South magazine 75: Food, Film & Famous Folks | Page 5

FIND PURPOSE IN FULFILLMENT Q&A (BIG) JUSTIN SINGLETARY, CEO & FOUNDER TELL US ABOUT FULFILLMENT.COM? I founded Fulfillment.com in Savannah in 2011. We started in 800 square feet over a pizzeria in Thunderbolt. Today we have more than 2 million square feet available on three continents. We have shipped more than 13 million orders for our clients. Still headquartered in Savannah, Fulfillment.com is one of America’s fastest growing private businesses. WHAT EXACTLY DOES FULFILLMENT.COM DO AND WHAT TYPES OF CLIENTS DO YOU SERVE? If you buy anything on the Internet, it is likely that Fulfillment.com has shipped a product to you. Fulfillment.com is the preeminent provider of e-commerce fulfillment services to independent Internet retailers worldwide. We receive our clients’ products into our warehouses in the US, Canada, Mexico, Europe and Australia, and when a client’s customer buys one of these products, Fulfillment.com picks, packs and ships the order as if we were the company from which the customer ordered the product. HOW IS FULFILLMENT.COM CHANGING OR ADAPTING TO PREPARE FOR THE FUTURE? We keep our finger on the rapidly evolving pulse of e-commerce. “I want it and I want it NOW!” Amazon has set the standard with Prime delivery in 1-2 days. Fulfillment.com has accepted the challenge, and very soon we will offer 1-2 day delivery service, by inexpensive ground transport, to 99.997% of the continental US population—from only four fulfillment centers. We compete with Amazon and we collaborate with Amazon. Fulfillment.com is integrated with Amazon’s marketplaces in the US, Canada, Australia, the UK, and the EU so that we can provide fulfillment services to Amazon sellers. PLEASE TELL US WHAT LEADERSHIP AND BEING A LEADER MEANS TO YOU. Max Depree said it best: “The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say, “thank you.” In between, the leader is a servant.” I am a fervent believer in servant leadership and that’s the rock on which this great company is built. WHAT ARE THE BEST BOOKS YOU’VE READ RECENTLY, AND WHY? “The Goal - A Process of Ongoing Improvement” by Eliyahu Goldratt, which defines operational efficiency through the “theory of constraints.” While “The Goal” was directed at manufacturing organizations; Gene Kim, Kevin Behr and George Spafford subsequently penned The Phoenix Project, which applies Goldratt’s theory and techniques to software development and operations. Fulfillment.com is a technology company that happens to be in the fulfillment business. WHAT DO YOU ENJOY DOING IN YOUR FREE TIME? As a dedicated Christian, I enjoy spending my free time at Bethel Baptist Church in Richmond Hill and in the word of God. Other than that, I’m either spending time planning a wedding with my soon-to-be bride Kasey, along with the rest of the family, on my motorcycle riding around town, or at SERG Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training for the next competition.