[00:00:00] Yaseen Ahmid: I’m a firm believer that Africa is the future. You know, I think Africa is positioned to be a leader in the world when it comes to to, to talent and youth. Youth talent.

[00:00:12] Voiceover: Welcome to Supply Chain Now the number one voice of supply chain. Join us as we share critical news, key insights, and real supply chain leadership from across the globe.

[00:00:22] Voiceover: One conversation at a time.

[00:00:25] Scott W. Luton: Hey, good morning, good afternoon, good evening, wherever you may be. Scott Luton and special co-host Clare Fincham here with you on Supply Chain Now welcome to today’s show, Clare, how you doing today?

[00:00:34] Clare Fincham: Thank you, Scott. Great. Awesome to be on a podcast with you again, feel very privileged.

[00:00:40] Clare Fincham: Thank you.

[00:00:41] Scott W. Luton: Same. And Clare, really quick, you’re not gonna be dodging any trees or anything, right? You’ve got some neighbors doing some critical work.

[00:00:50] Clare Fincham: I check that the insur, like the household insurance is, has been paid.

[00:00:54] Scott W. Luton: That is terrific. That’s terrific. We’re talking preshow folks. One of her neighbors is taking down a tree, so we hope we won’t be interrupted.

[00:01:01] Scott W. Luton: But folks, we got a terrific conversation here today. We continue our supply chain Leadership across Africa series, which has been one. Really important component of our mission. For years, we’ve had just some of the most extraordinary conversations as part of this series. And Clare, I’ve enjoyed hosting some of these with you and other members of the SAPICS team.

[00:01:20] Scott W. Luton: And folks, we’re gonna continue the hits keep on coming here. Today we’re gonna be spotlighting shear brilliance and Leadership Innovation and Supply Chain Management across the Cotton of Africa. Today we’re gonna be discussing key takeaways from the SAPICS Annual Conference 2025, held in Cape Town last June.

[00:01:37] Scott W. Luton: We’re gonna be diving into the topic of global supply chain talent and some of the trends that we’re seeing there. Of course, we’ll talk leadership, but in particular we’re gonna be sharing some examples of innovative leadership across Africa that other parts of the world could learn from all that and much, much more.

[00:01:52] Scott W. Luton: Clare. It should be a great show, huh?

[00:01:55] Clare Fincham: Absolutely. And it’s great to have everyone on this call with beautiful, young, clever people. We’re gonna guide the way.

[00:02:04] Scott W. Luton: I like that. Clever is a great word. That’s a great word. I hadn’t used that in years. I’m not steal that from you, Clare. But let me introduce our clever and brilliant guest here today.

[00:02:15] Scott W. Luton: Nicole Petersen is a professional development and career strategist with over two decades of industry. Leadership experience helping young talent bridge that gap between education and employment. Currently, she serves as a program manager of the South African Graduate Employers Association, where she leads the Quantify Your Future Initiative.

[00:02:35] Scott W. Luton: How about that? Empowering students in analytical fields. To explore emerging career opportunities, pursue further education, and thrive in a rapidly changing world. Now, Nicole is joined by Yaseen Ahmid, uh, who was recognized by Reuters as a 2024 future leader in supply chain. I would argue he’s a current leader in global supply chain.

[00:02:56] Scott W. Luton: Now, Yaseen is a South African entrepreneur and CEO dedicated to advancing circular economies across the continent as well as advancing careers. A Drexel graduate that is now pursuing a master’s in sustainability management at Columbia University. Yaseen also founded Luna, a resume review service that has supported over 750 clients in 40 countries.

[00:03:19] Scott W. Luton: Man, let’s welcome in, Nicole and Yaseen. Nicole, how are you doing today?

[00:03:25] Nicole Petersen: I’m all good. And yourself? Thanks Scott.

[00:03:27] Scott W. Luton: Wonderful. Great to have you here and Yaseen, so great. Great to reconnect with you too. No, likewise. I’m really looking forward to today’s conversation, Scott. Clare, man, Nicole and Yaseen have been busy, goodness gracious, piling up, achievements, and doing so much impact across global business.

[00:03:44] Scott W. Luton: Huh.

[00:03:46] Clare Fincham: Absolutely, and it was, it was really great that they were able to start their coordinated discussions at SAPICS this year, and Nicole mentioned to me she wished she’d had a couple of hours to share because there was so much that they wanted to say. So it’s fantastic to be able to continue this conversation.

[00:04:03] Scott W. Luton: That is right. And folks, uh, if you’re listening or viewing to connect the dots there, Nicole and Yaseen, were on this home run panel session as part of the great programming at SAPICS in Cape Town in June. So we’ll touch on that probably here in a second. But, uh, I wanna start. With a fun and warmup question.

[00:04:19] Scott W. Luton: That’s how we do things around here. And I want to, you know, all of us have had wonderful experiences, some more than others in the beautiful city of Cape Town and Nicole, I wanna start with you ’cause I think you’re a current resident of Cape Town, so you really have inside knowledge. What is one of your favorite.

[00:04:36] Scott W. Luton: Aspects of the Cape Town experience and maybe one that folks don’t know as much about.

[00:04:42] Nicole Petersen: So I think for me it is going out on a Saturday morning early and walking on the Seapoint Promenade and not knowing whether you are in LA or in London or in New York or wherever. It’s just absolutely world class and beautiful.

[00:04:58] Nicole Petersen: So that’s really, really one of my most favorite things to do.

[00:05:01] Scott W. Luton: Oh, I love it. You know, sometimes I have that feeling elsewhere in the world. I don’t know where I am, uh, and what I’m doing sometimes, but the scenery, it is remarkable.

[00:05:10] Nicole Petersen: Absolutely gorgeous.

[00:05:12] Scott W. Luton: And if you catch the weather, you know, I’ve been several times.

[00:05:15] Scott W. Luton: The first time I went to Cape Town, the weather did not cooperate. It was very rainy like all week. But then this last time it was just. Gorgeous. Beautiful. Uh, now Yaseen Nicole’s painted quite a picture already. What would you add about the Cape Town experience?

[00:05:32] Yaseen Ahmid: Yeah, I mean on that point of the, if the weather’s not fantastic, I mean, one of my favorites is, uh, is the aquarium in Cape Town.

[00:05:39] Yaseen Ahmid: Okay. Uh, they have a kelp forest that I just sit at for hours when I visit the aquarium. It’s just incredibly serene and Yeah, always brings me down to earth. So I gotta ask you, what is,

[00:05:51] Scott W. Luton: out of all the exhibits and the fish and all the other animals, what’s one exhibit there at the aquarium that fascinates you?

