Business alumnus puts people first – and thrives

The CEO of one of Miami’s leading international distribution and global transportation management companies earned an undergraduate degree from FIU in 2004 and soon after got a comeuppance.

He arrived on day one to work at the family-owned business founded by his Chilean immigrant grandfather only to have his own father question his choice of attire.

“I came in a shirt and tie, looking like a businessman,” Sean Gazitua remembers, “and my father says, ‘Okay. Tomorrow, wear shorts, a T-shirt and tennis shoes.’”

For the next year, the company scion unloaded shipping containers. Twelve months in, he got a promotion - to forklift driver.

And his response to starting out at the bottom?

He loved it, says the head of WTDC. And thank goodness. Some 21 years later, his firsthand experience with hauling freight has come in handy, at least in terms of the big picture: Over the past several weeks, the executive has juggled a 10-fold growth in interest in his company’s services. That’s a 1,000% increase in domestic businesses seeking to wait out runaway tariffs by parking their incoming shipments in his 136,500-square-foot foreign trade zone-designated warehouse. There, products such as electronics, IT and networking equipment, auto parts and more can live duty-free until they enter the U.S. market.

Exciting times for sure, but Gazitua has less to say about the financial and worldwide implications of the international trade war – beyond that the latest technology and his excellent staff will more than meet the moment – than he does about the people-centered culture he has created as a third-generation leader.

The firm serves as a customs broker and freight forwarder and last year moved between $600 million and $700 million in goods. (He is audited annually by both the Department of Commerce and, for compliance, by the Department of Homeland Security.) But Gazitua prefers to talk about the company’s “four pillars” - God and family, health and education, community and, lastly, work – that he contends drive everything.

PUTTING HIS MONEY WHERE HIS MOUTH IS

“Your actions speak louder than your words,” Gazitua says of how he translates company values into the real world.

That starts with investing in his employees, he explains, and making them the center of his focus.

At WTDC, Gazitua has encouraged a monthly onsite prayer group for those so inclined and invites workers and their families to accompany him on quarterly visits to local houses of worship of various faiths, donation in hand – “to see that we're not so different,” he explains. He pays 100% of workers’ health insurance premiums, including for vision and dental coverage, and defrays tuition for any professional credentials or related educational opportunities anyone wishes to pursue. He turned unused office space into a spa for staff, complete with a sauna, a cold plunge tub, a massage room and showers. Did we mention the yoga instruction and sound meditation sessions he pays for?

“You're at work longer than you are awake at home with your family and friends,” Gazitua explains of why he makes available high-quality amenities that he believes contribute to employees’ well-being, high morale and low turnover.

He also provides gas and lunch money to take the sting out of rising expenses and hands bonuses of up to $250 monthly to top performers, a group that can include fully 50% of his 25-person staff, all of whom are invited to a an awards ceremony every first Friday that includes a catered lunch. Gazitua also lifts up vendors at the same event by recognizing those who provide exceptional trucking or IT services or the folks who keep WTDC stocked with boxes, wood pallets and other warehouse supplies.

LIFE-IMPACTING INFLUENCES

Gazitua talks up the example set by his family. That goes as far back as his immigrant grandmother, who was from Spain and started the precursor to WTDC with her husband. She collected clothing and other goods and relied on her connections with a cargo shipping company to send them to the needy in Guatemala, Gazitua recounts.

Today, WTDC’s focus on giving back remains a priority. The company and its employees participate in pajama, school supply and toy drives, hurricane-season water deliveries and Thanksgiving food donations in support of a residential community for abused and neglected youngsters, a shelter for women and children and a program that strengthens the bonds between the incarcerated and their kids. Teams annually enter 5Ks to raise awareness of breast cancer and funds for pediatric cancer research.

Another source of inspiration: the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity Gazitua joined freshman year and that he continues to serve as a foundation vice president. He credits his membership with complementing much of what his family instilled in him.

“We have something called the balanced man program,” he says of the fraternity, “sound mind, sound body.”

That motto resonated with him because his father – a Catholic deacon who included a third component in the equation, “spirit” - had always emphasized the same. “This is exactly who I am,” Gazitua says of the holistic approach he takes in the workplace.

TEACHING THE NEXT GENERATION

David Wernick teaches international business and says WTDC “really walks the walk.”

Gazitua financially supports the International Business Honor Society, of which Wernick is the faculty director, and its project to assist women artisans in India in a self-sustainable microenterprise. He also speaks to Wernick’s students about international logistics and, invariably, his guiding principles.

“Sean loves to discuss the human side to the business, and it's clear that it's authentic,” Wernick says of what often resonates with the young people in his classes. “They find it refreshing that it's not only about making the sale, the quarterly earnings and the bottom line.”

The professor says he has sent upwards of a dozen students to WTDC for internships, during which time they learn the nuts and bolts of the import-export industry, including how to file customs paperwork, clear shipments and move cargo from point A to point B. “They get a real nuanced view of international trade and an understanding of it that you just can't really get from a textbook,” he says.

Senior Fernando G. Menendez started at WTDC as an operations intern and later took a part-time position as an account specialist and eventually a sales and marketing associate while completing his bachelor’s degree in finance. He has both learned the ropes of the international logistics industry and directly experienced how a forward-thinking leader can embrace corporate responsibility.

“Being able to see the inside of the company from different departments, you get a pretty broad idea of . . . the wider world, the policies that revolve around international business and affect our financials and our customer base,” Menendez says.

On a personal level, he appreciates that WTDC took a chance on him. “I was a freshman. I really didn't have that much of an idea of what I wanted to do with my career,” he says, “but this gave me the opportunity grow.” And, he adds, looking up to Gazitua and seeing him involved in the community and connected to FIU inspires him to want to do the same.

TAKING CARE OF FIU

These days, Gazitua has a wide influence on his alma mater as the president of the Alumni Association Board of Directors. The group strives to create a vibrant and supportive network that contributes to the university’s success. His leadership has energized the board, says Sara DuCuennois, the associate vice president for Alumni Relations.

“He’s that person that gets excited, informed, engaged,” she says. “These are individuals who don’t hesitate to give us their time to make us better. It comes from the heart,” she explains of folks who serve as ambassadors and advocates for FIU. “Sean is really at the center of that and has been for a long time.”

DuCuennois credits Gazitua with starting a “knowledge series” that regularly brings board members together online to learn directly from researchers and directors about projects and areas at the university too few hear about, including the status of campus construction and new initiatives.

For the CEO, it’s a labor of love.

“I've gained so much from FIU and had so many positive experiences,” he says of staying active even as business heats up. “You have to give back.”

Lucky for the rest of us, this dedicated Panther considers it an easy lift.