International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month: Celebrating the Strength, Resilience, and Achievements of Women at Roadway

As a company built on the principles of accountability, kindness, and generosity, we value the work of women, whether they are our clients or our colleagues.

At Roadway Moving, we believe that diversity and inclusion are essential to our success as a company and as a society. We recognize the significant contributions of women throughout history and celebrate the progress made towards gender equality. In honor of International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, we want to highlight the remarkable achievements of some of our female colleagues and honor their enduring strength and resilience.

We asked women at Roadway a few thought provoking questions:

Aida Stone, Director of Talent Acquisition

When you began your career many years ago, did you ever imagine that you would have a leadership role in this profession?

I always knew I would work hard to climb the ladder. It’s always been my goal and I knew I had to work hard to achieve that. The sky is the limit, but you need to want it, and work hard for it.

Never put an end to your success and never say NO to something that is not your job. Learn something new every day and be open to constructive criticism. Those are some trades of a great leader.

How have you built confidence and/or resiliency over the course of your career?

I used to say, what’s the worst that can happen? If you don’t do something in your life, you can never succeed in it. You try, you fall. You try again, you fall again. But you don’t get discouraged with bumps along the way, just keep going. It will get you far and resilience and confidence will only get stronger. Fear will disappear. You will become tough and strong, as long as you don’t give up.

Chakira Powers, Customer Service Manager

What advice would you give to other women who aspire to be leaders in their field?

My advice would be to never stop learning and be willing to collaborate with others. You can learn a lot from others whose goals and aspirations are similar to yours.

What is one of the most important lessons you’ve learned as a leader, and how have these lessons impacted your approach to leadership?

Make time! Make time to disconnect and reflect. I find that I have better ideas when I sit alone in silence. In order to grow, you have to mold your team into being strong individuals. Having that, you can focus on your own growth.

Who inspires you?

My son. I know that he is always listening and watching how I handle things and how I interact with others. I could NEVER let him down.

How have you built confidence and/or resiliency over the course of your career?

You have to have thick skin and never be afraid to make a mistake as you can only learn from them.

Ginny Gallion, Leads Generation Manager

When you began your career many years ago, did you ever imagine that you would have a leadership role in this profession?

I honestly never really thought about whether or not I’d be in a leadership role. I think I’m more surprised how I’ve built a career in the moving industry after moving around to different types of jobs for so many years before getting started in moving 13 years ago. It’s been a pleasant surprise!

How have you built confidence and/or resiliency over the course of your career?

Honestly, I’ve drawn my confidence/resiliency from others around me, both women and men. I’ve taken the experiences I’ve had in other industries as well as moving and have taken the positives and negatives and built my management style on those.

Melissa Mercado, VP Marketing

What advice would you give to other women who aspire to be leaders in their field?

Ignore the noise and politics, and work to deliver the best results for every project you touch. Exceed expectations whenever you can. Motivation and enthusiasm go a long way and that’s a skill that can’t be taught.

What is one of the most important lessons you’ve learned as a leader, and how have these lessons impacted your approach to leadership?

Everyone comes from different backgrounds and will react differently to you based on their experiences, so learn to adapt and don’t take anything personal. Be respectful of people’s past and learn to be collaborative in spite of any differences.

Who inspires you?

Anyone who has worked hard to build their life that is fulfilling to them. Someone who started with nothing but found a way to gather the tools and resources to bring joy to their life. My parents gave their all in deciding to move to this country, and sacrificing so much for my siblings and I to have a better future.

Roberta Musso, Digital Marketing Manager

What advice would you give to other women who aspire to be leaders in their field?

My advice is never give up. There will be a lot of people who will encounter in your path who will try to make you believe that you are not enough, that what you say and your ideas are not good enough, who will try to switch off your inner light. Don’t allow it. Be brave, dream, dream bigger everyday, fall, cry but work hard, even harder and be conscious of your value: if you are not believing in yourself, no one else will do it. You gotta be the first. You gotta fight for you.

What is one of the most important lessons you’ve learned as a leader, and how have these lessons impacted your approach to leadership?

The biggest lesson that I’ve ever learned is that you need to be strong and persist no matter what. Being a leader means to guide people toward something that doesn’t exist yet, that only you can foresee. Through empowerment, involvement and support you will gain their trust and willingness to follow you and your vision, but there will be moments of doubts and difficulties, and in those moments you need to be stronger than ever, more supportive than ever, more inspirational than ever, leading more than ever. Walking through the dark waters of uncertainty it’s scary, but always remember that you know the route to that light that others don’t see, so remember and guide them and be patient, even if you will experience loneliness.

Who inspires you?

My father. My father is my hero. He built his own career in a land where meritocracy doesn’t exist and through his deep knowledge, passion and resilience, he made it. He contributed to create a new hospital that today is one of the best in Italy, with new procedures, new departments, and implemented a new approach to treat patients and illnesses. He gained the respect of everybody and he is the best professional and person that I’ve ever known. He is an inspiration for me and I hope one day to be like him.

How have you built confidence and/or resiliency over the course of your career?

I haven’t built it yet, not 100%, because the truth is that you never stop learning and being the person you want to be it’s an ongoing process.I had the chance to work with great leaders who formed me and gave me the tools to understand my power, but I did the hard job by myself. And I am still doing it. Building your confidence and resilience it’s a roller coaster: one day you have the strength to stand up and fight , the other day you will think “I can’t do it”. It’s normal, and there is nothing to be ashamed of. On the contrary, it’s important because you can question yourself, look into yourself and analyze the context, the situation, your behavior, what you can do to improve and don’t do it again. You build your resilience by trying: you will win and you will lose, and accept that it’s not like climbing a mountain, when you reach the peak and you’ve done it. If you don’t try, you won’t learn, and you won’t be resistant enough to face the obstacles. I always think that if you try you will have more probabilities of success than you could have if you don’t: 1 is better than zero. So try.

Valerie Fiordaliso, Marketing Director

What advice would you give to other women who aspire to be leaders in their field?

Play to your strengths. Engage others. Never become complacent.

What is one of the most important lessons you’ve learned as a leader, and how have these lessons impacted your approach to leadership?

Be a source of inspiration to your team, listen to them, encourage growth and take care of you.

Who inspires you?

My father inspires me.

How have you built confidence and/or resiliency over the course of your career?

Learn to understand what you can and cannot control. Give yourself grace when something doesn’t go as planned and learn from it. Also, never take anything too personal, know your worth, be confident and the noise in the background will not matter.

On this International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, we celebrate the incredible achievements of women and recommit ourselves to creating a more equitable and inclusive world. We choose to challenge gender bias and inequality and work towards a brighter future for all.

We hope you found our contribution helpful and empowering. And if you like what you see, we invite you to join our team: here’s the page you need to check next.