Building Career Pathways With ICPA (Podcast)

Lalo (00:02.633)
Good morning, afternoon, or evening. this is Lalo for the Simply Trade Podcast. today’s episode we are going to introduce something that we hope will continue and that we’re planning on continuing with our partnership with ICPA. we’re we’re we’re trying to do a monthly check-in with ICPA and in this case we took advantage of the idea that it is coming up, the fall conference is coming up, and so we decided to

To focus on the fall conference and talk a little bit about that. We have a few guests with us, but I also wanna say that going forward, as best as we can and as much as we can do this, the host, let’s call it or hostess of this segment or anything having to do with ICPA, as best as we can. Again, you know, so everybody, everybody’s real busy at ICPA. So in case you all have not

experienced or seeing ICPA, you know, they just put together a lot of great events and and there there is actually a lot of work to to to be done. And so one of the employees there and she’s the granddaughter of founder Ann Lister. Her name is Victoria Schneider. So I’m having her host all of these. I I I recruited her. I I voluntoled her. We we we we have her

hosting these and so she’s a really nice, adorable young lady who I met several years ago and and and as we went through this we thought, so she’s gonna be she she can be really good at these episodes and and hosting the she’s very charismatic. So what we’re gonna do is I’m gonna let her take over the reins for again for this episode and anything going forward and even at the events when we are there recording

it’s little segments and interviews. again, as much as and as best as we can as if if she’s not turning off fires, she’s gonna she’s gonna be in front of the camera. and so I’ll be I I don’t know if you all have seen Top Gun and then I just the reason I’m bringing it up is because I just saw it. it it came up but when you go to a hotel you watch what is there. You don’t decide what you want to watch. And so

Victoria Schneider (02:05.352)
Yeah.

Lynda Thomas (02:21.442)
you

Elisabeth Sherrell (02:21.993)
Yeah.

Lalo (02:23.91)
So so Top Gun was on there and and I happen to catch that segment where it says where Goo not Goose, I’m sorry, Iceman tells Maverick, you are very dangerous, but you can always be my wingman. And then so Maverick comes back and says, No, you can always be my wingman. So I’ll be I’ll be Victoria’s wingman for for the time being. So I I don’t wanna say that I’ll be goo

Elisabeth Sherrell (02:45.418)
Good.

Lalo (02:47.164)
Anne Lister both started and founded ICPA, but we’ll probably

Victoria Schneider (02:52.745)
What?

Lynda Thomas (02:53.048)
No.

Elisabeth Sherrell (02:53.418)
That’s a fair that’s a fair assessment. Yeah.

Lalo (03:16.808)
get to know that a little bit more in whether it’s not whether it’s this episode or in future episodes. But Victoria, the mic is yours.

Victoria Schneider (03:26.805)
apologize for my setup. I’m not really doing a good representation of the gamer that I am. I promise I have a very fancy headset and all the fancy things. this is my first this is my first go. So and I’m also collabing at my mother’s house today. So this is not the normal setup. So my apologies on that. but moving forward we will have the I’ll get on top of that because that gives me a

Lalo (03:45.636)
Yeah.

Elisabeth Sherrell (03:46.47)
Ha ha ha.

Victoria Schneider (03:53.638)
reason to get a nice fancy mic too and maybe some nice lighting in my in my setup. So as mentioned I know and Lynda has the fancy one that comes down like here. It’s really cool. I’m also working off of my grandma’s old laptop as mentioned Anne Lister’s so it’s her literal dino book so it’s a little it’s a little outdated but it’s fine.

Lalo (03:58.121)
Yeah. We’ll we’ll set you up, Victoria, no worries.

Elisabeth Sherrell (04:01.995)
Yeah, she needs Bonnie has even one of those microphones, so

Lynda Thomas (04:02.253)
Yeah.

Lynda Thomas (04:11.009)
Okay.

Elisabeth Sherrell (04:18.944)
Yeah.

Lalo (04:19.091)
Yeah.

Lalo (04:22.514)
Well it’s fitting. So so Anne is with us still, so that’s fitting.

Victoria Schneider (04:22.653)
It will do

Elisabeth Sherrell (04:25.93)
That’s right. That’s trust me, she’s she’s always with us, right, Lynda and Victoria? That’s right, that’s right, that’s right.

Lynda Thomas (04:30.254)
Absolutely, we make sure of that.

Lalo (04:31.008)
Yeah.

Victoria Schneider (04:31.853)
Always. Always. Yeah. It’s it works. So I I keep it. It’s a little it’s a little reminder of her every day I log in to answer the thousands of emails that we have. So as mentioned, I am Victoria Schneider. I’m Elisabeth Sherrell’s daughter and Anne Lister’s granddaughter. So and honestly Lynda Thomas’s granddaughter too, with we’ve grown up since I was like

Lalo (04:44.9)
Yeah.

Victoria Schneider (05:00.531)
The smallest thing. Like before I CPA was a job. it was always the fun trips that my grandma would take me on and I got to see cool places at a really young age. and then she slowly coaxed me into joining ICPA little by little. it helped me get through college. So shout out to her and ICPA for helping me, you know. And then after her

Elisabeth Sherrell (05:18.346)
She did.

Victoria Schneider (05:27.335)
unexpected passing. We did get a little bit more thrown at us, me and my mom. So we did take over there. so now I’m a full time employee with ICPA and it is very exciting. it definitely means a lot more to me now than it did ever before. I think my mom would say the same thing. And one of the amazing things that we have new here is the

Elisabeth Sherrell (05:48.118)
Yes, yeah.

Victoria Schneider (05:54.294)
Global Trade Pathways Conference, which we have had a lot of rebranding on, I feel like. it’s been the ITAR conference, it’s been the fall conference, it’s been trade week, it’s been a lot of different things, and I just think we’ve kind of confused some people along the way. So we wanted to start fresh this year, and we’ve redone the whole thing, added some amazing things, added some amazing people.

added some fun things as well. I’m super excited about this conference. originally it was my mine project to take over, but it turns out to be a lot more than anticipated. So mom is very much still helping me there. and everybody else on the team. But it’s one I’m very excited for. it’s different.

we have Lynda Thomas’s session on there finally, which is the new and improved professional development. Sorry, the cat is trying to get in the door. so he’s causing a ruckus. Anyways, the professional development track is a new addition that we are super excited for. it’s one of the main goals of the Global Trade Pathways conference, which is no matter if you’re starting off in trade compliance or if you’re an expert in trade compliance, you can come and gather something from the conference.

Elisabeth Sherrell (06:57.206)
No. Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Victoria Schneider (07:15.593)
We have, you know, anything from beginner tracks to advanced tracks as well as the professional development side. I could talk about it, but I feel like Lynda would probably do it more justice considering it’s her baby. So I will let her talk about that for you.

Elisabeth Sherrell (07:25.717)
Yeah.

Elisabeth Sherrell (07:29.672)
Yeah. Please. And Lynda, it’s I I just share the that the like go back to the beginning and what for because you’ve said it so beautifully about what the what you and mom were creating and and how weaving professional development in back into it, I feel like back into it, ’cause it was at the beginning, why that’s so important. ‘Cause I think it is the origin story of ICPA, really.

Lynda Thomas (07:52.557)
Yeah, absolutely. And great segue because yeah, one of the things I wanted to highlight was just how this is so in keeping with ICPA and it’s not far afield for us. When Anne and I started ICPA, you know, 20 plus years ago, we felt that the industry was very disconnected. Everybody was out there, you know, trying to get info. You would meet people at conferences, but you didn’t maybe have a wide network.

