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Connecting KC

The lessons revealed to Maze that the freight industry offered a huge opening for a female- and minority-led company.

Connecting KC

The freight industry is probably the last place Jy’Juan Maze thought she would end up building a career.

But once she got her foot in the door, she brought fresh perspective to an industry heavily dominated by white men.

After graduating from North American University with a business degree in 2008, Maze took her first job out of college at Freightquote. In 2017, she founded Maze Freight Solutions.

“I had friend who worked [at Freightquote] and said it was a great company and they were very family oriented, do a lot of fun things and take care of their employees,” Maze said. “So I applied for a sales position, but they didn’t have a position open right then. They had an opening in customer service, and I just said I’d take the open position. I’m glad I did. It enabled me to take all the steps to see everything that happens inside a corporation. I was fortunate enough to work closely with CEO Tim Barton, and I learned a lot of things from him.”

The lessons revealed to Maze that the freight industry offered a huge opening for a female- and minority-led company. Many railroad companies have government projects, and they need subcontractors that can fulfill mandates for minority-owned and women-owned set-asides in those contracts.

But the industry suffered from a serious shortage of those qualified companies.

‘No one is blocking me’

Maze decided to become an entrepreneur.

“This really is a white male industry,” Maze said. “But what I’m seeing is they’ve paved the way for me to succeed. No one is blocking me.”

Maze immediately immersed herself in Kansas City’s entrepreneur community, taking full advantage of all the resources available. She connected with a mentor from SCORE. She tapped services at KCSourceLink and the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She talked to owners of trucking companies. 

“Everyone was so helpful,” Maze said. “I’m someone who always wants to seek counsel. I never just go it alone.”

Paving the way for others

Now that she’s got her own company, Maze said she loves that she’s opening doors for other women to enter the industry. She wants to be an example, showing that if she can succeed in the freight industry, other women can, too. 

“Women are nurturers, and we have a lot of companies who love working with us because we understand them, understand the bottom line and get things done,” Maze said. “We don’t procrastinate. We pick up the phone, whether it’s good or bad. When it’s time to nurture, you nurture. When it’s time to chastise, you chastise. We teach respect to our employees, and because of that we’re never really disrespected. Those are the same techniques we bring to raising children. We’re just bringing it to the business realm.”

Maze Freight Solutions is a full-service freight broker. Customers call and say they need 30 loads sent from A to Z, and they don’t have time to figure it out. Maze handles it, getting the freight where it needs to be in a cost-effective manner. The company has connections to ship over air, sea or land. 

It can be a stressful job, especially in these days of the coronavirus, when the freight industry is needed more than ever to deliver supplies in heavy demand to where they need to be as quickly as possible. The company is busy hiring people now to meet the growing demand, adding salespeople, customer service, account managers and other positions.

 

“We keep the culture at the office fun because if you can’t have fun it will be dull. You’ll hate it and want to go home,” Maze said. “So we keep jokes in the office. We keep music in the office because it keeps your heart happy. We keep jokes alive in the office. You have to get things done and be focused on business, but you need to have fun, too. Life is over in a flash, so laugh and smile as much as you can.”

Kansas City Business Journal
By Adam Vogler

Freight Shipping Company

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Maze Presented Enterprising Women Award

Maze Presented Enterprising Women Award

Maze Presented Enterprising Women Award

Prestigious Awards Program Recognizes World’s Top Women Entrepreneurs

Monica Smiley, publisher and CEO of Enterprising Women magazine, has announced the winners of the 2020 Enterprising Women of the Year Awards, an annual tribute to the world’s top women entrepreneurs. Honorees will be recognized at the 18th Annual Enterprising Women of the Year Awards Celebration & Conference, to be held from Sunday, March 29 to Tuesday, March 31 at the Wyndham Grand in Clearwater Beach, Florida.

The Enterprising Women of the Year Awards is widely considered one of the most prestigious recognition programs for women business owners. To win, nominees must demonstrate that they have fast-growth businesses, mentor or actively support other women and girls involved in entrepreneurship, and stand out as leaders in their communities. Many of the honorees also serve as leaders of the key organizations that support the growth of women’s entrepreneurship.

Award winners were recognized in categories based on the annual sales revenues of their businesses. Finalists for the award, called Champions, were also named to the prestigious list of honorees.

The 2020 Enterprising Women of the Year Awards Celebration & Conference will bring together dynamic women business owners from North America and around the world for two-and-a-half days of top-notch workshops, networking opportunities, corporate sponsor exhibits, and awards presentations.

