Navigating Career Growth with Don Friddell

And today on the show I have Don Friedle , vp of Sales and Marketing at Brown Integrated Logistics , who was just named TMSA's president-elect yesterday at our Elevate conference and we are so excited to have you on the show and to have you taking on this leadership role here at TMSA . How you doing , don .

And it worked out well because there was a local logistics company that was looking for a marketing catch-all . I was internal communications , I was PR , I was advertising graphic designer . They did a little bit of everything . So fortunately , a mutual connection at the bank introduced me to this company back in 2003 .

The funny thing was they let me know it was a logistics company and I was like , oh , that's interesting . The first thing I did after the call was Google Logistics because I didn't know what it meant . First thing I did after the call was Google logistics because I didn't know what it meant .

So I spent 16 years helping to grow that family run $150 million 3PL into a $620 million business . I was a marketing team of one . My first budget was around $80,000 for advertising . Most of that was being spent on yellow pages to get Chattanooga warehousing and when I left I had a team of three .

We were using three or four agencies and my marketing budget grew to about 1.5 million . So then I joined TMSA with the former management team and things were going great .

And then COVID hit , and at that point I stepped out of the transportation industry for a brief moment to work for a SaaS company , and after a year of that I was fortunate to be asked to join the Brown West Logistics team as VP of Sales and Marketing and kind of did a full circle return back to the industry and back to TMSA .

of the industry and then back in . That's been great . At least everybody welcomed me back with open arms . It's like a big family . I couldn't wait to get back . But so I first attended my first attended TMSA event in 2004 . And that was my first full year in the industry and I didn't engage .

For about 10 years and that was one of my biggest regrets just sat in the back of the room and soaked up knowledge like a sponge . After about 10 years , one of my partners that I met through TMSA convinced me to do a Compass Award , which is now Trailblazer , and we won the award . I was asked to speak at the conference and we won the award .

I was asked to speak at the conference and my entire speaking engagement was basically a shameless plug for TMSA and everything they had done for me . So following that , I was asked to join the board and then , shortly thereafter , to lead the education committee and then , as you said , became TMSA CMO under the former management team .

But one thing a lot of people don't know is the year I took a hiatus . I actually drove to Nashville since it's close by just to see all of my TMS friends the weekend before the event and I couldn't attend because I didn't have enough vacation , but otherwise I would have paid for it myself and attended .

So yeah , jumped at the chance when I could come back to the industry . And then my next phone call was hey , I need to get back into TMSA .

I was a member first but I and I was a member at that show but my , my flip-flop broke and I remember walking into the elevator and going I need to speak with you later and then just disappeared and then I was like wait the next day . I'm like wait , I'm sorry that was so rude , but I had no shoe on it felt so unprofessional , but it's really funny .

That was funny .

So that Nashville show is actually when I started talking about whether I should then , you know , take the executive director role here at TMSA and you were one of the first people I called because I wanted to know what I was getting into and what that transition from being a board member to association leadership , what that is like , and it really values your

opinion and to me I think it really speaks to the testament . Like you said , it's kind of a family people getting to know each each other . You can really form these type bonds inside the association . So how have those connections really helped shape your career ?

What I love about TMSA it created a space where peers can support each other instead of guarding trade secrets . The openness at TMSA is super rare and I mean I've heard that from so many people , a lot of our partner members and a lot of our member members , so I know that to be true .

That's our culture and I think that's what makes it so great and especially so great for young people starting in the industry , like I was many years ago .

When I started , I remember talking about my first tracking mechanism for where marketing ROI was was using an Excel spreadsheet that we called the lead log and as a lead would come in from the website , come in from a phone call , we would log it into Excel and then at the end of the year we would see what worked , what didn't , what closed , what didn't .

I mean that was even before we had a CRM , so later we adopted a CRM and then marketing automation , and I mean that just totally changed the game . In my opinion . It gave marketers and even sales a seat at the C-level table , because it made us more relevant . It showed what we were doing , it proved what we were doing .

It got more resources for us to do more budgeting or to do more advertising , to do more lead gen . And now I think we're seeing probably one of the biggest changes in any industry and that's artificial intelligence . I can only imagine what I could have done as a marketing person of one if I had had AI back then .