And so our passion really was to connect people and give them tools and resources so that they could do their jobs better and maybe have a little less stress in their lives along the way. So our passion always was to equip people and started naturally with things that are our technical skills, right? How do you do an FTZ? How do you work with customs brokers? How do you do an audit? And those things, but always in our mind was,

We want a holistic approach to make the trade compliance professional just well-rounded and achieve their goals and their dreams. And so this professional development track kind of is really born out of that desire to offer that. And we’re now coming full circle. The thought being that you will see people who might like to get promoted and maybe they get that first line promotion.

but they can’t seem to advance beyond that. Or maybe they don’t even get that far. And it typically isn’t because you don’t know how to set up an FTZ or you don’t know how to put together an audit. It’s maybe your soft skills, right? Like how do you lead? How do you communicate? How do you work in teams? Are you a leader? Do you have those leadership skills? And so the professional development track is going to offer things like if you’ve never done

or you want to redo a personality assessment. So you learn about yourself. How do you like to communicate? How do you like to work with other people? What are your leadership skills? And really hone in on who are you as a person. Now, once you know that, you can line that up with your goals. Now you can see, well, here’s the path I need to take. And that’s part of why we call it Pathways, right? Here’s the path I need to take to get to where I want to be.

Lynda Thomas (10:14.306)
We’re going to offer things like networking for introverts, how to do slide presentations that are impactful, how to be organized when everything around you isn’t. So these are more like tools that you’re going to be able to put in your arsenal that will help you as a person, also help you in your career, but it will allow you to maybe hone in on what are your goals and where do you want to go? And we want to help you get there.

And that has always been, you know, the ICPA driving force to help the trade compliance professional be everything you want to be and maybe even some things you haven’t thought of yet. And that to me in a nutshell is really kind of what the professional development track embodies.

Victoria Schneider (11:06.217)
No, I think that was I think that was a perfect representation of it. I think that tied in perfectly to why we called it pathways. as Lynda stated and as I stated in the beginning of it’s just no matter what path you’re on right now, level wise, like you can go anywhere and like like the world is your oyster. and we just want to help you realize that is no matter where you are, we can help you get to that next step, whether that’s in your professional development or in the actual field that you need to be in.

so I’m really excited for this event, for that reason, right there, as well as all the other amazing things we have planned. I’m gonna send it on over to my mom. I know that we have a new venue this year, which I think is exciting. So I wanted to talk about it because I know if you have been coming to the fall conference in the past, it’s been a little bit of hot potato with the previous venue. So I’m gonna let her talk a little bit about the

Elisabeth Sherrell (11:53.846)
Elisabeth Sherrell (12:02.613)
Boy.

Victoria Schneider (12:04.551)
exciting things at the new venue and there’s so many of them. not just the venue itself, but the people inside as well. So

Elisabeth Sherrell (12:11.798)
Yeah. I I I wasn’t expecting that’s a great question. That’s a great topic. So I think the most challenging aspect of being an event planner is trying to find time to trying to balance all of the things that attendees want, and keep the pricing where it needs to be. That is that’s constantly the challenge, right? Because we all know that trade components professionals don’t have the budget that they need for education.

they’re underserved, undervalued. Often, you know, the the C suite doesn’t even know what they do until the word potential refund comes in and all of a sudden, you know, all of our friends are sitting in these you know, C suite level meetings and they’re front and center. But I doubt that means that the education budget has increased. So, we heard you we were in D F W Lakes.

for quite some time, well I think three or four years. And I personally liked it just because it was so nice around there. It was kind of like nestled in the trees. And I felt like that was a really cool place to relax and the room rates were pretty good. And it was but it was a challenge logistically because as the sponsors pointed out, they felt like they were in the basement. And I didn’t even realize till last year that there wasn’t access for

There wasn’t an elevator that went directly down to there unless it was the service elevator, which is a real problem. I mean, you know, that’s that’s not that doesn’t make the event itself accessible to everyone. And that’s a that’s a huge concern that I didn’t know when we first went there. So we’ve really moved back to an old venue that we used to use. it’s a newer venue, but it’s an an old use one for us. It’s across the street and it’s the embassy suites in Grapevine. And it’s been

refurbished and it’s just got a lot of things that make movement and flow easier. All of the all of the meeting space and the exhibit space is contained in one area. You don’t have to take a thousand steps to get anywhere, which is nice. They’ve got, I believe, five elevators, if not four, which is gonna increase the speed with which you can get to and from your room, to and from the meeting space.

Elisabeth Sherrell (14:25.022)
It’s all open. It’s got a lot of light. It’s bright. The staff is incredible. and really, you know, I like Victoria was saying early on, you know, we’re all family here. That’s kind of how I feel about this hotel too. They were very close with my mom and Penny, the manager there is she’s just really worked hard to get me a good deal so that we could get into this hotel and away from the

the separated feel of DFW Lakes. So I am I’m very excited about it. It’s a little bit smaller, so we’re not going to be able to grow as big as maybe we have been in previous years. But I think that’s that’s really the intention. We want to keep it close and we’re going to keep this event smaller on purpose because we want people to go to the annual conference. That’s where the more seasoned you know, well not really. I mean your new people can go to the annual conference too for

I think for the networking, but they’re kind of and maybe the boot camp track, but they’re going to be drinking from a water hose. Going to an event that has over a thousand people in person is very intimidating. But coming to the fall, it’s it’s something very different. And it’s it’s often been called the like a mini version of the annual conference. And and going back to what Victoria was saying originally, that’s what we’re trying to avoid. This is really

A different concept. We’re gonna actually bring in some college students in the supply chain and logistics department from UNT for a special meeting one day. And then they’re gonna go around and meet our service providers and talk to them about potential jobs. And so one of the things I hear very often right now, too, is that people need help, you know, like they need to be able to hire someone with a little bit of experience and jump on this team because trade compliance is growing so rapidly.

And that’s kind of what we hope to do with these college kids, right? We’re gonna get them networking and get them plugged into the ICPA ecosystem. so they’re on the, you know, to borrow the term again, the right pathway, the right trajectory. What do they want their future to look like? you know, we had one kid last year that sat in some ITAR classes because he had done some missionary work and he did a paper on how third world countries get

Elisabeth Sherrell (16:39.786)
how how they’re so war-torn and how they’re getting their weapons. And he found out that the issue was supply chain integrity in ITAR EAR. And he this just, you know, from that one little project, he came to our event. He sat in some ITAR EAR classes, which is what we have more of. There’s a whole pathway for that here at the fall. And he’s just, he loves it. Like this is his trajectory now, right? And so we want to give people that option. That is

That’s what this event is really about. We’re we’re trying to make sure that it stands alone as its own offering and it’s very different. And even if you go to the annual, perhaps the fall has something for you too. So that’s that’s the point, I think. But you asked after you asked me about the hotel. Then I went all the way around. I just I just had to say all of that. Sorry about that.

Victoria Schneider (17:23.221)
Yeah, and I think

Lynda Thomas (17:26.592)
I’m

Victoria Schneider (17:26.837)
Yes, right.

Victoria Schneider (17:31.102)
No, no apologies. yeah, and I think I like what you mentioned shortly about how a big goal of ours is to not make this a mini annual. It’s it’s come it’s a completely different thing. it offers a different thing, it offers a different feel. the annual I would say I’ve now I now can say as of this year, going to the K Canadian conference that I have been to every ICPA conference, Europe, Canada.

