Empowering Teams Through Effective Leadership with Taylor Vandersteenhoven

I'm Jennifer Karpus-Romain , Executive Director at the Transportation Marketing and Sales Association , otherwise known as TMSA , which is a trade nonprofit educating and connecting marketers and sales professionals in transportation and logistics , and today on the show we have , Enterprise Sales Manager at Revanova . Welcome to the show , Taylor . How are you doing today ?

We are all kind of essential workers in a way keeping the world moving around and I appreciate that about it . I fell into logistics at school in Tennessee . That about it . I fell into logistics at school in Tennessee . We had a great supply chain program and I fell in love with the classes .

Solving problems , keeping the world moving , numbers , relationships all of that coming together really excited me and I got a job out of the career fair , from the basketball arena and moved up to Chicago with a mid-sized brokerage and learned customer sales like from the old American back haulers way . Really hit the phones hard . I did that for a year .

I moved back home when my husband was doing army training and worked for my uncle's company . That was a brokerage that was acquired by Roadrunner . So I went into a family-run company that went in through a huge acquisition with a big company and we went through the rebranding , restructuring .

I grew with that group for about eight years and joined a freight brokerage here in Raleigh and helped that company grow by 300% rebranding , recruiting . I've seen everything from the freight brokerage world and I had my second son this past Christmas and decided I maybe wanted to see what else was out there and not leaving the industry .

Right , it's hard to get away from it . But the tech side there was an opportunity with Revenova and I have watched this company grow . I've seen this group develop over the years and it was all about timing . So I'm really excited to be here and have had a transformational year this year , going from brokering to tech . It's been fun .

through , how what we do on the tech side of things can actually help them . So I was really excited for you to kind of share your journey and what you're bringing to Revenova that experience that you have .

Right , we are in exception management is what we do , and we now you know we're speaking still from the broker's perspective , right , it's hard to get away from it , but even on the fleet side of it , you're there to , you know , help your customers be better , whether that's with cost or service .

And I really understand what brokerages go through and I'm learning now what fleets go through and that's really exciting for me . The Revenova product has been supporting brokerages and multiple TIA board members we have as customers . It's a really established platform and system on the brokerage side .

The fleet side is a new market for us and it's really exciting to be expanding to the capacity side of the teams that are really boots on the ground running the operations that we all talk about .

And this year , with the market being how it was , I'm seeing firsthand , thankfully because of this opportunity with roadrunner , how these trucking companies actually operate and the pain points that they've been going through and how their tech stack compares .

And there's there's so much out there today and I have so much to learn , which is , I think , the most exciting part , and this year in freight has been kind of tough and we're now nearly through Q4 looking into 2025 .

Q2 , q3 is from the experts that I follow and what they're saying . It's all around manufacturing , output and the housing market . Hopefully we have some interest rate cuts that continue and this election . However that goes , it goes right . We're going to move on either way and I am hopeful .

I don't think carriers can continue to operate at the level that they are with the way costs have gone and rates have not . So something's got to give and I'm I'm hopeful that it's from manufacturing and the freight demand seeing a bit of a reprieve middle of next year .

What can we get through together , high or low , and then leaning on your relationships , right , and even when it's good , it's really about fostering those relationships , not just with your shippers , it's really about the carriers , and I think that's been a differentiator that I've always pushed , not having been a driver myself or having family that have been drivers ,

but just having some natural empathy for the humans that are holding the wheel of 80,000 pounds rolling down the highway next to us and that are delivering the milk and the eggs that I need . So I've just always kind of approached it with respect your carriers and your shippers the same .

And there's , I've always kind of thought there's usually three things that can solve a problem in logistics , and they don't always work , but you know , time being one of them , that's usually the least one . Hopefully you can wear something out . The right person , right , right , that's the biggest one is getting the right contact involved .

So how , how deep are your contacts at your different , whether it's your shippers or your carriers , whoever you're responsible for , whoever you're selling to ? How deep are those connections ? Are you not just working with your one shipping manager , but are you working ?

