For our Spearhead Family post this month we are highlighting Giselle Mudge, Senior Logistics Manager at 
The Spearhead Group. Giselle joined Spearhead in 2020 to help lead logistics for PPE supplies. Since then, Giselle has been working to help the team “spearhead” their sustainability goals in new directions and helping clients with shipping and logistics success. Giselle shares more with us about joining The Spearhead Group and what inspires her to work on innovative projects.
Tell us about why and when you joined The Spearhead Group.
Giselle: I joined during the pandemic, and because of the pandemic. Spearhead was in the middle of a valiant effort to pivot and source PPE’s made to go in the hands of essential employees. They reached out to me to lead logistics behind this, and I accepted because to me it was another rescue mission. Spearhead is always about doing the right thing, and I could not have joined a better team who I see eye to eye with.
Tell us a little more about your background and what excites/inspires you to work on innovative projects on the logistics side?
I have been in logistics for 15 years, and have been doing a mix of volunteer and contract work for the welfare of people, animals, and the environment even longer. For as much as the world gives you, I strongly believe it is as important to give back and leave it a better place than you found it. In my current industry, as straightforward and dry as it seems there is so much opportunity to modernize and improve every aspect of the supply chain process. It begs for innovation (some processes are still dependent on pen and paper!) as much as it does creativity and new ways of thinking, but it won’t happen overnight. One of the projects I’m working on is to capture our sustainability metrics and find ways to decrease our carbon footprint without impacting service to our customers. This may seem impossible with the current global shipping crisis, but this is by far the best time to gather worst case scenario data and use it to our advantage as research. We are already starting to offset our carbon footprint with parcel shipping, but will be at a point where we can truly make a larger impact with our containership and over-the-road volume.
The Spearhead Group has 5 core values (1. Focus on Sustainability and Diversity; 2. Innovative Thinking; 3. Do the Right Thing; 4. Acts with Equal Respect for Clients, Colleagues and Suppliers; 5. Go the Extra Mile with Entrepreneurial Spirit). How do you practice these values?
This began with my reason for joining The Spearhead Group. There is no one core value that can operate independently from the other. Every client is a VIP in my eyes no matter how big or small. I love how The Spearhead Group helps startups from one hour and shifts to innovative projects for conglomerates to the next. In the same spirit, every shipment that comes my way is treated with urgency as I present the fastest, creative, and most sustainable options that will meet their needs and timeframes. It is the norm to go above and beyond the typical workday to help out a client especially in this uncertain climate. This included chartering private aircraft to deliver emergency supplies, identifying the best less commonly used delivery routes with the least carbon footprint, working in various time zones to secure shipments, etc. What puts me at ease with this work ethic is that every single person in our team gives this same all within their scope of work. I may be helping clients navigate through another atypical shipping year for now, but there is a silver lining where we can soon dedicate more efforts as I envisioned towards sustainability in the road towards global recovery.