America, you know, East Coast, West Coast, whatever, all the things. and the annual is for me very fun. because there is so many people and it’s like a family reunion for me, because it’s all of like the veterans, and it’s like seeing all these familiar faces, but it is, like my mom said, a little bit more of a water hose. so there’s a lot going on. There’s a lot of people, there’s a lot of sponsors, there’s a lot of opportunities.

You’re kind of, you know, wanting to check off a lot more boxes of things you wanna do there, while you can get the time in with the amount of people that are there, the amount of opportunities that are there. and these smaller conferences are so much more personal, and they offer a different feeling. nothing less of family. It’s still a family connection, but it’s like almost like like a s like a a more f like knitted family, if that makes sense. Like it’s not the whole, you know

Cousins and aunts and uncles, it’s more like everyone who moved away comes back home, like your brothers and your sisters come back home and they’re eating together, you know, and it’s one of those feelings. it still offers that sentimental feeling. And I think I think that’s the biggest thing of ICPA is no matter where we are, no matter where we host the event, no matter, you know, in America, in Europe, in Canada, the biggest thing we focus on is the feeling and the connections and the people.

Lynda Thomas (19:01.742)
Thank

Victoria Schneider (19:23.697)
we’re obviously there to put on educational credits so that you can, you know, you get what you need. You know, we’re we know what we’re there for. but it is also just it’s really about the people. Like that’s our biggest thing is we want you to feel like you can ask the stupid questions or the silly questions, like like the hard questions, any of the questions, because you just have these this group of people who are so knowledgeable and so willing to help and they’re just like there’s I growing up, I’ve been there since I was what, five, mom?

Five. So five, I’m not twenty six.

Elisabeth Sherrell (19:53.399)
yeah, yes. Four or five. I was gonna say w whatever the first yes, five, ’cause it would have been the first I think Disney you were the first kids camper along with Brad Minard’s son.

Victoria Schneider (20:05.191)
Right. Yeah. So that would be so that would be almost twenty years now. And I think the biggest thing I’ve noticed is just like how nice these people are. Like growing up, you know, trade compliance was not a very interesting field in my opinion, like boring, honestly. You know, and but it’s just so much more than that. Like it maybe it maybe it is a boring job or it’s a hard job, but then you come to these conferences and you’re surrounded by people who are going through the same things that you’re going through, and it’s like

Lynda Thomas (20:07.533)
Yeah.

Victoria Schneider (20:34.003)
You just feel a sense of relax. Like you’re like, like I’m with my people. Like they know what like they’re suffering the same things. They’re going through the same things I’m going through. They have advice. They’ve already been through it. And these people are not like snotty or rude or think that you’re ignorant for not knowing. Like they’re just so eager to help, you know. And I’ve seen people who have changed multiple jobs throughout the industry just because they’ve made so many connections. They’ve just been able to go so many different places because it’s like

There’s just no there’s no bad there’s no bad vibes or anything. Like no one’s competitive or anything. It’s just like, my gosh, well I have this opportunity if you’re looking to, you know, maybe work here or if you want to go here. And I just think like I’m also the social media person for ICPA. So LinkedIn is ran by me. Now you know, you know, if ICPAs post anything, it’s me. But like that’s my favorite thing to hear after the conferences is just like

these people and they’re like, yeah, well food is great, the venue is great, but it’s the people. Like I just felt so seen. Everyone understood me. And that’s the biggest thing I strive I think we strive for, not just me, but is yes, of course putting on having great speakers, having, you know, the education points that we can award you, all of the things. But it’s also just creating that environment that makes you want to learn and makes you feel like your job isn’t, you know,

less than or ignored, but you’re important when you come here, you know, personally and professionally. And I think that is what makes us different from everyone else is that we don’t just focus on the education part, but we really do genuinely care about you as a person and we want to see you succeed. And I think that’s a big reason why we came up with the global trade pathways is because it’s not just professionally where you can go in life, but it’s also just personally as well and all of these skills that can help you along the way of that.

would that

Lynda Thomas (22:24.588)
And Victoria, I was going to say one other thing I love about the fall is, you know, back in the day, the thought behind the fall was because if somebody couldn’t go to the annual, you know, they would have an opportunity to go to the fall. But I love how ICPA is always evolving. You know, we don’t really need that so much anymore. Now we’re kind of taking the fall conference and making it different to meet the needs.

the new needs of the community. And I like how we never just sort of rest on what we’re doing. We’re always asking people, what can we do better? We’re always looking at it, like what worked, what didn’t work. And so this new fall conference, if you will, is sort of evolving from what we’ve seen over the years and how the needs of the community has changed. And I just love that because I think sometimes organizations will just sort of rest in their sweet spot. And I like

that we don’t and it’s challenging at times, right? To sort of think differently and not get in that mindset of like, but we’ve always done it that way, right? But I love that we don’t do that. And I think that is maybe some of what makes us different.

Victoria Schneider (23:35.646)
No, I think one hundred percent I can at I can attest to us not staying compli not staying consistently where we always are. And my mom is always rebuilding the wheel and looking to improve ICPA in every way that she can. Sometimes faster than than the tools allow, but we we she has amazing ideas. she’s always looking to just it’s always about the people.

Lynda Thomas (23:46.978)
You

Victoria Schneider (24:01.661)
And that’s the thing, like even in the staff, like we’re we put ourselves last is in even in the staffing. Like we don’t like we’re not looking for what’s best for us. We’re not looking for, you know, what’s the cheapest for us. We’re always looking what’s best for the attendees, what’s best for the sponsors, like what’s gonna get them more of the things that that is gonna make them be successful. And it’s always just she’s constantly trying to improve it to make it more seamless, to make it less difficult, to give you

better speakers, better, you know, topics, better sessions, all of those things. and we just are always working hard to always improve from the last one. You know, like that’s the first thing we do when we finish a conference is we meet two weeks later and we talk about what went good and what can we improve on. I mean the Canadian, the Canada conference this year, I would say was a 10 out of 10. we had a great amount of people. the energy was amazing. The speakers were amazing. Everything was great.

But we still have those discussions of, okay, it’s a 10, but like how do we get to a 12? What can we do better? You know, and I think that’s the biggest thing about ISCPA is always striving, as Lynda said, to evolve. like what is this year is like what’s going on this year is not what’s gonna happen next year. So it also makes our heart a little our job a little bit difficult, sorry, based on trying to plan for an event that is years in advance or even a year in advance.

And the topics are changing rapidly, the speakers are changing rapidly, all of these things are evolving as we’re planning them. So it does get a little complex sometimes. but we we really do strive to always outperform ourselves from the last event. and like I said, sometimes that’s adding tracks, that’s taking away tracks, that’s you know, changing venues or just getting more feedback from our attendees and what they have to say.

Lynda Thomas (25:24.91)
.

Victoria Schneider (25:50.58)
That’s again the biggest the biggest thing for us is just the feedback and hearing what y’all have to say. and that’s that’s really the the heart of ICPA is it’s always it it seems like every day you clock in, it’s always what can we do to make it easier today? Even if yesterday was the same was the same t like my biggest thing is is the system we use is C Vint. And every day I feel like I’m greeted with a new task of I how I can make it easier for everyone on on the

event websites and it’s just like every day I’m like, but I can make this easier or I can make this simpler or we could do this and we could do that. And I just think I think that’s what keeps ICPA also growing and just people’s attraction towards it in general is just like we’re never like we never stop. Like we’re always creating new ideas. We’re always asking people, we’re always growing and doing these things. so I think I think also as as mom mentioned earlier, we also have I was a part of the first kids camp.

