatives.
Enrique Alvarez (30:19):
Right. Well, are they, um, speaking of additional initiatives, we know that Haak has a very purpose driven organization and of course a great culture as you mentioned. Are there any other particular charitable organizations that, that you’d like to share or any other, I guess, purpose driven initiatives as you mentioned, uh, that you, that you guys actively participate in right now? Yeah.
Christopher Hussaini (30:39):
Yeah, it’s a good question. I mean, there are a lot, and quite candidly, I only have visibility to some of them because a lot of ’em are in, I mean, there’s stuff globally in the stuff we’re doing in North America, in North America, but besides that, of course there’s definitely feeding the homeless, there’s different stuff for mentoring the youth, uh, obvi in, in Hamburg, there’s a lot of stuff also for a lot of, uh, uh, a lot of migrants who come over, not only from Ukraine, from anywhere of doing that initiatives for women to help them in the workforce, giving different trainings, uh, and and and so forth. Diversity and inclusion is a huge part of us, uh, part of our organization to, to purposely go and outreach where traditionally may, maybe just like, for example, me, I randomly fell into the logistic industry. How do we go ahead and penetrate into different communities that maybe would be isolated from it? So there’s a lot of these different things going on and, and uh, and, and again, I have a, even a very small visibility to all of them just because of our, our, our scale
Enrique Alvarez (31:40):
At big push for sustainability as well, I’ve heard. Right. I mean, there’s a huge, huge kind of, uh, initiative for
Christopher Hussaini (31:46):
How that’s one of our major pillars. Yeah. Sustainability is really, really important. How do we be green? How do you be more efficient? How do you, uh, how do we save the environment? Which, you know, some may argue it’s a, it, it’s a race to do so. Right. So that’s a huge part. We actually, a lot of our new vessels, new builds coming out are, uh, are really environmentally friendly with the latest technology.
Maureen Woolshlager (32:10):
Well, so we covered kind of the whiplash effect of the pandemic and how that really was a stress test for the logistics industry and how it affected, um, Hapag specifically. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and factor two we talked about. Um, and a little bit about Ukraine. Kinda switching gears a little, uh, you know, the, the industry and there’s trends and things are changing. What, what are you seeing on your side? What do you see the next quarter, next year? Any words of wisdom, insight, you know, from an insider that you might be able to share with us in our audience?
Christopher Hussaini (32:42):
Yeah, absolutely. Uh, I would say it’s probably not a surprise when we hear all the doom and gloom about economic news and so forth about stocks being full. Uh, in terms of, uh, and in terms of ordering, we are starting to see a deterioration in certain, uh, in certain capacity and all of that on, particularly on tp, but on some other tp westbound, import trade and some other trades. So we’re starting to see, uh, some more space. We’re seeing stuff open up, we’re seeing more competition, uh, in, in terms of lanes and, and certain market we’re having to adjust to the market. I would say, uh, obviously it’s, you know, in terms of what we could expect, I think on the financial side will end, uh, quite well still because it’s still elevated from a year ago. But I think things will start to eventually normalize and there, there are starting, uh, probably already, uh, timeline, anyone knows anything could happen. A black swan event right, could come out. But it does seem like now, uh, things are shifting quite a bit and hopefully with that comes stability as well though. And that’s the good, would be the good part for the customer. And then, then the supply chain and all of that. So
Enrique Alvarez (33:55):
Hopefully, hopefully we’ll get some, um, stability. Um, and, and I totally agree with what you said. Uh, we’re running a little bit out of time. It’s been an amazing conversation with you. Uh, quick question, uh, also for the, uh, people that are trying to come into logistics, for the younger people that are graduating and also trying to join supply chain or logistics, what would be a good advice, uh, from you to, to try to succeed in this, uh, industry?
Christopher Hussaini (34:22):
Well, I would say I think a really good thing, let’s say they’re either still in college or early in their career, I think it’s good to start to get your foot in, uh, in the door in the industry, whether it’s with, uh, you know, whatever logistics company, whether it’s a carrier or, or, uh, nvo or bco, maybe through an internship to see if it’s something you like. I think one thing that’s really good in, uh, our educational system in the US we have electives. So you can see, hey, maybe I thought I like it, but maybe I do. Maybe you find out you love it and you go that way. And I think that’s a probably a, a good way to do that. And then I would say also to find a mentor, find somebody that you trust with experience in that and to give it to you straight. And I think that’ll really speed up once progression and, and, and knowledge.
Enrique Alvarez (35:03):
Good advice. Thank you so much.
Maureen Woolshlager (35:05):
How can our listeners connect with you, learn more about Hapag, reach out to you?
Christopher Hussaini (35:10):
Yeah, okay. I’d say there’s a few ways. I’d say LinkedIn is really good. I’m on LinkedIn, Christopher Huan and also Hapag Lloyd, uh, is on LinkedIn and I post a lot of different things on there as well. So I think that’s a great way to keep up the date to keep on a lot of the initiatives we talk, whether they’re charitable, whether they’re, uh, environmental or whatnot. And obviously our website, hapag, uh, dash lloyd.com. You could see all our services and uh, and, and learn more about us. And feel free to reach out to me and say hello,
Enrique Alvarez (35:40):
Chris. Thank you so much. Yeah, thank you once again for taking the time and, uh, talking to us today. We have really, uh, enjoyed this conversation and for everyone else out there listening to, uh, Logistics with Purpose, if you like conversations like the one we had today with Chris, don’t forget to subscribe. Thank you so much for listening and I’ll see you on the next episode of Logistics with Purpose.
