When Amelia Rose began studying music at Morgan State University (MSU), an historically black university, she found a home and community, along with the chance to pursue her passion. What she didn’t realize at the time was that her career would let her travel the world before bringing her to another home — the Truckload Carriers Association (TCA).
“Music is my first love,” Rose said “It keeps me on track to this day. It grounds me.”
When preparing to select a college, she was accepted into several schools, including Berkley, but chose MSU because of the sense of community she saw on campus. At MSU, she says, she was able to develop her musical talent while experiencing all the benefits an HBCU has to offer.
“I grew up in Maryland, born and raised,” Rose said. “I went to college in Baltimore, so I didn’t go too far. Sometimes I wish I had gone to Boston or something. I enjoyed my experience, and I learned a lot.
“It was really big on community and growth, which I really needed at the time,” continued, adding that she wouldn’t trade her time at MSU for anything.
Music has always been a focal point of Rose’s life, even as a child. She performs both vocally and as a pianist and notes that music is as much a part of her life as breathing.
After graduating from MSU, Rose worked as a freelance music professional before finding herself in a new field.
“I kind of fell into a marketing position one summer,” she said. “I was hired to work for Jack Daniels Whiskey as a brand ambassador. It was a lot of fun, and I met a lot of cool people. I worked a lot of amazing events, met celebrities — and that was my first real marketing job.”
Rose took advantage of this new opportunity, developing connections that positioned her to work with a number of different brands and travel the world.
“I built my experience in event management and marketing, but after a while I realized I wanted something more stable,” she said. “I was hired to work at a window manufacturing company as their home shows and events coordinator. That’s what got me more so to event coordination side. From there, I was hired by the TCA.”
As the association’s meetings and events coordinator, Rose works with the senior director of meetings to coordinate logistics for each of the TCA’s three biggest events each year — Truckload, TCA’s annual convention; the Safety & Security Meeting; and the Refrigerated Meeting.
“I help set up the meetings and work with the facilitators of our TCA Profitability Program, which we call TPP,” Rose said. “It’s a program we have in-house where we set up best-practice groups comprised of executives from top-performing companies with similar backgrounds and operating strategies to meet and discuss best practices and find solutions for things they might be going through within their companies.”
Rose says she loves working with other TCA team members to make sure each event runs smoothly.
“My favorite thing about my job is the travel, and I also love the associations members,” she said. “Everyone is just so humble, and down to earth and kind. They are such gracious and welcoming people. It’s been a great experience being here. It’s awesome!”
Because her position is very “customer-facing,” Rose says it can be overwhelming at times — but the people she meets make it all worth it.
“I genuinely do enjoy the interactions that I have with the people I meet here,” she said.
Rose says she believes that she is exactly where she is supposed to be, and she hopes to stay with the TCA for years to come. She says that working with the TCA gives her a sense of community much like the one she experienced back in her college days at MSU.
“I enjoy working with the staff here, and like I said before, the members are amazing,” she said. “It’s a great team. We are a small team here, but we are transparent and direct. We get things done.”
As for her first love, Rose says she has not forgotten her musical roots. She hopes to give some solo opera performances or participate in some local performance groups, and she plans to get back to the piano as well.
“I’m young, but I have an old soul and a wise spirit,” she said. “I feel like I’ve lived many lives and I’ve seen many things, and I think that path of being in tune with the universe and believing in God and trusting your intuition — it’s led me to where I am now.”
This story originally appeared in the September/October 2024 edition of Truckload Authority, the official magazine of the Truckload Carriers Association.
Dana Guthrie is an award-winning journalist who has been featured in multiple newspapers, books and magazines across the globe. She is currently based in the Atlanta, Georgia, area.