I feel like now , if you are a marketing department of one , you can work like you're a marketing team of 10 . It's like having your own writers and your own team and even people to take notes and everything else , so it can really help you to accelerate and do more things with less resources . So that's the biggest change .

That's probably my biggest thing that I put into ChatGPT , because I always feel like it's super , like high on the cheese when it starts , but I'm like no , make it sound like a real person , and then it'll do that . And like keep editing it through , like even simple things .

Or sometimes , if you're in a bad mood and you need to write an email and you want to make sure that it doesn't your personal feelings on your day , it doesn't get in that way . This sound nicer . Simple things like that can go really far , I feel like , for anyone , let alone in sales and marketing , but that kind of stuff can really help .

So I agree , like when you're that one person team using the AI , you can bounce your ideas off of other people , but through the computer and then , being in TMSA , you then have this collaborative space , a lot of other people who are one-person marketing teams or two-person teams .

They're kind of going through those same challenges , figuring out what tools , what works , what doesn't . So it's really great .

Sometimes it's like , well , I need you to be more direct or I need you to be more professional , where I need that to be more succinct , because these people are not going to read all those words and stuff . Like that used to , I would toil over an email for hours If it was a , if it was a touchy situation .

Now I can knock it out in 10 minutes with the help of ChatGPT . So it's really changed the game . It's made me much more efficient and I hate to say it , but much more professional .

And just even like the next steps follow up , making sure that you are doing what you said you would do in the meeting Always great .

That would take , as I said , 30 minutes to an hour . Now it's just a click of a button .

But , like , I want it to help me be more efficient so I can be more personable , so I can pick up the phone more and have real conversations , so I can see people in person more , so I can build those relationships .

That administrative piece that used to , like you said like this writing this email could take hours because it was so touchy and I wanted to make sure I wrote it perfectly . Now we have these tools that can help us move faster so that we can be humans more , and so I feel like that is a really great value add if you're using it effectively like that .

So anything we can do to make those non-value-added , those non-face-to-face selling moments quicker is going to make us more successful and ultimately get us promoted and where we want to be in life .

with you today ?

I used to come to the TMSA events and I'd say , oh , I worked for this company and they're like they didn't , they'd never heard of it . And then later they're like , oh , I want to talk to you , I want to talk about what you're doing on your blog and what you're doing on this and that new content that you're releasing .

So it was really satisfying to go from somebody that nobody had ever heard of , a company that nobody had ever heard of , to somebody or a company that people looked up to , that people looked up to and similar in tmsa . I remember back in the day when I first started going , there were all these cmos and vps and I could name off a long list of names .

They were presidents of tmsa and they were on the board . I'm like , wow , look at those people . And , um , you know , pretty excited to say that now I am on the board and now I am running a sales and marketing department .

So overall , I think just that transition from a marketing team of one to having a team , being a leader , being a part of TMSA and being on the board is probably one of the highlights of my career , for sure .

So when you come into the president role at TMSA , you're actually making a five-year commitment to the organization , because you do one year as president-elect , two years as president and two years as president and then two years as chairperson .

So it is not a small undertaking or commitment when people make this decision , and so many of the people , such as yourself , have been on the board , have been serving TMSA for years and years and years , so to want to give back for five more years as the bare minimum is a huge thing .

So it's not to scare you off , but you've already been voted and you've already agreed . So here we go . But what are some of your goals , some of the priorities that you're thinking about as you walk towards the presidency ?

I really like the intimacy and the opportunity authenticity of our events , so we have to maintain that , but also by building enough scale to grow your staff , to grow our reach and to grow our capabilities and our service offering to our members , because ultimately , if we're not providing value for our members , then we're not going to be there in the future .

And probably the main reason for growth is to ensure that TMSA is positioned to be around for another 100 years and to be relevant and to be talking about AI and all these things that are completely changing the world of marketing in general , let alone marketing and the logistics and transportation areas areas ?

How do you hope , as president-elect or , you know , as we move forward into your presidency to support and engage members , especially those people who are newer to the industry or to the association ?

to say no sales or marketing pro left behind . I remember what it's like being a of one and unsure where to go , where to start , having no idea what LTL , tl , cms and all the other acronyms we have in this industry meant . So I want to be there for those type members and also the members like myself .

