Jordan is a director of sales in the full truckload division here at England Logistics.
Get to know him in this team member spotlight.
—
EL:
Could you walk me through your progression here at England Logistics?
Jordan:
I’ve been with England Logistics for nine years now. I started as an account manager, worked my way up to account manager two and three, and then senior account manager, and then to senior account executive. I went on to be a logistics coach, and then a sales director after that.
Currently, in my role as a sales director, I work with a handful of logistics coaches being a liaison between our upper leadership and what we’ve got going on with the rest of the team. I work on figuring out what we’re going to do both from a strategy level with each of my teams. I also work with our back-end team to clear the path for all of our account managers so they can be successful.
EL:
What are your passions outside of work?
Jordan:
Outside of work, I love to spend some time with my wife and our three dogs. It’s a lot for one household, but we have a great time doing that. I love to travel and play golf, and I’m pretty intrigued by tattoos.
I love to spend some time with my family and explore, and do what I can to be outside. I do quite a bit of running and weightlifting as well.
EL:
It sounds like you stay pretty busy! Can you tell me more about why you like tattoos so much?
Jordan:
I love tattoos. It’s a fun way to be able to express yourself and tell a story. Some of them are just a fun story, and that’s it. Others might be a deeper meaning, and that’s something that you carry with you forever. That can be pretty impactful. They’re also an icebreaker for those who might be curious about what you’ve got tattooed on your skin, and sometimes it’s a good story to create a friendship or start a conversation.
EL:
That is a unique way to get to know someone. What would you say is your proudest accomplishment?
Jordan:
One of my proudest accomplishments was a half-marathon that I ran. I got a random email from one of my buddies, and he had signed me up for a half-marathon. I hadn’t run in over a year, and the half-marathon was three weeks away. I got to work, started training, and I ended up running that half marathon in just under two hours.
Within my professional career here at EL, one of my proudest accomplishments was becoming one of the youngest senior account executives to ever make it into that role. It was a lot of hard work. It took me about two and a half years from the time that I started to be able to promote into that role. I was held to a very high standard, and that is something that I am super proud of in my time here.
EL:
That takes a lot of commitment. In your time at EL have you had any other professionally defining experiences?
Jordan:
One of the most pivotal moments in my career was when I was put on an improvement plan.
In my first year here, I started as an account manager and had promoted to account manager two. I had a seasonal customer who was moving a lot of freight, and I was working my way towards a great promotion, but I didn’t have enough irons in the fire. That customer ended up falling off, and my book of business was really struggling.
I was very fortunate to have a coach who not only cared about my success but was willing to tell me the truth. We had a great conversation about the hard reality that I wasn’t putting in the effort that I needed to be in order to be successful here.
I went home and I made the decision to be all in, and I was able to turn it around. Three weeks after I was put on this plan, I was able to get an all-time high. I was able to grow and promote, and scale my book of business. That was what started the race for me to become a senior account executive. I felt like I had something to prove, and that was pivotal in my time here.
Being on that improvement plan helps me now as a director of sales to be able to relate to some of the struggles that the account managers are dealing with. It can be an extremely challenging job and there are a lot of hurdles that we have to overcome. My ability to connect with people can help them understand that I’ve been in their shoes, and this is not the end of the road; this is just the beginning.
EL:
I never would have guessed that about you but it’s incredible you have been able to turn that experience into such positive growth. Do you have anything else that most people don’t know about you?
Jordan:
All right, so something that most people don’t know about me is that I’m a certified spray tan artist.
EL:
Oh, that’s cool! How did you get into learning something like that?
Jordan:
My wife is a full-time business owner. She runs a spray tan business, and she’s been doing that for about three years. I wanted to be able to better support her, so I went through and got my certification so I could do it myself and show her that I was invested in her dreams and what she was doing.
EL:
It’s so great you have been able to support her in that way. After all of that experience what would you say is your ‘Why’?
Jordan:
My biggest why is my wife and my family, that we are working on building. It’s super important for me to be able to set up my family and my life outside of this to be what we want it to be. Being able to travel, being able to take some time off, and go explore and do those things that we love to do together.
EL:
In addition, when are you happiest?
Jordan:
My happiest moments are these walks that I take with my wife every night. Before we go to sleep or whenever we’re done with dinner, we go on a walk. We’ve got this little hot spring right behind our house that we love to go to, and it’s one of the few times in the day, throughout our busy schedules, that I’m able to connect with her without any distractions.
EL:
You’ve mentioned your passion for being involved in others’ success a few times. What drives you to be so invested in that?
Jordan:
One of the big things that drives me to be engaged with other people’s success is that I’ve seen the ability that has to change the course of people’s lives over time. Both in my friendships and my relationships, but especially here at work. I’ve seen people who came in and didn’t have a whole lot at a young age, who were able to build a life for themselves. To see some of the happiness, some of the success that they’ve been able to drive into their own lives has been a huge driving factor for me.
It’s allowed me to take a look externally. I feel like, a lot of times in the past, I’ve been a fairly selfish person, and being able to help others create a better life for themselves has really helped me to find a little bit more of a passion and ignite my fire to help them succeed and grow.
EL:
Did you always think you were going to get into this industry?
Jordan:
To be completely honest, my plan coming into England logistics was going to be a two-year commitment, and then I was going to figure out where else I was going to go.
I was actually approached, while I was in college, by a recruiter from England Logistics, interviewed, signed up, and they actually held a spot for me for six months before I graduated. When I came up here, I knew that I had something that was steady that I could work through and figure out, and I’ve kind of fallen in love with this industry.
It’s chaotic, it’s challenging. Every day looks a lot different than the previous. I find that it’s hard for me to kind of keep my attention on one thing, and the fact that this job is always throwing a different challenge or a different curveball at me has been something that I’ve really been drawn to. I’ve found my own passions within the industry and the chaos that we are trying to control.
We’ve got some amazing people who really care about the success of others. I’ve fallen in love with this business and this company, and I’m super grateful to be here nine years later.
EL:
What would you tell somebody who is considering a job in logistics?
Jordan:
I think that for a lot of people, on the outside looking in, the trucking industry is not, super sexy, but once we get into, how the supply chain impacts us, collectively as a country, there’s a lot more to it. We are the backbone of America, and something that I found my passion in was the fact that we’re actually putting food on the table for people at home. We are involved with trucks that are going into big grocery stores and picking up and delivering loads. There’s a lot more to this industry once you get involved with it and start to understand the impact that you’re having, not only on your, local community, but really across the nation.
EL:
With all that passion where do you go from here?
Jordan:
Honestly, I don’t know. In a professional regard, I’m not entirely sure where I go from here. I think the one thing that I am super appreciative about is that at England Logistics, there are always new doors opening. I’ve been able to see a ton of people who have created a position that wasn’t necessarily here before.
It would be very easy for me to say, I would love to move into a senior director role, but I’ve got a great deal of passion for sales and onboarding clients, and the hunt and the thrill of bringing on new business. I would love to be able to see what doors might open or what doors I might be able to create.
From a personal standpoint, I think the next step for me is becoming a father and continuing to build my life outside of here. I want to continue to explore and have adventures and have a ton of fun, and make memories wherever I can.
EL:
Knowing your level of drive and commitment, you’ll find success in whatever direction you choose to go.
—