Career Path Of A Director At Forward Air
Ryan's career path, beginning with an internship at the Grand Canyon State Games, evolved from initial aspirations in the sports industry to a successful 14-year tenure at CH Robinson, a third-party logistics company, after realizing "there's definitely a lot of competition" in sports. This was followed by opening a Chicago office for Forward Air, leveraging extensive networking developed through "volunteering on their alumni association board" and nonprofit board participation in the intermodal industry.
Networking, Career Exploration, Logistics, Supply Chain Management, Third-Party Logistics
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Ryan Dromgoole
Director
Forward Air
Arizona State University (ASU) - W. P. Carey
University of Denver & Masters in Transportation
Industrial, Supply Chain Management
Manufacturing, Operations & Supply Chain, Nonprofit, Foundations & Grantmaking
Operations and Project Management
Took Out Loans, Worked 20+ Hours in School
Video Highlights
1. Ryan's internship with the Grand Canyon State Games, although not directly in logistics, provided valuable experience and helped him realize the competitiveness of the sports industry.
2. His job at a UPS store exposed him to the logistics industry, complementing his supply chain management studies and allowing him to network within the SCMA.
3. Ryan's 14 years at CH Robinson, a third-party logistics company, provided significant experience and skill development, while his volunteer work with Arizona State's alumni association and an intermodal industry non-profit expanded his network, preparing him for his current role at Forward Air.
Transcript
Could you walk me through your career path, starting with your experiences in college and any internships or jobs you had before your current role?
Sure thing. When I was in college, I was studying supply chain management. At the time, I thought I wanted to get more into the sports industry. My internship was actually with a program called the Grand Canyon State Games down in Arizona.
It was a really fun, great experience. But one of the things I realized is that there's a lot of competition for people wanting to get into the sports industry. So, I did open up and start looking at a couple of other career fields.
I got a job at a UPS store in Scottsdale, Arizona. That gave me a little more exposure to the logistics industry, which tied in well with supply chain management as part of the Supply Chain Student Association at Arizona State. It gave me a chance to meet other people in different parts of the industry.
At first, I thought I was going to work with a large retail company. But then I ended up meeting a couple of people at a company called CH Robinson, which is a third-party logistics company. Culturally, I just really connected with them a lot, and I realized that was going to be a better fit for me.
So, I ended up moving to Chicago and working with CH Robinson for 14 years, where I really learned a lot. At the same time, I did stay close with Arizona State by volunteering on their alumni association board and visiting back pretty frequently. It's fun to keep that network of students.
This then also parlayed into volunteering for a nonprofit board in my industry, called the intermodal industry. It works a lot with railroads and ports. That really helped build out a pretty strong network that helped prepare me for my next step in my career: opening a division for a company called Forward Air.
I actually opened an office here in Chicago for Forward Air. I was able to bring a lot of that skillset together, along with all the networking experiences.