What does it take to be a woman entrepreneur in a male-dominated industry? A visionary, break glass ceiling, a revolutionary, along with the determination to be a self-made business owner?

Patricia Mendez, investor, visionary, entrepreneur, Founder and CEO with extensive technology expertise gained from her tenure at Cisco Systems. knows the personal struggles and sacrifices needed to be a successful woman in business. For the past eight years, she has served as an unpaid CEO, reinvesting all profits into scaling her businesses.

Except for purchasing her Porsche dream car in 2021, Mendez has been living extremely frugally off the other investments she has made. While it is challenging to run a business, Mendez exceeds expectations by running four different companies simultaneously. BA Logistics Group, a third-party logistics (3PL) company focusing on making substantial Investments not only in top-of-the-line brokerage technology but also in developing groundbreaking alternative technologies.

Her BA Fast Freight Group, a transportation company providing reliable, affordable services, is one of the world's leading asset-based supply chain management companies, designing and implementing industry-leading solutions in freight management. Working closely with the seven major port hubs in the U.S., including Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland, Savannah, Houston, New York, and New Jersey, this company has outstood in delivering operational excellence.

Her next venture BAM Chassis is one of the leading chassis leased providers, streamlining drayage and intermodal needs. In addition to it, she is also set to launch A2ZPort, referred to by her as ‘The Travelocity of Containers’ in September 2023 at the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA) Expo in Long Beach, California.

What sets these companies apart from their competitors is that they are Women-Owned Minority companies prioritizing software as a service (Saas) with a focus on diversity and inclusion. Leading the pack in a traditionally male-dominated field, Mendez holds the title: Top Drayage Service Providers of 2023, awarded by Logistics Transportation Review Magazine. Other logistic moguls should take note of her innovation and technological savvy as she continues to rise and expand. Mendez currently has a total of 11 offices in U.S. located in California, Texas, Georgia, New York, and Illinois. In addition, her rapidly advancing company has a worldwide employee basis, including Brazil, South Korea, Taiwan, and Norway. Mendez believes that one of the keys to her success is, ‘Having the right people in place.’ She doesn’t believe in coincidences and feels very blessed with all the success she has attained.

How it Began: Overcoming Adversity

When Mendez started her business, she worked at Cisco System, after relocating to California from Texas with her husband and two young kids in 2015. She found it very difficult to open her first business, and complications arose when her husband got herniated disc, shortly after receiving his CDL. This, unfortunately, did not allow him to work within the first year of the business venture. While they were looking for the right doctors in both the states and in other countries, medical bills began racking up.

Despite the struggle, she has zero regrets about working and helping her husband find the right medical treatments, which was necessary in order for her husband and the father of her children to live a normal life.

During all of this, she was developing a business plan to scale and create subsidiaries, utilizing her networks in technology comprised of closed personal friends to make an impact in the logistics world.

During 2020 when the world was in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mendez found herself asking, “How do I picture my life going forward?” and “What can we do to make a bigger difference?” She needed financial freedom and the ability to provide her children with the necessities of life and higher levels of opportunity, just as she had as an only child raised by her successful Civil Engineer father. It was when her father died that she felt she had no other choice but to succeed.

Her only driving force was to give her children a better future. That’s when she found both opportunity and potential for growth in logistics. It was then she decided to start her first business BA Fast Freight Group, and subsequently launched multiple companies that align with her vision of a comprehensive logistics brokerage organization encompassing everything a client would need to transport freight under one giant conglomerate.

BA Logistics Group, another one of Mendez’s businesses, aims to become one of the biggest 3PL transportation brokerages.

Perseverance

Staying focused on her goals, Mendez noticed a lack of technology that didn’t seem to keep up with the times. Observing how other logistic companies worked, she believed that she could create something superior. She envisioned running the logistics business more efficiently by incorporating better technology, making it easier for the customers to secure port appointments for their freight.

That is where A2ZPort comes in.

A2ZPort launching in September, allows the customer to reserve an appointment slot at the port terminals. This provides carriers, freight brokerages and shippers with a seamless experience and also reduces perdiem and demurrage charges. This makes managing freight deliveries more reliable, allowing for easier access to the customer and making the process much more efficient than it has ever been before.

This marks a revolutionary change in the industry. It has never been done before, and it will change the way logistics is managed forever. This is just the beginning of a new era for the industry. This revolutionary change in technology calls for more companies to arise, which in turn demands employees to do technical support for businesses all over the world. Her companies are growing rapidly, and the support needed to meet the demand is also rising simultaneously. Being solution-focused, Mendez will be opening a software engineering firm in Brazil and Colombia later this year to support the forward momentum the businesses are taking.

“We need to expand, and we need engineers to handle software,” says Mendez before explaining her two more Software companies, are in progress and anticipated to launch by 2025.

Her passion for the industry is still unflawed, and she is excited to exclaim, “We are creating something revolutionary.”

Making business more efficient, modern, and user-friendly to optimize the full experience and to create a one-stop shop for all things in the logistics industry is just part of Mendez ultimate vision. She has created numerous job opportunities worldwide and not just basic, low-level jobs, but opportunities for people to grow and advance their careers to support their families. She has created opportunity so that no matter where you come from, what gender you are, race, or religion you choose to be if you have the willingness to learn and the drive to succeed, you have an equal opportunity for success.

The advancement and incorporation of technology is a huge piece of her business plan. However, like any other organization, there are other areas of business that need to be focused on.

“Being a Women-owned minority- brokerage and software (Saas) company, I have a unique opportunity to lead by example and create a workplace culture that values and supports people from diverse backgrounds. By prioritizing diversity and inclusion in all of our companies, we aim to create a workplace that not only benefits our employees but also attracts and retains clients who value the same principles,” says Mendez.

“To Motivate the Next Generation, You Must Live by Example.” She says Mendez’s story is nothing short of living the American Dream, creating something out of nothing, and putting her heart and soul into every aspect of what she intended to do. This dream came to fruition despite the family's medical illness, job transitions, relocations, uprooting, and the challenges of starting over. It is with focused tenacity that she persevered through both personal and professional challenges. Her success created not only job opportunities and financial freedom, but also a way to inspire others.

She sticks to her belief that overcomes the negative talk both from you and others. Ignore the naysayers. Find yourself a mentor or someone that has traveled that road before you and learn from them. Surround yourself with people that will lift you up. You never know what opportunities can come your way. For Mendez, one of her close friends is currently the Chief Technology Officer of all her companies.

There are not a lot of women working in this field which provides is a great opportunity to break into providing a limitless potential for growth. Take time to invest in yourself.

In addition to all these ventures, she is also an investor in real estate, buying, renovating, and selling homes in Texas. Mendez continues to grow her businesses; she is looking for speaking engagements to help encourage young entrepreneurs through her exceptional journey of achieving goals. She loves her life and has no regrets. She believes people come in and out of your life not by chance but to teach you a lesson and to learn. Each opportunity is a chance for learning and growth. Growing these businesses not only offered her the financial freedom she was seeking for her and her family but also helped numerous people around the world reach that same goal. By building, growing, and following her dreams, she has truly made a significant impact in the industry and globally. You can achieve anything you set your mind to. As for Mendez, she will continue to move the world forward.