So I just think ICPA again goes beyond the event itself. We have Kids Camp. We also have our fun run. that just helps us give back to the community in ways, you know, bringing everyone together in a fun way, bringing people who, you know, need help with childcare so they can come to the conferences. We’re always it’s just every every aspect we’re thinking of to help you get to the conference. You know, no matter how you get there, just get there. We have a fun video somewhere that says that, I believe.

We don’t care how you get there, just get there. It’s great. I think Blaine is in there with his cat. Is that the one? Or is it a cat? Is it a yeah? Yeah. Well that’s that’s always a good time. But for the yeah, the the Global Trade Pathways is is our next one. And then we have the GTI. And then we have are we gonna do you want me to say our new and our new project we signed on to?

Lynda Thomas (27:20.718)
you

Elisabeth Sherrell (27:23.774)
Yeah.

Yes, Blaine and his cat, yes.

Elisabeth Sherrell (27:46.582)
Which one? Yes, might as well. There’s there’s several new ones, so I’m not you know I’m not

Victoria Schneider (27:48.051)
The Yeah. Yes.

Lalo (27:53.106)
And and and ladies, Lisa didn’t show up, but did you wanna mention your certifications?

Elisabeth Sherrell (27:59.159)
Yeah, that’s true. Yeah.

Victoria Schneider (27:59.734)
yeah. Yes. We do have before I reveal the the new project we have, we do also have at this one this Global Trade Pathways conference is also the certifications that you can get. I’m a little less trained in those, so if mom would like to explain each and every one because I get all the acronyms mixed up to be honest, she knows a little bit more about that.

Lalo (28:01.191)
Okay.

Lalo (28:19.753)
Yeah.

Elisabeth Sherrell (28:25.844)
Well, yeah, Lisa’s really the best for this, but you know, I will attempt to do what to say what I know about it. So yes, we adopted the International Trade Certification Program from I don’t know. I guess it was Dunlap Dunlap Stone is the education arm of it. The ITC was the certification, but it was all owned by and I cannot think of the guy’s name, maybe you know.

originally that created the I the certification program.

Lalo (28:58.772)
I’ll I’ll I’ll give it to you here in a little bit.

Elisabeth Sherrell (29:02.102)
Yeah, exactly. I it’s it it’s kind of irrelevant to the fact that we’ve adopted this, right? It’s and not something I think my mom would have blessed, but that’s okay because I have the other co-founder and she thinks it’s great. So ha you know, my mom never wanted I think her big concern and that this is valid, is that she never wanted to monetize certifications. That is that was a big concern for her because she believed that ICPA was here to help.

Lynda Thomas (29:14.765)
Bye!

Elisabeth Sherrell (29:28.342)
you know, developed a professional and she she she never took Q Seiko or CUSECO or any of the certifications, however. And she was a big fan of just educating yourself at the collegiate level, right? Like that’s why we all have master’s degrees in this family because she pushed us. And that was always a thing, right? She’s just always pushing for that next level of of of education. But

I’ve been around this industry long enough to know that and even in my own industry with event planning, certifications can be valid. You do I think you do have to be careful. I think anybody can certify anything and you do have to be careful. But we carefully considered each one of the certifications that they offered. And I think we took it from like nine or ten down to five that we really thought were important that didn’t

that weren’t being served necessarily, right? So because we are great partners with NEI, I am CCS certified. and that was extremely difficult to get that certification and I f I felt very valid and helpful, I imagine, for what the day-to-day importer exporter is facing. But there was nothing really for exportation. So the CUSECO specifically, we talked Lila Landis, who holds that certification. She said there’s nothing like it, and it’s really important.

And so that’s also why we really started a more strategic partnership with Global Training because we’re not going to do the education for the certification. I wanna be clear, the fall conference will always have a live proctor for these certifications on Wednesday, but the expectation is never that you could come for two days to the event and then take the test.

These are extremely difficult tests, especially in coterms. on I’m not sure which one that’s on. I remember Christy Shearhart, one of our officers this year, she took, I think she’s taken most of our certifications, and they’re they’re not easy. and so it’s meant to be very specialized in a certain area of in international trade. So

Elisabeth Sherrell (31:37.066)
I think it complements everything that mom and Lynda built very well. I think that it’s it is a nice I I don’t I don’t I I I hated to argue with mom on these types of things, but I can tell you as somebody who’s hired people, when you see that they have collegiate level education and or certifications, what it says to the hiring entity or person is that you actually do care about the industry that you’re involved in. It shows that you want to learn more.

And so you can put those designations behind your name and keep up with them. I think I think there’s always a place for that. So I do think it complements the professional development aspect of ICPA. that’s just my that’s my opinion. But I do Lynda is the co-founder. I I’d like to hear what she says about that too, because

Lalo (32:23.996)
Mm-hmm.

Lynda Thomas (32:25.74)
No, I agree. And I understand where Anne was coming from about not monetizing it, but people do want to get certified. It shows their proficiency. And you don’t want it to be easy, right? Because then it devalues the certification. And so it’s rigorous for a reason, right? But no, I think it’s a natural fit with ICPA because we are, again, all about the trade compliance logistics individual. people

People desire to get certified and they want to be able to just distinguish themselves and not everybody, you know, is on the LCB side of things. So I think it’s just a natural fit to have certifications as part of ICPA and as part of the education and growth path that, you know, we do offer. So no, I think it’s a natural fit.

Victoria Schneider (33:20.233)
Yes, that’s another another fun aspect that we’ve added to the conference. But again, just want to pref just to say again that you cannot attend the conference for two days and take the test on Wednesday. That’s not that’s not what we’re offering here. That’s not how it goes. It’s it’s very much prep on your own and then we’ll offer you a place to go ahead and get your get your conference on and then get your testing on. So that’s what we offer. but as mom mentioned that day, testing day is also

Elisabeth Sherrell (33:23.595)
Right?

Elisabeth Sherrell (33:29.558)
Ha ha

Elisabeth Sherrell (33:34.038)
No, no.

Lynda Thomas (33:34.382)
Yeah.

Elisabeth Sherrell (33:46.143)
Well it

Victoria Schneider (33:48.778)
The kids will be there, the the career fair, the the all the fun stuff. It’s not just testing day. There’s still very much other stuff going on that day. and d did you want to speak a little bit more about the the scholarship kids and stuff? Yeah.

Elisabeth Sherrell (34:03.167)
Yeah. Well, the education well, yes, I well but I also wanna say that like like I said, Lalo you guys just started an ITAR training program with Lila Landis and who is a big part of ICPA. She runs our regional trade communities and just a longtime supporter and a good friend of mine actually. And so she she just started that program with you guys, right? So so I I think I I would endorse

you know, just because I know her and her experience at Lockheed Martin and and who she is as as far as an it like being able to train people, I would enjoy I mean, I don’t know how this works. Sometimes I make partnerships that make people nervous, but I would absolutely say you could go and take global trainings course and then come on Wednesday. I think. But Lalo, you tell me because I I think I think that you you cover everything in the ITAR scape in that training, correct?

Lalo (34:54.1)
Heh.

Lalo (35:01.074)
Right. So so what we did is pretty much took that challenge per se, you know, that we did hear and we we recognized early on when you all took on the the certifications that they are pretty challenging. And and I don’t wanna say that they’re like impossible. Please nobody ever even think that they are. the if if you are in the industry and you have experience

You can even challenge it yourself. I know some few so a few folks that challenged it and have passed it. And a few others that have said, Okay, I think I need to study a little bit more. For those that do need to study, we did create a few courses and pathways. Let’s call I hate to use that word. Sorry. Let’s call it roadmap. I don’t wanna I don’t wanna infringe on your on your branding. a few roadmaps as to how to study for each of one of the five exams. And as Elisabeth mentioned, we did

Elisabeth Sherrell (35:44.245)
That’s okay. That’s okay.

