Blythe Brumleve

Spire Maritime is recognizing extraordinary people in the maritime industry. We’re highlighting people working to achieve extraordinary tasks and raise awareness about freight logistics to not only build a better maritime industry, but also to create more sustainable operations.

If you haven’t heard about supply chain challenges and freight logistics issues, you haven’t been paying attention and you certainly haven’t tuned-in to Cyberly, a podcast hosted by Blythe Brumleve, on FreightWaves. Blythe also leads a logistics marketing agency, Digital Dispatch, where she helps logistics companies stand out and win business by offering a strong digital foundation, worry-free web services, and ongoing marketing education to shorten sales cycles and amplify brand awareness. Keeping busy and managing multiple tasks is a skill she honed as a former sports and entertainment broadcaster. Because of her relentless dedication to solving logistics challenges, we’re recognizing Blythe Brumleve as a Maritime Star.

As a busy entrepreneur living in Jacksonville, Florida, Blythe describes the first year of working for herself as “an amazing, challenging, frightening, and fascinating journey.” Her logistics marketing agency is thriving after its first year developing premium website templates, content planners, workflows, and consulting on web/marketing strategy. Blythe is committed to logistics and recently took a strong interest in the maritime industry because it presents “new logistics problems to solve.” As a natural problem solver, she loves the challenge of helping her clients get the word out on how they solve these unique problems.

Blythe Brumleve draws her expertise from more than a decade in the transportation and trucking industry; handling the digital media for several companies in the industry before venturing off on her own. After founding Brumleve Brands in 2016, she learned the transportation industry needed its own marketing and web platform built specifically for their needs, so she founded Digital Dispatch.

We sat down with Blythe and asked her a few personal questions to get to know this Maritime Star on a more personal level. Here’s a bit of that conversation:

Question: What are your recommended places to eat at or visit in your city?
Blythe: The beautiful beaches! And then grab a bite to eat at Safe Harbor Seafood or Silkies- Champagne and Chicken Bar. Oprah (yes, that Oprah) has a personal chef for the holidays and this guy – Chef Kenny Gilbert- opened up a restaurant two blocks from my house focusing on global inspiration for classic fried chicken. Oh, and they have lots of champagne.

Question: Where do you find your inspiration?
Blythe: This might sound weird, but ancient human civilizations. I love reading/watching documentaries about the Incas, Mayans, Egyptians, Persian Empire, Babylonians, etc….It’s unbelievable how similar our society is today (good and bad) compared to folks who roamed the planet thousands of years ago. How they treated new innovations, the adoption of new ideas, debating in the moral times square. It’s all a fantastic deep dive into human psychology and you realize how similar we all are.

Question: Who are some of your heroes and why?
Blythe: Sara Blakely, founder of Spanx. She worked full-time selling fax machines door-to-door, and was upset when the company required her to wear pantyhose. She hated that the seam showed while wearing open-toed shoes, so she cut off the feet of the panty hose and Spanx was eventually born. She attempted to sell the product to hosiery manufacturers all over the country, but discovered that the companies were led by men who didn’t know the product they were selling. So, she used her life savings ($5,000) to start a business, wrote the patent herself, and eventually found a manufacturer who believed in her idea because his three daughters were excited about it. Today she’s a billionaire, listed as one of the most powerful women in the world and she’s launched a foundation to help women through education and entrepreneurial training. She’s also from Florida!

Question: What’s the single most important thing people should know about your field? (The long-term potential, surprising applications, a misconception debunked, etc.)
Blythe: Good content takes time to compound interest. But if you’re patient, the snowball effect is incredible.

Question: What is your favorite port of call & why?
Blythe: Being from Jacksonville, I have to give a shoutout to Jaxport!

Question: What is your favorite ship type and why?
Blythe: I once participated in the Navy’s DV EMBARK program where I got the opportunity to land, stay on board, and take off from a nuclear aircraft carrier at sea. So I’d have to say the USS Harry S. Truman for that very reason. One of the best experiences of my life and gave me a whole new appreciation for our men and women who serve.

Question: If you were shipwrecked and left stranded on an island, what things would you want to have with you?
Blythe: Chapstick, preloaded ipad with books and survival guides, solar charger with wifi, face moisturizer, sunscreen, hammock, a big knife, magnifying glass, water shoes, lifestraw, mirror, and if i’m lucky, a change of clothes (is now a good time to mention I have a bug out bag?)

Question: What is one change you would like to see happen in the Maritime industry?
Blythe: The treatment of port drivers.

Question: What is your favorite Cause?
Blythe: Feeding Northeast Florida.

Question: Book, Movie, or Film Recommendation?
Blythe: The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Thank you Blythe!

A big thank you to Blythe for taking the time to meet with us and for her extraordinary efforts to raise awareness about freight logistics. Your efforts truly make you a Maritime Star!

Learn more about Blythe at LinkedIn – Podcast – TikTok – YouTube