Her Story
About Azalea
Azalea Plump is a logistics leader and people-focused supervisor with more than 15 years of experience driving operational excellence, team development, and process improvement. As an Enterprise Dispatch Supervisor with WM, she oversees a team that supports operations across North America, ensuring efficient coordination between dispatchers, drivers, and operations leaders. Known for her collaborative leadership style, Plump manages critical human resources functions, develops standard operating procedures, and implements innovative solutions that improve communication, efficiency, and employee engagement. Her commitment to building strong teams has earned recognition, including a Center of Excellence nomination driven by the trust and support within her department.
Throughout her career, Plump has played an integral role in strengthening dispatch operations by creating streamlined systems, optimizing scheduling processes, and leading initiatives that enhance service delivery. She coordinates logistics for major events, including the Houston Rodeo and Lollapalooza, ensuring operations run safely and efficiently while supporting customers across multiple lines of business. A graduate of the University of Illinois Chicago with a Bachelor of Business Administration, she combines formal education with years of practical leadership experience, crediting much of her professional growth to learning from mentors and continuously seeking opportunities to improve.
Guided by the belief that integrity is the foundation of effective leadership, Plump is passionate about developing others and creating workplaces where employees feel supported and empowered to succeed. She encourages aspiring professionals—particularly young women—to embrace challenges, plan for the future, and pursue opportunities with confidence and determination. Whether mentoring team members, volunteering in the community, or leading complex logistics operations, Plump remains committed to putting people first and delivering meaningful results through action.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Azalea
01What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Always plan ahead. I think that a lot of times, we always look at the here and now. But we forget about tomorrow until it comes. So, plan ahead, understand that the person that you are today is going to be a different person 5 years from now. However, having that roadmap at least gives you some type of guidance, helps you stay on track, and then if you get off track, it can help bring you back or show you that you're going in the wrong direction. So, planning is kind of the biggest tool that I feel like you should use.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Don't take no for an answer. I think that a lot of times you're going to get the proverbial, oh, it might be difficult, or you're gonna, you know, you're not gonna like this, or you're not gonna like that, and the response should always be, alright, well, let me try it out and see for myself. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to shock you. And that's kind of the best advice I can give to them. Don't take no for an answer.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
People underestimating what it is that we do. Working in logistics. Essentially, we are… the company that I work for is a major trash company, and we basically… Do everything from recycling to, landfills to, sustainability. So there's so many different facets to the position that we have. However, the general population, all they see is that, oh, you just, you know, pick up trash, but not understanding about the sorting that we have to do, that goes in with it. So I think it's just a way to get all that knowledge out to the general public to make them understand that it's bigger than just, you know, you pick up trash. It has to go somewhere, and it has to be used to better help the environment.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Integrity. I think that, you know, the kind of society that we're in now, people have lost track of just that, so kind of, you know, just do what you say you're gonna do when you kind of say you're gonna do it, and if you can't, just be open and honest and say you can't. So I think it's, it's just… just that, just integrity. I think it's my biggest value.
Join Influential Women and start making an impact. Register now.