The celebration will shine the spotlight on honorees, with award presentations at the Enterprising Women of the Year Awards Gala Dinner. During the annual “Hall of Fame Luncheon,” one woman entrepreneur and one nonprofit leader will be inducted into the Enterprising Women Hall of Fame.

In honor of the 20 th anniversary of Enterprising Women magazine under the leadership of Monica Smiley, Publisher/CEO, 20 past recipients of the Enterprising Women of the Year Award will be honored with the Enterprising Women “Top 20 in 2020 Award” and recognized at a special reception held in their honor.

The event is open to 2020 award honorees, alumni (previous) award winners, corporate supporters, members of the Enterprising Women Advisory Board, VIPs in the women’s business community, readers of Enterprising Women magazine, and members of the many partner organizations affiliated with Enterprising Women.

Partner organizations represented on the Enterprising Women Advisory Board and
supporting the 2020 event include:

● The Women Presidents’ Organization (WPO)
● National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO)
● Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC)
● Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP)
● National Women Business Owners Corporation (NWBOC)
● Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women (IEEW)
● The Global Initiative for Women’s Entrepreneurship Research
● Women’s Business Development Center (WBDC)
● Quantum Leaps
● Springboard Enterprise
● National Association of Women in Real Estate Businesses (NAWRB)
● Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBEC)/Women Entrepreneurs Inc.
● Women Entrepreneurs GROW Global
● Women’s Leadership Exchange
● The International Alliance for Women (TIAW)
● Asian Women in Business (AWIB)
● eWomenNetwork (EWN)
● Association of Women’s Business Centers (AWBC)

DETAILS:
– For more information or to register to attend the 2020 Enterprising Women of the
Year Awards Celebration and Conference, visit  https://enterprisingwomen.com

RALEIGH, N.C. January 2, 2020 –
Enterprising Women Magazine Announces

2020 Enterprising Women of the Year Award Winners

Freight Shipping Company

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Next Gen Leadership Spotlight:Jy Maze

Kansas City stands out as logistics hub for reasons beyond its geography

Next Gen Leadership Spotlight: Jy Maze

Jy’Juan MazePresident, Maze Freight Solutions

A third-party logistics firm, Maze Freight Solutions handles freight moves for full truckloads nationwide.

Responsibilities: Maze, 38, ensures that her team remains focused and is responsible for future growth and innovation.

Big break: Maze started out at Freightquote, a freight brokerage, and fell in love with the field. She saw an opportunity to start her business and launched Maze Freight Solutions in 2017.

Five-year goal: Maze aspires to have multimillion-dollar revenue and hundreds of sales representatives within five years. And she wants to be able to give all her employees opportunities to better themselves.

Proudest accomplishment: Learning how to run a business and be a CEO is Maze’s biggest accomplishment.

“I came from being a sales rep. I know had a goal. I know I had a vision. I know we had core values –— but I had to learn how to run a business.”

Motivation: Maze said her father, who has been blind her whole life, inspires her.

“The thing is, he didn’t let anything stop him.”

Song that describes her leadership style: “Roar” by Katy Perry.

“Anybody hears that song — you get pumped up.”

What did you want to be as a kid? Maze wanted to be Oprah. Or, a businesswoman. She used to dress up in her mother’s pant suits and heels and had her own briefcase.

“My friends wanted to be doctors and lawyers. I never wanted to be that. I just always said I want to carry a briefcase, and I want to make a difference.”

Guilty pleasure: “Fragrance. I have a fragrance lady at Nordstrom’s, and that is my weakness. It’s not shoes. It’s not purses. It’s not cosmetics. It’s not food. It’s fragrance. I love to smell good.”

By   – Staff Writer, Kansas City Business Journal

Freight Shipping Company

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Maze Honored as NextGen Leader

Jy Maze Honored as NextGen Leader

Maze Honored as NextGen Leader

This year’s NextGen Leaders are poised to take Kansas City to the next level.

The NextGen Leaders program honors 25 rising stars in Kansas City business. A panel of independent judges selected the honorees. They will be honored at a private luncheon on July 26 and will have profiles published online and in the weekly edition the same day.

As part of our announcement of the class of 2019 NextGen honorees, we asked them to submit a photo and tell us their favorite part about Kansas City’s business community. Their answers are varied and show the enthusiasm and potential in this group of emerging leaders.

To be eligible, nominees must live and work in the Kansas City metro area. The program seeks to recognize the budding talent and to connect these emerging leaders while helping build their knowledge and skill sets.

