As VP of marketing and communications for Trailer Bridge, Whitney Ennis leads the company's marketing, communications, brand, and public relations strategy. She is responsible for developing and executing integrated marketing initiatives that support the organization's overall business objectives, strengthen customer relationships, enhance brand visibility, and contribute to revenue growth across Trailer Bridge's portfolio of transportation and logistics services.
On a day-to-day basis, she oversees a multifaceted marketing and communications strategy and serves as a brand ambassador for the organization, managing public relations efforts, media engagement, thought leadership initiatives, and corporate communications.
Ennis also leads the company's content strategy, guiding the development of marketing campaigns, digital content, executive communications, customer-facing materials, and thought leadership programs that educate, inform, and engage key stakeholders.
She also plays a key role in fostering employee engagement and organizational culture, champions internal communications, training, and development initiatives and serves as a strategic advisor on brand positioning, corporate messaging, organizational communications, and business growth opportunities.
Throughout her career, Ennis has held leadership roles in both the public and private sectors, gaining experience in marketing, communications, public relations, stakeholder engagement, business development, and strategic planning.
Ennis also exhibits crisis leadership, which was on display during the Brooklyn Bridge barge incident in the Bahamas, where she quickly assembled a team of internal and external partners, including a trusted crisis communications firm, to help guide the company's response.
Throughout the incident, Ennis was responsible for developing and overseeing all communication efforts, including executive messaging, customer communications, employee updates, media relations, and stakeholder engagement.
In addition to her crisis leadership, she serves as president of the Propeller Club of the United States, Port of Jacksonville, where she's worked alongside maritime, logistics, transportation, and trade leaders throughout Northeast Florida to help champion Northeast Florida's transportation and maritime community; and serves on the Education Committee of the Transportation Marketing & Sales Association (TMSA), where she helps develop educational programming, shares industry best practices, and supports professional development opportunities for transportation marketers and business leaders.
Ennis was named a winner of this year’s Women in Supply Chain Forum™ award, presented by Food Logistics and Supply & Demand Chain Executive, in the Trailblazers category.
Marina Mayer, editor-in-chief of Food Logistics and Supply & Demand Chain Executive and co-founder of the Women in Supply Chain Forum™, sat down with Ennis to discuss leadership, company culture and the importance attracting top talent, no matter the gender.
CLICK HERE to learn more about the winners from this year's Women in Supply Chain Forum™ Award.
CLICK HERE to register, sponsor and/or learn more about this year’s Women in Supply Chain Forum™, Nov. 17-19 in Charleston, S.C.
Food Logistics and Supply & Demand Chain Executive: Women in Supply Chain Forum™ Award
Whitney Ennis, VP, Marketing and Communications, Trailer Bridge, Inc.
Category: Trailblazers
Food Logistics and Supply & Demand Chain Executive: Hello, my name is Marina Mayer, Editor-in-Chief of Food Logistics and Supply and Demand Chain Executive, and I am here with Whitney Ennis, President of Ocean for Trailer Bridge. Whitney is a recipient of this year's Women in Supply Chain Forum Award in the Trailblazers category. Whitney, so great to see you again and catch up. Thank you for joining me today.
When you won the award, you were Vice President of Marketing and Communications, where you oversaw a multifaceted marketing and communications strategy, and served as a brand ambassador for the organization. What are some key strategies to success when it comes to marketing and messaging in today's ever evolving supply chain world?
Whitney Ennis: I think that's a loaded question, but a good one, so thank you for asking. And today, I still oversee marketing for Trailer Bridge, and so it's still part of the role, just looks a little bit different, but in our industry, we tend to see a lot of people who embrace the planes, train, truck marketing, so I like to always say to think differently. You want to attract customers who are willing to kind of look from a different perspective on things. That's what we try to do here at Trailer Bridge. You want to remember that it's not about you, it's about the customer you're trying to attract, and so making sure that your language is reflective of that, and it's not always me, me, me. It's what can I do for you, and how can I solve your problem? But the most important thing is you want to stand out, and you want to be eye-catching, so it can be a little challenging at times, but it's also fun.
Food Logistics and Supply & Demand Chain Executive: Part of your role is also to exhibit crisis leadership, which was on display during the Brooklyn Bridge barge incident in the Bahamas. And, you know, thinking back to that day. What did you do? How did you manage the communications efforts in a crisis situation like that?
Ennis: That was certainly a situation that I had not accounted for on my bingo card for 2025, but I think it was an example of the importance of relationships. So, at a night's notice, I was able to pull together some partners of mine and ask some questions, because I needed help, and I needed some expertise when it came to crisis communication and leveraging media and stakeholders to help us get what was done.
I think the most important thing is to lead with honesty. And in a crisis situation, you kind of tend to say, oh, I'm going to protect my company. And you may think, let me withhold some of that information. Unfortunately, that doesn't work. You have to be transparent, because when you have gaps in information, it creates uncertainty, and just naturally, people are going to fill in those gaps for you, but usually not with the correct information. So, it was about leveraging the relationships that had the expertise I needed at the time, leading with honesty, and being completely transparent with our customers throughout that process, even when it was really tough and really hard.
