In this episode of Freight Nation: A Trucking Podcast, host Brent Hutto is joined by Grace Sharkey, the host of FreightWaves Drive Time on SiriusXM.

Grace is a journalist, interviewer, and writer passionate about Freight Tech. She currently hosts FreightWaves Drive Time on SiriusXM alongside writing for FreightWaves. Prior to this, she was Chief Strategy Officer at Fifth Wheel Freight.

[09:24] When she decided to go to college, Grace’s mom helped find her the right place but ensured Grace knew it was her responsibility to pay for it. Looking back, Grace is proud of herself for funding her own education and the planning that prepared her for the working world. She joined Fifth Wheel Freight in the start-up stage, so she needed to be scrappy and willing to just get things done. In the brokerage, she realized this approach was key to finding new opportunities and building skills. When it came time for her to leave Fifth Wheel, she was suddenly overwhelmed by her many choices after building up a wealth of knowledge. To anyone thinking of their next venture who is scared, she recommends just doing it. 

[13:46] At Fifth Wheel, Grace started out as an Account Representative and then moved up the ranks to Chief Strategy Officer. When she first started, they essentially acted from cradle to grave. They would buy shipments from their shippers and customers and sell them directly to Carriers. As they scaled, this quickly showed to be inefficient from all directions. Having to redesign the process was incredibly interesting for Grace, and she turned her focus to utilizing their tech to enhance what they were doing. They had to shift from scrappy start-up mode to strategic scale-up mode. It was all about investing in the people instead of the tech and ensuring they used it to the best of their ability.

[26:09] Since joining FreightWaves and transitioning her career to journalism, Grace has built a persona that is widely recognized, but as with any career change, there have been some challenges. The first one was the change in leadership style. The management was very hands-on at the brokerage, ensuring everyone was on track. In her first week at FreightWaves, it was evident that this was not the case in the company, with the Editor in Chief surprised she let them know she was leaving for the day. It’s a far more self-sufficient culture, which gave Grace more freedom in her work, but it was a tough transition to get used to.

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