A Time for Community

August 6, 2015

Katie Franklin had just become a mother to a beautiful baby boy-already a big commitment, maybe the biggest of her life. She was married. She had a busy professional life as a FedEx Ground pickup and delivery manager at a local facility in Tennessee.

And now Katie had a chance to join Leadership Wilson, a Wilson County, Tennessee non-profit community leadership organization, which melded perfectly with her plan to be more involved in her community. She didn't just want to sign up for a variety of different events, help for several hours and then go home. She wanted to be invested.

Did Katie really have time, though, in her busy life for such a commitment to her community? Could she possibly be this invested in the community and still have time for work and, most importantly, family?

It was the same excuses, like the ones she told herself about working out.

I'm too tired to work out. I don't have enough time.

However, eventually you realize that a successful workout begins with proper planning, and, ultimately, when you work out you get more energy, you feel better and you can do more, have more experiences, each day.

Like Katie's workouts, she researched, and she planned. And Katie found Leadership Wilson.

A yearlong commitment, being one of the 30 annual Leadership Wilson members means meeting and engaging with other professionals and being an active leader in the community of Wilson County. It means committing to ten additional community involvement activities within the year, everything from mentoring local college students to attending classes and seminars to learning about important segments of the county, including government, health care and social services.

With a supportive husband at home, supportive management and a FedEx culture of continuous improvement, Katie graduated from Leadership Wilson with the realization that being invested in the community is all about learning how much she is loved and supported by her family and FedEx.

With the world headquarters in Memphis on one end of the state to the new Knoxville building under construction on the other end, Tennessee is home for so many FedEx team members. Therefore, making a difference in places like Wilson County throughout the state is not just important to Katie; it's also vital to FedEx. In Wilson County, where a brand new 300,000-square-foot FedEx Ground facility is under construction in Mt. Juliet, FedEx has solidified its connection to Leadership Wilson with a sponsorship of $8,000.

In Mt. Juliet, Wilson County and across the FedEx network, team members like Katie are making time for their communities, learning from the leaders of today and cultivating the leaders of tomorrow.

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