Do you have a relationship with the warehouse manager and the scheduler and other people that are involved in the process ? It's not just about your one point of contact , it's about creating that relationship kind of down throughout the operation so that when you need help they're going to call you and you can get an answer quickly .

And then the third one being obviously you know money , you know when things are going poorly and unfortunately that's the other one that can fix the problem , but that's the last one you'll never wants to go to .

That really helped me find my why , which is to help people . I really enjoy seeing somebody transform , helping them better themselves from a professional standpoint , whether it's moving up in their career or just solving a problem , I like being involved in that solution with other people and starting with your why .

When you're selling to anyone , you need to understand why you're doing it . Like , why am I here for one ? If I'm going to represent Revenova , for instance , why did I pick Revenova ? I want to help people .

That's what I know , is my core , and I know and I believe that this product can do that and you can really sell anything if you believe in it and you understand it . But the first part is believing it and that , to me , is the core of how you become a good salesperson is do you really believe in what you're selling ?

And that's where I have found success , because when I believe in it . I'm all in and I know that this system and this application will transform a business and therefore the people that are all involved in that , and I can get behind that .

Okay , this is what we do , this is how we do it , okay , but what does that mean to the people that you're selling to , both in a like the company that you're selling to , but actual , like the person that you're selling to , but actually like the person that you're selling to too , and that might be different at different companies and really understanding what

that touch point is and why it's important and it's the basis of it . But sometimes we just go into sell , sell , sell mode and we forget to kind of just take that moment .

When you get somebody on the phone that it is the right time for them and they are looking for a change , and and then you get that 3% , it's then what ? Okay , why are we here ? We're not here because of me and what I've done . I'm here because of you . You obviously have something that I can fix and let's see if I'm the right fit for you .

Like , if you're , if you are looking for a TMS and you , we cross paths the timing's right . We have to then figure out why are we both here and are we good for each other , because you can't force something . We have to both be all in . And so alignment there of our whys right , of what are we looking for ? Why am I looking for a new TMS ?

You know what's it going to do for me , and then is my product something that can help them , and I think that's just . You know what's it going to do for me and then is my product something that can help them , and I think that's just , you know . The basis of it , right , is why am I here personally ?

But then when I do get my foot in the door , really understanding in that moment why I'm there , and it's not about me at that point and in this theme I'm thinking about what are some of the other things that sales managers and logistics miss ?

But like , are we really setting people up for success in that way ? And then also , then , if you have an onboarding training , do you have ongoing training and what does that look like ? Is that some of the stuff that you've seen over the companies that you work with or the industry over your time ?

If I'm going to come in there and I'm going to represent our product , I need to understand why you are doing this too , right , what's your why ? So I think again , starting with that purpose of really explaining to people as they're onboarding throughout , that of why we're all here , how , what tools do you have to make this successful ?

Right , how am I going to support you ? And then the presence of it is , I think we're really most companies are really present in the beginning right of an onboarding and you're always there , you're checking in . But how consistent are those weekly meetings ?

The issue that I've seen just in freight brokerages in general across the board , is because we're in exception management , you never know what's going to fly down the road at you , so you're pulled . You never know when , to what direction to put out what fire , and that can mess up your schedule .

And then you're late to a meeting or you have to push something to make something else work .

And the importance , from what I think and from what I've seen , is the consistency of showing up . It doesn't matter really what's going on .

You're there for your team when you say you're going to be there , and that presence of being on time and the companies where I've worked , where every meeting starts on time and it ends on time , right , and we have a purpose and we have an agenda .

But it's the starting on time thing that's hard and I think sales people , where we want quick results , we want to move quickly and I don't want to have to be waiting on somebody else . I want my answer now . I'm in sales right . I want to go , let's do this right now .

So when you're leading a team of sales reps , having those consistent weekly meetings , those touch points , and then being really diligent about showing up on time and leaving on time and being really respectful of each other's time and really honing in on why we're there , that clear roadmap to success right , not only just from a commission standpoint of what am I

making on a load by load basis , but where do I grow ? Where am I in the roadmap right of the company and where and how do I get there ? I'm a millennial , but I have kind of older values too in a way , and I think you're never really going to get that perfect work-life balance .