Lynda Thomas (35:47.758)
Thank

Lalo (35:54.527)
create a four week cohort for the ITAR one only because ITAR has been very challenging for several folks on they like to say I know ITAR but they can’t prove that they’re like well they can, but but they want a certification and this is the one that fit the best. We do have one for the export version of it. We do have the import version of it. And then we’re currently working on the freight forwarders and the logistics version of it. So those are the five. But yes, so to answer your question, Lila is teaching

the ITAR one and we’ll be teaching the export one as well. So

Elisabeth Sherrell (36:31.287)
and so yeah, so that’s it. That really you know, we’re gonna have we will have some scholarship recipients again from UNT. We we work closely with them, not just because I’m an alumni, but because they have a really great supply chain and logistics program. I believe DBU does as well, but we got to get in touch with them. One of the best things about one of the best things about UNT is that we have contact with Chris.

Lynda Thomas (36:45.112)
Thank

Elisabeth Sherrell (37:01.263)
what is his last name? Lynda, he he was your professor. What is the hand? Yes. And he is he’s great and he helps us to get these kids involved. And they’ve come to two of our events now, and they’re just incredible. I mean, they are excited about the industry. and and I think the goal for us in the education committee is to

Lynda Thomas (37:04.878)
Cannebec. Cannebec.

Elisabeth Sherrell (37:24.235)
I know for me personally I want fifth graders to know about international trade, especially since we, Lynda and myself and Victoria are all located here in the Alliance corridor where a lot of international trade takes place. And we have a great partnership with Hillwood as well, which is the Ross Perot company. And we we want to make sure that trade compliance is a visible and viable career path because

most of these amazing humans that I would call my extended family, you know, these last 25 years as I’ve grown up with them, they all kind of fell into trade. you know, Lynda will tell you that. I don’t know that I know Linda’s story though. I know a lot of people, like I know Stacey Krause.

it was a stop on the elevator on the way up to her job, and then when her job was dissolved, she just got off on that floor. I know Liva Landis spoke Spanish, and so she translated, I believe, a bill of lading, and that’s how she got into trade. I don’t know that I know your story, Lynda, and I’d be interested. Like how where did how did you get into this? Because

Lynda Thomas (38:23.532)
Well, I used to teach an import export class at a university and I always told my students, know, you never meet anyone that said from the time they were a small child, they said they wanted to be a trade compliance professional. just doesn’t happen like that. But I had lived in Saudi Arabia for a couple of years and so I was very interested in all things international. But I’m horrible at languages. my brain is not wired like that. like, yeah.

I’ve taken countless years of Spanish and I can maybe ask where the bathroom is. So yeah, no, so it wasn’t my thing. But I had a high school friend of mine that did work in the export side of things. And so I went on an informational interview and I was really interested and very excited about it. And then never heard anything back. And that’s just way it goes sometimes. So I had graduated from college and I was older, older adult, and it was a horrible economy.

just my luck, and I couldn’t get a job. And so I finally landed a job as a manager of a customer service department for a company that made corn dogs. Was not what I aspired to, but I was happy to have it, you know, and then I had accepted that. Well, then the vice president that I did the informational interview with calls me.

and tells me they have a job opening. And I’m like, well, I’ve already accepted another job. He’s like, no, come in and talk to us. And so long story short, I do. And I end up accepting the logistics trade job. And I had gone through a headhunter for the corndog job. And so I had to tell her that I was switching. And she said, you’re gonna hate that. It’s just trucking and it’s horrible and it’s boring. And I’m like, no.

It seems interesting to me. And anyway, so that was my path and yeah, the rest is history

Elisabeth Sherrell (40:25.461)
Yeah, that’s I’m only thing I’m I’m gonna remember from that entire story is corn dogs. I just want you to know. Like that mostly because you and mom wanted to go around i in a in an ICPA version of the Weenie Mobile from Oscar Bayer. That was a dream of theirs. I just want everybody to know that. That was their retirement dream. So you know, that just shows you how crazy they were.

Lynda Thomas (40:30.978)
Right? Yeah. I mean, so.

Lynda Thomas (40:39.8)
Yes, that was our retirement dream.

Yeah, so here’s what I’ll say to trade compliance professionals today. If you think you’re having a bad day, you could have been the manager of a corn dog place. But I would say, you got the better side of the deal.

Elisabeth Sherrell (41:01.701)
that’s gone that that’s goal right there. I I’m just telling you. And I and I and it’s is funny that everybody kind of fell into trade, but I think for better or worse, one of the things that will never be the same, because of the Trump ch tariffs and the I mean, I try to stay as apolitical as possible. This is not me expressing an opinion on either things, but but just to say that what has taken place,

With with trade and the changes, it it won’t, it will, it will I I mean there’s been seasons where trade compliance has come on the map. And I think it was we were starting to see the growth of it during COVID, right? And even right before COVID when we started having really conscientious mothers. That’s what when I was in college right before COVID and I I I had some oddly enough, I was in some textile classes. It’s a whole I can’t it’s just what it was at the time. There wasn’t an event planning degree, so they mixed in some other things.

And so supply chain was part of that because supply chain was how the fabrics got to make the clothing, right? And so what ended up happening is you had consumers that wanted to make sure that the wool diapers or the cloth diapers that they’re putting on their babies were sourced from happy sheep. Okay. Literally. Like shoppers began to be more

Lynda Thomas (42:07.597)
Right.

Elisabeth Sherrell (42:22.685)
Eco-friendly. They w they knew about forced labor. They wanted to make sure that, you know, and and even before that, there was a certain shoe brand that will remain anonymous because ICPA doesn’t say brand names in our QA’s or anywhere, right? Team, we don’t say what company we’re talking about, but there was a shoe company that had some forced labor issues back in the day, right? And so the this is this is really top of mind for consumers, especially in America. So we started to see it then.

Lynda Thomas (42:27.82)
Yeah.

Elisabeth Sherrell (42:51.701)
Supply chain became a common word. But you can talk to anybody now. Everybody asks me what I do. And I’m like, you know, I I’m the executive director for a global nonprofit that helps educate importers and exporters. And I’m like, have you do you know what tariffs are? my god, yes. Everybody knows the word now, right? Like everybody so it’s becoming this household thing. So there’s not it’s like the the pump is primed, right? For us, people like us and and and you too, Lalo, because it’s so important. Like

Lynda Thomas (43:06.498)
Yeah.

Elisabeth Sherrell (43:19.943)
have to be able to trust that when somebody comes up to Lynda and I or even Victoria and says, Hey, we want the certification, where can we go to get the education we need? It needs to be somebody that we trust, right? And I know that Lalo is on the cutting edge of education. He’s not putting out boring educational content. You don’t just read a bunch of books. Like you’re actually you’re you’re engaged with the content that’s gonna make it easier for you to to be able to achieve the goal of passing the test for the certification. So

for me, it it’s just more important than ever. Trade compliance people are in demand and they’re gonna continue to be is the point. Like w I don’t think we’re going back from here. You know, like even with even when our administration changes the the bilateral trade agreements that other countries have made, without the US as a part of it, I think they’ll stay. And so trade has forever been changed, for better or worse, that remains to be seen. but for trade compliance professionals, it’s a great time.

you know, because it’s it’s a job worth having for sure. And and all of you have known that all along, right? For twenty years you’ve known that. But now we’re gonna teach the rest of the world. So yeah. That’s how I see it.

