Episode Transcript
00:00 Alayna Patterson: And be bold. Get an internship. Get a job anywhere, honestly. Even though you work at Olive Garden, you work at any restaurant like I did in college. You're learning something. You're learning people skills, and you're learning how to deal with people.
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00:28 Brian Fugate: We're here with Alayna Patterson in Dallas in Arlington, Texas at BoomerJacks, right near the Dallas Cowboy Stadium, and Alayna is a 2017 supply chain graduate from Walton College. And Alayna works at Fountain Quail Energy Services, and she's been there for how long?
00:50 Alayna Patterson: A little over two years.
00:51 Brian Fugate: A little over two years. So could you tell us a little bit about what you're doing now and kind of your career path and how you got to where you are now?
00:58 Alayna Patterson: Yeah, absolutely. So I was actually hired about eight months before I graduated from the University of Arkansas. I went on an interview with Aaron Horn and Robert Sloan, some amazing mentors of mine. I started as a logistics coordinator, which was a great opportunity. I went on from that. After I graduated, I moved into an innovation specialist role. So I went in working with GPS's and cameras, all sorts of softwares. Looking how to improve our processes and make things more efficient for our company which is an awesome time. I absolutely loved it. Since then I've moved on to a business analyst role. So I deal a lot with our customers, reporting. All upper management. It's been great. I have a really great executive team.
01:46 Brian Fugate: Really? Sounds like you've had a lot of early success in your career and so it's interesting. Could you tell us first, I'm curious. Fountain Energy Quail Services, could you tell us a little bit about what they do?
01:57 Alayna Patterson: Yeah. Fountain Quail Energy Services is an environmental service company. So we deal with your water.
02:03 Brian Fugate: Oh, okay.
02:04 Alayna Patterson: And we're kind of like a trash company for the oil field, I would say. Any water produced that comes up out of the ground when you drill, we take care of it, we process it; we're gonna make sure it's handled in an environmentally-friendly way.
02:17 Brian Fugate: Thinking back when you were in college and you were trying to decide about this position and where're you gonna go. What kind of advice would you give somebody about how to think about that decision and how did you make that decision?
02:30 Alayna Patterson: Yeah, be open. I had no idea I was gonna be in oil and gas. When they called me and said, "We move water," I was like, "What? There's water in oil and gas?" I didn't quite understand that. Take those entry-level positions and take those shots. Because you really never know.
02:47 Brian Fugate: So tell us a little bit about... I mean what would you say is the most fun thing that you do at your work?
02:55 Alayna Patterson: I get to travel. I travel probably about 90% of my job. I travel to Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia. Really depends where I'm gonna be that day. It's kinda a running joke. You never know where I'm gonna show up. So it's kinda like, "Surprise."
03:11 Brian Fugate: Yeah, where is Alayna in the world?
03:11 Alayna Patterson: Yeah.
03:12 Brian Fugate: So that's pretty interesting. Now, let's take a step back again and if, you have a lot of classes, which ones would come to mind as those that are more impactful in supply chain?
03:27 Alayna Patterson: Definitely my intro class was a very interesting class. My strategy class with Dr. Rob Thomas, loved it. He made me think.
03:36 Brian Fugate: Yeah. Rob will do that to you.
03:38 Alayna Patterson: I liked it.
03:38 Brian Fugate: So now, what advice would you give undergraduates?
03:44 Alayna Patterson: Go out there and be bold. Get an internship. Get a job anywhere, honestly. Even though you work at Olive Garden, you work at any restaurant like I did in college. You're learning something. You're learning people skills, and you're learning how to deal with people.
03:58 Brian Fugate: Yeah, that's good advice. That's so true. Now, one of the decisions you had to make was what major you were gonna choose, what career path you were gonna go on and at some point along the way you found supply chain. What about supply chain pulled you in?
04:13 Alayna Patterson: It's like a puzzle. It's never-ending. You're always gonna have a problem, and it's never gonna be the same. You can get shocked some days at what comes up, but it's always a fun thing to figure out.
04:24 Brian Fugate: Yeah, that's so true. That's so true. I would agree. Well, Alayna, thank you for your time. Thank you for coming down here to BoomerJacks.
04:31 Alayna Patterson: Absolutely.
04:32 Brian Fugate: And spending time chatting with us about your experience and look forward to continuing to hear more about it.
04:38 Alayna Patterson: Absolutely.
04:39 Brian Fugate: Thank you.
04:39 Alayna Patterson: Thank you.
