He Bought a Bar, DJ'd 200 Weddings, and Became a Company President. Here's What He Learned.
How many logistics presidents do you know who are also DJs? Well, now you know at least one. Jake Battles started his career doing door-to-door sales before he could drive, talked his way into a DJ gig at a competitor's company, and spent over a decade playing everything from yacht parties in South Florida to a wedding where guests arrived by horse and buggy. He also bought into a bar that didn't work out, helped turn around a chain of struggling Subway franchises, and stumbled into logistics when he relocated to Chattanooga.
What followed was a decade of roles at Covenant Transport, a stint helping grow a Brickyard startup called REPOWR from five employees to thirty, and eventually landing at MaDex Associates, a capacity consulting company designed to help carriers and shippers unlock new opportunities for growth, where he now serves as President.
The throughline of it all? Relationships. On this week's Landed Not Handed, Jake talks about building a career for the long game, what hiring for culture actually looks like in practice, and why interpersonal communication is the skill he'd bet on above everything else.
Read the full article below.
What are some key takeaways from your career journey?
Relationships are give and take.
Fair does not mean equal.
You maintain relationships with people throughout your career, and end up making friends along the way.
In today's world, where everything is being marketed at your fingertips, and instant gratification is so easy to get, maintaining and building relationships can be challenging because it takes time. It can take years to build a good relationship and moments to destroy it.
When you're building in the trenches of those relationships, the person on the other end of the phone or that email may be going through something. They may be giving you an answer you don't love. You have to remind yourself you don't know what's going on in that other person's life.
Maintaining a level head, being respectful, and really valuing the relationships you build with people will follow you a lot longer than you think.
Now that you're in a leadership role, how would you describe your ideal team player?
My ideal team player is obsessed with solving problems and has high integrity - you do what you say you’re going to do. People who are successful in logistics become obsessed with executing at a high level.
When I interview people or start going through my internal Rolodex, I always gravitate toward people who have either helped me solve a problem or who I've watched process high levels of information and use that to execute in creative ways.
What are the common mistakes you see that damage team culture?
When I was hired at REPOWR, I had very niche experience with what we were trying to do and a lot of industry experience. I thought that just because I had that experience, my team members and stakeholders would listen. I learned a valuable lesson over those three years. Just because you may be older or have more experience does not mean people are going to listen to you. You have to understand each person's point of view and be able to articulate your position in a way that meets them where they are.
The mistake I kept making was that I knew my answer was correct and couldn't understand why other people didn't see it. I would really dig my heels in. As I've gotten older, I've started to ask: Why am I getting pushback here? What am I not seeing?
For individuals trying to level up in their career, the first place to look is in the mirror. If you feel like you've hit a ceiling or you're not getting the traction you want, look inward first. There may be something there worth examining before you look anywhere else.
Is there someone who has made a transformative impact on a team you've been part of? What set them apart?
Working in Brickyard was a really impactful experience. I had the opportunity to work alongside founders who had an idea and wanted to put it into action across a lot of different verticals and industries.
Spending time around Ted Alling was fascinating. He has a very infectious attitude and positivity to every situation, which was invaluable during my time at Repower. Matt Patterson and Cam Doody are just open to hearing any and all problems, throwing darts at the wall, and trying to figure out how to crack an opportunity. The phrase I despise most in business is "this is the way we've always done it." These leaders never used that phrase. Surround yourself with people who are creative about solving problems.
And then my current CEO, Devin Dean. What's really interesting about him is that when he acquires businesses, he really looks for the people. Once he finds the right leaders, he trusts them and lets it go. He's excelled at recruiting business unit leaders he believes in and then getting out of the way. In today's environment, that's not something you find in every organization.
What have you learned from the hiring process, both what's worked and what hasn't?
Culture is a driving factor. I have looked at candidates, seen their resumes, and thought this could be a good fit. And then I've met them and just thought, “I don't think that would be good for the culture.” So I've considered how these individuals would integrate with the existing team, and also what the organization's growth goals are and where we're trying to get the business to be.
At Madex, we have motivated, experienced leaders who come from very diverse backgrounds. But the one thing we're always focused on is how to move forward. How can we take these opportunities? How can we look at these failures and really learn from everything we're doing together? The culture here is modeled a lot after startup culture, being flexible, wearing different hats, but being passionate about serving with integrity and doing what you say you're going to do.
The other thing I've learned: if you have an inkling that something might be outside a candidate's comfort zone, tackle it during the interview process. Don't assume they'll figure it out. Be very open and upfront on the front end about what roles and responsibilities may look like. Transparency on the front end saves everyone.
What's been the hardest part of leading a team?
The hardest thing to quantify is the gap between expectations and results. My priorities and prerogatives that I internalize are not automatically known by my team members. I have to be very intentional about explaining where my focus is and where I need their focus to be.
That is a challenge because I can assume that everyone knows that we want to grow revenue, but I still have to communicate what that growth looks like, how we’re measuring it, and what our touch points are. I have to take a step back and bridge the gap between those expectations and results.
When you take a family-run business that's operated a certain way for 20 years and fold it into a larger organization with new expectations, that gap can be significant. It's been very methodical to work through. But it hasn't been easy.
If someone only takes one thing away from this conversation, what do you want it to be?
Help enough people get what they want, and they will make sure that you get what you want. That's a Zig Ziglar quote my dad introduced me to years ago, and it's been the throughline of everything.
Take the opportunities when they come, even when they scare you. If someone in your organization asks if you'd be interested in a task force or something in a new division, take it. There is very little that formal education can do to compare with on-the-job experience. The number of opportunities that I’ve had come after taking those risks is astonishing.
Your network is your net worth. The more people you can connect with and bring value to, the more it's going to help you as you navigate career opportunities. Take those risks. Make those contacts. Value those relationships. And just watch what happens. You will be amazed to see, as you step out of your comfort zone, what type of opportunities come to you.
Looking ahead, what skill or trait do you think will be essential for success in the future of work?
Interpersonal communication skills. I studied interpersonal communication and rhetoric in college because even then, with the digitization that was happening, I believed that the ability to communicate effectively with other people was going to be the key to success. I believe that is more true today than it was then.
Even with the digitization of today's market, the AI tools and software, all of it, people still buy from people. People still want to work with people. Humans are communal beings. The one thing that will set you apart is your ability to communicate effectively at an interpersonal level. No matter what career field you're in, it will do no harm to your path to learn and practice how to communicate with your coworkers and clients more effectively and efficiently.
Thank you so much for sharing, Jake.
If you'd like to connect with Jake or learn more about his work, find him on LinkedIn here.