How to Tell Supply Chain Stories That Actually Land with Sofia Rivas Herrera

Supply chain storytelling isn't a nice-to-have skill. It's the reason deals fall apart before the demo starts.

Sofia Rivas Herrera has spent years building one of the most recognizable personal brands in freight, from a full-time role in supply chain at HP, with her sister running the creative side. We recorded this conversation live at Manifest 2026.

In this episode:

▪ Why your freight tech pitch fails before it even starts (your sales team probably can't explain your own product)

▪ The avocado supply chain from Mexico: why it's called "the green gold," how organized crime is embedded in it, and why Super Bowl season triggers a demand spike in December and January

▪ Career minimalism: the Gen Z trend quietly reshaping who stays in logistics and who walks out

▪ How to pass the "gardening neighbor test" for any supply chain message

▪ Why blue is the most overused color in logistics branding, and what that means for companies willing to try something different

▪ How Sofia and her sister built a brand from scratch after her sister told her "your branding sucks"

Links & resources:

• Follow Sofia Rivas Herrera: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sofia-rivas-herrera/
• Watch this episode on YouTube

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Transcript

Blythe Brumleve Milligan: 0:37

Blythe, welcome into another episode of everything. Is logistics, a podcast for the thinkers in afraid. I'm your host, Blythe Milligan, and we are proudly presented by SPI logistics, and we've got another fantastic interview for y'all today. And this is an episode that a lot of people are looking forward to, because it's a different kind of take on, you know, typically we do supply chain technology, logistics technology, freight tech, that space, but we want to do a storytelling angle, and we have the perfect person for that, and that is Sophia Rivas, and she is a supply chain ambassador, and she is here to tell us all her storytelling secrets and how she's built up an incredible brand in just the last few years.

Sofia Rivas Herrera: 1:21

Yeah, thank you for having me. So I've been following Blythe for quite some time, and I'm always like, my favorite series will always be the NASA ones, because that for me was like, Finally, someone's talking about logistics in space and so on. But yeah, always very happy of everything that you do, all the different projects now that now you have, like, cargo Rex and but yeah, very proud of you. And also, I feel like there's very few women doing this, and it's like, yeah, we have another one. So we're always rooting for each other exactly.

Blythe Brumleve Milligan: 1:58

And I love your energy, and I love the way that you you approach all of your different content, because you come at it from a fun but educational standpoint. And that's exactly what I gravitate towards, is being able to listen to people who thoroughly enjoy the job that they're doing. And so for folks who may not know, what does sort of your day to day look like,

Unknown: 2:19

so my day to day, and maybe this, it's like we're demystifying Sophia a little bit. But I do still have a day job. That's how I call it. Don't tell my boss, but I work at HP, so I have, like, my mind always like splitting different little jobs, I would call it. But I think, like, I haven't made, like that jump to fully dedicate myself to my brand and maybe, like, creating a business out of it, because I'm like, maybe risk adverse when I wanted to land, like very safely, but it made me, I mean, this year, I'm working a lot on that, in trying to find ways in which I can actually live from that. So that's something I'm trying.

Blythe Brumleve Milligan: 3:11

So what do you do at HP? What working in supply chain with it?

Unknown: 3:14

Yeah, I work there in supply chain, and I've worked before in other companies like Mercado Libre, that's the Amazon for Latin America, and then other retailers in Mexico. But yeah, I mean, like, my, I've always chased like, this dream of, yeah, I want to become a chief supply chain officer. But then at some point in my in my life, I was like, at some point in my life, yesterday, no, but maybe I would say, like, last year, I was saying, like, do I really want that? Because I've, I've met so many chief supply chain officers. They've told me their journey, their story, all their sacrifices, and all the things that they want or or like or not. And I'm like, maybe that's something that I thought I wanted, but not anymore.

Blythe Brumleve Milligan: 4:05

And I think I was listening to your interview with Sherry Highness supply chain queen. I love her, and I've been a big fan of her for years. So when doing prep for this conversation, I'm so excited to see you two together, you know, talking through that, and

Unknown: 4:20

we did that like in 2020, that was so long, she

Blythe Brumleve Milligan: 4:24

just picked the podcast back up, so she started producing new episodes again. So it was really cool to see that growth in that journey. But I think you had made a really great point in that conversation where you said you wish that there were ways that you could kind of learn different paths of a supply chain career in order to figure out what you want. So have you kind of figured out like kind of what you want yet, or are you still kind of experimenting in different aspects of supply chain?

