Q&A with Whitney Wempe, Director of Cargo Integrity and Recovery

Whitney Wempe is a South Carolina native, though she spent most of her time in Michigan (Go Blue!) and Kentucky. She obtained her Bachelor's degree in Business Administration and started her career at UPS in Louisville, KY prior to joining Amazon in 2012. At Amazon, she started as a warehouse Associate in Fulfillment Operations and spent the bulk of her career across multiple businesses in Operations and Program Management. In 2021, she was promoted to Director and subsequently created Learning and Talent Development programs for associates, leaders, and Delivery Service Partners/Associates in Amazon's Last Mile organization before transitioning to Fulfillment. In her current role, she leads a Product Management and Supply Chain organization that focuses on creating solutions for financial automation as well as improving the experience of shippers as they inbound into Amazon. Outside of work, Whitney and her husband raise their two kids and two fur-babies in Nashville, TN.

What brings you passion/excitement to your role and team?

I’ve always gravitated to roles that give me an opportunity to 1) build and 2) improve the experience of others through creative solutions. For the first time in my Amazon career, my customers are predominantly Shippers and Carriers which is a fun and challenging change. My organization is very much a start up and uncovering problem statements through the use of data and anecdotes that leads to building new products, processes and tech solutions is a rewarding experience. From a team perspective, my favorite thing is the culture of development that I’ve been able to build which comes in many forms. Helping them to achieve their goals or remove obstacles is something I take pride in as a people leader. On the flip side, I enjoy learning from the diverse backgrounds that each of them brings to the table.

"I truly believe in creating an environment where it's safe to take calculated risks, even when success isn't guaranteed"

What do you do for fun/ work life balance?

My husband and I have two kids and two fur-babies that keep us super busy and always laughing! I can typically be found hanging out with them as well as our extended family and friends of course. I also enjoy reading, trying new restaurants and travelling.

What is your favorite leadership principle and why?

That’s a tough one! One of the things I love about the collective is that they can have positive tension. In my current role, the ones I’m leaning on right now are Earn Trust and Insist on the Highest Standards. My organization partners with many different teams across Amazon and I think the first step to solving problems is to earn trust first. Often times people think earning trust means agreeing with everyone's thoughts or ideas to preserve relationships, but there’s value in sharing perspectives that are unpopular as long as the intent is sincere.

How do you foster a culture of innovation and creativity within your team and what techniques do you use to encourage experimentation and risk taking?

One of the opportunities I've been fortunate to have at Amazon is feeling that I had a seat at the table, and that's something I've replicated within each organization I've led. As mentioned previously, I build teams with diverse experiences both inside and outside of Amazon to maximize our potential for innovation and creative thinking. When it comes to risk-taking, I truly believe in creating an environment where it's safe to take calculated risks, even when success isn't guaranteed; typically, there are valuable learnings that come from these circumstances.

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