In the grand pursuit of happiness, some people will spend their whole life chasing.
On the other hand, there are people, like JP, who are enthralled to be running. Mesmerized by the blurred view, they’ll point out the beauty of the route, astonished that such goodness is all around them. Run alongside them for too long and you too may find yourself inspired by the joy of the journey.
Wherever he stands in the world, he’s on top of it. From such heights, all around him seems to better understand the masterpiece of the universe.
JP radiates happiness. His peers are glad to soak in his goodness.
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JP came to England Logistics in 2013 as an account manager. After ascending the ranks, JP was promoted to become a senior account manager in December of 2013, then a logistics coach in April of 2015, and has since held other leadership positions within sales. In March of 2022, JP made the transition to become a learning & development specialist.
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EL: JP, it’s so great to sit down with you. Can you tell me about your current position responsibilities and how you’ve progressed to this point?
JP: I’m in the learning and development team and have been in this role since March of 2022. I’d been in a sales role in ECS for 9 years, so I have been in the arena with some people before I moved into this role.
What I love about my role is that I can take my experiences of being out on the floor and in leadership to teach people. I believe I’m very good at being a good conductor of energy and directing the free flow of conversation. I love presenting and offering practical, hands-on experience.
Plus, I want everybody in the room to have a voice.
I feel like that’s how I learned the best and most people learn the best from learning from others. It’s important to realize that I’m not the smartest person in the room.
I may have the most information about the topic, but I’m going to continue learning from the people around me.
EL: That’s awesome. I just want to place emphasis on what you said.
I feel like you are an awesome conductor of energy and you’ve got an awesome gift for optimism and helping people to feel important.
I’d love to hear a little bit about your experience so far in learning and development.
JP: Well, it’s been very fulfilling. I love to contribute to the success of the company. I love to get to know people.
I look at it as in some ways, what we do in addition to learning is helping new team members loosen up like a pre-game stretch.
When they come in, it’s important to me that everybody in my class gets to speak every day.
I like to bring people out of their shells and get them talking. There’s a certain flexibility we have in an ever-shifting world. So, it’s been very fulfilling for me to be able to engage with people, to hear their voices, and to make connections.
EL: That’s awesome.
It’s evident that people are a huge priority for you in the way you conduct yourself and, in your responses, as well.
I’d love to hear a little bit about your passions outside of work and if that sort of enthusiasm has anything to do with what’s important to you professionally.
JP: So much of what I’ve enjoyed here at England Logistics is the people, but I’ve also enjoyed the freedom and flexibility that being in a sales role has given me. I try and give my best during the day and focus on my creative endeavors in the evenings.
I love playing guitar and writing music. I love creative writing, so I have a creative spirit that, by working at England Logistics, I’ve been able to find balance with so that I have a good quality of life at work and home.
I love having energy left over to invest in creativity, family, exercise, and fun.
EL: That’s so awesome. I love that you engage in being a creator. What are some of the things in your art that you like to highlight?
JP: I’ve written many songs over the years. It’s always been a creative passion.
I was in a band in my 20s. I played music and we played a lot of shows, we even put out a couple of albums.
EL: That’s so cool!
JP: It was cool! It made me love my work as a team.
I love getting different perspectives of individuals and ideas and bringing those together to create music. For me, I like to build the skeleton of a song and play that.
Plus, I love the outdoors.
I love going out camping and just getting out into Mother Nature and exercising.
EL: You’ve got an awesome spectrum of interests. There’s the people development element, the creativity… I’d love to hear what is the force that ties all of those together.
What drives you?
JP: Oh, I’d say my ‘why’ at the end of the day is my family.
It’s my wife and my parents, my brothers and my sisters: It is having a good quality of life and not getting lost in just one thing.
I love finding ways to better the people around me and to make connections with the people closest to me, especially my wife and family.
EL: That’s awesome.
A companion question to what you’ve offered: When are you happiest?
JP: I love the saying, “A rising tide lifts all ships.”
When people have a shared vision, and I know my role and I’m able to contribute alongside others, it’s just beautiful to build something together.
So, I’m most happy when I’m engaged in a project, and I have a vision. I get excited when I am creating with a group.
EL: I love that that is your passion and I love what you’ve chosen to make with your creativity. So much of that has taken the form of people development and your family. There is so much to who you are.
With so much to you, what is something that most people might not know about you?
JP: I think it was around 2004 or 2005–we had a song that was on the Tony Hawk video game soundtrack.
EL: No way! That’s so awesome!
JP: We were just a band out of Logan, Utah. We’d sell out all around town, but we made a connection and we got on that video game soundtrack.
That soundtrack ended up winning an MTV Music Award.
EL: Whoa.
JP: We were one of 72 bands on it, so it wasn’t the craziest accomplishment… but still!
It wasn’t life-changing, but it was really cool to be on a video game soundtrack with some of my favorite bands.
EL: Wow.
You know, I should have guessed. You just look like someone who would produce a song for an award-winning Tony Hawk soundtrack.
JP: [Laughs] That’s quite generous of you. It was a fun thing to experience to have a lot of people there. We still get Spotify listens to this day. Kind of funny, my goal was to be heard across the nation. And this totally fulfilled that.
If you put your mind to something, I really believe that we can accomplish so much.
EL: What an awesome way to make good on some of your personal mission. Speaking of which, do you have a motto that you live your life by?
JP: Keep learning, keep growing, keep going. Try to be moving forward. Find the good in each day. Some days it’s trickier than others; some days you really have to search for it, but keep going.
EL: I love that the logical conclusion from that is if you’re always moving, then you’re never going to be stagnant, right?
With such a strong desire to keep moving, do you go from here? What’s your future plan?
JP: Well, this has been my first year with learning and development and I have really loved it.
I think it’s nice because having the experience that I’ve had on the sales floor again, I was able to feel the kind of excitement with sales daily.
What I also love about being in learning and development is engaging people who need to be included. I like giving them a voice, so it’s been cool to be in learning development to be in a classroom setting where I can engage with people.
So in short, I look forward to more time and learning and development and the opportunity to keep moving forward.
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We’re on the search for more senior account managers. If this interview resonated with you, apply at this link: https://www.englandlogistics.com/search-all-available-jobs/