[00:05:59] Scott W. Luton: I

[00:05:59] Yaseen Ahmid: mean, aside from the, aside from the kelp horse, I really enjoy looking at the jellyfish. They’ve got these tanks where they hit them with different neon lights, and it’s just very, very artistic in, in some sort of way. I love it. I love it, man.

[00:06:13] Scott W. Luton: Uh, I didn’t even know that, that’s, I gotta add that to my radar, really, Clare, you’ve been holding out, uh, you hadn’t given me these inside tips at Cape Town.

[00:06:21] Scott W. Luton: What’s one, what’s one of your favorites?

[00:06:23] Clare Fincham: Next, next time you come, you’re gonna have to spend at least two more days. So, aside from the wine farms, right? We have to mention it, but I know you said unusual. So I, I like the, the Iran, and I hope I’ve pronounced that right. Pronounced it right. Nicole, uh, market, which takes place.

[00:06:39] Clare Fincham: Also near the, the VNA waterfront in a very lovely, pretty little bay with, with boats. And it really showcases the amazing talent that south, uh, Cape Townians have for small businesses, being creative, making food and jams and preserves and goods that you can buy, and gifts and flowers and herbs. You can spend a lot of money.

[00:07:03] Clare Fincham: It’s a very lovely outing and great breakfast afterwards.

[00:07:07] Nicole Petersen: I should probably mentioned that that is the only reason why I run to go to run yourself market afterwards with all the cheats.

[00:07:15] Scott W. Luton: That makes so much sense Nicole. And gosh, you had me at wine though, Clare, if I’m being honest, you had me at wine on the front part of your response.

[00:07:22] Scott W. Luton: But who doesn’t love a wonderful market like that where local artisans can really share their superpowers in delicious ways? So I look forward to that next time I’m there in Cape Town. Alright, so let’s do this. I’m a big fan of context in this ever fast moving world. We don’t get enough of it. So I wanna make sure folks kind of know a little bit more about each of y’all professionally and what your organizations do.

[00:07:45] Scott W. Luton: So Nicole, tell us about yourself and what the S-A-G-E-A, which is the South African Graduate Employers Association, what the organization does.

[00:07:54] Nicole Petersen: Absolutely. So thank you so much for that. Scott and Clare. I don’t know about young if I’ve spent the last 20 years in the graduate and early career space, but I’ll take it as a compliment.

[00:08:05] Nicole Petersen: But definitely just from a personal perspective, for me it’s helping young people figure out how these studies and their talents connect to real opportunities. So I don’t know if that sounds like a real job, but thankfully my CEO at SAGEA thinks that it is, and it’s where we bring employers, universities, and students together.

[00:08:23] Nicole Petersen: So in, in simple terms, we are hub. We support employers who want to build talent. At an early career level, and we also support students and universities by helping them understand what careers are out there, especially in the new and emerging space. We do research insights. We host events, training and development opportunities, and we run initiatives like Quantify Your Future, which I’ll talk about a little bit later.

[00:08:47] Nicole Petersen: But essentially, we build bridges between students and opportunities, universities and employers, and ultimately between potential and possibility.

[00:08:56] Scott W. Luton: Nicole. I love that. And that is a very big job and a very big responsibility. And one of the thing to call out to our audience members is you had a very successful business career in HR that I bet you draw on and I bet presents tremendous value to the students that you’re guiding, huh?

[00:09:15] Nicole Petersen: Absolutely. Because I know that I’m preparing them for the good, the bad, and the sometimes ugly. Um, but it really formed a good foundation for me in terms of. What is happening in the world of work, like honestly and realistically, and what should students be preparing themselves for outside of the textbook and the academic commitments that they have?

[00:09:37] Scott W. Luton: Love that Clare Man, Nicole’s passion just jumps out of the, the screen. I can, I wish I had, uh, Nicole back in my early parts of my journey. Well, I didn’t know where I was going. I didn’t know what I was doing. Clare, huh?

[00:09:49] Clare Fincham: Absolutely Scott, when I first met Nicole and we had a fantastic conversation to see how SAPICS and SAGEA could work together, I was like, goodness gracious, did I miss that at university?

[00:10:01] Clare Fincham: This wonderful guidance, and she’s given me some great ideas of how we can help our students at at SAPICS as well, so I’m very grateful for the relationship.

[00:10:10] Scott W. Luton: Love it. Another example of the power of the SAPICS ecosystem folks. Mm-hmm. If you’re not plugged in, you’re missing out. Uh, Yaseen, it’s amazing what you have done already, and I know you just had made a big move back to, to kind of fuel your next chapter when we might touch on that in a second.

[00:10:25] Scott W. Luton: But tell us some more about yourself and the cool things that Luna has been.

[00:10:30] Yaseen Ahmid: Yeah, of course. Happy to, happy to share. So, you know, was born in, uh, was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. Ventured over to the US in 2018 for my undergrad degree. Pursued a triple major in supply chain management and logistics, finance and business analytics to Drexel University.

[00:10:45] Yaseen Ahmid: R one Research University in in Philadelphia. Uh, made the move back post, uh, graduation to work in management consulting at a company called Connie, specializing in strategic operations and supply chain. I did a lot of projects in mining, oil and gas. Did some engagements with some government entities in the Middle East, and then obviously decided to make the move back to the US to pursue my master’s degree.

[00:11:09] Yaseen Ahmid: But during that time, I started a business called Luna, which specializes in personalized resume reviews for young students, for professionals. And I mean, we’ve made significant impact over the past. Uh, over the past year. I mean, just this year we’ve helped over 250 students. And you know, we are opening up our doors not just to young professionals and students, but just to later, later professionals as well.

[00:11:34] Yaseen Ahmid: People that have been in industry for 10, 15 years. I think we’ve. Delivered exceptional results and we used minimal touch with ai, which I think is really changing our, our approach and, and our results. Yeah.

[00:11:47] Scott W. Luton: You see and love that it sounds like you use a very effective blend of AI and technology and the human expertise, right?

[00:11:54] Scott W. Luton: Is that what I’m hearing?

[00:11:55] Yaseen Ahmid: No, definitely. I think, um, with the emergence of generative AI and with these programs that you’re able to, or to generate a resume with, with your inputs, I think it’s really stealing away that kind of personality from your document, right? So I think we find a lot of our clients coming to us and, you know, experiencing an immediate impact after using our services.

[00:12:15] Yaseen Ahmid: So yeah, I think your resume should really speak to your story. It should reflect you as a person, and it shouldn’t really be a robot spitting words back onto paper.

[00:12:24] Scott W. Luton: Well said. Completely agree. It needs to be human and a great representation of, of your human superpowers. Clare, did you hear sing triple major?

