For Mitch Luciano, inspiration comes in a double dose during the morning.
The CEO of Jacksonville-based Trailer Bridge, a full-service transportation company, says he awakens at 5:30 a.m. to walk on the beach and then make breakfast and lunch for his school-age children.
“I get the biggest kick out of it,” he said of preparing his kids’ meals, “because then I get to find out what they’ve learned, or how they liked their lunch.”
Luciano describes his children, who range from ages 5 to 24, as the basis of his success.
“My No. 1 thing is I have five kids, and they’re my life,” he said. “The people at work, I think they love me more because they know that’s the most important thing in my life,” he said.
Luciano’s professional accomplishments include establishing a people-first culture at Trailer Bridge while leading strategic growth and diversifying services from Puerto Rico shipping to a full-suite global logistics provider.
He also co-founded the Rally for Kate Charity Golf Tournament, which has raised more than $200,000 for childhood cancer research. The tournament benefits the Kate Amato Foundation, named after a Jacksonville Beach girl who died at age 11 two years after being diagnosed with a soft tissue cancer.
Luciano answers quickly when asked if he considers himself a trailblazer.
“Absolutely not,” he said. “I think that my team and my work family is what has created this opportunity for me to be here today, and so giving an open environment for them to succeed allows an opportunity for me to sit here right now.”
He says his biggest risk was making a move to Bentonville, Arkansas, during the early 2000s for a logistics management position. He said he accepted the job even before telling his wife at the time that it involved a relocation.
“From that one job I created three new companies, and then I got the opportunity here at Trailer Bridge myself,” he said. “But the biggest risk was a huge, huge win.”