🎙️ Episode 34 — Load Shift: When the Dream Finally Moves Forward

This one’s personal, y’all. After months of detours, delays, curveballs, and straight-up plot twists, I’m finally stepping back to the mic — not with perfection, but with purpose.

In this episode, I’m unpacking the real story behind the silence:
 ✨ grief that hit harder than expected
 ✨ a surgery that forced me to slow down
 ✨ school, work, and life all colliding at once
 ✨ job interviews that didn’t pan out
 ✨ a CEO resignation that shook the whole building
 ✨ and the unexpected reroute that led me to a new university, new clarity, and a new pace

This isn’t just a catch-up. It’s a reminder that delays aren’t denials — in logistics or in life. Sometimes the channel isn’t clear, the berth isn’t ready, and forcing the docking does more harm than good. So you hold position. You breathe. You wait for the right tide.

I talk about resilience, timing, rerouting, and what it means to rebuild your own momentum when everything around you feels unstable. And if you’ve been starting-stopping-starting again this year? This episode is for you. You’re not behind — you’re just loading differently.

🎶 Intro Music: “Serene”
🎶 Outro Music: “nwhere”

Key Themes:

• The season of loss, learning, and unexpected growth
• Life curveballs — and the four that hit back-to-back
• When job opportunities don’t land (and why that can be a blessing)
• Leadership shifts and the quiet chaos they create
• Rerouting from CSU to the College of Charleston
• The logistics of timing, resilience, and protecting your peace
• What it means to move forward with intention, not urgency

If you’re navigating your own crossroads — professionally, personally, emotionally — pull up a chair. We’re figuring this out together.

Follow the journey:
Blog • Podcast • LinkedIn
(logisticsatacrossroads.buzzsprout.com)

Transcript

🎙️ Episode 34 — “Load Shift: When the Dream Finally Moves Forward”

Gia (confident, warm tone):

“Welcome to Logistics at a Crossroads.
It’s your girl Gia — and yep, I’m coming back, stronger. You know, new podcasts always sound exciting at first. But then the hiccups hit. The setbacks roll in.
And you realize… this isn’t easy.  It takes time — real time.
And when life has other plans, sometimes that new shiny passion gets sidelined for a while.”

“But I’m still here — planner, logistics veteran, and your host for honest conversations from the frontlines of supply chains… and life.”

🎶 Music fades out slowly

— Segment 1: The Season of Loss and Learning

Gia (steady, reflective):

“This year’s been a season of both loss and learning. Two friends passed within months.
 A surgery that knocked me down for a bit. Anniversaries that hit harder than expected.
 And school — Lord, school has been both my anchor and my weight.”

“It’s been a while. Last recording was in July.. I know but when I look back over everything since February, I’ve been living inside the kind of months that feel like years. Grief, surgery, school — and somewhere in between, life happened. Again.”

Pause for breath.

“I graduated high school in ’94, and I always said I’d go back.
 But every time I tried, life had other plans.

2012 — I started at Florida State College in Jacksonville.
 September of that year — I moved to South Carolina.
 2013 — the Port called, and I answered.
 2020 — I tried again, Pandemic era and when you’re working 85 to 110 hours a week, school doesn’t fit between shifts.
 2022 — I said, ‘That’s it. This time, I’m finishing what I started.’

Two classes every 7.5 weeks. Every paper, every quiz, every discussion — done at night, between shifts, between tears (oh THERE were tears), between everything else.
 And in August 2024, I walked away with my AAS in Logistics & Supply Chain Management.”

“I thought I was done. I really did.  But apparently, God and life weren’t finished shaping me yet.”  Because well life- be happening.

04:45 — Segment 2: The Curveballs

Gia (conversational):

“Then came the curveballs I didn’t see coming — A CEO resigns, , two interviews and a school change.
 Yep… four curveballs that rocked me, and honestly, it’s a good thing.

The first two were job opportunities.
 Two chances where I thought, ‘Okay, maybe this is it — the breakthrough.’”

The 3rd- The bosses.. bosses… boss- resigned, and everyone was left speechless. The kind where so many fires and projects were going on that everyone had to stop and reevaluate. The search for a new boss, while the interim boss kept the chaos in check. 