[00:12:35] Scott W. Luton: I had a, I had a big time problem with one major in school and he’s over here. Killing it with a triple major. Your thoughts, Clare?

[00:12:43] Clare Fincham: When I first met him, I realized that he’s a very smart guy and we are very pleased to have him as a SAP member and he was an ambassador for a while for us. But I agree and and love the concept of the cvs.

[00:12:54] Clare Fincham: I think it’s a dynamic. It should be a dynamic document that you almost update, even if you’re not looking for employment sort of every six months because you’re busy learning stuff and, and building up your own body of knowledge and why not put it on the paper? So well done. Your business, you’re seen and, and all the best with that.

[00:13:10] Scott W. Luton: Agreed. Thanks

[00:13:11] Yaseen Ahmid: guys. I’m

[00:13:12] Scott W. Luton: blushing right now.

[00:13:14] Clare Fincham: Really

[00:13:14] Scott W. Luton: quick, I tease something, but you just had a big move. Would you like to share kind of what you’re doing now before we talk Apex conference?

[00:13:22] Yaseen Ahmid: Um, of course. Is this to the, is this to the advisory board or is this to the, the big move to Columbia, right? Am that the right Christine?

[00:13:29] Yaseen Ahmid: Right, right. Yeah. So recently, um, just made the move back to New York to pursue my master’s degree in sustainability management at, at Columbia. So I’ll be in New York up until next year in December, and then fingers crossed we, we find a job and stay in New York.

[00:13:44] Scott W. Luton: So how did, did you manage the logistics successfully in that move?

[00:13:48] Yaseen Ahmid: Yeah, I mean fortunately enough, you know, had been through the whole process with my undergrad finding apartments, so that was really fortunate to have a support network here in the US that, you know, was able to visit some apartments in person for me because some of those listings that were online were completely different, uh, in person.

[00:14:05] Yaseen Ahmid: But yes, happy, were all, all successful with the move thus far.

[00:14:09] Scott W. Luton: Good. Good. We’re gonna get some pictures. I look forward to. Good. Congrats on the move. Let’s shift gears. Let’s talk about the SAPICS annual Conference 2025, which again was held in June and the collection, I’ll start with you again. Y’all gave, y’all had a great panel session.

[00:14:21] Scott W. Luton: I, I hated, I had to miss it, but as, as Clare had mentioned, we had our work cut out for us that day. But y’all had rave reviews on this panel session. Y’all did. But whether it’s it’s key takeaways from that panel session or just from the conference in general. ’cause I. I dunno about y’all. I had like three pages of, of real powerful moments.

[00:14:39] Scott W. Luton: Yeah. Nicole, what comes to mind about a key takeaway or two?

[00:14:42] Nicole Petersen: I think for me logistically, the first thing I did was when I left, uh, I called my boss and I said, these people know how to put a conference together ’cause we’ve got one coming in November. And then I think apart from being on the panel with such esteem guests and having such good feedback and energy and engagement from our audience, it was very cool visiting the exhibitors.

[00:15:05] Nicole Petersen: Um, in terms of it not being a career fair. So I wasn’t going there looking for a job. I was actually going there and finding out what are they doing, how are they contributing, and just learning from the exhibitors. I didn’t have a lot of time to, to visit the other sessions, but those whom you are, the two takeouts at SAPICS know how to put a conference together at scale and being able to engage with the exhibitors that were really passionate about their fields and how they contribute to the industry at large.

[00:15:33] Scott W. Luton: Nicole, I wholeheartedly agree with you and Clare, I get you to comment before we get Yaseens key takeaway. If I had one word that I could choose very judiciously and apply it to my experience at the SAPICS conference. I think Nicole nailed is passion. You meet some of the most passionate leaders that are on noble missions to, this might sound cheesy, but they’re truly changing the world and it’s palpable.

[00:15:58] Scott W. Luton: Clare, your quick comment sir.

[00:16:00] Clare Fincham: I always wish that the SAPICS conference was about four days long, five days long, because I can never do everything that I want to do and listen to and meet and, um, digest and connect, and we have to pack it into to two and a half days. You are absolutely right up. Even our conference management company do a fantastic job of rearranging our conference for us, and I love the passion.

[00:16:24] Clare Fincham: I could feel the vibe this year in my body. Mm-hmm. With everybody talking and smiling and engaging. And when you hosting a conference, that’s really what you want. Obviously there’s. We got other ways we can do things and we can do things differently and, but essentially I think we’ve got a good, a good product and we are very grateful to all of the people who support us around our conference.

[00:16:47] Scott W. Luton: Uh, agreed. Agreed. It’s a great representation of the powerful community that SAPICS has been building for a long time. And, and folks, we need to make it like the Olympics two weeks long and we’ll, we’ll have all the discussions we need, all the actions, all the follow-up to-do lists, and all the wonderful.

[00:17:04] Scott W. Luton: Fun things to do. Markets, aquariums, get outdoors two weeks. So that’s a challenge, Clare. Okay, so, so you see I’m

[00:17:14] Clare Fincham: gonna need a lot of, um, and pare to get through those two weeks. Sorry,

[00:17:18] Scott W. Luton: may maybe next year, right? Maybe next year you see your, your key takeaways from the SAPICS, uh, annual conference experience this year.

[00:17:25] Yaseen Ahmid: Yeah. I think, you know, just to, to, to double down on what Nicole said. I think during the curation process of bringing these stakeholders together on this panel, it was really a thoughtful process of how can we get everyone from along the value chain, the talent value chain on the same stage, and engaging in a, a meaningful conversation to drive toward an impactful solution.

[00:17:47] Yaseen Ahmid: Hmm. Right. I’m sure We’ve all been to conferences where it’s just a mishmash of, of people on stage where there’s not really a clear and, you know, evident direction. So I’m really happy that we were able to bring, uh, stakeholders from industry, from academia, from governing and reporting agencies like SAGEA to drive towards this hypothesis that we originally had at the beginning of the year, which is, is there a talent gap?

[00:18:11] Clare Fincham: Hmm.

[00:18:12] Yaseen Ahmid: Right. And I think, you know, post-conference, and I’m sure Nicole, Clare, and, um, a lot of the other, you know, attendees in our sessions were that it is evident there is a supply chain talent gap in South Africa. And you’re know, happy to advance this discussion and see what we discovered later on.

[00:18:28] Scott W. Luton: Hmm.

[00:18:28] Yaseen Ahmid: Yes. And we’re gonna talk about

[00:18:29] Scott W. Luton: talent next in just a second. So that’s a good call out. But Clare, some of the words he used there, impactful, you know, these are folks that are gathered at, say, picks that are making. A true impact, uh, around global industry and of course across Africa, the connections. The meaningful connections.

