Palmer Blog
September 26, 2011
Things have been crazy here the last couple of months. I find as you ramp up to handle increased activity, you become more efficient and make quicker and mostly better decisions. We fell a bit behind, so we hired additional staff and worked longer hours to get caught up. When you’re geared up to produce, meet deadline after deadline and you run into suppliers that barricade that journey, it can be very frustrating. I’ve written before […]
August 24, 2011
I’ve heard the odd person allude to a possible double dip in the economy but for the most part (as mentioned before) it looks like the worst is behind us. In discussions with our carrier customers, most have followed a cost cutting protocol, regardless of the size, scope and nature of their business. Still, if we look at Ontario vs. Western Canada, it appears carriers can raise rates in the west, while the shippers still carry […]
July 19, 2011
Well, I for one thought I had heard it all. From “dolly converters” to “body jobs”, where we specialize in the industry, we have a pretty good vocabulary as it relates to the world of trucking. I came across a new one the other day though, “Non-asset freight pimp”. Let’s face it; freight brokers still have a bad rap. Maybe it’s jealousy because the broker doesn’t have to make the heavy investment into their business that carriers do. […]
June 22, 2011
As I went through the busy drive-through at Sherway Gardens this morning, I marvelled at what a success this franchise based business has become. I tried to remember the first time I went to Tim Horton’s and couldn’t. Can you? I did some quick research and discovered the chain has been around since 1964. The first franchise opened in Hamilton, Ontario. Along with their brand of coffee, their unique offering was the apple fritter and dutchie. They […]
June 16, 2011
I had a client meeting that took the whole morning and I stopped off at a local fish and chip place for lunch. It was a small spot and a pretty casual atmosphere. A well dressed chap, in his mid-forties, came in and I noticed he was wearing a tie clip. I can’t remember the last time I wore one or even saw somebody with one on. I passed that comment on to him and […]
June 7, 2011
I have mentioned in previous blogs, that I was a full time musician in my twenties and after a long time away, got back into it about a year ago. I have a house gig at Nattie’s in Port Credit every Saturday from 2- 6 PM with my band www.treeoh.com. Sorry, couldn’t help but put in a little plug. The reason I’m referencing this, is I had a little reboot on what’s really important to […]
June 1, 2011
At the recent Transportation Workshop (Hosted by Dan Goodwill & Associates and Motortruck Fleet Executive) we, along with the other participants couldn’t get enough from the two shipper panels featured there. When it came to the topic of rate increases, the shippers were all singing the same tune. Somewhat paraphrased the comments were, “Don’t come to me with a rate increase. Come to me as a partner, who can work with me to cut my […]
May 25, 2011
Excellence is about the details, regardless of the business you’re in. I mentioned in a previous blog post about the introduction of Tim Horton’s “hello my name is… campaign”. When I was in the U.S. last month, I went to a Target store and they had a help button in the bicycle department that had a message something like “if you need assistance press this button and a representative will be here in 30 seconds to […]
I love my work like I love summer. Why not? Summer is when I get to play my favorite sport—golf! Playing artist is a lot like playing golf. You need to be calm and cool under pressure if you ever hope to keep the ball in play; that’s rare for an artist. My best shots happen when I talk less and concentrate more; that’s not so rare for an artist.
I’m definitely a country girl. I didn’t grow up in an actual town, village or hamlet. It was more like the middle of somewhere along Highway 28, surrounded by trees. Many thanks goes to my high school art teacher, Mr. Edwards, for inspiring me to choose this career path. With the realization that I actually could create art for a living, college lured me away from country life to the big city. Kitchener, to be exact, to study Graphic Design & Advertising at Conestoga College. Talk about beginning an adventure and a culture shock! Not staring at people with purple, green or some other wildly coloured hair was a bit of a challenge. City buses (lol thinking back), who knew they only stopped on the same side of the street as the bus stop sign!? Lesson learnt.
To say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree would be an understatement in my family; at least when it comes to picking a career path. There isn’t a person in my immediate family that hasn’t at some point or another worked in the IT field. I guess there’s something in our DNA that pulls us towards computers.
I am the 8th of 9 children raised in Essex County outside of Windsor, Ontario. We lived on a gravel road, no sidewalks and our greatest adventures were in our own backyard. I still have friends I made in grade 1 and continue to stay in touch today. After graduating from the University of Windsor with a Bachelor of Commerce degree, I moved to the big city of Toronto and have worked most of my career in the printing industry. I got to know the folks at Palmer Marketing as a key supplier to them for over a decade.
I started Palmer Marketing at age 34 in January of 1988. I had 2 kids in diapers and a crazy idea about running my own company. I came from an entrepreneurial family and had no good reason to believe it wasn’t possible and as it happens, it was.