Unknown: 4:51

So I would say that now I'm experimenting in the entrepreneurship side of it. So how can I take everything that I've learned from like, both sides of the coin, like, in, you know, like being a practitioner and actually doing the job, either in corporate or either in operations and on the on the field, but also the other side of the coin, like, how are we communicating the right message to the right people, and more, maybe on the marketing side. So that's those are the things that I'm exploring right now.

Blythe Brumleve Milligan: 5:26

And I think consistency too, because you had also mentioned, and I noticed this in your your own personal branding, because you'll do newsletters, and, you know, recaps, and I love your. Your swag ratings that you give to different conferences and the boots and what they have, you know, swag wise, so you're very consistent, and it's bright and it's colorful, and it's something that is much needed in an industry that is kind of considered as boring. So did was that a conscious effort that you wanted to sort of brighten things up.

Unknown: 5:59

So I Well, first of all, I've always been like a very bright person in the sense of colors. And I'm not only calling myself intelligent, no, but like, I've always liked, like bright colors and and I've been very artistic in life. So I, before choosing supply chain, I was going to choose ballet. Oh, interesting. So I did, like, 20 years of ballet, and I wanted to become a ballerina, but then I was like, Okay, no, maybe I'll go for another, another thing that I know that can last longer than my knees, or, you know, my feet. So I think, yeah, it's part of me. It's something that I grew up with as well. Also, I think, like in Mexico, we also like very colorful things, and our culture is like that. Our food is like that. The way in which we talk is like that. So I think that I bring that with me, and the part of the branding in it happened one day when my sister was she was telling me, so Sophia, you're getting very big audience in on LinkedIn. You're being followed by, like, interesting people there, but your branding

Blythe Brumleve Milligan: 7:19

sucks. Leave it to a sister to

Unknown: 7:21

tell you straight, like, what's branding? Because I, of course, I didn't know, and she was all in the business of that and working that. And she she said, like, let me take care of it. I'll help you. And that's how like, I think we become like this. Some people call it the dynamic duo. So she makes it beautiful. She beautifies it. And I

Blythe Brumleve Milligan: 7:46

so you're the ops and she's the creative that's awesome, and so, so you have this really great way of getting your message out there. Yeah. How do you choose what to cover? And do you have any favorite stories of what you've covered in recent years.

Unknown: 8:00

So I think naturally, the thing that I love to cover is like, how can we see normal day to day life through a supply chain lens? So I always like and I'm like that, so if I walk down the street and I'll see I don't know, or an example I recently saw. So I was at the airport, and then they were loading strawberries, but no one was noticing. And I'm like, can anyone see like these? Like, wow. Like, what's happening here? So I'm always like that. I always take like, small moments, and I'm like, trying to discover, how does it make gets made, or how does it get distributed, or and so on. So it's like that kind of thing. I love covering those things. So I think the latest thing that I've shared is like the Super Bowl and the logistics behind it, and all the other supply chains that are intertwined, like I've always loved talking about the avocados supply chain from Mexico and how it raises supply. Well, demand.

Blythe Brumleve Milligan: 9:08

Oh, let's hear it. How does the avocado supply chain work? Because we were in a shortage, I think, of avocados,

Unknown: 9:14

for quite some time. So it's a very complex one, especially the one in Mexico, because it is so it has a lot of crime when and related to it, because it's, well, in Mexico, it's called the green gold. So everyone wants it. It's it's very profitable and

Blythe Brumleve Milligan: 9:35

hard to track, because once it's stolen, then it's consumed, and there's no product left.

Unknown: 9:41

And then the area where most of it grows, it's very dangerous right now, but well anyway, farmers and producers find a way to ship it to the US, because that's their biggest market. So like the best avocados, you get them here in Mexico, in Mexico actually not that much, because they send the best quality here, because their biggest consumer is the US. And every year, right, like in by the end of December, in January, this the demand spice up, and they feel like tons of avocado because of the super because of the summer.

Blythe Brumleve Milligan: 10:21

Oh, wow, that's super interesting.

Unknown: 10:23

So those kind of stories, those are the ones that I like, and then the others is, like, more on I always like to talk about talent, and how are we attracting the right people, and how do we keep them? BThe. Because we lose a lot of them and they're on the road. So like, why? What are we doing that make them go?

Blythe Brumleve Milligan: 10:46

What are some what are some interesting insights of employees staying versus leaving?