[00:18:46] Scott W. Luton: I mean, this is one manifestation of the connections, uh, we’re making at events like, SAPICS. And then one last thing he touched on amongst other things is all the diverse sectors and industries and people that you find. And we gotta really lean in. Diversity is a superpower indeed, and it powers innovations every day.

[00:19:05] Scott W. Luton: Clare, your thoughts. Let’s, uh, get your comments on Yaseens key takeaways, and then I wanna get your own. Key takeaways from SAP Clare.

[00:19:14] Clare Fincham: Um, what, well, Yaseen absolutely nailed it and, and talked about the gaps and the challenges, and I am now gonna leap into my takeaway, okay. Which is post the conference actually, is the discussions that we’ve had.

[00:19:31] Clare Fincham: With women in supply chain discussions. These discussions, Nicole and I had a meeting, the meetings we’ve had at the universities with SMEs that started at the conference. For me, the takeaway of the conference is to continue the conversations because as previously mentioned, there’s not enough time.

[00:19:48] Clare Fincham: You’ve gotta keep on going. We always say, okay, so watch. Thank you for being on the stage. So what? It’s very important to translate that into actions and to use bodies like Sege and cex and all the others that we work with to, to make sure that we are supporting industry in these important discussions.

[00:20:08] Scott W. Luton: Clare, that’s a great call out and I would just, to all of our audience members out there, I think keeping that so what between our ears, especially as we make investments of time and resources into all the events out there. That’s So what factor is an important one to choose to help us choose where to spend that precious, finite resources.

[00:20:28] Scott W. Luton: So, clear, excellent point. And I’ll tell you, uh, there’s a handful of, of conferences like SAPICS, that I think drives a lot of post-event action, and that is so good for industry. Okay, let’s shift over to talent. We’ve got a lot of passion and expertise around. Talent in general and supply chain talent here on this, uh, addition of Supply Chain Now.

[00:20:50] Scott W. Luton: So let’s dial it in on this vital topic. This critical topic in any industry, but certainly global supply chain, where as INE mentioned, there are some gaps mm-hmm. That we’ve got to bridge better, build better bridges. We must in times of the essence, so Nicole, share with us some of the trends that your organization, SIA, is that how we say it?

[00:21:09] Scott W. Luton: Yeah.

[00:21:10] Nicole Petersen: Sia. Sia. Sagia, SIA, one of the two, to your point.

[00:21:14] Scott W. Luton: Tomato, tomato. Uh, so, uh, something like that. What are some of the trends you’re seeing, especially across the supply chain sector in South Africa? Talent trends?

[00:21:24] Nicole Petersen: I’m gonna focus on four key ones. Of course, there’s many more, but the first. Really positive change that we’ve seen is the growth in numbers from our member employers who recruit supply chain graduates.

[00:21:35] Nicole Petersen: Those have doubled since 2023. We anticipated this growth, but we are delighted to see that it’s finally landing ’cause this means they are now really serious about building pipelines and prioritizing early talent. The second one we’ve seen was, was quite a surprise ’cause we run this research on an annual basis.

[00:21:55] Nicole Petersen: For the first time, our date in 21 years, our data shows that supply chain vacancies in, in terms of young talent, has overtaken audit ICT, legal and finance in terms of the number of unfold graduate vacancies for 2025. Mm-hmm. So this clearly shows that there’s a growing demand and a growing gap. Thirdly, which I don’t think is unique to the supply chain industry, but we, we are definitely seeing a disconnect between what graduates bring and what employers need in 2025.

[00:22:29] Nicole Petersen: So many roles combine technical skills with customer facing or UX elements. Um. And we know with, with UX elements and those sort of things, they, they’re harder to teach quickly and they usually come with lots of experience. So that combination of mismatch we’re seeing. And then finally, which I think again, um, I’m preaching to the converted, that in terms of the emphasis on sustainability and the green economy, our members are looking for grads who can adopt this ethos and understand the importance of the, of supply chain.

[00:23:01] Nicole Petersen: And the problem is this is not inherently built into our traditional. Degree programs yet. So those are the four key things that we are seeing in the young talent, um, supply chain space as of 2025.

[00:23:15] Scott W. Luton: Nicole. Man, we could spend that. That’d be, that’s a podcast per each of those four for sure. And I, I, I bet folks if they go to your website, they can probably get some reporting and some additional thoughts on each of those four trends.

[00:23:28] Scott W. Luton: Sing, get your thoughts on those four, four big topics. What was, uh, what stood out the most to you?

[00:23:35] Yaseen Ahmid: Yeah, I think similar, similar sentiments to that congregation of, of panelists, right? I think it’s evident that there is a misalignment between industry, what industry is expecting and what is actually being taught in the classroom, right?

[00:23:50] Yaseen Ahmid: And I think that Clare mentioned it before, there needs to be this active. An intentional engagement between these academic institutions, industry, and agencies like SAGEA to drive towards solutions to align those academic offerings of what is really being requested and looked for within industry. And I think the sooner the better, or else we’re going to continue to see those numbers rise.

[00:24:12] Yaseen Ahmid: Uh, of unfilled, you know, vacancies in mm-hmm. Uh, in the supply chain sector. That’s right. And it will

[00:24:18] Scott W. Luton: hinder our global industry’s growth and innovation and success. And, you know, I had a very brilliant person. Brilliant person, very, a lot smarter than me. Make a comment to me the other day. Nicole Nette.

[00:24:32] Scott W. Luton: Last one. The importance of global supply chain is kind of one of the big themes there and ensuring that students really wrap their head around. Uh, the big picture component. There’s so many moving pieces upstream and downstream. I had a very brilliant person make this comment the other day that supply chain is such a niche topic, and it stuck me in my, it stopped me in my tracks because I thought humanity has learned, especially since the pandemic of just how important global supply chain is.

[00:24:59] Scott W. Luton: Everything in, in almost anything we touch, consume every component of our daily life. Mm-hmm. And that really, it, it. It goes right to your number four key takeaway. We still have jobs to do. Mm-hmm. And heavy lifting to do, to make sure we connect what global supply chain does in all of its various ways with consumers and folks not in the industry.

[00:25:21] Scott W. Luton: Clare. There’s four things. So to recap those, if I got this right, the good news with growth in numbers, Nicole, it’s doubled since 2023. That’s wonderful. But to your second one, the vacancies in supply chain has overtook all the other sectors for the first time in 21 years, you talked about the gap in the skill sets.