But I think the biggest thing that we can do as professionals who grew through this association is to give back to those newer members that need that helping hand , that need a mentor , that need to know where to go , where to start , what to do , and I want those individuals to be feel seen , feel supported and feel connected through TMSA and our mentorship and

resources .

Those are all things I'm looking forward to working on with you over the next five years , together in your presidential track . So I know TMSA has meant so much to you over the years .

Why do you believe organizations like TMSA are vital for professionals inside the space , especially in a market like we're in , where people are really paying attention to every dollar that they spend ?

So I was able to use tools like that to be like hey look , this is , this is what the rest of the industry is doing . We are so far behind and really 150 million dollar company wasn't small , but they were still used to growing by word of mouth and reputation , and to really grow we had to put resources in place and move things forward .

So also the peer conversations helped . I had a lot of conversations with competitors at other companies and there were even times when something you know controversial would come up or GDPR would come up , and I could lean on those relationships even though we were competitors . I've always said that it's kind of us against the big guys .

So if you're a midsize player , if you're a small size player , we're willing to . There's enough of the pie out there that we can help each other and just try to survive and win . But I think when every dollar is scrutinized that community knowledge becomes a strategic advantage for you and your company .

crucial , and so that's kind of what um elevate is all about , which is this week that this episode will air and then then now we will be gearing up for Executive Summit , which will be October 22nd through the 23rd in Chicago , and that's our executive event that's geared towards what's going on for next year in budget season .

So very timely , excited to get started or continue on with getting that show off the ground . To get started or continue on with getting that show off the ground .

So one last question for you that I ask everybody who comes on the show but if you could go back in time and advise a younger Don anything and this could be personally or professionally when would you go back to and what would you tell him ?

young people know not to make the mistake that I made , and that's manage your career . You got to know your market value . Don't wait for someone to notice and promote you . You have to be an advocate for yourself .

I spent many years and 16 years and the only times I got any substantial raises was when I'd get a job opportunity and they'd be like we don't want you to leave , here's a bump . And so at the end of my career , I was pretty much a VP with a director title and I was getting calls from recruiters and basically I still remember to this day .

I had a recruiter call and he said I still remember to this day I had a recruiter call and he said Don , I hate to tell you this , but you've mismanaged your career . You should be making twice what you're making right now and I don't know that I can ask my customer who is recruiting for to double bump you .

So that was when I was like , okay , I've got to make some changes . And I made several changes , made a few career moves and as well as fighting for my salary to get it where it should have been .

But I encourage everybody whether you're starting out or it's easier , if you're starting out because you want to start managing on the first day and make sure that you're getting paid what you're worth and you continue to that whole time it's not greedy , it's if they pulled someone else into your position , they're going to be paying that person market wages .

So don't stay in a position for 20 years and look back and realize that you're way behind on the salary chart . But I encourage people to use things like salarycom , Glassdoor , even chat , GPT . You can ask it . You know what is the person of this caliber and this career , what are they making in the industry ? And it'll come back .

It'll just like query all the postings out there and tell you what the job pays . So I just say , make sure you're getting paid what you're worth and if your company is not willing to pay you what you're worth , there's one out there that will .

Those are even conversations I have with like younger people who are like , oh , I don't know if I want to work like a full-time job , I want to be more project-based , especially in like that marketing space , and I'm like , are you going to handle your own professional development in your career ?

Because , like , when you work at a company , you can get a lot of professional development covered for you or you can put those building blocks together , but if you're project based , they , they do not care about your professional development at all . They care about whatever project you're giving them that day .

And so , really putting those places or like , do you thrive on like positive reinforcements ?

If you're a project-based employee , you're not getting any of that like you , and so and not all companies are the same when it comes to stuff like that some companies will really invest in their employees , make sure that they're being developed , that they see their path forward . They understand their piece of the puzzles . Others don't , so I .

So my career has been very all over the place when you look at things like that . I just always wanted to be prepared for the next step . I wanted to make the decisions based on what I wanted for my career , not what I needed to do . So navigating it's important . Absolutely Well thank you so much for coming on the show and I am excited to .

We've worked together for many years in a few different ways , but we will be now as the president elect for a year and then you will become president next year . So I'm excited to work together and thank you for coming on the show .

So just really thank you for this opportunity and I thank you for the opportunity to serve as president elect and to work together for five years .