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U.S. tariffs didn’t just shake the retail giants this year — they cracked the small businesses holding up Main Street. In this episode, Gia breaks down how sudden policy flip-flops are forcing small retailers into production halts, supplier switches, inventory shortages, higher costs, and heartbreaking layoffs… all during the most critical season of the year.

Featuring reporting and insights from Reuters, Business Insider, Fortune, Retail Dive, PYMNTS, and The Guardian, this episode pulls back the curtain on the human side of trade policy — the late-night emails, the sourcing crises, the shipping delays, and the quiet exhaustion behind “Out of Stock.”

Small businesses don’t have the buffer the big-box chains do… so every tariff bump lands like a gut punch. And this holiday season? Many won’t recover.

Gia breaks it down with truth, grit, and the logistics perspective few ever hear.

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Sometimes the biggest moments don’t hit all at once — they ask you to sit with them.

In this short update from the crossroads, I’m sharing some news that still feels unreal: Holding the Line: A Logistics at a Crossroads is heading to Podfest 2026 in Orlando after winning the Buzzsprout Creator Pass.

This episode reflects on where this podcast began — quiet conversations at a kitchen table, long days processing AR reports, stories shared by dispatchers and yard crews — and how those moments slowly turned into something worth being heard.

Now, 39 episodes in, the journey continues into new rooms, new conversations, and new possibilities.

As Podfest approaches, I’ll be sharing behind-the-scenes moments, live reflections, and what it means to bring logistics stories into creator spaces that rarely hear them.

Thank you for riding with me — and for standing at the crossroads together.

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🎙️ Podcast: Holding the Line: A Logistics at a Crossroads
📍 Live updates from Podfest 2026 coming soon
📱 TikTok & YouTube launches on the way

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In this episode of Holding the Line: A Logistics at a Crossroads Podcast, Gia widens the lens — because the story didn’t stop with BNPL or post-pandemic credit traps.
Now the bills are breaking people long before the debt collectors do.

Across the country, utilities are cutting power as prices surge. Electricity rates have jumped 11% since January, triple the rate of inflation. Families paid an average of $204 in July — the highest on record since 2008. And millions of low-income households are still waiting on federal energy assistance that stalled during the government shutdown.

Gia connects the dots no one wants to say out loud:

🔹 When wages don’t move but utilities do, survival requires math that no family can sustain.
🔹 When electricity becomes a luxury, the economy is already in crisis.
🔹 When essentials require financing, the supply chain feels the quake next.

Episode 39 expands on the threads from Episodes 37 and 38 — the cost of convenience, the rise of BNPL, and the quiet financial emergencies unfolding in kitchens, bedrooms, and now at the breaker box.

Gia dives into:

• The national rise in power shutoffs — and who’s hit first
• Why electric bills have become the newest “unpayable invoice”
• How the shutdown delayed life-or-death heating assistance
• The connection between consumer strain, freight shifts, and retail contraction
• What happens when families can’t keep the lights on — literally or financially

This is more than a money issue.
It’s a warning flare.

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The Cost of Convenience — BNPL, Regulation, and the Future of Survival

BNPL felt harmless at first — a soft promise at checkout, a blinking button offering relief where budgets were already stretched thin. But convenience always comes with a cost. And in Part Two of our BNPL deep-dive, we’re asking the question everyone avoids:

Who’s paying that cost — and how long can people survive it?

Gia breaks down the truth behind the “Pay in 4” generation:

🔹 The Regulatory Void
BNPL grew faster than regulators could blink. No interest caps. No standardized reporting. No real disclosures. It’s the Wild West — but in an app.

🔹 The Targeting Problem
BNPL thrives where people feel stuck:
younger consumers, lower-income households, and anyone juggling rent, inflation, and wages that haven’t budged in a decade.
It’s marketed through influencers, soft lighting, curated hauls — selling a vibe, not a financial instrument.

🔹 The Shame Spiral
Debt creates silence.
Silence creates shame.
Shame keeps people drowning.
Behind closed doors: hidden BNPL usage, partners not communicating, families juggling bills they can’t track, anxiety stacking like overdue payments.

🔹 The Macro Storm Coming
Debt instability becomes demand instability.
Demand instability becomes supply chain instability.
From retail contraction to port slowdowns, warehousing shifts, trucking demand dips — the ripples hit logistics harder than most realize.

🔹 What Needs to Change
Wages.
Regulation.
Credit reporting.
Honest checkout disclosures.
Safety nets for essentials.
And corporate responsibility for pricing that’s spiraled out of control.

🔹 The Survival Economy
We are living in a world where people finance dinner.
Where essentials require installments.
Where the economy feels like it’s shifting under our feet — because it is.

But talking about it — naming it — breaking the silence around it?
That’s where change begins.

This is Part Two of our series on BNPL and the real cost of convenience.
Gia is here, holding the line with you — grounded, sharp, and navigating these crossroads in real time.

