Growing up in Ongole, India, an average town, my father taught me to follow my passion. Although he is a police officer, a true public servant, he always wanted to start his own business. He began an import/export company which made him a middleman to haul goods for other shippers. But, in part due to his full-time work in law enforcement, he has not been able to taste success. Because I love and trust my dad, I wanted to follow his advice about having passion for my career. I directed my graduate studies toward the supply chain, partially to avenge his experience in the industry. Now, I am learning what he did not have the opportunity to learn, and I hope to achieve the success that he strove to achieve.
As an undergraduate, I studied in my hometown, but I still longed to learn more about the world of business and supply chains. When it was time to choose a graduate school, my uncle in Chicago encouraged me to look at the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), which, I soon discovered, has a reputation for effective supply chain classes. Having family in the US encouraged my decision to travel the world, literally, in order to uphold my ambition. Hope, fear, and excitement accompanied me as I encountered a series of firsts on my way here, including my first time on a plane, my first international travel, and my first time living alone. Being in a different country has helped me break out of my comfort zone and experience different cultures. I explored the City of Chicago in my first year and experienced my first snow, which I have to admit is impressively cold.
Now, I study how logistics and transportation function, how to optimize supply chains through end to end visibility, and how to develop supply strategies for businesses. I am learning to procure materials and the negotiation skills required for that. Productively, I am absorbing how the import and export business works and the rules and regulations for international trading. In line with my internship at MaterialsXchange (MX), the marketplace for buying and selling lumber and wood products, I am ascertaining how to digitize the supply chain world and support supply chain resilience. By studying all of this, I can help my dad gain the confidence he needs to make his business a success.
While IIT has been a great place to learn and offers terrific support, everything cannot be learned from lectures and reading books alone. Real world experience is the key to wisdom, so I’m glad I was able to become a part of the team at MaterialsXchange. Here, I am learning about the lumber industry and B2B platforms. I research potential carriers for their freight, cross-checking these freight rates with others to make sure that we are using the best-in-class rates for the market. I also research ways to improve their supply chain visibility and integration while helping to maintain their data. MX is constantly improving and adapting to meet the needs of the times.
MaterialsXchange will change the lumber world by digitally gathering buyers and sellers on a single platform. It simply makes things easier. I cannot wait to see the success and growth of MaterialsXchange in coming years, and I feel privileged to be a part of its amazing journey. Plus, I know that I will be able to implement my real-world experiences into my dad’s business and watch that grow, too.