Jy’Juan Maze is the president of Maze Freight Solutions. Her favorite thing about the Kansas City business community: “The Abundant Support.”

Freight Shipping Company

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Entrepreneurs ask entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs ask entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs ask entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurship requires grit and tenacity. At times, only a fellow entrepreneur understands what it’s really like. So the Kansas City Business Journal asked several entrepreneurs what they’d want to ask if they could interview other entrepreneurs. KCBJ reporter Leslie Collins then posed the questions to some of the area’s notable entrepreneurs.

QUESTION:

How do you take time to digress while building your business? It seems difficult to focus on anything other than the business. How do you find work/life balance?
 
JY’JUAN MAZE, co-founder and president of logistics company Maze Freight Solutions
 
 
ANSWER:

Jill Minton, co-founder and CEO of health café t.Loft

“I feel like it’s always a work in progress, and I’ve gotten better with it throughout the years,” Jill Minton said.

During the early days of t.Loft, the health cafe felt like a 24/7 obligation, with Minton glued to her phone and laptop. She skimped on quality time with her children and often told them to “go find something to do.” But now things are better. Her children have become a part of the business, helping with aspects such as scheduling, tagging products and rolling protein balls. And Minton makes it a point to schedule several hours of family time every day, when she sets aside work both mentally and physically. Planned vacations are another avenue to unplug.

Building processes into the business and hiring the right team has contributed most to finding balance, she said. Every shift has a detailed schedule of what needs to be checked off and how it should be done, she said. It eliminates ambiguity and ensures that employees understand what’s expected. Those repeatable processes also give Minton the freedom to delegate responsibilities. Lean on your team, she said.

“That took me a long time to figure out: You know what? I’ve hired somebody to do that role, and I’ve got to let them do it. I’ve got to let them fail and learn. I’ve got to let it go because you can’t hold on to every piece of it. It takes a village, and if you can’t lean on your village, you’re never going to have balance.”

So build a team of people you feel comfortable working with and ease them into new responsibilities. Let them master the new tasks before trying to add more, she said.

“Also, try to think about the worst-case scenario. What’s the worst thing that can happen? Nobody’s going to die if we’re not holding up every piece and part, so that gives me some peace.”

By   – Staff Writer, Kansas City Business Journal

Freight Shipping Company

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Kansas City stands out as logistics hub for reasons beyond its geography

Kansas City stands out as logistics hub for reasons beyond its geography

Kansas City stands out as logistics hub for reasons beyond its geography

Chris Gutierrez, president of KC SmartPort, is still surprised that in the last five to six years, over 25 million square feet of product and distribution building has been built on a speculative basis, meaning there was no tenant signed on at the outset of construction.

“Developers and real estate teams are building these, hoping they get a client or tenant — and a majority of those have been filled. So the demand has been right behind it,” said Gutierrez.

KC SmartPort’s job is to promote that space, as well as the opportunity to build facilities, to national and international companies. The not-for-profit economic development organization formed in 2000 as an outcome of several late-1990s studies on ground transportation in the region.

Today, the organization courts freight-based companies, those in manufacturing, distribution and warehousing, to locate within Kansas City’s 18-county bistate region.

The mere existence of KC SmartPort illustrates the region’s foresight to capitalize on its central location, propelling it to one of today’s leading markets for the logistics industry.

Many factors are responsible for that success, beginning with the obvious — its geography; its four modes of transportation: air, rail, road and water; and finally, its economic landscape to foster third-and fourth-party logistics firms, many of which are small businesses and independently-owned.

The sum of these factors is what ultimately attracts companies to locate some or all of its logistics here.

The geography

“Almost every company responds to the ability to reach their customer base more efficiently because of that central location,” said Gutierrez, highlighting distribution and manufacturing.

For distribution and warehousing, the four modes of transportation create a compelling value for companies who seek efficient shipping.

Take, for example, CVS reaching its regional stores, or e-commerce companies like Amazon or Jet.com reaching customers. “The ability to reach customers has been primary. Second and third is, of course, the workforce and the availability of buildings here,” continued Gutierrez.

“On the manufacturing side, it really is kind of that core manufacturing workforce that we have here, as well as the ability for inbound raw materials to come in on those modes and the finished product to be delivered to customers.”

The incoming and outgoing efficiencies for manufacturers are amplified with the four modes of transportation versus communities that have only two or three modes.

