Innovision Fall 2019

18 | INNOVISION MAGAZINE ALUMNI ADVENTURES Kutztown alum, Allison Geist, works in the trucking industry at NFI, a leading third-party logistics provider. Her sights weren’t always set on the supply chain field until Dr. Roger Hibbs, the department chair of business administration, talked about supply chain and the guaranteed opportunities within the Lehigh Valley in that field. Allison didn’t know where she would go in the supply chain field, but she was willing to explore and leave doors open for herself. She says, “There’s nothing wrong with not knowing what you want, but always keep your mind open to all possibilities.” The doors she left open for herself led her into the position at NFI. Allison joined the Supply Chain Management club, which brought in guest speaker, David Fledderman, fromNFI. During a luncheon with him, Allison got into a debate with her future employer, which made an impression on him. They later talked about job possibilities at the Fostering Future Professional’s Dinner. Allison had the chance to represent Kutztown as a student leader at the CSCMP conference, which gave her a sneak peak into the industry. Besides the connections she made, Allison feels her experiences at the conference also helped her prepare for a career in the trucking industry. At the conference, she realized you must be comfortable speaking your mind and learning from current employees. She says, “I’m not sure if I would have done well or been as comfortable if I had entered the industry without that knowledge.” After a stint in the Disney College Program provided at Kutztown University, Allison went on to work at NFI. She was an Operations Management Trainee starting in February 2018 and has been promoted to the Operations Support Manager. As a trainee to get the full picture of how the departments work together, she did rotations throughout the company. She reflects, “Now that I have worked in the trucking industry, I can see myself here for a long time. The industry is really all about relationships and engaging people. With all of the moving parts and the demands of increasing consumer needs, things change often.” Although Allison has found her place at NFI and is pleased with the environment, there is still a heavy stigma of women in the trucking industry. Allison argues that the stigma comes from thinking that the trucking industry is a male-dominated business that holds onto ideas that women won’t be able to succeed in their role. However, Allison has gotten mixed reactions to being in the industry. Some applaud her for holding her own, especially when nine times out of ten, she’s the only female in the room. But of course, there are always those who immediately dismiss her. This does not crush Allison’s spirit. She says, “Unfortunately, these experiences are the ones that stick with you, but I know there’s more people behind me that don’t care that I’m a young woman. I do my job well and that’s all that matters.” On the bright side, women in the trucking industry are actually very beneficial. She says, “You get a different mindset, view points and set of experiences to improve the trucking industry. Women also have been proven to have better driving statistics when compared to men on average. They get into less preventable accidents, have a lower average dwell time and have a lower turnover rate.” NFI is trying to combat female stereotypes in the trucking industry. To curb the driver shortage, they launched the She Drives campaign, which centers around encouraging women to join the trucking industry. Allison would soon take a big part in changing NFI’s female driver population (which was lower than the national average). Every year, Women in Trucking host a conference dedicated to fostering the growth and longevity of women in the industry. Women in Trucking are on the forefront of not only bringing women into the industry, but they also talk about technology, safety, generational gaps and corporate initiatives. Last year, Allison and her manager attended theWomen inTrucking conference after they launched the She Drives campaign. Having let their campaign simmer for a year, Allison and her manager wanted to share what they did and how it worked. ALLISON GEIST ‘17 Allison Geist ’17 double majored in Marketing and Management with a minor in Supply Chain. She now is the Operations Support Manager at NFI.