I think there's no perfect balance right , it's that give and take of what you need in that moment . But I just think it's about being consistent and being on time . Honestly .

Again , these are just very simple principles , but the reason especially why we started doing the wins is because we're a really small team , so we're always go , go , go . There's always 800 other things that we need to be doing and working on that .

We will often forget to pause and be like hey , this , this worked really well , or this strategy , we achieved what we wanted to do here , or this , we met this goal , um , in setting smaller goals too . So you have more of those kind of milestone wins to achieve , um , which has been really helpful for us .

have to support , we have to be there to motivate them and you can't be responsible for everyone's happiness , but you can be aware of their state and what they're dealing with .

And from one of the previous podcasts you had we talked about it before I really like that perspective of you know everybody has , you know , families , everybody has things going on , but when somebody's you know , having an issue , what else is there , like what else is behind that ?

I think I've come to realize that business is very personal because we're I'm not changing who I am at nine o'clock , right , like I'm still the same core me from nine to five , that I am on the weekends . So I think you have to remember that we all are people and salespeople have a hard job . Where , again , constantly hearing no .

So you have to really keep that support and that how can I help you , what can I do to make you successful , and not the old school mentality of how many calls have you made ? Today I'm learning as a new mother . I mean , the fear-based teaching doesn't really work .

Okay , like everyone's a person , at the end of the day , this is who

I am . I think it's funny because one of the things we talk about being successful in sales is building relationships and that people want to buy things from people and not just from , like , companies or whatever . So we're utilizing that people . Our people are real people , but we forget internally that they are real people . So , like it , that goes both ways .

Right , we have to make sure that we're embracing that . And , yes , there might be something going on in their personal life that they want to discuss or they don't want to discuss . That might be having hurdles .

Or maybe you have a new system in place , or maybe you have a little system that's clunky and they're not used to something like that , or they don't understand how the technology is connecting , or maybe it's a new account , or maybe it's a transferred account that they're getting , that they're catching up on . There's all kinds of little things that might .

Maybe they just didn't sleep well last night and they're taking extra time , we don't know .

But I think having those regular checkpoints , like you said , is really important because it can help establish that and we're never going to know how we can help and push that person further if we're not checking with them , asking them and also looking at their body of work and how things are going .

And maybe they are really successful selling 80% of your business but they struggle that extra 20% . So maybe they need to have training in that or maybe they just don't sell that and somebody else does . Like figuring out those different points and really checking in is important .

It's not , as you can't measure some things out there like you can as easily with sales . So when you're specifically talking about a sales team , it's really being aligned and clear on on where we're going and how you get there . And again , like you said , what figure out where they're struggling ?

And then we switched to being a sales manager and that is a very different role . So what kind of advice do you have for that shift and what people should be preparing for in that ?

You're not there to do their job , You're there to help them help themselves do the job . So it's taking that step back of knowing when to step in and when to not , and sometimes for me it's just kind of trial and error right Is how you , how you kind of figure it out along the way .

but it's being open-minded , it's leaning on the people around you asking for advice of how do I deal with this situation , or you know . I think it's just being very open and not coming into it thinking that you know how to do it , because I didn't take you know how to be a manager one-on-one in college personally .

But you know there are obviously resources out there but you really have to experience it and , again , being aware and being just being present .

And how can we still present career growth for our top performers without then just moving ? Because if we move every top performer into management , then you're losing all your top performers too , and so what does that look like ?

And I do think thinking outside of the box and creating career growth , that maybe not just be managing people like that shouldn't be the only way forward , and sometimes I feel like at companies it is .

Is that something you've experienced ?

So I do , thankfully now . I mean , rebinova has been incredible so far and , from what I can tell , this team is very open and flexible and there's been a lot of promotion from within because it all starts at the top , right around how leadership and ownership want the company to be , to be driven , and how how they see hiring going .

