This lady is proud that the world understands logistics and her trade extra.
Tomeka Watson Bryant, a standout softball participant at Elon College, made historical past in Might after being appointed the primary Black lady to move a short-line railroad in the USA.
In line with Elon College, Watson Bryant is the final supervisor of the New Orleans Public Belt (NOPB), overseeing the day by day process of making certain the short-line railroad helps its purchasers hold their merchandise and supplies transferring.
Bryant adopted in her father’s profession footsteps, who labored within the railroad trade for CSX for 41 years. Watson Bryant spent the previous 5 years overseeing enterprise improvement and customer support because the gross sales and advertising and marketing supervisor earlier than she was appointed to her new function.
Her new function on the NOPB requires her to supervise and supply day by day steerage for 18 managers and 174 staff.
“We get up day by day realizing the work we do is necessary,” Watson Bryant mentioned. “However my primary precedence is ensuring all of the men and women on our entrance traces are making it house safely.”
The NOPB offers haulage companies to and from the port of New Orleans and different native industries. Beginning as a prepare grasp, Watson Bryant labored her approach as much as her new management function, the place her day by day duties embrace conferences, decision-making, forecasting, and training different managers.
“Our workforce feels snug with me as a result of I’ve been right here. They’ve seen my progress and all of the ups and downs all through my profession, they usually’ve supported me by way of it. I’m blessed and recognize that,” she mentioned.
In line with Bryant, being a high student-athlete at Elon, the place she was the primary All-American participant in this system’s historical past and the primary Elon student-athlete to obtain All-American laurels because the college moved to Division I, ready her for the obligations with NOPB.
Final 12 months, she was inducted into the Elon Corridor of Fame.
“The work ethic it takes to be a pupil at Elon has positively helped me in changing into a basic supervisor,” Bryant mentioned. “From an instructional standpoint and an athletic standpoint, I used to be pushed and challenged. In my day-to-day job now, I get pushed and challenged, so I positively assume my expertise at Elon had a extremely massive influence on my profession and success.”
