ON THE MOVE: Transportation Sales & Marketing Success Stories
"ON THE MOVE: Transportation Sales & Marketing Success Stories" is your weekly dose of inspiration and insights into the dynamic world of transportation sales and marketing. Join us as we delve into captivating success stories and glean valuable strategies from industry leaders, empowering you to excel in this fast-paced field. Whether you're a seasoned professional or just starting out, tune in to discover actionable advice that will propel your career forward in transportation sales and marketing.
ON THE MOVE: Transportation Sales & Marketing Success Stories
Balancing Tradition and Innovation at Taylor Logistics
TMSA’s On the Move Podcast – Featuring Noelle Taylor-Dalton
Legacy in Motion: Noelle Taylor Dalton on Family, Innovation, and the Future of Logistics
As part of the 7th generation of her family’s women- and family-owned logistics company, Noelle Taylor Dalton carries forward a legacy that began in 1850. With a deep respect for the company’s history and a passion for pushing it into the future, Noelle blends tradition with innovation at Taylor Logistics. In this episode, we explore what it means to be part of a nearly two-century-old business that’s anything but stagnant, her unique perspective on the supply chain industry, and what she’s most looking forward to at her first TMSA Executive Summit after missing ELEVATE for a major life milestone—her wedding.
Check out the Transportation Sales and Marketing Association (TMSA) website or engage with us on LinkedIn.
Hello everyone and welcome to On the Move, a show where we share transportation, sales and marketing success stories. I am Jennifer Karpis-Romain, executive Director of TMSA, a trade nonprofit educating and connecting marketing and sales professionals inside the industry, and we have been on summer break here on Move the industry. And we have been on summer break here on Move and, now that our kids are back in school and we're getting back into the swing of all things, happy to kick off our show again here in September with our first guest, noelle Taylor Dalton, who is VP of Sales and Marketing at Taylor Logistics. So how are you doing today, noelle? Welcome to the show.
Speaker 2:I am good. Thank you for having me. I love the intro music.
Speaker 1:Oh well, good, I love it and I love how it all spins and it comes out. We're very high tech here.
Speaker 2:I feel like it's a little different from the break. No, or is it the?
Speaker 1:same. So we launched our intro the beginning of this year, so we didn't have it last year, but as we headed into year two I really thought we needed to up our game and come in with that. So I liked that, because otherwise it was just me staring at the guest being like hi, I love it.
Speaker 2:I was like doing a little dance and it was great. I love it.
Speaker 1:I do. I do that as well, so that's always good that they block us out. When it's great, I love it. I do, I do that as well, so that's always good that they block us out. When it's on, thankfully, I was like can someone see this?
Speaker 2:Are they going to put it like bloopers at the end? Please know, cause you'll see me in there dancing.
Speaker 1:Well, I am so excited to have you here, and you are part of the seventh generation at Taylor Logistics and this is a company that's been in business since 1850. That's a very long time. I'm so curious what it means to you to kind of be carrying that legacy forward, both personally and professionally.
Speaker 2:Well, firstly, it's an honor. Not everyone is this lucky and I'm seriously so grateful to be in this position. Currently in the business, it's my dad and my brother and myself. That's the only family members that are part of it, so it's just us three and honestly, I don't. If I wasn't at Taylor, I don't know if I would talk to them every day and I get to talk to them every single day. We're all three in different aspects of the business. We don't even work in the same location, but we connect every single day and that is something that is incredible and I feel very fortunate to do so. But being seven generation comes with some pressure. I mean, 175 years carries a heavy weight, so I definitely feel the pressure. It's an honor. There's a lot of history. I mean, with family business comes family dynamics, and all the time people are like I don't know how you work with your dad, I don't know how you work with your brother, how do you guys show up to Christmas dinner?
Speaker 2:Which is valid, but there are so many organizations that help with family business dynamics, from succession planning to just politics, things of this sort so we're very fortunate, in the cities that we operate, to be a part of these different associations that help with that. But yeah, it's seriously an honor.
