For Lida Hakobyan, you have to be your own brand and your own marketing and continue to promote yourself if you want to succeed in any industry.
That's why, for the first time ever, Hakobyan submitted an application to the 2024 Women in Supply Chain award.
"Don't be afraid to promote yourself like I did," she says. "I just heard about this program. I never applied. So I said, Okay, let me just go and apply. You never know. Don't be afraid to promote yourself."
For Hakobyan, promoting herself is what's taken her along a journey that started out as an over-the-road truck driver and fleet manager dispatcher to owner of a freight broker agency and then to her current role as founder of Freedom Freight, LLC.
It's for these reasons and more that Hakobyan was named the overall Rising Star winner from this year's Women in Supply Chain winner.
From trucker to owner
Hakobyan moved to the United States in 2016. Her then-husband was a truck driver at the time and away a lot. Hakobyan was lonely and bored, so she went to the DMV to get her CDL license. And, the door opened to the logistics industry.
"It gave me solid foundation in the logistics and transportation in this industry because I got to see the inside of logistics; what shippers are facing, what freight brokers and truck drivers are facing, from the inside. So that's how I started," Hakobyan says. "I transitioned from being over-the-road truck driver to being a fleet manager dispatcher. And then I opened my freight broker agency. That transition for me was very necessary as a woman because I wanted to have kids and to take care of my kids being home. So this gave me opportunity to stay home and raise my kids. But at the same time, use my expertise and my knowledge in logistics.
It was then she realized the a gap in mentorship, quality and coaching in logistics.
"That's why I decided to create my Freight Freedom club membership for people who want to get into logistics. My goal was always to provide practical and actionable easy steps for people who can really put it in action and get the results. The challenges that I faced being on the road are different than being a business owner. I had to learn sales, marketing, customer acquisition, customer relationship finances, all these regulations. I was hiring the drivers. I was doing safety and compliance. Then, as a freight broker, I had to acquire customer and choose reliable and trusted carriers. I got to learn a lot of stuff on my own."
She also experienced first-hand how drivers feel, how fleet owners feel and how freight brokers feel so she can give brokers, shippers and drives a fair approach.
WATCH our exclusive interview with Hakobyan and learn more about what she would tell herself, her advice for young female professionals and the importance of being your own brand.
CLICK HERE to meet all of this year's winners.