But it's it's down to to what you want to . You have to speak up too , right , if you're in a position like . I was listening to a podcast recently and they were talking about the Marines and how they officers , when you're enlisted in the Marines , you sign up , you go to , you go to camp , you're in like you show up day one , that's it your contract .

For four or five years you're in your contract . But in the Marines , for the officer candidate school , for their leaders , you can leave after a certain amount of time in the beginning , like you can go , and if you change your mind they only want leaders to be there that want to lead you can get out of your contract .

I didn't realize that that's pretty empowering , right , like you want to be there , because you want to be there . So I think and I can speak firsthand too right , because now I'm back in an individual contributor role is that this is where I need to be right now in my career , for where I am personally and professionally .

But I think you have to just be open and honest with yourself , with your mentors around you , being again just aware , very aware of what's working , what's not working , and not trying to force yourself into something . Change and growth are always hard .

Right , when you go to the gym and exercise , it hurts because you're changing something , and I think that's the same thing professionally when you're growing , whether it's on a personal level or professional level , the change is hard . That's where you know the hard work's working and things are actually changing when it is hard .

But also knowing when you might not be the right fit for that , right , it's okay to like . Knowing that it's not the right fit for you is half the battle sometimes . And then being open and having the confidence to say you know , hey , I need to do something different , right ?

That's , I think , takes a lot of strength and having a team around you and a company around you that really supports that's really important .

And , of course , when you're in that position , you're just looking for a job period , which is okay , and you probably will end up taking something that might not be a perfect fit , but the way I've built my career is kind of thinking , well , what is everything I can get from this position that makes me prepared for the next thing ?

Or what did I really as I move on to the next thing , what did I really like about this and what didn't work well for me ? And so I just celebrated three years here at TMSA , which we talked about at the beginning too . But part of that for me is like I liked to be challenged every day . So is this job hard ?

Absolutely 100% it is , but it keeps me on my toes and I am never , ever bored here . There's always something to do , which is really important to me , because if I just do one thing , I do get bored . I like to work from home , I do like the flexibility of it . But I am not a morning person .

I should not get in a vehicle and drive where I need to go . It is best for me just to walk down my stairs , get my giant cup of coffee and walk right into the office .

I normally start work like right after my son goes , gets on the bus , because then , like partway , there's like an hour in the middle of the day where I'm like okay , like now I need to like get ready for the day because , I just sit down and I'm , you know , I get in the zone and I work . but it's important to realize those things about you .

Like , I am not a morning person , but my son wakes up at like five 30 in the morning now . So 7am is still like later in the day , later in the day for me . So sometimes I work seven to three instead of working nine to five . And what does that look like ? I think those things are important .

Some people don't need the flexibility or don't want the flexibility or excel in a work environment going to work , seeing the people or doing some type of hybrid . I think those things are just really important . How self-motivated are you ? Because if you're not super self-motivated , working from home is not a good experience .

Your couch is always just right over there . Oh yeah , what you do , it's right , your bed is up there , your world is right outside that door , so , uh , but . But those are things that , like , I'll talk to people about , because I know , like I've been working from home since like 2017 .

It's been a long time pre COVID and people used to be like , oh , you're so lucky to work from home and I'm like it's a mixed bag for everybody , and that's a lot of people then came home . They're like this is terrible , so .

But I do think we said like really being honest with yourself , being self aware , doing something , stepping out of your comfort zone is great , because that is how you learn , and sometimes you learn , oh , that that wasn't right for me .

responsibility , right to self manage to be really honest with yourself , and I I try and really end every day being very proud of what I did that day of like , okay , we've , we've accomplished something very strong today , whether it's hitting your numbers that you need to , or getting a project done , or getting something out the door , but getting something done that

day that you're proud of , it can be little , but it's just something that I know I had a successful day , right , um , and I I appreciate that . I think you you're , you're on , you know , hit the nail on the head . There it's . It's very important to be aware that you might not be a morning person .