Speaker 1:And we hope to carry the legacy forward. I love that. I absolutely would never work with my family, so kudos to you. They did come to Elevate this year.
Speaker 2:Great.
Speaker 1:Mom, dad, kid, husband, sister, nieces, and by the I was like you may go now. It was cool to have them see what I do like. At least at your family dinners, people understand what your job is.
Speaker 2:Sort of I don't. Yeah, I don't think my couple of my uncles who are in part of the business know what's going on, but for the most part, yeah, people have a good idea for sure yeah, which is cool.
Speaker 1:One of the things that I love about your journey is because you are marketing, you are sales, and so you've had this family business legacy. But you kind of formed your path in, like doing what you love to do, but making it applicable to the family business, and so did you always know that's what you were planning and wanted, force it and be like, nope, I'm gonna afford my path here in this way um, did I always know I mean yes and no.
Speaker 2:so I remember as a little kid, going to check the trucks with my dad, I would get a donut. At the end of the day we go see the temperatures because we're doing a lot of temperature temperature control work at the time. So I was like, oh cool, this is about. You know. We were also in the confectionery business. So I was like my dad deals with candy and I get a donut. So heck, yeah, I want to be in this business.
Speaker 2:I got older I actually started working in the warehouse making some retail displays for a couple of customers. Didn't love that so much so I was like I don't know if this is for me, you know. Then I was scanning bills in, which was really fun because I'm kind of a techie person, I love computers. At the time it was scanning in bills, making sure everything was good, and I loved that part. I liked the process of it. Putting everything in and working with the accounting team was awesome.
Speaker 2:But I went to college thinking I'm not going to join the business, thinking you know my brother he has always wanted to do his whole life, wanted to work at the family business, so he went to college for it. My dad did make him get a job out of college not at Taylor to gain experience and all the things, but I went to school for user experience, design and computer science, which isn't super applicable to our industry until it is. So then my uncle asked me to join and I guess yes and no. I've always loved it. I've always loved Take your Child to Work Day. It was always so much fun. But, yeah, I guess yes and no. I know I saw him on Rowe on LinkedIn. He wants to be a part of TMSA, which is so cute and like so nice. It's like family business in a way too, you know.
Speaker 1:Yes, he wants to take over TMSA. That's one of his life goals now. I think it's because I took him to site visits. So next year's Elevate we're headed to Denver and I was traveling a ton in the spring. So next year's Elevate we're headed to Denver and I was traveling a ton in the spring, and so I was like, let's just bring you with me to site visits to test out the hotel.
Speaker 1:see that side, I mean so much of it is like sitting in here talking on my screen and he just loved it because you know site visits everyone.
Speaker 1:I explained to people it's like being a bride, but even better because you could be repeat business right and so everyone's just so nice and they give you things and they buy you lunch and he really realized it was a active audience in which they had to sit there and listen to him talk about minecraft and he just really embraced that um, so he loved it. But then after and he was a champ like we did, we visited six different hotels when we were there in like two days and so he really um, hung in there and for an eight-year-old that's pretty impressive, um, but he was at the end was like how do you decide, like everyone, how nice I'm like well, there's a few different things that you decide on, like it's not just who the people are, but like what you know, is it a good fit for your conference? Is it going to be good for your members? Is it thing so?
Speaker 1:but, that was really cool. But yeah, it was and he did come to conference. He's been to a couple of them now. It was cool having my nieces there too. They are the ones who stuff the name badges every year and they were $20 from aunt Jen to to stuff those name badges and this year in Austin I took them to the really cool like funky art store. That was right by conference and so they got some cool like music, art, stuff, keep Austin, weird kind of stuff. So it is cool being able to bring in the kids and show them. You know, and I just loved that about like your story is you are the seventh generation but no, you're not, you know, a driver or you're not this, these other parts of the business.
Speaker 2:but you made it work for what you love and fit it into that family business, which was really cool in the beginning, but feel so lucky to be part of it, because it's not something that I thought I would be able to do, but I'm so thankful that I am, and this industry is awesome, the people in it are awesome and this organization is awesome.
