Q & A with Fielding Alderman

Congratulations on the great achievement of being elected the 2023-24 president of Southern Wholesalers Association (SWA). What do you hope to achieve during your term?

I would first say that I am more than honored and humbled to have been chosen to serve on the SWA executive committee. There are many great leaders within our industry who have served before me, and it is an absolute honor to follow in their footsteps.

My goal is to continue significantly enhancing the growth of SWA – from our membership of distributors, manufacturers, and reps – to the offerings we have within SWA for our membership. We will stay focused on truly understanding and listening to what our SWA membership sees as value within the association and working to enhance what we are bringing to them.

This will ultimately help the recruitment efforts in bringing new members to SWA or getting current members who are not actively involved back involved in the association. At the end of the day, our industry is all about relationships – and when we can grow an association that will help you develop your professional network and develop real partnerships within the industry – that’s when we all win together.

Tell us about your career background and how you got into the industry.

I was fortunate enough to be recruited by PDI right out of college to go through our corporate training program. Coming out of college with a degree in supply chain management in 2012, I assumed I would be going to work for one of the big 3PL companies – and that almost happened! It wasn’t until I had the opportunity to interview with PDI that I realized there was more opportunity within the supply chain field than just logistics.

I was hired at PDI on June 6, 2012, and spent the next 18 months getting a serious education on our business and our industry. Going through our training program gave me the ability to spend time in every aspect of our business. Really learning why we do what we do and how we do what we do. I attribute much of my success to this program and all of the people at PDI who have poured in to me over the years invaluable knowledge and wisdom.

After completing the training program, I spent time in inside sales, followed by a few years on the showroom side of our business managing multiple showrooms and growing that division, followed by time spent as our purchasing manager. In 2016, I was named PDI’s general manager, and in January 2022, I was promoted to executive vice president and general manager – focused on leading and running our day-to-day business. It’s also safe to say that my success in my career thus far is because of the foundation of hard-work and sense of values and morals my parents instilled in me from an early age, as well as all the individuals (some in the industry and some not) that have taken the time over the years to educate me on business, life, and everything in between.

The SWA Conferences are known for the valuable information sessions as well as the camaraderie and friendships among members. For readers who may not be familiar with SWA, explain the significance of the organization to the industry and its members. Why is it important for members to participate in conferences?

SWA is focused on being a regional platform to give our membership a foundation to work off of and to attack the challenges that are and will be affecting our industry and individual businesses. Whether it be through the intentional internal groups such as our leadership development, women in leadership or supplier advisory councils or the best practice roundtables, we give members the ability to have meaningful discussions around improving their respective businesses.

SWA also focuses on bringing relevant outside speakers to our conventions to bring real information that our membership can use to grow their businesses. All that surrounding the incredible industry networking ability that each member has every time they come to any SWA event.

For those considering joining SWA can you share some benefits?

To anyone thinking about joining SWA I would say it’s an absolute must. Our marketplace is ever-changing which drives change in our industry and our association plays a vital role in giving the ability to spend quality time with your fellow industry peers to really tackle the challenges that we all face together. Even though we may run separate businesses and have focuses in different markets, we all have similar challenges and the future of our industry hinges on us being able to solve these challenges effectively. Ultimately, you will get out of our industry what you put into our industry. That’s why it’s as important now as it’s ever been to get involved and stay active in the associations that drive and help shape the future of our industry.

What can you tell us about how the industry has changed since 2020? And where you think it is headed?

The speed in which things are moving and changing is faster now than it’s ever been, and we have to be prepared to adapt quickly and pivot where needed to ensure we are not only keeping up with the changes, but in many ways leading change.

With that, there are many serious headwinds we must prepare to face as independent distributors today and I’m not sure it’s fair to say one takes precedence over another. The one common theme is going to be how each change truly affects our people and what we are doing to mitigate these challenges and prepare our people for long-term success. From consolidation in the industry as a whole, true fragility of our supply chain, improving the speed and transfer of data, to recruiting and preparing the next generation of leaders – we have our work cut out for us, but we also have a great opportunity to highlight the resilience and entrepreneurial spirit that exists within independent distribution as we work to solve these challenges. It’s important we understand that we collectively have the ability to change our industry moving forward to combat the tremendous outside pressures facing whole distribution as it sits today. At the end of the day we must recognize the changing needs of our customers and continue implementing practices that best serve those needs.

Is there any advice you would give to yourself when you started out in this industry? If so, what would it be?

I enjoy the people within our industry – whether that is my incredible fellow employees at PDI, our customers, our reps, our manufacturers, or our fellow distributors – our industry has a one-big-family feel. I was told when I first got started at PDI and really started to get introduced to our industry that once you get in, you can never get out. I absolutely believe this is true, but it’s because of the people – our industry is special, and it’s our willingness and desire to dedicate time and energy back into the success of our industry as a whole that makes it that way.

The best advice I could ever go back and give myself is to take every experience and every interaction as an opportunity to learn and then give back as much, if not more, to others: focus on filling your personal buckets in a specific order over the course of time and your career

One, what you know (your knowledge). Two, what you can do (your skills). Three, who you know (your network). Four, what you have (your resources) Five, what the world thinks of you (your reputation) – focus on filling your buckets in order, and know that as each bucket fills it will overflow exponentially into the next.

Also, and probably the most important – life is short and precious, make sure you always have your priorities aligned; the most precious resource is time and do something meaningful with it, and never take your loved ones for granted.

What would people be surprised to know about you? Favorite ways to relax?

I enjoy cooking – especially anything to do with being outside using a grill or really anything related to BBQ. It’s rare that my family and I are home on a nice day and I don’t have the grill fired up – trying out a new recipe or working to perfect some old recipes are always on the docket. More than anything, I’m relaxing when I’m spending time at home or traveling with my family – my wife Brooke, my 4-year-old daughter Kennedy, and my 2-year-old son Fields.