That's okay , and I think the hard part about brokerage , though , and specifically freight brokerage , is because you're not working with the same drivers most of the time , is the lack of control and the 24 hour . You know 365 nature of the industry that we've all chosen and there are seats and there are places where you're not 24 seven .

You know there are seats and there are places where you're not 24-7 , you know . But a lot of our industry is and I have a lot of respect for that , because it doesn't stop and the convenience of how we want everything is not going to stop anytime soon . So , yeah , it's pretty cool .

We have a very cool industry here and there's a lot of hardworking people .

He or she had to have that one page dispatch sheet and we were faxing them , and that was back in 2013 .

So it was only been this past decade that our industry has seen and caught up in some ways to just tech in general , and I was very fortunate to see a lot of changes happen from the automation side , I think , the efficiencies around just the mundane tasks and where we're going to see AI . Take that .

But from load building right , you know you've got the same Excel sheet that comes over every day Taking that instead of having somebody manually enter that is the bots and the automation around building loads or automating any sort of freight bill audit right , any sort of these regular daily tasks .

Printing off of invoice and attaching it with the right pod to then scan back in the system , like the fact that anyone's still printing anything and re-scanning right , like there's . So , especially now that I'm looking in under the hood of some of the fleet side of it .

There's so many companies that are still operating in such an inefficient manner that there's there's a lot of room for for growth and for improvement and a very you know quick and easy little amount of time . Honestly , it's again pretty cool . And automation it's again pretty cool .

Automation how can you be smarter , faster , use your data to make better decisions , get answers quickly you know that's the responsiveness is just huge . Or is your tech stack giving you the real time information that you need to get that information to the right people , that information to the right people , right ?

Are you able to react and respond and proactively see issues through all the available tech and visibility ? Because if you're not taking advantage of that , I think you're going to get left behind well , that was so much insight .

I've been thinking about this for a while and I think I would go back to the very beginning of my career and I would go ahead and give myself that find your why lesson that Annette gave me and start with that early on .

But I would take it a step further and I would tell myself to take that in my kind of my moral compass and filter all the decisions that I wanted to make professionally and personally kind of through that right and running your decisions on how you know , hey , I want to take this step or I want to do this .

Is that aligned with me and my moral compass and my ethical compass ? So in the very beginning , I think and that's just I think you learn with time , but I think younger Taylor could have probably heard , like you know , a little bit more of you're here to help people .

You have a strong voice , you can speak up and if you see something that's not right , it's okay to speak up , right , live up to your why and don't hold back . I've always , you know , thought you never lower yourself or your standards for the sake of someone else .

So , keeping that moral compass high and really looking out for myself I think you said it , we were , you know , touching base earlier . Like have a brag box . I love that . Like what ? What have you done ? Well , like have somewhere to go . That's um . That's going to give you a little bit of insight as far as how well you are doing .

And she said it could be personally or professionally , but she said one thing that you did not , your team , not your kid , you and it was so funny how hard that was for everybody because you instinctively go to your team . Oh , my team did this great thing , or like let me tell you how cool my kid is , and like all this stuff . But when was the lesson ?

You really sat in and thought about yourself . And so that's part of why I started to do that in our team here , because you don't you ? You , everything that you do is like okay , that was great , Moving on , there's all these other things to do , but taking that pause and really thinking is great .

I learned . I've been to so many conferences this year and gotten to meet so many cool people and the keynote speakers and just everything that I'm gathering from this is really helping kind of shape me into a better professional in this industry and this opportunity to be here and speak with you I'm really grateful for that .

I'm happy to to talk again and see you at some point . I'm excited . It's very nice to be here today .

We are also accepting call for speakers . Also accepting call for speakers . So if you're interested in speaking at Elevate , we are accepting applications for that now through December 31st . I realize I do not have a QR code to pull up for that , but we will put it in the show notes or you can check out . All of our social media has that in it as well .

So thank you to everyone that's listening and thank you , taylor , for coming on the show today . It was lovely to talk with you and to hear your story .