Speaker 1:So Very cool. So how do you then go about balancing honoring that family history with driving innovation in this modern logistics space?
Speaker 2:Right, so let's go back to 1850. Obviously, a lot's changed now since then. Technologies are different. We've been through an industrial revolution. We now have cars when we started at Taylor's horse and buggy. Processes change. Even certifications change. Everything's changed, but the one thing that has remained constant is people. So always, always, always, putting people first. I mean technology, artificial intelligence, is fantastic, but what makes Taylor true to what it is and staying true to our roots is our people, our team members, our customers, our partners. Putting everyone first is key, and that's seriously how we honor our history is with our people.
Speaker 1:I love that. And outside of honoring those people, what does that look like? Are there specific traditions or values passed down that still kind of shape your company culture?
Speaker 2:Our values have been the same for about 40 years. I mean, the way we go about them might be different, safety's different 40 years ago than it is now, but that's still a value and always will be. One thing at Taylor that we've been doing for 30 years is Taylor Turkey. Every single November, all of our team members get a turkey. They can either take it home and cook it for the family for Thanksgiving or they can donate it, and we've been doing that forever and people love it. They're like get so excited for Taylor turkey. People dress up as turkeys to get their turkey. It's just, it's just been a whole thing.
Speaker 2:I would consider that a tradition. We stay true in our traditions. But yeah, that's a, that's a big one is the Taylor turkey. November is right, is right around the corner, which is crazy. I feel like this year has flown by. I don't know if you feel like that, but we've already submitted our order for taylor turkey and he'll be here before you know it I like how into the the turkey it seems that people get, that they dress up that's.
Speaker 1:that's unique and different for sure, and I I mean. Finding a good quality turkey around the holidays can be a real challenge, so I love that it takes pressure off. As a working mom who has to do all the things, I realized this morning that I have to make cupcakes later and there's soccer practice today. You know, if I didn't have to worry about where the main meal was coming from, that would be a great help for that kind of thing.
Speaker 2:So awesome Right. People seem to really like it and we'll continue to do it for as long as everyone still enjoys, so yeah.
Speaker 1:Cool. So Taylor Logistics describes itself as not your typical 3PL. So what really sets you guys apart from the market?
Speaker 2:That is a good question. A lot of logistics or 3PL providers do like one piece of the supply chain puzzle. So they might be a freight broker, they might have a fleet, they might do warehousing. They kind of just stick in one area, which is awesome. We've been around for so long that we've kind of adapted our business to meet the needs of our customers and add all these different services. So now we have cold storage, we do direct to consumer, we have a fleet doing North American freight services, drayage kind of all the things under one roof so our customers don't have to call on five different people to get their supply chain together. It's all under one roof, one team.
Speaker 2:As a marketing and sales person, I do not love this phrase but we do use it. It's a one throat to choke. I hate that phrase, but it is seriously true. Like you know, at Taylor it's just one team for everything from retail displays to transportation to kind of everything. Um, I think because we've been around so long, we've been able to adapt our business and add all these value audit services and things. So it's seriously just we're the full kind of puzzle piece and not just the singular um, and I think our customers and our partners really appreciate that I think that makes sense.
Speaker 1:I mean, you guys have been in business for such a long time, really adapting and changing to the market, making sure that you are keeping up the pace, you're understanding the technologies, you're changing strategies and things like that, and so I'm curious how you kind of see those puzzle pieces that technology piece, that strategy piece, the company culture that you guys have created. How does that all blend together to create a better supply chain solution?
Speaker 2:So I think when these things are in silos, that's when the magic sauce really happens. These things all have to happen together. So the technology piece you have to have good strategy behind it. I'm all about not implementing tech just to have tech, like, not just making it flashy. You know robotics and so it has to work. There has to be clear strategy behind it. And then the glue to that whole strategy is your culture, your people. They have to be bought in, they have to know the why, the how and understand it fully for everything to work. So I think when all of those components are harmonizing and really working together, that's when you have the magic sauce. Because you know a lot of companies, I think, are, you know, seeing AI and they're implementing it where they can, but it doesn't always work. So having that strategy, having that human component, I think is huge.