Lynda Thomas (44:31.988)
I Yeah.

Victoria Schneider (44:32.083)
I think that I think that was really good. That was really that was really inspirational. And I think the the best part about the best part about me and mom is like we’re not very we’re not trade compliance professionals. So we rely heavily on our committee and the people around us to help inform us of what is best for everybody. So we yeah, it’s always fun. Like it’s kind of like a crash course all the time on our committee calls ’cause it’s like

we get to be inside your world when y’all are when they’re debating on what topics need to be discussed and and I just feel a little bit I feel a little bit more, you know, knowledgeable every time I leave a meeting where I’m like, yeah, you know what’s going on. Like I I can I also do the Q and A for ICPA. We offer that and all the questions I get in there, I’m like, I feel like I could answer this at this point because I feel like I’ve talked about it that’s someone that’s talked about it so much. so we

Lynda Thomas (45:20.974)
.

Elisabeth Sherrell (45:26.303)
Yes, and that’s an excellent point. I think Victoria made that point and and probably even Dana too at some point along the journey. The Q and A is I know that there’s AI now and the Q and A might not be it might not be as relevant for future trade compliance professionals. but two things. number one, you know, you y y you’re not gonna get

A response from any AI bot that you would get from Lynda Thomas with her decades of experience. Like she’s gonna tell you the real, real. And that’s where the QA is a really important feature. But also, if you’re a service provider, man, I’d be trolling those QA so hard because, like Victoria said, just by doing it, she’s learning a lot about trade by proxy. If you’re trolling those QAs, you’re learning everything you need to know about your client by proxy, right? Especially our AI companies. Why I would be a member.

and I would be using the feedback from those Q and A’s to be building a better process. That’s what I would do. And so I think the Q and A was the smartest thing these two ladies ever came up with. And I believe the first thing, right, Lynda? Because Lynda was the

Lynda Thomas (46:29.452)
Yeah, it was really our first idea of how to connect people in the industry because we were all out there scratching for information and back in the day it was hard to get information from customs and you know, so we’re all out there independently doing research and you know, we said, well, what if we could just connect people? Because we all know things, you know, like if we could just connect and share. And it was interesting because, you know, we got some initial pushback because some people were like, yeah, but my competitors.

will be in the group. And we’re like, yeah, but this is not giving any company a competitive advantage at the end of the day. It’s making you a better trade compliance professional and making your job easier. But you know, at the end of the day, this isn’t going to help your company succeed, you know. So it really doesn’t matter that competitors are in there. And then the other thing that we got from the Q &A was sometimes people would say, you know, there’s

There’s some wrong answers in there. And I would always say, right, but you recognized it. So you kind of know what you know, and you can learn from some wrong stuff too, right? Like what not to do. So I said, yes, we don’t monitor the answers for accuracy. We put them all out there and savvy of you to be able to say, well, that isn’t necessarily what I would do. But it’s out there and you know what.

Some people are thinking and then sometimes people will follow up and say, actually, I just want to clarify something or correct something or whatever. So, you know, it’s the process, it’s all the learning experience. But back in the day, that was kind of some of the initial reaction we got to the Q &A.

Victoria Schneider (48:13.299)
Yeah, and I and I and I think the Q and A, as you mentioned, it it it gets fun in there ’cause I see all of it, the unedited version. So people do get they get a little they they get opinionated in there, but it is yeah, there is no accuracy and when I was handed the job I was scared ’cause I know nothing of trade compliance. And I was like, I don’t know if this is right or wrong and they’re like, no, you just you they you send the answers out and it is nice to see I think it offers, as Lynda said, different perspectives. So there’s

I feel like this is a like I feel like there’s so many ways to do jobs and trade compliance and it’s just a matter of like what works best for you, you know, how does your brain work? You know, are you an Excel sheet person? Are you organized? Are you un you know, like what do you do? And and I’ve just seen that’s a common theme, I think, is that there’ll be one question and there’ll be seven different answers to it and they’re all completely different ways to do it. And no one’s really in there harping on the other. They’re just saying, and there’s always like at the end, this is how I do it. You know, like there’s other ways.

But this is how I do it. And I just think that’s the core of again ICPA and the amount you know, as the tagline goes, what is it? A world of knowledge and a network of people. that r that really is if you knew my grandma at all, that was her biggest thing is that she loved to talk. and and honestly, even if she was wrong, she liked to talk. and you know, people

Elisabeth Sherrell (49:35.947)
Amen. Amen. I will second that. That is true.

Lynda Thomas (49:37.158)
Yes.

Victoria Schneider (49:38.514)
And people people would, you know, definitely be there to correct her, you know, and be like because she she was a trade, you know, she was a trade professional, so she she definitely knew what she was talking about, but she was also very stuck in her own ways and not really one to branch out into new ones. And so people would, you know, put their recommendations upon her and tell her, you know, things have changed a little bit. but that was her biggest thing is like she just loved to talk, you know, and just have people out there

chit chatting about things, what they do, what they don’t do, what worked for them, what didn’t work for them. And I think that’s again also what we’re implementing more of is having that more having the ability to do that more with our longer breaks. That’s been something we’ve started on. you know, not just a fifteen minute potty break, but, you know, a networking break. You know, you go in there and you God bless everyone who goes into a session because I step in there for two seconds to take pictures and

you know, all the fun stuff and it’s like I don’t even know what words are on the board and what language you people are speaking. And I’m like, nope, couldn’t be me. you know, and then there’s some there’s some really amazing speakers, you know, like the Brenda Cordova. I walked in on one of hers and she had her Met what was it, Mezcal she gives giving away and I was like, what a great session to be a part of

Elisabeth Sherrell (51:00.375)
Are you kidding me?

Victoria Schneider (51:02.447)
I know. I was like I was like, my gosh, why is not everybody in here? You know, and then even Michelle Schultz, you know, she’s does the fun little games and everything. So it’s just it’s just a matter of how people communicate how they work in this field. there’s there’s no right or wrong. I mean there is wrong for sure, but there’s no one way, I guess is a better way to say it of how to do things and I think that’s the biggest thing ICPA offers at every conference is

You may have one problem and you’re gonna have 16 solutions, 16 different ways. And somewhere in there, maybe you’ll c create a 17 through you know, solution from all of the collaborative that you’ve got. but it’s it’s just a big it’s just a big family of people wanting to help other people. And I love what this conference has going for it. there’s so many new things. we’re bringing, as my mom mentioned, you know, younger faces into the profession.

And I think that is so important, to let people know how amazing a group of people, trade compliance professionals are, how amazing and how important your job is, and just getting people amped up about it and making other people realize, you know, how important your job is. You know, like when I explain it to people, you know, and they’re like, import exports, and I’m like, No, that’s literally how you get your stuff. Like

Like it’s not just, you know, import, export, like no, like they helped you get your you know, Louis Vuitton purse in your hand right now. Like those are the th like those are the things those are the things that go on, you know. So it’s like it’s stuff like that. Like these people are really important and it’s just it’s so fun. Like to me, I feel like I’m you know, I I feel like ICPA is at the you know, highest peak of trade compliance people. Maybe that’s bias of me, but I think we’re pretty up there in the field of

Elisabeth Sherrell (52:31.767)
Yeah.

Victoria Schneider (52:48.541)
knowledge, people knowing us, and you know, being a good, you know, resource for them, educational resource for them. And I love like ha our niche group of people. Like I just think it’s so like I feel like, you know, the the Disney of trade compliance. I’m like, wow, this is so like I just feel like we help so many people and we make it so fun. So yeah, I’m really excited for everything we have for the Global Trade Pathways Conference. There’s definitely still time to sign up for it. We’re less than six weeks out.