The 4th- a school change. Yeah, not even 3 months in, a class withdrawn from, and when the fall semester ends changes. Or as my favorite show always says, “Spoilers darling, spoiler’s” (love that River from Dr. Who) I felt all the this because honestly, I saw none of it. 

Pause — small chuckle or sigh.

“And when I didn’t get either of the job opportunities -people said, ‘Wow, that must sting.’ I was like why? My job is still here, I am still doing the same, I am just not getting these two.  But it didn’t. Not this time. Because I’ve learned something through every storm I’ve weathered —
 if it doesn’t happen, it’s because it’s not supposed to. Not yet.” “Rejection doesn’t always mean failure. Sometimes it’s protection.
 Sometimes it’s God whispering, ‘Wait. You’ve still got something else to sort out first.’”

Segment 3: The Blessing in Disguise

Gia (steady, reflective):

When the CEO resigned- the whispers, the rumors and the fear started running rampant. BUT there was grace and calm- from our Interim CEO, and a few short weeks later - an old friend, was brought home and back into the fold... There was energy in the air, the one you know and recognize as a little bit of homecoming. Like I remember this feeling. The fires from an exit were douses, redirections, and the chaos calmed down. Like a balm over everything.  Resilience happened in the craziest 3rd quarter I’ve ever been a part of thus far in 30 years.

School drama and new passions-I didn’t even know I was going to change schools until after those interviews.  That’s how I know the timing wasn’t random — it was strategic.
 Imagine me trying to take on a new job, switch universities, and recover from everything else this year.  That would’ve been chaos in a high-vis vest.” “But because I didn’t get those jobs, I had the space to see the bigger picture. Now I can transition from Charleston Southern University to the College of Charleston with clarity, not crisis.
The classes fit my schedule.
The rhythm fits my life.
I’m not rushing through anymore — I’m walking with intention.”

“That’s the thing about obstacles — they’re not roadblocks.
 They’re checkpoints.
 They ask, ‘Are you ready?’
 And sometimes, the honest answer is, ‘Not yet. But I will be.’”

“The decision to change schools, just as I’m beginning again, wasn’t easy.
 I wrestled with fear — the kind that whispers, ‘You’re too old for this,’ or, ‘You’ve already done enough.’
 But my schedule matters. My peace matters.
 And I realized: it’s not quitting. It’s rerouting.”

“A good planner knows — sometimes you don’t abandon the route.
 You just take a different lane to get there.
 That’s all I’m doing — realigning, rebalancing, choosing flow over friction.”

“Those interviews weren’t losses.
 They were holds — reminders that sometimes waiting doesn’t mean you’re standing still.
 It means you’re aligning.”

Segment 4: The Logistics of Timing

Gia (thoughtful, calm):

“In logistics, timing is everything.
 Ships leave port on schedule, but if the channel’s not clear or the berth isn’t ready,
 it’s safer to hold position than to force a docking.
 Life works the same way.”

Segment 5: The Human Logistics of Resilience

Gia (inspired):

“logistics isn’t just about moving freight. It’s about moving forward.

Every setback has been a delay, not a denial.
 Every loss, a reroute.
 Every semester, a recalibration.”

“And that’s where I am right now — in the shift.
 Between what I planned and what’s being planned for me.
 I’ve learned that resilience isn’t about pushing harder —
 it’s about knowing when to pause, when to pivot, and when to protect your peace.”

“So, as I prepare to change schools, I’m not chasing the timeline anymore.
 I’m following the flow. Because maybe, just maybe, this delay was my on-time departure all along.”

Gia (gentle close):

“If you’ve been trying to start, stop, and start again — this one’s for you.
 You’re not behind. You’re not late.
 You’re just loading differently.”

“If you’ve ever been passed over, turned down, or told to wait — don’t let it break you.
 Let it build your clarity.  Every delay has direction hidden inside it.”

“And as I prepare to make this next move, I’m reminding myself — I’m not starting over.
 I’m continuing.  The planner is just… planning her own path this time.”

“Until next time, I’m Gia — and I’ll be right here, navigating the crossroads right along with you.”