b'28American Journal ofTransportation ajot.comWayfairs Mento applies comic energy to leading e-commerce supply chainA former stand-up comedian withmakeourworldmorepeacefuland three decades of logistics experience,full of opportunity.PeteMentostandsoutasweirdlyI started my life as a deck officer unique among top global supply chainfor cargo ships and was God awful at executives. it. I went into comedy, and I was pretty Applyinghisdistinctively diverse expertise and a team-workmentality,MentoisINDUSTRY keepingthingsfunwhile advancingtailor-madefor-wardingsolutionsinhisPROFILElatest gigas head of pro-curementandcommercial excellencefortheinterna- By Paul Scott Abbott, AJOTtional supply chain of Bos-ton-based furniture and home goodsgood at thatbut hated the lifestyle. e-commerce leader Wayfair Inc. So, like a lot of people, I fell into a Mento,whojoinedWayfairlastworldofforwarding.Therearent Septemberwithextensivehands-onalotofformerlyseagoingcomedy knowledge in freight forwarding, cus- writer/Ivy-educated/economists-cus-toms and trade policy and, yes, stand- toms brokers running global logistics up comedy, shares thoughts with AJOTfor e-commerce companies. readers in an exclusive interview: I think Im weirdbut my thera-Applying his experience as a stand-up comic (left), Pete Mento keeps a smile on his face as he advances technology-enabled, process-driven logistics solutions in his work as head of procurement and commercial excellence for the international supply chain of Wayfair Inc.Youhavedescribedyourselfaspist tells me its healthier to think of the most unlikely trade nerd you willmyself as unique.ever meet. Why is this so? How are you applying your broad IliketothinkthatIveworkedbackgroundasacustomshousemotivated teams. Attending the mari- The most important thing it taught hard to create a reputation as a personbroker,tradeacademicandeventime academy remains the most impor- me,though,wasthatbeingagood who makes very difficult topics easystandup comedianand diverse educa- tant decision I ever made. It taught meleadercomesfromlisteningtothe tounderstandbyusingcomedyandtion (including a masters in governmenthowtoimprovisewhileworkinginpeople closest to the problem, trust-storytelling.TradeandlogisticscantradetheoryfromHarvardUniversitymulticultural environments.ing that they know the simplest solu-be painfully dry. It really doesnt haveand a bachelors in marine transporta- There was always something verytion and respecting them enough to let to be.tion management from Maine Maritimebrokenbut this was an opportunitythem try to fix it.Global trade is the engine of ourAcademy)toyoureffortstoenhanceto learn and collaborate. It taught meI came to Wayfair with nearly 30 modern civilization. When you beginWayfairs supply chain operation? that not everything was a crisis andyears of direct global logistics experi-tothinkofitinthoseterms,itcanMMA [Maine Maritime Academy]that people all really want to just haveence. Im sure people thought I was get exciting to explore how movingwas really an education on managinga chance to contribute to the solutiongoing to walk in here like some kind goodsacrossbordershashelpedtoprojects in difficult environments withif youll let them.of gorilla and just tell everyone what to do. The truth is this business is built onincrediblyinnovativesolutions manifestedbybrilliant,technically PHILADELPHIA, PAgifted people who saw smarter ways (856-423-0700) to do things than I ever would. They CHARLESTON, SC have taught me more than I could ever (843-790-7878) teach them. MIAMI, FLAs for Harvard, its really all mar-(305-493-3041) keting. That school was a great expe-NEW YORK / NEW JERSEY rience in that I had access to amazing (908-258-0690) professors.However,Icouldhave gotten the same education at Bunker NORFOLK, VA (757-673-8696) Hill Community College. DRAYAGE & TRUCKING SERVICES (706-333-8747) The greatest lessons I ever learned ATLANTA, GAabout trade were from failing at trying to do new things and then overcoming JACKSONVILLE, FL those failures with great teams at com- Local, Regional & Over the RoadHazardous Materials (904-475-2858) panies like Expeditors [as principal ofFull Containers Heavy Overweight Containers TAMPA, FL its Tradewin global trade complianceReefer ContainersTransload Services (813-241-0035) consultancy] and C.H. Robinson [asUnited States Customs andBorder Protection Bonded Carrier SAVANNAH, GA vice president of global customs and(470-259-0083) trade policy].Owned Fleet of 40 & 20 Chassis & Specialized Tri-Axels for Overweight Containers Thank God for failure. Now my team gets the benefit of all my experi-mentingwithnoneofthepainand humiliation of all my past mistakes. NORTHSTAR TRANSPORT SERVICESPretty cool tradeoff. AL IANNELLI | ext. 202 PHILADELPHIA, PA 19148 856-423-0700 JOE LOCASTRO | ext. 206 How has Wayfairs supply chain 856-423-0700 WWW.NSTRANSPORT.COM 856-423-0700 (PROFILEcontinued on page 29)'