[00:25:39] Scott W. Luton: That’s very common. A lot of other research we’ve seen and talked about, and of course the importance and the, and the, the, the critical role that our industry serves in making sure we communicate that. Clare, of those four, your thoughts.

[00:25:53] Clare Fincham: Absolutely. I agree with all of them and I want to encourage people to be in supply chain management ’cause I think they’ll always find a job.

[00:26:00] Clare Fincham: And the jobs report that I read, um, said that supply chain careers are expected to grow by 21% and 2030. So that mirrors what, what Nicole was saying. It’s really a global demand for people who. Are able to manage risk and resilience in, in businesses so that I, that really is talking to what Nicole is actually experiencing.

[00:26:23] Scott W. Luton: Hmm. That’s right. That’s a good call out. Clare. You see one quick follow up. I got another question that we’re gonna talk about case study wise with Nicole and you in, in just a minute. But going to our third point, that gap in the skill sets. Now, it’s been a long time since I built a resume. I’m, I’m gonna tell you how long it’s been, right?

[00:26:39] Scott W. Luton: You’ll date me. But my hunch, and I’d love for you to weigh in Yaseen and with your expertise. As, as folks out there, this might be a learning moment for some of our folks in the job market right now as they identify roles that they really want and they really study what the organization’s looking for.

[00:26:56] Scott W. Luton: That’s a terrific opportunity to really tailor that resume. So it, it screams how they’re a great fit for that opportunity.

[00:27:04] Yaseen Ahmid: Would

[00:27:04] Scott W. Luton: you

[00:27:04] Yaseen Ahmid: agree with that Yaseen? No, completely. And I think that’s, uh, it’s one of the biggest issues that we encounter with our clients is that they’re not tailoring their resume to specific roles.

[00:27:14] Yaseen Ahmid: I mean, you could group. Specific, you can know, you could have a resume that’s applicable to maybe four, five or six, six roles, but then you should change your resume. If it’s changing industry or if it’s changing position. It is readily specific to the a TS that’s being requested from that company. So I completely agree.

[00:27:30] Yaseen Ahmid: I mean, you should tailor your resume to that specific role. They’re looking for different skills. They’re looking for different competencies. They want you to highlight specific, you know, instances of impact in certain areas. I mean, if you’re applying to multiple roles with just one, one resume, I think that’s probably one of the biggest reasons why you’re not receiving feedback.

[00:27:49] Scott W. Luton: Mm-hmm.

[00:27:50] Yaseen Ahmid: Folks, that is

[00:27:51] Scott W. Luton: million dollar advice because so many folks out there, they build it and they blast it, right? Build and blast, and it’s not tailored. And that’s one of the reasons, whether they’re human reviewers or technology. Reviewers, there’s a lot of that. Um, they’re skipping right over, right? So don’t do that.

[00:28:07] Scott W. Luton: Follow yin’s advice and, and hey, get his help too. Alright, so Nicole, let’s talk about this really interesting case study mm-hmm. That, uh, researched from the banking industry. And I think this offers some key lessons learned and some ideas for building the supply chain workforce. I can’t wait to hear what else you’re gonna share.

[00:28:26] Scott W. Luton: Nicole, tell us.

[00:28:27] Nicole Petersen: Great. So here’s the story of Quantify Your Future or QIF is what It’s, is what it’s locally known. And I want to do it in the analogy of supply chain, but only instead of goods. The product here. As graduates or young talent. So on the one end, we’ve got raw materials, we’ve got school learners, we’ve got university students, we’ve got young professions graduates with strong mathematical, analytical abilities.

[00:28:53] Nicole Petersen: And on the other end we’ve got demand banks, insurers, FinTech, everybody across the board saying, we need quantitative scientists, we need data scientists, we need skills that didn’t exist five to 10 years ago. But sadly in South Africa, the math pipeline is broken. Fewer learners are taking math, fewer are making it into university, into these highly sought after degrees, and even fewer are graduating into these roles.

[00:29:19] Nicole Petersen: Isn’t that just the classic bottleneck? So what did we do? We built QIF as an ecosystem. Employers gave us the demand signals and funding. This is what we need, and here are where the gaps are. Universities became the production hubs and students, most of them first gen. Finally got visibility of careers that they’ve never even heard of or considered.

[00:29:42] Nicole Petersen: So we ran virtual internships, school outreach programs, innovation showcases, future skills forums, where we actually brought senior academia and senior leaders around the same table, all designed to connect the dots and like a supply chain. We kept checking, we kept listening, and we kept adjusting. And what was the result?

[00:30:01] Nicole Petersen: Flow. So instead of the talent leaking outta the pipeline, we created pathways where students actually transitioned into these critical roles. And for me, that’s the magic. So whether you’re moving products or people, the same principle applies collaboration, visibility, and a joined up system.

[00:30:23] Scott W. Luton: I love that, Nicole.

[00:30:24] Scott W. Luton: I love that. Nicole, you see, when you hear that, that case study and, and the critical elements of it that Nicole just walked us through your thoughts. Um.

[00:30:33] Yaseen Ahmid: I think the important part, or, you know, something that jumped out to me there is that it actually worked, right? I think that there was a, a constant pipeline and I think that there’s constant outputs of students that were getting placed, right?

[00:30:44] Yaseen Ahmid: I think we, we like to plan, we like to kind of structure these, these programs and I think that it demonstrates significant impact and that it actually had a tangible result, is what it wonder to me. Yeah, well said. And I would just add

[00:30:59] Scott W. Luton: to that the closed loop component of that case study, Nicole, because as we all know, Clare, Yaseen, and Nicole Little things, few things in life.

[00:31:08] Scott W. Luton: Work as you publish it. They stay in static form, that closed loop where you’re constantly getting feedback and then going back and improving various elements. And so it is more dynamic and it can, it can react dynamically to the, the ever moving market. Mm-hmm. And the voice of the customer, so to speak.

[00:31:27] Scott W. Luton: Mm-hmm. Critical, critical, critical. But I’m preaching to the converted. And I, I stole that phrase from you, Nicole. I love it. I usually say preaching to the choir, but that sounds so much more eloquent, Nicole. So I’m gonna start using it. Clare talk to, if you would, that case study?

[00:31:43] Clare Fincham: Yes, absolutely. So just e echoing your comments and sentiments.

[00:31:47] Clare Fincham: Fact that they. They achieved it and that they adapted it to suit the market. And the needs and the needs of the employers, the needs of the employees. I mean, that is just such a phenomenal supply chain. It is. It’s a perfect case study and example of something that’s working and also highlights the fact that supply chain is an absolutely everything in our lives.