Speaker 1:I agree. I think all too often it's oh, there's this new cool, flashy thing and we want it, but how does that fit into the purpose of your overall business goals? How does it make your people more efficient? How is it helping them execute in a different way? How is it securing your information, making things adaptable and safe, you know, and so I feel like too often we get distracted by those, you know, shiny things and then we don't really think about how we're putting it all together in that big puzzle. So and I saw especially, you know, back before I worked at TMSA, I worked at a tech vendor and a lot of times we would see people that would come to us and ask us for help with their implementation or maximizing the use of their software, because they bought it without really understanding the value of that. Or they're like, ok, and now we have to prove the ROI on this, or we're paying big price tag for the new flashy model we don't understand you know why we did that.
Speaker 1:So you know if you are making those investments, know exactly what you're trying to invest in and why.
Speaker 2:A thousand percent, and I think the same is true on integrations. I feel like let's integrate everything into one hub, one dashboard seamless, easy, said, done Like. Let's really take a step back. Does this make sense?
Speaker 2:I know all of your systems talk to each other Sounds like a fabulous and great idea, but what happens if that system goes down? Everything's down. So I think integration is. What we're really looking at right now is can we make our systems talk to each other? How you know? What is the fault of that? What does that look like? So there's a lot to be done there. But yeah, I agree.
Speaker 1:Look at the full, full picture yeah, and with those integrations, you don't know which way you want your information to sync, and information like, yeah, there's so much value in shared data, but you also there's just people in parts of your business that don't need to know every bit of information and so making sure, okay, we're giving you what you need to be successful, but we're, you know, keeping this in and also who can, like, edit that type of information, because you want someone like outside of your billing department to be able to make edits to billing and things like that real real hectic and cyber security and just supply chain security in general is such a hot topic right now and there's all these different scams and things and people hacking into networks and edi and api going down that you know, having a centralized network, is it really that safe API going down?
Speaker 1:that you know having a centralized network, is it really that safe? So something to think about, Yep, and really you know making sure that you are putting proper safety protocols and that you're training your team Right, and I feel like that's really important too. We talk about, you know, tech advancements and all the things that it can do, but there's still people that need to operate those systems and making sure that they have the best practices and they need to know what to do. And if things you know do look questionable, then what should they do like? Who do they call? What do they do? What's that process?
Speaker 1:documentation around those things huge right, completely agree, and so, um, that's obviously a really big issue, a lot of things that we're talking about right now, but are there any other other industry shifts or trends that you find really exciting or even really challenging? Right, now.
Speaker 2:Ai is like fascinating and terrifying all at the same time. I don't even know what to make of it. I think for marketing and sales professionals it can make us more efficient. There's a lot of value there, but it also is kind of scary in some ways, the way that it takes things. And am I talking to a person, you know? Is there someone behind this message? X Y Z? So that's kind of scary, but also awesome. I know autonomous things are. That's exciting as well, but again also a little kind of hesitancy there with some of those things.
Speaker 2:I think in the industry now, I don't know, merriam-webster, I think, puts out a word of the year and I don't know if the word of the year is going to be disruption or potentially tariff, but those seem to come up quite a bit. So it's just a lot of not disruption. Uncertainty, I think, is a key word there, but I don't know. There's a lot of uncertainty for a lot of people in a lot of industries. Our customers are facing uncertainty. It's just there's a lot going on. There's a lot of pieces to the puzzle that need some answers. So we're doing our best to pivot and create new solutions and just really be a good partner for our customers. So I don't know, there's just a lot going on, a lot of unknowns, and I think that makes it a little scary at times.
Speaker 1:I would agree and like we want to be there for our customers. We want to be as transparent as we can and what we're doing and how we're doing it, but with things being uncertain and unknown there, you know. Then there's question marks and you're like how much do we share, how much do we pivot? You know, as we wait for some of this information to come down, or some of this legislation to like, is it actually going to go through or is it not?
