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 Juliana Garcia – Staff Writer, Kansas City Business Journal