Take the automotive sector, for example, which has grown its KC footprint. This year, French auto parts manufacturer Faurecia broke ground in Blue Springs on a 250,000-square-foot manufacturing facility to serve General Motors, and many smaller companies locate here to outfit Ford Transit vans for trade contractors. Furthermore, a new trend is emerging among food manufacturers, for both ingredients and food processing.

A less obvious factor, but just as important, Gutierrez credits supportive real estate communities and local governments for advancing distribution and manufacturing in the region.

“There’s a speed to market as we talk about companies when they’ve reached us. They have a short decision time, time to pick a location, and we’ve got to all be on the same page to move that speed to decision as fast as the companies wants — and we do that here,” said Gutierrez.

The transportation

KC SmartPort estimates roughly 230 million to 240 million square feet of industrial building space is either in use or available for companies locating logistics in Kansas City. That volume of distribution and warehousing requires versatile transportation.

The BNSF Railway’s Logistics Park Kansas City (LPKC) Intermodal Facility in Edgerton is an example of the region’s commitment to transportation. Here companies can benefit from 64,000 feet of track (eight 8,000-foot strip tracks), 4,300 container stacking spots and eight wide-span all-electric cranes, among others.

According to BNSF, the LPKC is the only full-service facility in the western two-thirds of the United States offering the combination of domestic intermodal service – container, trailer, expedited and standard service levels — international intermodal service and direct-rail/carload service.

The other parties

The intermodal facility and industry strength also attract another sector of business — third- and fourth-party logistics firms. Third-party firms manage or perform logistics services, such as trucking, while fourth-party firms are logistics specialists, acting as a sort of middle man for clients to ship their assets.

These firms are part of the entire logistics equation and contributing to the region’s success.

“The Midwest is a great location for intermodal as it is the second largest intermodal hub in the United States behind Chicago,” said Karen Duff, president and CEO of International Express Trucking (IXT).

Her certified woman-owned trucking company specializes in international intermodal drayage services — short-distance shipping via ground transportation — in the Midwest. When she took over the company in 2001, Kansas City was central to the four railroads.

“IXT started in 1994 as a U.S. Customs courier service. In 2001, our courier customers asked IXT to expand our services to include draying ocean containers to import/export customers,” Duff said. “I cashed in my and my husband’s 401(k) to finance the expansion.”

Today, IXT operates approximately 100 trucks. As a third-party logistics firm managing its own fleet, the company works directly with clients to accept freight deliveries originating from all Kansas City rail locations and services customers across six Midwestern states: Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Nebraska.

Much like IXT, Maze Freight Solutions also benefits from the region’s logistics-friendly atmosphere. The fourth-party woman- and minority-owned logistics consulting firm was founded in 2017 by Jy’Juan (Jy) Maze.

“In this trillion-dollar industry, I saw an opportunity to create a logistics consulting service for small and large companies that don’t have time to shop their rates, keep up with the current market and find ways to cut cost, awarding them higher profit margins,” said Maze. “This keeps everyone honest and protects the customer from getting gouged.”

‘Kansas City is on the horizon’

Maze, who already was a veteran of the logistics industry in Kansas City, saw the potential for growth.

“This is a city that is growing beyond boundaries. There’s new development, new hotels being built, a new airport in motion. … Kansas City is on the horizon. A place where firms know they will be successful,” she said.

Gutierrez agreed, highlighting the regional approach of both states and the communities within them to make sure companies are attracted to Kansas City.

“We are a pretty consistent region that looks at transportation infrastructure needs and business needs. You can applaud the Kansas City livability, people and companies wanting to be here,” he said. “There’s an appreciation for the environment, whether it’s the business environment or the quality of life, and the cost of living here. All of those factors play into why Kansas City is so successful.”

Turns out Kansas City’s geography is central to its success, but its location on the transportation map is no longer the only reason product is on the move.

Gutierrez said his office predicts that for logistics, Kansas City is in the sixth or seventh inning and “there’s a lot of game left. People joke that it might even go into extra innings.”

Logistics terms

Third-party logistics firm: Outsourced logistics services hired by a company to include management of the company’s procurement, fulfillment, storing or shipping. Also called 3PL, these firms can perform the services contracted, such as trucking.

Fourth-party logistics firm: Outsourced logistics services that manage and coordinate the activities of 3PL firms. These 4PL firms match the services needed by a company to another business that can provide those services, such as transportation, but they do not provide the services themselves.

Drayage: Transporting goods a short distance via ground freight. In Kansas City, this usually means transporting it from an intermodal to a warehouse or another intermediate destination.