[00:32:10] Scott W. Luton: Hmm. Mm. Well said. It is so true. And the outcomes, to your point, Clare, and what all three of y’all really have spoken to, outcomes, outcomes, outcomes. It goes back to the so what if we’re not producing the outcomes that we need to and moving the needle, what are we doing? Mm-hmm. We’re wast, we’re contributing more muda and wasting a whole bunch of people’s time and amongst other things.

[00:32:33] Scott W. Luton: And we all know time is in limited, limited supply, the short life we’re in, okay. Good stuff. Uh, ya. I wanna switch gears for a minute. Let’s talk about another case study. I don’t know when you get any sleep ’cause I you stay on the move, you got a bunch of things going on. So you worked at Drexel University and their supply chain advisory board, and I think a lot of your work was helping to connect or maybe address the disconnect between academia and industry, which is kinda one of the things we’re, we’re kind of talking through here today, but tell us more.

[00:33:03] Scott W. Luton: You see.

[00:33:04] Yaseen Ahmid: Yeah, of course. Happy to, happy to share. So, I mean, on the context of, of the Drexel Supply Chain advisory board, it was last year in December, was visiting New York, obviously to visit to, to visit campus, but also was invited by Reuters on the back of that 2024 nomination. Um, and recognition that I made the rounds in Philadelphia, connected with professors, with past colleagues.

[00:33:28] Yaseen Ahmid: But I set up a session with the dean of the Lebo College of Business. To propose this idea of establishing a supply chain advisory board, detailed out the mission, how it would function, just lay out the entire plan and give him like minimal lift on his side. And let me, let me direct this, uh, this initiative.

[00:33:46] Yaseen Ahmid: And so throughout the beginning of, uh, of this year, I worked with bringing together industry stakeholders from the Philadelphia region, from the New York region, and as well as New Jersey. To find C-suite professionals that are committed to improving their pipeline of talent into their, into their businesses.

[00:34:03] Yaseen Ahmid: So I was able to bring together 16 industry stakeholders to, number one, align Drexel’s academic offerings with what’s really being requested and acquired from these employers. And then secondly, build closer relationships with these employers to improve the touch points that they have with our students.

[00:34:21] Yaseen Ahmid: Right? Having speaker sessions in our lectures. Spotlighting their companies on campus. Just having more touch points with students at an earlier stage in their development. And I’m sure Nicole can attest to this, but I think in South Africa students really only start their job search much later, and I’m sure SAGEA does have that information mm-hmm.

[00:34:39] Yaseen Ahmid: To back that up. But students really only start their job search and those relationships with companies. Maybe in their third or their fourth year. Both of them

[00:34:48] Nicole Petersen: I’ve, I’ve got the stat, so 50% of them do it in the, and the there is do it prior to, so you’re spot on.

[00:34:55] Yaseen Ahmid: No, exactly. And I think, you know, there is evidence to suggest that the outcome of your, you know, like your application, so you know, getting a job post-graduation.

[00:35:03] Yaseen Ahmid: I’m much more successful if you start those relationships much earlier on. So this is a, you know, an active attempt like we’ve mentioned in the conversation, to really bring industry closer to academia. And, I mean, we had our last, we had our first, uh, kickoff session last week, Thursday with, with the advisory board members in person.

[00:35:20] Yaseen Ahmid: And I mean, the outcomes have just been fantastic. We ran through our core curriculum, our core classes, our elective classes, and I mean, the feedback that we were able to gather just in an hour and a half’s worth of a session has just been invaluable.

[00:35:34] Clare Fincham: Amazing.

[00:35:35] Yaseen Ahmid: Well, all

[00:35:35] Scott W. Luton: right, so, so lot Ben. Lots of things here.

[00:35:38] Scott W. Luton: Number one, Clare. I love how a lot of his work and the gap they’ve identified and the outcomes driving work they’re doing goes right back to Nicole’s third. A key takeaway, the gap in the skill sets. It exists everywhere around the world. You know, blessed be the, I say, I was about to say blessed be the, the, the, uh, ties that bind, but this is not a good tie.

[00:35:59] Scott W. Luton: We gotta fix it. And then secondly, I think for, for our, for folks in the job market, whether you’re in school or early or lake crew, whatever, I think two, two. Key things that INE spoke to is we gotta get, we gotta plan much earlier. We can’t wait till you are a senior in college like I did to start thinking about what we wanna do.

[00:36:21] Scott W. Luton: You can do that, but you’re probably probably gonna have less opportunities. And number two, being more targeted, I tell you, um, I wish, if I could tell myself a couple things, it’d be a long list when I was in school, if I had really. I worked hard to identify what I wanted to do in this career. Mm-hmm. And really at least had some initial thoughts as a freshman that would’ve guided my experiences and what I chose to spend my time and, and classes I took, it’d been so much more better and I would’ve jumped out of, you know, graduation probably.

[00:36:56] Scott W. Luton: Where I wanted to be in that first couple years afterwards. So, Clare, um, whether it’s any of that or that the case actually, uh, Nicole, let’s get you to comment first. Mm-hmm. And then we’ll go to Clare on Justine’s case study.

[00:37:07] Nicole Petersen: I think I’ve got a prime example of that where I was studying a commerce degree to qualify as an industrial psychologist.

[00:37:15] Nicole Petersen: Okay. And I had to do a compulsory. Internship during my master’s year, and I came back after two weeks to my supervisor and lecturer and said, I never. One to see another psychometric test in front of me in my life. So had I done that in first year, I would’ve probably pivoted. So again, planning earlier and having a targeted approach.

[00:37:39] Nicole Petersen: And that’s why I say I enjoy the work that I do because I can start planting those seeds a lot earlier than, than what we had. And I think, yeah, Yaseen to just to your point. Absolutely amazing that you could get so many people face to face in a room. And that was the key for us as well. Obviously during COVID we tried to do it virtually getting the academics in C-Suite and the minute in 2022 we got them all in a room, it made such a difference because now we were singing off the same hymn sheet, we were understanding what we want, and we realized it takes a village to build this industry.

[00:38:14] Nicole Petersen: And it’s not an us and them, it’s an us and us.

[00:38:18] Scott W. Luton: Yes, well said Nicole. And you know, what you’re speaking to, I believe is Juste getting those 16 industry leaders all together in person, which was fuel to for a lot of the outcomes that they were able to, to establish. Uh, Clare, you were about to say Hallelujah, I think on what Youe and Nicole, I’ve been sharing your thoughts.

[00:38:38] Clare Fincham: Um, um. Just to commend Yaseen on his amazing in, uh, initiatives in his life that he’s doing and, and happy to share any of this amazing work with the SAPICS community, of course, when you, when you’re ready. But so important to, to loop industry in. Try to do it at SAPICS to say, what do you want, what do you want from, from our education program, for example, which is obviously post-grad, but um, it’s so important to just keep on talking and I love the us and us.

