331: Women in Supply Chain, Sylena Urbanoski
In today\u2019s episode of Women In Supply Chain, I\u2019m joined by the multi-talented Sylena Urbanoski: veteran, business founder, supply chain leader and start-up advisor.
Sylena Urbanoski is a strategic and dynamic operations leader with over seven years\u2019 experience at the chief executive level, where she built profitable start-up divisions, grew business lines, managed deals, and streamlined operations. A veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces, Sylena also co-founded a company that sold at 10 times valuation within 24 month to Flexport.
Today Sylena will be talking to us about her career so far; her entrepreneurial success; her long-time business partnership; and why she\u2019s so passionate about scaling start-ups. Plus, she\u2019ll be sharing her experiences as a woman in supply chain, as well as her words of advice for all of the women following in her footsteps.
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SHOW SPONSOR:\xa0
Women fuel the success of some of the world\u2019s most successful businesses, yet barriers still exist. SAP is committed to supporting and elevating a new generation of women to profoundly lead and impact global supply chains and are proud to support the Women in Supply Chain Series and its efforts.
Supply chains need to evolve from low-cost and optimized to risk-resilient and sustainable and SAP can help.
SAP Digital Supply Chain solutions connect the entire process \u2014 design, planning, manufacturing, logistics, maintenance, and service; connecting your supply chains to the rest of your business and all your contextual data; supporting your efforts in alleviating risk in your supply chains.
SAP is the market leader in enterprise application software and for the last 50 years has been helping companies to run better. Find out more at\xa0sap.com/scm
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IN THIS EPISODE WE DISCUSS:\xa0
[10.16] Sylena\u2019s career journey and how a road trip with a friend led to a life-changing business and lifelong partnership.
\u201cWe went on a road trip and by the end of the trip we had the whole business plan sorted, and a vision about what we wanted to build. We found some investment backing, and jumped into it!\u201d
[13.26] The vision behind Sylena\u2019s first business, and its successful sale to Flexport.
\u201cCustoms in Canada are so far behind, and we went through the journey of what would it take to start digitizing and creating an environment where we could re-employ amazing women who weren\u2019t staying in the industry, because it didn\u2019t support their family and work/life balance.\u201d
[17.46] Sylena\u2019s experience working with Flexport, the next steps in her career journey, and her long-time business partnership with Cindy Christensen.
\u201cI love building start-ups, I\u2019m passionate about scaling them.\u201d
[19.59] How and why supply chain has changed for women in the last decade, and the work that still needs to be done.
\u201cWomen in the supply chain industry spend so much of our careers fighting for any breath in the room\u2026 and it used to be that there were so few women in that room that it was so hard to partner up with other women because there was so little air to take.\u201d
[22.26] From finance to the military to supply chain, Sylena\u2019s experience across multiple male-dominated environments, and her experience of strong, supportive women.
\u201cEvery room I\u2019ve ever been in as an adult has been male-dominated\u2026 it\u2019s better now, but it\u2019s nowhere near as good as it needs to be.\u201d
[25.15] The industry areas that Sylena would like to see changed for women.
\u201cThe industry doesn\u2019t create opportunities\u2026 there is no unifying place where continued education and promotion opportunities exist.\u201d
\u201cWe spent so long finding any available space in that room, we really haven\u2019t, as women in this industry, embraced the opportunity to step in and take the space we deserve.\u201d
[30.40] What the future holds for Sylena.
\u201cIf you look at everybody else that\u2019s trying to solve supply chain from a tech perspective, they\u2019re all looking at it from a freight perspective. But the only one unifying factor about supply chain\u2026 is that every shipment touches a customs broker.\u201d
[32.49] Sylena\u2019s words of advice for leadership, and women in the industry.
\u201cFind community first, and lean into it.\u201d
[35.35] What excites Sylena the most about the future of supply chain, and her advice for jumping in.
[38.11] Sylena\u2019s biggest top tip for women in supply chain.
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RESOURCES AND LINKS MENTIONED:\xa0
You can connect with Sylena over on LinkedIn.
If you'd like to hear more from Sylena, check out episode 26 of Blended \u2013 Veterans Voices: Inspiring Stories from Those Who Serve. And if you want to hear even more veteran voices, \xa0listen to episode 14 of Blended \u2013 Veterans and Civil life: Winning the Battle of Workplace Discrimination.
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