I have pretty much worked in logistics all my life since I was 16 years old. I joined APL Logistics because I was moving to Arizona and knew that APL Logistics was in Scottsdale. The location for me was great and the fact that this is a global company was exactly what I was looking for. I also wanted to be at a place that offered a long-term career where I could grow at my own pace and have a good work-life balance for me and my family. I have found everything I want here at APL Logistics.

My career journey here has been awesome. I started as a temp and became a full-time employee within two months. In my current role as an associate manager, I lead a team of about 20 people and am responsible for the execution and the management of all activity involved to move shipments from North America into Canada.

There are customer service reps, team leads, and two supervisors who report directly to me. I get to participate in and direct process improvements by collaborating and troubleshooting together with this amazing team that’s like family.

The world of logistics is fast paced. It’s a very demanding environment but it’s what you make of it. For example, if I need something from my manager, I will go out and get it. My manager is definitely approachable with an open door policy and has told me, “I support you with whatever you decide 100%.”

Just the other day, I sent my manager an email but couldn’t wait for her to go through her hundreds of emails to get to mine. I saw her and said, “My expense report has returned and they’re asking this. Can you take a look at it?.” She stopped everything she was doing, pulled up my email and replied right away with a solution.

I’ve been able to put together a great team and it is my team that really motivates me. We genuinely like each other and make the effort to know each other on a more personal level. Building and maintaining relationships is important and I truly believe this is the reason why the team is seen as the epitome of collaboration.

We’ve just launched a new system and we onboarded 10,000 vendors, which is an outrageous number.

Having this very close, intimate and friendly relationship with my team has helped achieve our success together. It’s a very positive team environment and I can’t imagine not working with some of these guys. I value the relationships I’ve built and am so glad they are part of my day-to-day work life.