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On this episode of Holding the Line: A Logistics at a Crossroads Podcast, Gia peels back the glossy sticker on “Pay in 4” culture and asks the question nobody wants to answer:

What happens when financing groceries becomes the norm… not the exception?

We trace the story from old-school blue lights and layaway lines to the new digital shadow of Buy Now, Pay Later — a system that’s smooth, pretty, and quietly rewriting the rules of debt.

Gia takes you through:

🔹 Debt the shapeshifter — from K-Mart layaway tickets to rent-to-own traps
🔹 Why BNPL exploded after the pandemic — frozen wages, rising costs, and survival math
🔹 The psychology behind installment culture — how “four payments” numbs the pain of paying
🔹 When groceries need financing — the moment convenience becomes crisis
🔹 Phantom debt — invisible micro-loans that stack until they snap
🔹 The supply chain connection — how household debt shifts demand, freight, and retail decisions

This is Part One: How we got here.
Part Two? Who pays for it — and how the ripple hits logistics.

If you’ve ever split a grocery bill into four… or watched port volumes dip for reasons no analyst can quite explain… this episode is the thread that ties it all together.

Gia’s here, navigating the crossroads with you — one truth, one trend, one tough conversation at a time.

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In this episode of Holding the Line: A Logistics at a Crossroads Podcast, Gia dives into an often-overlooked aspect of the workplace—how women in traditionally male-dominated industries like logistics, construction, and trades can build stronger, more supportive networks. From navigating judgment to breaking down stereotypes, Gia shares her own experiences and practical tips on how women can support each other and rise together.

It’s time to stop competing and start collaborating. Tune in as we explore the power of authenticity, respect, and teamwork in creating a workplace where women can thrive, together.

Key Takeaways:

• Why women often face internal competition and judgment in male-dominated industries
• How small acts of kindness and support can build strong professional relationships
• The power of collaboration and mutual respect in driving industry change

Join the conversation and become part of the change you want to see in the workplace.

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Trade tensions are rising fast—faster than the supply chain can breathe.

EU officials are preparing countermeasures, the U.S. is weighing 15–20% blanket tariffs on European goods, and importers are already shifting freight flows to avoid getting caught in the crossfire. Even as some tariffs are being lifted on goods like bananas and coffee, the broader system is tightening, not loosening.

Ports are telling the truth before the headlines do:
– Long Beach imports down 17.6%
– Some gateways seeing 35–44% declines
– Analysts warning of a brewing “goods recession”
– Warehouses and compliance teams already feeling the pressure

This episode breaks down what’s really happening on the ground—and what it means for schedulers, warehouse leads, customs analysts, and every logistics professional trying to plan through uncertainty.

We dig into:
• the tariff wave forming at U.S. gates
• the slowdown in container volumes
• early signs from BTS Freight Indicators
• why S&OP teams are resetting Q3/Q4 forecasts
• and how women in logistics are absorbing the shock first

This isn’t fear. This is freight logic.
And if you’re in logistics, you’re living it in real time.

You don’t just respond to disruption. You plan through it.

Connect on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/rlh2024
Blog: giakat.blogspot.com

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🎧 New episodes every week.
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This one’s personal, y’all. After months of detours, delays, curveballs, and straight-up plot twists, I’m finally stepping back to the mic — not with perfection, but with purpose.

In this episode, I’m unpacking the real story behind the silence:
✨ grief that hit harder than expected
✨ a surgery that forced me to slow down
✨ school, work, and life all colliding at once
✨ job interviews that didn’t pan out
✨ a CEO resignation that shook the whole building
✨ and the unexpected reroute that led me to a new university, new clarity, and a new pace

This isn’t just a catch-up. It’s a reminder that delays aren’t denials — in logistics or in life. Sometimes the channel isn’t clear, the berth isn’t ready, and forcing the docking does more harm than good. So you hold position. You breathe. You wait for the right tide.

I talk about resilience, timing, rerouting, and what it means to rebuild your own momentum when everything around you feels unstable. And if you’ve been starting-stopping-starting again this year? This episode is for you. You’re not behind — you’re just loading differently.

🎶 Intro Music: “Serene”
🎶 Outro Music: “nwhere”

Key Themes:

• The season of loss, learning, and unexpected growth
• Life curveballs — and the four that hit back-to-back
• When job opportunities don’t land (and why that can be a blessing)
• Leadership shifts and the quiet chaos they create
• Rerouting from CSU to the College of Charleston
• The logistics of timing, resilience, and protecting your peace
• What it means to move forward with intention, not urgency

If you’re navigating your own crossroads — professionally, personally, emotionally — pull up a chair. We’re figuring this out together.

Follow the journey:
Blog • Podcast • LinkedIn
(logisticsatacrossroads.buzzsprout.com)

Support the show

🎧 New episodes every week.
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📬 Want to connect?
Find me on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/reginahunter
Visit the blog: giakat.blogspot.com