[00:39:08] Scott W. Luton: I agree. And I, I gotta find a note. I’m, I took from interview the other day. But, um, Nicole, I think one other thing to call out, it’s really important folks, what to identify what we want to do and like Nicole said, what we don’t want to do, that’s really important too. I, I’ll interview. Shinta the other day, and there was a great methodology she shared with me.

[00:39:30] Scott W. Luton: And I’m gonna have to find, um, I am because we are, I might be getting that wrong, but I am, because we are the power of community and, and the power of the connectedness. And I tell you, it bears its fruit in a number of different ways, but especially when it comes to career development and finding opportunities, that’s a very powerful force to lean into.

[00:39:51] Scott W. Luton: And once you, once you find those opportunities. To help others find them. Okay. One more thing, Yaseen, before we we talk leadership, because you’ve got a late breaking news update, what are you up to now?

[00:40:03] Yaseen Ahmid: Yeah, I, I’m really, really happy to share that I’m working with a institution back home in South Africa to replicate a supply chain advisory board that really, again, brings together industry stakeholders to align those academic offerings and to bring those, those employers closer with, with the real powerhouse in, in supply chain, uh, supply chain education.

[00:40:25] Yaseen Ahmid: And, you know, just to double down on what clan Nicole have said, it’s about establishing, and it’s about. Really refining a value proposition between both parties, right. I don’t think you can expect to bring so many people to the table without some sort of shared, uh, shared value and shared mission.

[00:40:41] Yaseen Ahmid: Mm-hmm. So it’s been very important and have been very intentional and clinical in how we approach employees to get them on board and to really believe in where we want to take these, these initiatives. So, you know, happy to share with your community, you know, later down the line, once we establish this, uh.

[00:40:57] Yaseen Ahmid: You know, advisory board, but excited to get started and super appreciative of, of the support that we’ve had back home in South Africa thus far.

[00:41:05] Scott W. Luton: Love it. Look forward to getting updates on your continued, all of y’all’s continued journeys, but, uh, uh, very cool. Uh, making, making the world and making global supply chain better for all and including helping all everybody find opportunities.

[00:41:20] Scott W. Luton: Mm-hmm. So let’s talk leadership, ’cause that’s a really big. I think responsibility in charge for successful leaders out there. What are you doing for others? Mm-hmm. When you think of innovative leadership examples across the continent of Africa and those examples that can teach other leaders in other places around the world, what comes to mind?

[00:41:37] Scott W. Luton: Nicole? Mm.

[00:41:39] Nicole Petersen: I’m probably gonna give my, give my online shopping habits away here, but for me it’s a local grossly delivery app. We call it the biggest biker gang in South Africa because they come zipping past you with your goods, um, within 60 Minutes, which went from pilot to a a national supply chain disrupting record time.

[00:41:58] Nicole Petersen: And what they managed to do is they cracked the last mile logistic in South Africa and forced the entire retail sector to rethink e-commerce. And if that’s not leapfrogging, then I, I don’t know what is. And the other kicker for me is one of the recent World Economic Forum reports state that by 2050, half of the world’s working age population will be African.

[00:42:20] Yaseen Ahmid: Wow.

[00:42:20] Nicole Petersen: So the, the resilience and the collaboration that we are doing here isn’t just local, but it’ll be. A playbook for all leaders across the world very soon.

[00:42:30] Scott W. Luton: Nicole, that is remarkable. Did you say about 2050? Does that look for right? 20 52

[00:42:34] Nicole Petersen: 0 5. Oh, yeah.

[00:42:35] Scott W. Luton: Wow. Okay. Good stuff Nicole. And I like that biker gang.

[00:42:39] Scott W. Luton: We can learn from biker gangs out there. Yaseen your thoughts. Yeah, I think

[00:42:44] Yaseen Ahmid: just to, to emphasize what, what Nicole said there, I think I’m a firm believer that Africa is the future. You know, I think Africa is positioned to be a leader in the world when it comes to, to, to talent and youth, youth talent. But a previous guest that you had, um, on Supply Chain Now, professor Sivan Kier.

[00:43:03] Yaseen Ahmid: I’m an advocate for entrepreneurship. You know, I’m fortunate that my parents ran their own business, uh, growing up and, you know, running my own business. Now, I think the soft skills that you develop. In entrepreneurship, right? Communication, collaboration, teamwork, being able to function under pressure, presentation skills.

[00:43:22] Yaseen Ahmid: Those are all soft skills that I implore our clients at Lunar to really demonstrate on their document because like Nicole, I’m sure can back up with ji’s, um, information is that, is what employers are looking for. Yeah. You can teach hard skills. Mm-hmm. You can teach technical skills, but having those learned soft skills from, you know, activities like entrepreneurship.

[00:43:43] Yaseen Ahmid: That Professor Sivan Kelly is really advocating for within her curriculum and her classes. Mm-hmm. You know, is inspiring to me and I wish her well and continue, continue her work. She’s

[00:43:54] Scott W. Luton: brilliant and it was a great sit down with her at SAPICS in Cape Town. It’s a great call out. Yaseen Clare, we, we need another hour or two in this conversation here, I think, but, uh, your thoughts on leadership examples.

[00:44:08] Clare Fincham: I am, I’m keeping a little bit sort of local, but the SAPICS board members for me have, have shown such amazing leadership skills, not only in their own work such as TTO at Maersk and mj, Lego and Johnson Johnson and Ator with their own company, but Ello Ani is an ex OPEX board member and he’s the chairman of the Pan-African Supply Chain Council.

[00:44:31] Clare Fincham: I’m a Pan-Africanist, having been born in Zimbabwe and married to a Zambian, so I love. Discussions that go further than the South African borders. He’s done great work, but there are so many, and to Nicole’s point and to your point. Um, we, we talked about this in our, uh, young professional conference earlier in the year, or buntu, meaning I am because you are, yes.

[00:44:54] Clare Fincham: It means talks to supply chains. Mm. If I’m not doing well in my department, you can’t be doing well in your department. So let’s all just collaborate and make sure we are one thing and one flow. And, um, I went off track there a little bit, Scott, as usual. Sorry. That’s

[00:45:09] Scott W. Luton: okay.

[00:45:09] Clare Fincham: Um, but. Oh, that’s enough from me.

[00:45:12] Scott W. Luton: Hey, I, I, I didn’t know that about your background, Clare, and it’s such a great comment. The, the regional element of your comment. You know, I think all too often, and well, I’ll ask y’all, I’ll ask each of y’all, all three of you, when you say Africa, do a lot of the folks from in other parts of the world think of like.