Speaker 1:there's so much regulation that we have to wait and see how it goes um and be able to adapt to what's happening. And it can be fast and then sometimes not at all. So it gets pulled out and you're like, okay, then what now?
Speaker 2:we're hearing a lot of okay, this is on pause, this is on pause, this is on pause, and there's no you know timeline for when potentially it would come back. Or you know, maybe rfps massive RFPs that were put out to bid are no longer an option and they're on pause, or whatever. So it's just, you know, rolling with the punches being adaptable, and I think transparency and communication are going to be driving forces moving forward.
Speaker 1:I agree and I definitely think because of all. Yes, like we said, there's a lot of unknowns, there's a lot of uncertainty, and if we can be that voice of knowledge and transparency with our customers, that is so important. If we're like, hey, this is what's going on and this is our interpretation of it, this is how we're following, this is what we're doing to grow with the market or grow with your needs, all of that is going to be very prevalent for our customers.
Speaker 2:A thousand percent Market updates, providing any kind of data you can. Forecasting. Any of that is super, super helpful. Sharing any legislation that's gone in, any tidbits that you can share with customers. They genuinely appreciate it, so we've been providing them with that.
Speaker 1:Excellent. So we at TMSA like to provide a lot of insights coming up here in October at our executive summit. Very high level things cater to that executive leadership. You're going to be attending your first TMmsa executive summit this year after missing elevate because you went ahead and got married, which is why you're well taylor dalton now. Um, congratulations. If there's a reason to miss elevate, I guess getting married is an excuse but.
Speaker 2:I was.
Speaker 1:I stood firm that you could have brought your wedding dress and. I just married you there. Awesome, yeah, and yes, I even think I told you like, in Ohio, I can officially, in case you need it. Not that we were in Ohio, but that would have been really funny. So I am excited to have you there. I remember we were talking about it and you said you know you're really looking forward to it. It's your first one, so why are you so excited to attend your first executive summit?
Speaker 2:Well, I've talked to a couple of fellow TMSA members and they gave it so much praise. They said it's such a good event. I love that. It's like two days jam-packed agenda and it's, like you said, more high level and I think it's a smaller group than Elevate, if I'm not mistaken, which I appreciate, and I'm looking forward to connecting with some of my peers, seeing them after I didn't see them at Elevate and seeing them in Chicago, which I'm very excited about, and just the agenda topics really stuck out. I sent it to some of my team members too to see if they had interest and they're like Noelle, you need to go to this. And I said I'm going, guys, the floor's open for you guys as well. And they're like go. So I'm very, very excited. Nutmsa is always, always a great event and always great to catch up and learn and grow from each other and brainstorm. We're all in this industry and we're all kind of competitors in a way, but it's seriously such a good camaraderie and what everyone's doing and always good to catch up.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, and for a special for our listeners, we are offering a 10% discount. You can scan this QR code. I realize now this image of this graphic is very small, so I'm going to pop this up on the screen. You can use this code and get more information about Executive Summit if you go to eventstmsatodayorg, move to Summit 10. So I am so excited to have you at Executive Summit and, yes, executive Summit is geared towards that higher level.
Speaker 1:We have Nicole Glenn is our opening keynote this year. She is talking about, you know, leading in turbulent times and disruption. And then we have Anthony Pignato at Mohawk Global talking about how to thrive in a global trade environment. And we have a shippers panel that is featuring shippers from Google, mishapishi, power and Kihi Distributors. It's really powerhouse. We have a panel about commercial growth.
Speaker 1:Like you said, it's a really short event. So it starts on October 22nd. We have workshops to kick off, then we have our cocktail reception at night. That includes our mountain mover award program and then we just have all day and then you wrap up before 4 pm and you can head home or you can do some after hours stuff, which we'll be announcing some optional networking and stuff soon. So it's really exciting. It is a smaller group. Normally we have about like 60, 70 people, so it is a small group getting together. We've gotten feedback from that level of executive that they like to keep it small and they like to be able to be in a room together and being able to share ideas. So excited for that. I'm curious how you see events like the executive summit or like Elevate that you've been to in the past play a role in your professional growth and in your growth at Taylor Logistics.