Unknown: 10:52

So I think especially Gen Z and younger generations, they're always looking for something more beyond, like knowing that their work,

Blythe Brumleve Milligan: 11:07

like fulfilling, yeah,

Unknown: 11:08

something more fulfilling. But also, like I was talking to the move for hunger, Christie Ryan and Taylor, they're saying, like, they look for companies to have programs or partnership, like, with social entrepreneurship like ours, so that it makes them like, okay, we're doing good beyond, I don't know, shaping containers from China, right? So that's something interesting. And then another thing is, I think even younger generations, they're very they want to see results fast, so they get bored very easily. So how can we, like, make them, make our their job more dynamic, and so that they don't lose interest because they lose it very,

Blythe Brumleve Milligan: 11:59

very quickly. And that's, I mean, there's so many dynamics happening with like Gen Z and then even Gen alpha that will be coming into the workforce, you know, sooner, I think within the next handful of years. But it's that is the big concern is that have we almost like a lost generation of workers because of, you know, covid or but, you know, because of all of these other, you know, situations and so actually,

Unknown: 12:23

like, there's these trends called Career minimalism, which is like, I don't want to be manager, never. I just want to keep being an employee. Yeah, because if I am tasked with more responsibility, then maybe I don't have time for, like, the things that fulfill me. So that's one thing that's interesting, and that's very interesting that they don't want to participate in, like, like, the corporate ladder is no longer attractive,

Blythe Brumleve Milligan: 12:51

interesting, and so I mean working at HP, I imagine that's something that they're trying to solve as well.

Unknown: 13:51

Everywhere, I think. And if people like, if you're listening to this and you're like, Oh, my God, it's happening in my company, I think it's something that you should expect that is happening, because that's like the general sense of what this generation is really

Blythe Brumleve Milligan: 14:12

so when you come to an event like this, what are you looking for in order to figure out what kind of stories to tell, you know, insights that you want to bring to your audience? How do you know or maybe, what does your audience care about that you also want to see here too.

Unknown: 14:28

So I think one of the so they're always trying. I think one big thing is like, how do I find the right tool for my problem? And in events like these, you have multiple, I would say, people exhibiting and showcasing their solution and so on. But I think like they miss a mark in the sense of, don't show me your solution, but maybe show me problems that are solved with your solution, because otherwise, I think like you lose time, like talking to people and then not connecting. Like, yeah, but what do we do? What do you do? Can you help me? Because I feel like that's very hard. So that's something that my audience always looks like, looks for. Like, okay, what's out there that helps? What's out there that doesn't help. Like, how can I find that? The other thing is like, well, try to to lighten things up a little bit in like the my non official contents of merch, but that's because I really love supply chain merch, and there are some very cool things out there. Okay, you

Blythe Brumleve Milligan: 15:42

got to give us some. What are your What are your favorite not maybe we haven't seen the expo floor at my house yet, but in the last year or so, you probably have enough pins. You probably have enough

Unknown: 15:54

one of the things that have blown my mind was a coloring book last year, and I was like, how I not think about it? Because you get to draw, like, color trucks and chips, and that's, that's so cool.

Blythe Brumleve Milligan: 16:14

So the coloring book was a big one. I did get a couple of those. That was, I think, green screens. Who just got acquired by Triumph. They just got acquired by them. So hopefully triumph will be doing the due diligence of bringing those coloring books back. What about we. Are you at with, like, the palette post its? I know I feel like we're palette

Unknown: 16:34

post its are always a must. Yes, palette coasters are a must. And I love trucks, like mini trucks. Yeah, please don't stop giving it. And then someone told me, like, it would be amazing if they gave like, scrunchies or like clips for your hair. Never think about the woman.

Blythe Brumleve Milligan: 16:59

Never, oh, there was one year that I came to manifest and they had inside of the women's bathrooms. They had little, like, recovery kids so later, like, like, kind of hangover recovery kits. So it wasn't like full feminine like toiletries, but it was like, you know, pain reliever and mints and things like that. And I thought that was smart. But to your point, I don't think that I've ever really gotten like, a female centric swag item at a logistics conference.

Unknown: 17:29

Think about it. I'm giving you free free ideas today.

Blythe Brumleve Milligan: 17:33

I think we need supply chain Ambassador scrunchies. We supply chain Ambassador scrunchies? Yeah, they could be pink exactly matching with the branding,

Unknown: 17:45

which the pink was completely accidental, like my cousin of mine edited my pictures, and he was like, What if we put the background pink? And I was like, no,

Blythe Brumleve Milligan: 17:56

but then it's it's bright, it's colorful. I cannot take it out. It fits your personality. And I think it stands out because I think I said this earlier, that supply chain and logistics are kind of thought of as, like boring industries, but pumping some, you know, color into it. I mean, we're at manifest. We're recording inside a bright blue booth, and the booth next to us, no shade to them. But they're recording in, like, all black. It was easy to pick this one because of the color.