[00:45:30] Scott W. Luton: Just one big continent and not all the communities and countries and and different cultures. Do y’all all find that in common?

[00:45:38] Nicole Petersen: I think it’s same like the US people say, are you going to the U? Okay, which state are you? What are you gonna do? It’s a similar, similar analogy, Scott.

[00:45:47] Scott W. Luton: That’s a great point. ’cause California and Carolina are very different.

[00:45:50] Scott W. Luton: Was that clear?

[00:45:53] Clare Fincham: Um, when somebody says, I’m going to Atlanta, I say, oh, do you know Scott Luton?

[00:45:58] Scott W. Luton: And they all say, no. No, Atlanta, I’ll tell you, Atlanta’s growing left and right. I’ll tell you what, uh, we can see it in the traffic. All right. So Clare and Nicole and Yaseen, I really, really enjoyed y’all’s perspective here today.

[00:46:09] Scott W. Luton: It’s a very actionable conversation. It really is. And I, I just wanna pick, well pick on one more thing that Yaseen said there that I bet we can all agree on is the power of storytelling. I think we’ve talked a lot to the job seekers that maybe tuned into our audience and, and I love that. I wish I’d heard a lot of this perspective back in my day when I was in the market, but folks.

[00:46:29] Scott W. Luton: Really invest in your ability to tell your own story and tell the various chapters in your journey. ’cause I, I can’t remember the data there, there’s all kinds of data, but if you’re able to convey whatever you’re trying to achieve and communicate in story form, the ability to actually successfully communicate that and, and influence minds and decisions goes dramatically off the chart.

[00:46:56] Scott W. Luton: So. Think about how you tell stories. So Clare, uh, as we start to wrap, we’re gonna make sure folks know how to connect with everybody, but I got two questions for you, Clare. Number one, what’s the next big event coming up at Safe Picks and what was one of your favorite things you heard here from Nicole and Yaseen?

[00:47:13] Clare Fincham: Let me start with your second question. Okay. I think, I think to your point about people telling their own stories, because companies are looking beyond the technical skills. We know that we have great universities that can offer that, but people are looking for a lot more soft skills, emotional intelligence, and you have to find a way and Yaseen can help you with that into being able to.

[00:47:35] Clare Fincham: To be able to convey that in your CCB and in your interviews. Mm-hmm. And people are looking, they’re looking for agile people, agile professionals to, to adapt to the various supply chain changes. So yes. SAPICS.

[00:47:49] Scott W. Luton: Yes, please.

[00:47:50] Clare Fincham: So SAPICS is 60 next year. Very exciting. We set big celebrations and so we’ve got a lot of events happening to celebrate the fact that we have been, which we would want supply chains to be.

[00:48:05] Clare Fincham: Have strong longevity and good sustainability. So that’s really kind of our theme for 2026, and we have lots of different events, which our SAPs community will hear about, such as golf days and the Johannesburg event, et cetera. We continue with our work with young professionals, with women and young executives, and our annual conference, the 48th conference, celebrating our 60th year will be in July, 2026 in Cape Town.

[00:48:32] Scott W. Luton: Outstanding July. Thank you for

[00:48:34] Clare Fincham: letting. You bet. Yes, it’s pushed out a pushed out a month,

[00:48:39] Scott W. Luton: Clare. I love it. And I was definitely gonna call that out ’cause I think it’s been in June for uh, quite some time. I think the July move is a great move and it’s gonna really free up. I think it’s a lot of calendars.

[00:48:49] Scott W. Luton: So hopefully we’ll see a lot more folks celebrating SAPICS’s 60th anniversary. Next year. That is remarkable. I’m gonna, I’m gonna save y’all’s eardrums and not sing Happy birthday. You’ve never, let’s do this. Um, what a great conversation. Uh, really enjoyed it today. Nicole Petersen, program manager with the South African Graduate Employers Association.

[00:49:10] Scott W. Luton: Uh, I think folks you can learn more at, check me if I’m right here. Nicole sagea.org.za. I get that right, Nicole. Absolutely.

[00:49:18] Nicole Petersen: Absolutely. And on LinkedIn, of course, we are quite active there in terms of our sharing.

[00:49:24] Scott W. Luton: Outstanding and And that’s the best way to reach you via either the website or LinkedIn?

[00:49:28] Nicole Petersen: LinkedIn, absolutely, yes.

[00:49:30] Scott W. Luton: Okay. Outstanding. Nicole, great to meet you here today. Really enjoyed your perspective. Yaseen Ahmid founder and CEO with Luna and a whole bunch more stuff Yaseen. How can folks connect with you?

[00:49:42] Yaseen Ahmid: Yeah, they can, uh, they can find me on LinkedIn or they can check out our website, which is luna-resume.com.

[00:49:50] Yaseen Ahmid: It

[00:49:51] Scott W. Luton: is just that easy. Really good. I, it is amazing what you’re doing across the globe, helping folks what really both of y’all, you’re seeing Nicole and you Clare, helping folks find opportunities, get better at what they do and just succeed in this journey. So love it. Uh, Clare Fincham with sas, great to see you again.

[00:50:08] Scott W. Luton: Love this conversation here today. How can folks track you down?

[00:50:12] Clare Fincham: Thank you, Scott, uh, sapics.org, Clare, and on LinkedIn. And just take this opportunity to thank you and your team for hosting this and giving, um, Nicole and Yaseen a platform to showcase their amazing work. We grateful for the partnership.

[00:50:29] Clare Fincham: Thank you.

[00:50:29] Scott W. Luton: You bet. Amazing is the right word. It really is. I’ve got a thousand ideas after the last hour with all three of y’all. Uh, but to our audience, hey, hopefully you enjoy this conversation as much as I have. I, I’ve had a blast here learning a lot from, uh, our incredible panel. But you got homework, yes, like it’s back in college or grade school.

[00:50:47] Scott W. Luton: Your challenge is to take one thing from what you heard here from Yaseen, Nicole or Clare, just one thing. There’s lots more. Take one thing. Put it into action, share it with your team. We all know by now, certainly by now, it’s all about deeds, not words. What are you doing and how are you addressing the so what question, right?

[00:51:05] Scott W. Luton: Mm-hmm. All of that’s how we continue to transform global business and provide opportunities for all. So on behalf of the whole team here at Supply Chain Now, Scott Luton challenging. You do good, give forward, be the change that’s needed. And we’ll see you next time. Right back here on Supply Chain Now.

[00:51:18] Scott W. Luton: Thanks everybody.

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