And every day growing more ideas. So God help us when we get there of all the fun things that we will have for you, to make this one different, make it you know.

Elisabeth Sherrell (53:27.505)
no. Yes.

Lynda Thomas (53:29.759)
And you guys were going to mention some other new stuff,

Victoria Schneider (53:32.501)
yes, yes.

Elisabeth Sherrell (53:35.233)
Time two. Dang it. It’s okay. They can edit this. It’s yes. Okay.

Lalo (53:38.258)
Yeah, we can edit it. Don’t worry. I I was I was thinking that I was gonna do like like two segments, like for the conference and then like what you and then you all talked about I C P A as well. And so I think that would be perfect for as two back to back segments. So so don’t worry, just keep going if you like.

Elisabeth Sherrell (53:45.377)
Perfect.

Yeah.

Elisabeth Sherrell (53:52.683)
Okay.

Just keep talking. He’s just keep talking. Just keep talking. Keep telling how great Global Training Centers is too. I could do that all day, Lalo. Uh-huh. I know. I know. No, but I will. But you are, Lalo. You’re great. And and and and what I love, I think what I love most about our partnership with Lalo. So for me, what what what is so important for me after taking over, and it’s funny, right? Because my mom was the type of person who, if she was gonna teach you how to swim, she was gonna

Victoria Schneider (53:57.373)
Yeah.

Lalo (54:00.155)
Well, no, not that. But thank you.

Lynda Thomas (54:04.558)
you

Elisabeth Sherrell (54:23.369)
shove you into the ocean, not not the deep end of the pool. I’m talking like, you know, sharks and waves and like this was her this is the way that she was raised. This is her naval training. This is like you’re just gonna do it. You’re gonna learn or you’re not. And so when like Victoria said, she passed away very unexpectedly. And and the hardest thing for me, is not being able to call her and just being completely freaked out and her saying, Okay, take a dip deep breath.

Everything’s gonna be fine. And Lynda can attest to this because they’re they’re you know soulmate best friends for over 20 years. she just had a unique way. Lynda and I are more alike. We we can take an emotion and make an entire day out of it, really. And so and we’re really good at that. And she was just really good at being, you know, non emotional in these situations. And so for 10 years, I have been training for the role that I’m in right now.

Lynda Thomas (55:06.776)
Thank

Elisabeth Sherrell (55:22.303)
Probably longer than that, just just like I said, watching the two of them and knowing what sets ICPA apart. So when I did my executive director retreat like thing that I did for myself right here in my office and I was running through some questions, it says, you know, if one of the questions that hit me the most is, you know, why does ICPA exist? And it was it just rolled right off my tongue, you know, to meet the professional development needs of importers and exporters.

Period. Like that was and and and I knew it because it’s in my heart, right? It’s in my DNA because I was there the day that Lynda and my mom, we were probably, if I had to guess, at the Applebee’s in Lake Worth, right, Lynda. and and they were like this like little kids. We’re gonna start an association. And they were so excited. I’m just like, okay. You know? And look what happened. Like I get super emotional and super proud of what these two goofballs created, right? Because if you know them.

Lynda Thomas (55:58.988)
Yes.

Elisabeth Sherrell (56:15.595)
They were just the most loving, welcoming people on the planet and and they were just as crazy as could be. You know, they they’ve been everything. They’ve been ketchup and mustard, they’ve dressed up as nuns, they’ve dressed up as Southern Bells. And the whole point is that they created this environment where you could feel totally relaxed in a very serious subject matter. And

It it takes down that layer of introverted type anus that a lot of importers exporters have, and they can then connect with people on a real level. And so for me, the next question was like if ICK didn’t exist, what would the trade industry lose? And that one also just rolled right off my tongue. they would lose their heart, their their family, right? Like we love and appreciate what AAI does. There’s no question. They are lobbying for the better.

for the future of international trade. And that is not something we ever want to get in, right? Lynda. Like you ain’t gonna see me and Lynda on Capitol Hill. Okay. don’t I don’t don’t want any part of that. But there’s a yeah, that would be fun. Yeah, we could do that. Yeah. Like, yeah, we’re we’re waiting for the night at the museum, right? For them to come alive. I mean, that’s more our speed. And so but what mom and Lynda created was a family, you know, a family reunion that you want to go to. That’s what my mom used to say. And I didn’t understand that.

Lynda Thomas (57:06.622)
Right. Now.

We might be at the Smithsonian, but no, that’s about it.

Lynda Thomas (57:19.628)
Yeah.

Elisabeth Sherrell (57:31.626)
As much for the last 20 years as I did driving to San Antonio after she passed, because that was by far the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life was to go and carry on this legacy. But I knew when I got there that Lynda was gonna be there and Jamie Adams was gonna be there and la and and and and Bonnie Kirsch was gonna be there and and all these people were gonna be there that I’ve grown up with.

that were my family that that support me and have supported me through this what I thought was an impossible transition, right? And so that for me, this is the that is the that is what I have to protect, right? And so that is a huge responsibility. but that’s why there is this drive to do these other things, right? So like Victoria was saying we’re we are we’re we’re

having our first Mexico conference this November. and I did get your emails about that, Lalo. I’m going to respond. Because Lalo’s like, hey, Mexico. I you know, but Lalo knows me because I tell Lala all the time, look, Lalo, I’m gonna have an idea on a Tuesday and it’s gonna be in motion by Friday. Okay. And it’s and it’s gonna be a little bit broken, but we’re gonna be running down the road and sprinting. And Lalo is gonna be a very strategic partner in this. There’s no question, because of the cross border work that he does there in

I’m gonna say Laredo. Is that wrong? Are you in Laredo? Uh-oh. El Paso! Dang it. Okay, that’s okay. There’s a lot of border stuff here in Texas. It’s big state. So, but yeah, so he’s gonna be, but but last year we went with MIC, we kind of tagged onto their event and we saw that there was a need, right? And I’ve believed that there’s been a need for the last six or seven years. This is something that me and Jim Ervin our president, believed was a need. But like.

Lalo (59:02.66)
El Paso

Lynda Thomas (59:04.43)
Yeah.

Elisabeth Sherrell (59:24.715)
I’m like Victoria said, there were a lot of things my mom said, you could this is just this is what she said. You could do that after I’m dead. I mean, that’s how my mom was. She was extremely blunt. And so she felt like Mexico was not safe and she didn’t want I just think mostly she didn’t want me to go down there because as a mom, I get it. Like, you know, you you just want your children to be safe. But we have worked with Mexico City, we’ve got great partners, and it’s like anything.

You just be aware of your surroundings wherever you go, right? Like that is something that that we have to take into consideration. But we also know this USMCA situation is so important because no matter what the administration decides, these companies that that do business here in the United States and also do it in Mexico or also do it in Canada, they gotta figure something out. And so

We know that the the the there is a need for ICPA education in Mexico. So we will be there this November. and we will be there next I’m trying to think how this goes. Yeah, next November and then we will move it to August because we have to go we have to go back to Asia Pacific as well. So I’ll just let all the cats out of the bag. I don’t however many you want to share, Lalo, that’s up to you, but

Lalo (01:00:42.11)
Yeah.

