Her Story
About Noelle
I started my logistics career at a small third-party logistics company that specialized in final mile deliveries for pharmaceuticals, managing couriers picking up from Rite Aids and delivering to patients' homes. It was very operations-focused with a lot of liability and stress, which really grounded me and taught me resilience. Interestingly, I was originally going to college for information security and intelligence because I wanted to be in cybersecurity and fight fraud, but I just never ended up getting out of logistics. I spent a significant portion of my career at C.H. Robinson, the biggest 3PL in the world, where I transitioned from operations to sales. The team there completely shifted my mindset about sales - they taught me it's not like being a car salesman, but rather about prescribing solutions to real problems and creating demand by finding the right relationships. I worked on the domestic truckload side, and then during COVID, I had the opportunity to move to Charlotte, North Carolina to work in freight forwarding, handling shipping containers, airplanes, Incoterms, and international trade. I even asked to work as a freight forwarding agent for 3 months to truly understand the process from the ground up, because I have to understand everything to sell it effectively. After moving back to Michigan, I worked with PGT Services in Pittsburgh specializing in heavy haul and open deck freight, then briefly at other companies before finding my home at DSG Logistics almost 2 years ago. DSG is a 3PL division of a grower-based parent company in Central Washington that grows cherries, blueberries, pears, apples, and apricots. My role is to grow our 3PL business by working with other growers and retailers beyond our parent company. The team here is phenomenal - they trust me to bring in business and always say 'we'll figure it out' rather than telling me no. I'm a long sales cycle seller who focuses on building strategic, long-term partnerships rather than just quoting freight. My goal over the next 5 years is to work my way into a director role where I can mentor others and inspire them to see this different way of selling - creating relationships and finding solutions rather than making 100 calls a day.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Noelle
01What do you attribute your success to?
I would say honestly, me just being curious has probably driven the most success. I've learned so much throughout my career by staying curious and asking a lot of questions. In the logistics and transportation industry, we touch so many different areas of business - insurance, finance, legal compliance, international trade - all these things that I struggled with in school and even in college, but now I use every single day and absolutely love learning about. Even now, I'm still learning things every day, like right now I'm learning about surety bonds. That curiosity and willingness to keep learning, combined with the resilience I developed early in my career when I was thrown into the high-stress world of pharmaceutical logistics, has really grounded me and given me the thick skin I needed to succeed. I also learned from C.H. Robinson that sales isn't about being pushy - it's about prescribing solutions to real problems and creating the right relationships. That shift in mindset, focusing on finding real problems and knowing what I could do to solve them, has been fundamental to my success.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say soak up and be curious, and ask a lot of questions. In the logistics and transportation industry, some people might think that it's really just trucking and picking up a load and delivering it, but there's so much more than that. It is driving the economy, and we touch so many different areas of business - insurance, finance, legal compliance, international trade. I've learned so much about all these areas that I struggled with in school and even in college, but now I use every single day and absolutely love learning about it. I would say keep an open mind, be curious, ask a lot of questions, and don't let anyone try to pigeonhole you into a specific role. Just being curious and politely challenging - that's something that took me a really long time to develop. I mean, 10 years ago, I would never have told somebody at a conference 'actually, let me share with you how I do it,' but now I do. It does take that experience and that confidence to know what you know, but also recognize that you're still learning. I still learn things every day. So I would say stay curious, never let anyone just decide that you're going to be in this role, always challenge, ask questions, and honestly, me just being curious has probably driven the most success. Always ask questions.
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