JOB POSITIONS
I am an Account Executive for YRC Worldwide, a Fortune 500 global transportation and logistics management company. As an Account Executive, I manage client relationships and provide consultative services to major businesses in the Greater Boston Area. My basic role is to help each business fine tune their distribution model and supply chain management while maintaining and growing current business levels.

Aside from my full-time job, I’m also the Chief Strategy Officer and co-founder of a social enterprise called iB-LIEVE (www.GOiBELIEVE.com). As an organization, we refer to ourselves as a “company doing good, for good.” Primarily, we work with individuals and organizations to help them reach their fullest potential by offering them innovative products and services that empower them to be the change makers they aspire to be. As the CSO I am deeply involved with every decision, goal, and strategy iB-LIEVE creates/pursues as an organization. I assist in creating, communicating, executing, and sustaining all key initiatives both in the short and long term. My role for the company is wide ranging and I’m often finding myself wearing multiple hats, just as any other business owner does. 

TYPICAL WORK DAY
Busy...very busy! Fully pursuing a career in logistics while simultaneously pushing forward as a small business owner, my day is completely filled with excitement and all the other stress that comes along with it!

In my job with YRC, I travel from client to client attending multiple meetings to gauge the supply chain challenges my clients face so that I can meet and exceed their needs. This usually consists of about 5 meetings in the morning, a client lunch, 4 more meetings in the afternoon and sometimes client dinners or other entertainments in the evening.

After a full day of visiting clients, I quickly shift gears and moonlight as a social entrepreneur with iB-LIEVE. My evenings are typically spent in meetings co-managing this business. The meetings usually consist of getting together with other team members to go over key business objectives, execute our current initiatives, plan upcoming events, or simply dive into brainstorming sessions. Most of the time our meetings include a unique blend of all of the items just stated. Also, many weekends are spent working on Educational Services Division of iB-LIEVE. This is the aspect of the business where we offer workshops, lectures, and other educational programs to colleges/universities that are designed to inspire achievement through leadership development, self-empowerment, and team-work. Last year we spoke at over a dozen colleges and universities expanding all over the East Coast.

POSITIVES
Part of my job with YRC requires me to entertain clients and that can be extremely fun! From entertaining clients, I have been able experience things I wouldn't have been able to on my own. I’ve been able to dine at some of the country’s finest restaurants, golf at exclusive country clubs, and attend several sporting events every year. However, aside from the perks of entertaining, my YRC job has allowed me to gain insight and knowledge across a wide range of industries. I’ve been able to get a “behind-the-scenes” look at how some of the nation’s largest (and smallest) organizations operate, which is not only intriguing and fascinating but also serves as a direct resource for me to implement into the operation for my other job with iB-LIEVE.

In my role with iB-LIEVE, the joy is found in almost every function of the business. Serving as a co-pilot for my own organization makes the job really exciting, but I find true happiness within carrying out the mission of our organization. After working with well over a thousand students in the past year, it’s amazing to know that we are making an active difference in many students’ lives. I’m happy to have followed this passion and knowing we are promoting “good” in the world.

NEGATIVES
Managing client relationships can be very frustrating, as it is a volatile position by nature. Working with multiple clients means being subjected to multiple types of personalities and sometimes those personalities just don’t match up. At times, managing conflicting personalities can be frustrating, but over time it becomes easier to handle.

With iB-LIEVE, the only major frustration has to do time and time management. We are all currently pursuing other full-time careers while simultaneously running a business on the side and as a result, timing seems to never be on our side. We’re finding that there just simply isn't enough time in the day to get everything done. This time dilemma delays projects and extends deadlines and just completely backs up our progress moving forward. If only they could invent a few more hours in the day...

LIFESTYLE
Managing client relationships is not all that different than managing personal relationships. Pursuing a career in this field has given me an opportunity to learn how I function within in my own relationships, both personally and professionally. Whether it is a relationship with a friend, significant other, parent, teacher, or any other type of relationship, this career has allowed me to see where I’ve struggled at managing relationships in the past and to learn and apply what it truly takes to be successful at maintaining and growing strong relationships. I believe our lifestyle can be directly related to the relationships we maintain with others, so in this regard, my career has affected my lifestyle (for the better) within almost every aspect of it.

In regard to iB-LIEVE, I feel as if my lifestyle and the role I currently serve are directly synonymous. I define “lifestyle” as a developed personal philosophy or a way of life in which we express our values, beliefs, and attitudes with respect to the world we experience. iB-LIEVE happens to be the result of the collective lifestyle of our co-founders and serves as a philosophy that enables us to reach our own potential while helping others become empowered so that they can reach theirs as well. My career with iB-LIEVE, even despite the late hours and hectic work schedule, only enhances my lifestyle as it helps me to become the best person I can be.

COLLEGE PREPARATION
There are multiple parts of college that prepared me for my dual career. Of course all the business and marketing courses I took helped prepare me for my career, but I believe my interest and involvement in philosophy served as the real backbone. Taking additional courses in philosophy and studying complex philosophical theories allowed me to study my own way of life and helped me establish and refine the personal philosophy I would later employ within both of my roles at YRC and iB-LIEVE.

Looking back, the only thing I would have done differently would be to have taken more time to “smell the roses”. I sometimes look back and wish I lived more in the moment rather than being overly consumed with the projects I was working on. I also would’ve worked harder at establishing relationships with those who I wanted to but never got the chance or opportunity to.

CAREER ADVICE
My advice would be to simply just get more involved. Help where you can, support those who need it, join forces with others, and just get out there and do it. Getting more involved allows you to expand your personal and professional network and it grants you invaluable experience as your career will later prove. The lessons I’ve learned through joining clubs and other associations has allowed me to speak knowledgeably and offer valuable insight in many of my client relationships today.

But most importantly, my advice would be to find the courage to follow your passion. The career path or even the passion itself may not be as clear as you want it to be right now, but be meaningful in your decision making and trust your convictions. There are no excuses why you can’t follow your passion(s), just get up and live up to it!

SHU EXPERIENCE
My experience at SHU was outstanding, as it provided me the opportunity to develop in ways I personally needed to. At first, SHU started out as being a place where I would continue playing football at a higher level and it ended up being something completely different. When I suffered a career ending injury and was forced to “hang up the cleats”, it was the faculty, staff, and friends at SHU who helped me transfer my passion into something else. It was SHU who taught me how to turn potential negatives into abundant potential for positives. Throughout my four years spent at SHU, I had met some of the most intriguing, ambitious, and caring individuals whom I still call dear friends today.