Speaker 2:I attended my first TMSA event in 2018, and I had just joined the industry and since then I have friends. I feel like I have a cohort. I have leaned on so many TMSA members for questions and ideas and brainstorming and I seriously thank TMSA for all it's done for me, because I've called on people like Eileen for different things and Mike at SCI Logistics folks like that have really really been so helpful and everyone is so kind and, like I said previously, we are kind of all competitors at some stage in life, but we're all sharing ideas. Mentorships I've had some great mentors from TMSA friends. It's been seriously awesome. People have Mike has even come to my husband's bar in NYC, so it's just been seriously such a great organization. Everyone is so kind.
Speaker 2:I think the word community really sticks out to me when I think of TMSA. It is such a good community. We have a Slack channel, which I love, because I'm like is anyone else experiencing HubSpot issues? And everyone's like, yes, what happened? So that was fun. So I think you know, when I started at Taylor, we didn't have much of a marketing department. We were kind of building from the ground up. There wasn't. I didn't have many co workers in this department and so really leaning on a cohort like TMSA was so incredibly helpful then and is still now, so it's so appreciated. Every event that TMSA puts on, from webinars to in-person events like this I know they've even done things in New Jersey with the Arizona bottling tea, so just local community events, too, are always awesome, but it's yeah, community. That word really sticks out when I think of TMSA.
Speaker 1:Absolutely, and I love being a part of this community. If people have watched the show before, they've heard my story, in which I was a member first, and that's how we met back in 2018 in Chicago, which I always think back to that we were at a digital marketing conference that TMSA did back then and we went to dinner and had pasta and there was like four of us and we had never met but we were like let's go eat our faces off with you know Italian dinners and it was so much fun and it's been really cool watching you in your journey coming like going from that you know, I think you were just director of marketing at the time and then just rising up through the ranks of taylor and watching our professional lives grow together. And I feel like that's um part of the power of tmsa is that you come in and you make these connections and you kind of go through your career together.
Speaker 1:And I also love the Slack channel because I can reach out to people individually too, and people can reach out individually to me on there. So I'm always available to you know, pick my brain and talk about all things marketing and sales which is great. So last question for you it's the question I ask everyone who comes on the show If you could go back in time and advise a younger Noelle anything, personally or professionally, when would you go back to and what would you say?
Speaker 2:I think early in my career, in college too, I would tell young Noelle to not put so much effort into worrying about things you can't control. And I still need to work on this today. But younger noel really need to work on that. Um, you know people I don't know if you know mel robbins like let them theory, people have their feelings about it, but seriously, like let them, you know, like it it's okay, don't put so much effort.
Speaker 2:don't put so much energy into things you can't control and see the bigger picture, you know, address it and move on. I would tell her that. I would also tell her to wear sunscreen, because you need to wear sunscreen. Stop getting burnt. That's not good. And I would tell her to save your money, girl, what are you doing? Do not buy that sweater, do not, you know? Go to an expensive dinner. Save your money, please. Yeah, that's, I think, what I would tell her.
Speaker 1:All solid advice that we're all still learning for sure.
Speaker 2:Right, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Learning those lessons I do.
Speaker 2:I read sunscreen every day.
Speaker 1:Well, thank you. Thank you for coming on the show and for joining us at executive summit. If you want to catch our episode next week, we are talking to andrew silver, who will be the um moderator for our shippers panel, and so excited to chat with him and excited to have you both at executive summit. Just a reminder in case you didn't catch earlier we do have a special 10 discount code for listeners of the show and that is going to be I will pop it up again move to summit 10. So thank you, noelle, for coming on the show and being such a good support system here at TMSA. We appreciate all that you do here and excited to see you in Chicago in October.
Speaker 2:Sounds good. Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1:Appreciate it and we'll catch you guys next week.