Unknown: 18:24

And then again, blue is the most used color in, like, supply chain branding.

Blythe Brumleve Milligan: 18:31

Yeah, yeah. But I think to go back to your your storytelling angle for other other companies that may be interested in taking their storytelling up a notch, what advice would you give them, and maybe pink and, you know, bright blue are not part of their color scheme, but what advice would you give them to help tell their stories and find the stories internally that they could be telling.

Unknown: 18:54

Yeah, I mean, regard regardless of the colors of your brand, I think the main point is like, what? How are like? Check out. Why are you failing to connect with the clients that you're trying to get? And maybe the failure comes from you're not using the right words, the right structure, and you're not connecting at a human level. So I think that's something that I see a lot, that they forget, that we, both parts, are human, and if we take a step back and remember that and kind of, how can I connect with this person on that level, that's something, and the other is like, How can I take my message to a definition that is so simple, so easy to digest, that even your I don't Know, your neighbor that works in gardening understands like everyone has to understand what you're saying. So stop using all those acronyms, all those buzz words that you don't even understand because you're hiring sales people that are not necessarily in the industry and that understand the process. Because when you ask those sales people like, yeah, okay, well, but what does TPL stand for? They sometimes cannot answer or like, okay, API, but what do I do with that? How do I connect? How? Like, is it a plugin or not solution? And they're like, really, it's an API. And they keep saying the same, like, they keep defining those words with those same words, and it's wrong. So if you want to make better sales, better connections, you have to step up your game in the way you are sharing your message in your organization and outside your organization. So everyone there needs to understand what you do, yes, but on a very simple level. So that's something that frustrates me a lot. Well, it's

Blythe Brumleve Milligan: 21:01

very true, because we do have a tendency to use a lot of acronyms in order to tell our story, but most people have no idea what those acronyms mean.

Unknown: 21:09

Acronyms, like on the book means something, but outside, like in other companies, they mean completely different things. And I'm like, Why? Why did you take this acronym and change the meaning? It doesn't make sense. So I think it's easier. You'll see a difference if you do that.

Blythe Brumleve Milligan: 21:29

Okay, so what does. Is, what does the rest of 2026 look like for Sophia, what kind of tech Are you watching? Where are you? Where are your where your eyes kind of peeled to or towards when it comes to content and what you're going to be focused on?

Unknown: 21:45

So to content, I'm trying to build a funnel in which I guide my audience to something else that something else is still in the making and I'm still defining it. I'll be asking a lot of questions here and manifest around it. Maybe you'll get a hint of what I'm trying to do. But it's all it's content related, it's storytelling related in supply chain, like, how do we do it better? And that's something I'll be focusing on a lot. And the type of content is, like, okay, how can I Okay? I do like to tell stories about what I see, how I see things and and the problems that I see in the industry that we should tackle in some way. But additionally to that, it's like, okay, use it as part of the funnel for these other projects.

Blythe Brumleve Milligan: 22:40

No that. I think that makes a ton of sense. So don't be afraid to use be colorful. Don't be afraid to tell internal stories. You have to adjust your messaging per your talent within your your company, in order to help them get on a pathway to success. And then we're going to look out for you to figure as you're figuring out what your pathway to success is going to be, but we can still follow all of your content in the meantime to get maybe those little

Unknown: 23:06

hints for sure, please follow. Beyond following, please interact. I appreciate that more, and I always remember, like, the people that are constantly building up that conversation with me and with the community that I'm, that I have. It's that's even more valuable than just like, oh yeah, I like this post. Oh like, maybe read it, check it out and challenge me as well. So well, perfect.

Blythe Brumleve Milligan: 23:35

We will make sure to put all of the links to where you can follow Sophia in the show notes. But this is wonderful. Thank you so much. I'm so glad you get one. Thanks for tuning in to another episode of everything is logistics, where we talk all things supply chain. For the thinkers in freight, if you like this episode, there's plenty more where that came from. Be sure to follow or subscribe on your favorite podcast app so you never miss a conversation. The show is also available in video format over on YouTube, just by searching everything is logistics. And if you're working in freight logistics or supply chain marketing. Check out. My company, digital dispatch. We help you build smarter websites and marketing systems that actually drive results, not just vanity metrics. Additionally, if you're trying to find the right freight tech tools or partners without getting buried in buzzwords, head on over to cargorex.io where we're building the largest database of logistics services and solutions. All the links you need are in the show notes. I'll catch you in the next Episode, in go jags. You you you.