Food Logistics and Supply & Demand Chain Executive: You also serve as president of the Propeller Club of the United States, Port of Jacksonville, where, with maritime logistics, transportation, and trade leaders throughout Northeast Florida, you help champion Northeast Florida's transportation and maritime community. Why is this so important, and what are some of the things that you can share with our audience about Northeast Florida's transportation and maritime community?
Ennis: These are probably two of my favorite things to talk about. I served as president in 2021 and 2022, and currently sit on the board leading the Propeller Club in Jacksonville.
I just really believe that industry groups like the Propeller Club or others really allow you to foster connection. And connections and relationships are so important in our industry, and if I look back in my career journey, I can pinpoint the relationships that have been built through my volunteer service in the club, and just through networking through the club. So it's important for people to kind of get plugged in. I think we've had a season during COVID where everything was kind of everyone's, like, staying away. That's over, and so I encourage people to get plugged back in. Northeast Florida is a thriving transportation and logistics community. We are lucky to have a handful of industry groups like this.
But it's fun to see, while we're all competitors in a lot of different ways, we still come together, and there's a lot of energy and synergies around supporting the industry, not only for today, but for tomorrow. That looks like investment in making sure that our high school and middle school students know about the industry, and that they are thinking about it when they start looking at career and job opportunities.
Food Logistics and Supply & Demand Chain Executive: Share a difficult supply chain disruption you managed, and how you turned that challenge into an opportunity.
Ennis: This is a tough question, and I thought about it, and I was like, you know, COVID was tough, the Brooklyn Bridge incident was certainly a tough situation, but I also think we're living through a tough one right now. The market is interesting, it's a challenging market, especially if we look at our Puerto Rico trade. And just the economy overall, and people, consumers buying patterns. It changes… suppliers, it changes supply chain.
But I think that the important thing, and what we're trying to do right now, is to really lean in to our customers and making sure that we're still asking the questions, we're still having dialogue and talking about how we can better serve them and getting really close to them, even in a season where technology is at the forefront of a lot of conversations, we still believe that that human connection is really important. And just trying to clean up processes and make sure that we are best serving our customers for today as well as for when the market shifts and turns. So that would be my answer for today. It might be different tomorrow.
Food Logistics and Supply & Demand Chain Executive: It could be very different tomorrow, actually, which is the nature of supply chain. So, speaking of those differences, what supply chain trend do you think will have the biggest impact over the next 5 years?
Ennis: I certainly think technology's going to play a big factor. We at Trailer Bridge have just recently announced an agreement with Ports of America to include a big technology element. And while technology's important when we look at efficiencies and data and understanding how things work.
I'll be curious to see the pendulum swing. I think even from a marketing and communications perspective, it's kind of like when we transitioned from snail mail to email, and it was like, if you could email somebody, you stood out. Well, now, if you email somebody, you just get lost in a bunch of AI-written basic stuff. So we've kind of had to go backwards. I'm curious to see how the adoption of new technology impacts human relationships over time, how people respond to that, and what changes stick.
Food Logistics and Supply & Demand Chain Executive: What can organizations do to attract, retain, and develop women in supply chain roles?
Ennis: This is something that we've obviously discussed many times at the Women in Supply Chain Forum, which I'm looking forward to this fall. It's one of my favorite events of the year.
For me, I'm not sure that I want to be treated differently because I'm a woman. I want to be seen and valued for the skills that I bring to the table, and I want the same expectations set for me as for my male colleagues, and I think for organizations, it's just about building systems and building cultures that support top talent and support the needs of today's employee, right? A lot of things are changing, and parenting looks different in today's world than it did a long time ago. Responsibilities are split amongst the wife and husband, or the mom and dad, and so, you have to take into those accounts, and I think that it goes across the board. What you're trying to do is attract top talent, no matter the gender of the individual.
Food Logistics and Supply & Demand Chain Executive: If you could go back in time and talk to your younger self, what would you say to her?
Ennis: I would tell her to be patient, and to not always push so hard, and to know that there are times when you do need to push, and you need to kind of stand up for what you believe is the right thing, and then there's also times that you need to be a little bit softer, and that was a lesson I learned pretty hard, coming out of college, and it impacted a big piece of my career journey, and unfortunately, I was the one who was in fault, and I was the one who was wrong, and so looking back , if I would have just kind of said what I felt, shared my thoughts and concerns, and then sat back. The ultimate scenario may have been different, but I was just a bull in a China shop, and I ended up being the one who looked bad. So, lesson learned.
Food Logistics and Supply & Demand Chain Executive: If you could leave the audience with one piece of advice about being a woman in the supply chain, what would it be?
Ennis: Be you. Just be yourself. I think that with social media, and it's creeping in in all different ways, right? Even, you know, LinkedIn, or that looks different than what it used to look like, TikTok now. We can fall into the comparison game, and we can go down a rabbit hole of, this person's doing that, and this person looks this way, or they dress this way, and if you get caught up in that, you lose what makes you authentically yourself, and that's really what allows you to stand out in the marketplace of who you are, and I think when we are willing to embrace who we are, what we believe, what we enjoy about ourself, and just allow that to shine through. That's when we are all successful, and when organizations benefit from what we bring to the table.
Food Logistics and Supply & Demand Chain Executive: To learn more about Whitney and our other Women in Supply Chain Forum award winners, CLICK HERE.
Register for this year's Women in Supply Chain Forum™ at http://www.womeninsupplychainforum.com.