Elisabeth Sherrell (01:00:42.491)
we, you know, we post COVID, we quit going to Shanghai. But if you for those of you that know, ICPA did do events in Shanghai and Singapore fairly successfully for for years before that. And so we do need to also return back to the Asia Pacific region. It is it is a level of education for trade compliance that we don’t see being replicated by other organizations and and the way that we do it and the way that

The brand is designed. it it’s unique. And I and I I know that because I’ve done it in Europe for the last five or six years. And one of the things that several European attendees have come up to me afterwards and said is they just appreciate the

the the humor that I brought to it, not even meaning to, because it helped them relax and then they were able to connect with other people. And that just goes right back to the origin, the heart of what mom and Lynda built is it’s as much about the network as it is the education. because I’ll go back to what I first said, because when you hit a personal low, you will have no doubt made friends in this association.

That will be there for you. I mean, I could think Blaine Carroll and Tina Fanfera. I think they owe their lifelong friendship and relationship to ICPA. I think they would tell you that, I believe. That’s what we’d tell me on our cruise, but you know.

Lynda Thomas (01:02:12.59)
Well, and look at your mom and me, two introverts with a capital I. I mean, if you ever watched us at the reception, we were good for maybe an hour. And then one of us would say to the other, hey, you’re ready to go, right? But together, together, we could overcome that. And we were, I think, together, both of us a little less introverted because we had each other. And so.

Elisabeth Sherrell (01:02:15.926)
Yeah.

Lynda Thomas (01:02:40.43)
That also too, I feel like, you you make your friends, you have your network and your ICPA people and you lift each other up and you make each other better because, you know, together you can be a great team. Whereas individually, you know, maybe you’re little lacking in some things. And I think that’s why it works so well with your mom and me is because, yeah, we just like made each other better. Although we were very much, you know, we’re very similar in a lot of ways.

Elisabeth Sherrell (01:03:08.235)
Yeah, no, I agree. And I think that that is I I see more introverts in this field, successful in this field, than I do extroverts. And so I think that ICP Yeah. Yeah, there’s actually a third one, right, Lynda?

Lynda Thomas (01:03:21.368)
We’re going to have a session on that.

Well, I’m doing one on networking for introverts, but I’m going to talk about introverts and extroverts and how do you work in each other’s worlds.

Elisabeth Sherrell (01:03:37.271)
Y yeah, and and she found a third like a what’s it called? An ambivert or something? Yeah, yeah.

Lynda Thomas (01:03:40.635)
and ambivert, yeah, ambivert. Because everything’s like on a spectrum, right? But yeah, I’m going to talk about, you know, in the professional development track, I’m going to talk about, yeah, you know, introverts are the minority, right? But then so how do you function in an extroverted world? And from an extrovert standpoint, you know, how can you value the introverts in your world, right? You know, because we need each other.

Elisabeth Sherrell (01:04:07.185)
Agree, agree. All right. Well what is that the new stuff that we were gonna share with everybody?

Victoria Schneider (01:04:12.754)
Yeah, I think that’s it.

Elisabeth Sherrell (01:04:14.935)
We got our 25th anniversary coming up next year. I know that that that there was some confusion about that. I’m trying to pull this up because I know it’s

Victoria Schneider (01:04:28.997)
Twenty five years of being founded.

Elisabeth Sherrell (01:04:33.215)
Yes, it’s

Victoria Schneider (01:04:33.991)
Not of not twenty five years of events.

Elisabeth Sherrell (01:04:37.063)
Yeah, that’s what I was trying to right. There that’s right. There it was. on this day, August nineteenth of two thousand and two, Ann Lister, Lynda Thomas, and Robert J. Pisani signed the papers to officially incorporate ICPA. So her birthday, her incorporation birthday is twenty-five years is next year, and we are gonna go big and we’re gonna I just need you to know that Disney is our inspiration. And so if we need to celebrate the first meeting at

Victoria Schneider (01:04:38.569)
But when the paper was signed, the ICPA

Elisabeth Sherrell (01:05:06.719)
you know, the first official meeting at the Lake Worth Applebees the following year. I just need everybody to know that we are gonna celebrate this, until I’m gone. So

Lynda Thomas (01:05:16.92)
Maybe we need a Facebook Live at the Applebee’s to commemorate.

Elisabeth Sherrell (01:05:22.199)
that sounds great. I d Applebee’s is just why y’all love it it used to be better back in the day. Swan everybody know that ’cause it’s just really not.

Victoria Schneider (01:05:29.597)
Everything used to be better. Chili’s used to be better. Taco Bueno used to be better. Sonic used to be better.

Lynda Thomas (01:05:32.108)
Yeah, it was it was kind of central between where where your mom lived and where I lived. So it was a good meeting point.

Victoria Schneider (01:05:43.101)
No, and by the way, not central at all.

Elisabeth Sherrell (01:05:43.104)
Yeah.

No. Not for

Lynda Thomas (01:05:46.392)
Well, yeah.

Victoria Schneider (01:05:48.062)
was she just I think she very much enjoyed getting off of the farm. So she did not mind driving, which I understand, but I tell people I’m gonna go into Lake Worth and they’re like, that’s not far. No, it is. It’s like forty minutes.

Lynda Thomas (01:05:53.684)
Yes. Yes.

Lynda Thomas (01:06:00.875)
It is. Yeah, it wasn’t bad for me. You’re right.

Victoria Schneider (01:06:04.521)
No, no, no.

Victoria Schneider (01:06:08.154)
yeah.

Elisabeth Sherrell (01:06:09.309)
Alright, well, what do you think, Lolo?

Lalo (01:06:11.88)
Y’all do great. We’ve been me and producer Mara have been sending messages back and forth about some ideas. It’s gonna be perfect. Don’t worry. We can break it up. Yeah, we can break it up. if you wanna wrap up, Victoria, just by saying, you know, like one last thing and just say, you know, like you know, we can’t wait to see you. Or if you can’t make it, just join ICPA, you know, you can probably say it’s free for the first year. I

Lynda Thomas (01:06:19.566)
Okay, good.

Elisabeth Sherrell (01:06:38.188)
Mm-hmm.

Lalo (01:06:39.708)
I if it is, I don’t know if it still is or not or whatever, you know, but you know, wrap up that way. and then say, check the show notes for contact information. y you’ll get all that and if you need to reach out, you know you know, that kind of stuff. If you if you’d like to just wrap up that way.

Elisabeth Sherrell (01:06:42.017)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Victoria Schneider (01:06:58.357)
Okay, I’m gonna give it my shot here. Okay, so I I have the memory of a goldfish, by the way. So okay, I’m just gonna okay. that’s why I do so well off the fly, because I don’t remember anything I was going to say. Okay, so that is a wrap for us. we are super excited to see you at the Global Trade Pathways Conference this September. whether you’re going to attend in person or virtually, it is all the same experience. we’d love to see you in person.

Lalo (01:07:00.403)
Go for it.

Victoria Schneider (01:07:26.175)
We got the boot scootin’ boogie theme of the western grapevine, Texas. So we’re super excited for that and all of the amazing things that offers. and make sure to check the note. Okay, remind me again of that part. The show notes. Okay, okay. So let me start over. Okay. See, I’m telling you, my memory when I have a script if I’m I’m gonna need post this around me. Okay.

Lalo (01:07:39.858)
The show notes? The podcast show notes? Yes, uh-huh.

Lalo (01:07:49.684)
Worries.

Elisabeth Sherrell (01:07:52.863)
Mm.

Victoria Schneider (01:07:57.757)
Okay, perfect. Okay, so make sure to check the show notes if you have any questions. If you want to contact us, we would love to hear from you.

Lalo (01:08:06.793)
Thank you, ladies.

Victoria Schneider (01:08:07.028)
All good? Okay.