Silvana Sofo

I didn’t arrive in this country with a plan.

I arrived at seven years old, holding my parents’ hands, not speaking the language, and suddenly responsible for helping my family navigate a world none of us understood.

We came through family sponsorship, beginning with a student visa and eventually earning our citizenship years later, not through privilege, but through persistence. I learned early what it meant to translate, to advocate, and to figure things out the hard way. Those experiences shaped me long before I ever stepped into a workplace.

School became my first proving ground. I didn’t have the words, but I had determination. I learned English, adapted quickly, and became the bridge between my family and the systems we had to navigate. That responsibility taught me resilience, resourcefulness, and couragequalities that would later define my leadership.

In the 1990s, I entered the world of logistics, a field dominated by men, technical expertise, and traditional credentials. I didn’t have a degree. I didn’t have a roadmap. What I did have was grit, curiosity, and the ability to learn fast because I had been doing that my entire life.

I stayed. I grew. I earned my place through consistency, integrity, and the relationships I built. I learned to lead not from textbooks, but from lived experience, from being the girl who translated for her parents, from being the immigrant who had to figure out every step, from being the woman who walked into rooms where no one looked like her and still made space.

Decades into my career, I faced something I didn’t choose:

a job separation in a difficult workplace climate, at a time in life when women are often made to feel irrelevant.

It would have been easy to let that moment define me.

To believe the narrative that age is a limitation.

To shrink myself to fit the expectations of an industry shifting under my feet.

But that has never been my story.

I have spent my entire life navigating systems not built for me , immigration, language barriers, male‑dominated industries, and now an evolving workforce that often overlooks experience in favor of novelty. And every time, I’ve chosen the same response:

I rise. I adapt. I keep moving.

And then something remarkable happened.

Uber Freight chose me.

Not because of a perfect résumé.

Not because of a degree.

But because they saw the leader, the builder, the connector, the woman shaped by grit, empathy, and lived experience.

Through their recruitment process and interviews, they recognized what I bring:

the ability to lead associates with heart and strength,

the capacity to build unmatched customer relationships,

and the resilience that has carried me through every chapter of my life.

I will begin my journey with them in June, and I carry deep gratitude for the trust they are placing in me. They are not just hiring my experience, they are honoring my story, my character, and the way I show up for people.

This opportunity is a reminder that my value is not diminished by age or circumstance. It is a reminder that the right organizations see beyond credentials and recognize authenticity, courage, and the kind of leadership that can’t be taught in a classroom.

I am proud of who I am.

I am proud of the journey that shaped me.

And I am proud that my story is far from over.

Because I am still writing it, with purpose, with resilience, and with the same grit that carried me from a seven‑year‑old immigrant girl to the woman I am today. Thank you, "Influential Women", for allowing me to share the story!