LTL: Outsourced logistics services that manage and coordinate the activities of 3PL firms. These 4PL firms match the services needed by a company to another business that can provide those services, such as transportation, but they do not provide the services themselves.

FTL: Full truckload shipping — a load that will take up an entire truck’s trailer space, which is typically 10 or more palettes.

Written by Katy Ibsen / Vol. 28 Issue 1

Freight Shipping Company

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Female-owned KC Freight Shipping and Logistics Startup Revs Up Success

KC Freight Shipping and Logistics

Female-owned KC Freight Shipping and Logistics Startup Revs Up Success

Jy’Juan Maze’s personality has always been more attuned to an entrepreneurial nature, and it wasn’t uncommon to hear others say, “You act like you own something.”

“I’ve always had the entrepreneur bug in me. It just did not come out until now,” Maze told the Kansas City Business Journal. “It finally hit when I found an industry that I loved.”

In June 2017, Maze and her husband launched logistics company Maze Freight Solutions and later added another business partner: COO Wachinda Harrell. During the first year, the Kansas City transportation broker reached six-figure revenue and then grew to $500,000 in 2018.

One of its differentiators is transparency and a drive to help clients identify opportunities to save money and boost their bottom line.

“Customers don’t have time to shop their rates, and some of them don’t want to deal with it,” Maze said. “Logistics is hard – it’s not the easiest industry.”

Often, companies that need shipping are grandfathered into rate programs, and they get too comfortable — they don’t continue to research whether they’re still getting the best deal, Harrell said.

So Maze Freight Solutions analyzes customers’ freight spend and needs and also provides quarterly analysis. It keeps the industry accountable and ensures that customers aren’t being taken advantage of, Maze and Harrell said.

The company also is adept at handling emergency situations, such as new customers calling because their carrier backed out and they need product shipped tomorrow.

Building a foundation at Freightquote

The two business partners previously worked at Freightquote for nearly a decade in sales roles, learning the ins and outs of the industry. Having that foundation gave them the courage to launch Maze Freight Solutions.

One of their takeaways from the C.H. Robinson company is “Win the day.” It’s a mindset that aims to move the needle each day, whether it’s landing a new customer, boosting spend with an existing customer or tackling a project. Or it could be as simple as getting enough information to conduct a freight spend analysis for a prospective customer.

“It’s always ‘Be doing something positive,'” Harrell said. “You may not necessarily get what we call in the sales world a sale, but you may win the day. You may make more calls than you did the day before.”

Maze echoed that sentiment: “Be productive all day. We don’t let the day sleep.”

That mindset is evidenced in how Maze Freight Solutions has built its customer base and relationships with vetted carriers. It started with “old-fashioned” sales and a lot of cold calling.

“We go after it; we don’t let it come to us,” Maze said.

Their focus on integrity is paying off and has led to a number of customer referrals. Plus, instead of persuading carriers to work with them, carriers are now approaching Maze Freight Solutions because they’ve heard positive comments from other carriers.

Lessons learned

As new entrepreneurs, Maze and Harrell have had to tweak their mindset from being sales reps to business owners. Early on, it was a tough lesson. In the corporate world, they’d become accustomed to giving customers big flexibility with payment plans. So they automatically offered customers 30- to 45-day billing terms.

“I think we lost a lot of money not knowing how to leverage our cash flow,” Harrell said.

They didn’t have late fee terms or a time frame for when customers needed to pay off their account. Coupled with the lengthy billing terms, it was creating tight cash flow.

“We were concerned that all this work we put into our vision was going to fail,” Harrell said. “And it definitely wasn’t because we didn’t have customers.”

A mentor, however, helped them turn the business around and create a solid financial plan for customers. Having mentors who aren’t afraid to be blunt has been key, Harrell said. Plus, the partners embrace a willingness to continue learning, whether that’s through mentors or reading books and articles.

“We don’t ever get too comfortable,” Maze said. “We’re always innovative, always looking for new ideas that work best for the company.”

Maze Freight Solutions has three partners and one employee and plans to add two more employees in the first quarter in sales and customer service. It specializes in full truckload services and serves customers in a variety of industries, including manufacturing, retail and construction. Some of its marquee clients are Feeding America, Miller Zell and the Army and Air Force Exchange Service.

Their vision, Maze said, can be summed up in one sentence: “To make a difference.”

Written By   – Staff Writer, Kansas City Business Journal

Freight Shipping Company

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