From losing her job as a pharmaceutical representative in the great recession of 2008 to her most recent award as Ultimate CEO from the Jacksonville Business Journal, the journey of Nicole Mobley is a testament to anyone who thinks it is too late to start a successful career.
Mobley was in her thirties when she lost the job, pivoting to earn a commercial driver’s license (CDL) through a grant she applied for through CareerSource NEFL. Today, she’s CEO of T & N Xpress – a trucking, logistics and warehousing company in Jacksonville.
“When the economy flatlined during that recession, I wasn’t tenured with the company, so I lost my job and was among a lot of people who were let go during that time,” Mobley said. “After that, I worked for a few nonprofit agencies and found that wasn’t really what I wanted to do.”
It was around that time she heard about a grant she could receive through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), which offered several opportunities that would provide financial support in returning to school to learn a new trade or skill.
Given that her father had a CDL, and she already had driven her father’s tractor when she was younger, she decided to pursue a job in trucking.
“I stopped by the CareerSource Northeast Florida office on Southside Boulevard and asked about the grant, and they later sent me an email with all the details and I applied,” she said. “After it was approved, I took courses for 30 days at a CDL training school, National Training in Green Cove Springs. I received my CDL and it took off from there.”
With her CDL in hand, Mobley withdrew money from her 401K account she’d accumulated at her previous job, purchased a semi-truck and became an owner-operator for a company called Time Definite Services based in Sumter, Florida. She worked with them for about two-and-a-half years — using her truck and the company’s trailer. Mobley then purchased another truck and her own trailer – eventually building it to a fleet of 10 trucks and trailers.
“I lived here in Jacksonville, but I was working in all the contiguous forty eight states,” she said.
She then formed a company with a partner, T & N Xpress, LLC, which has grown beyond trucking to provide logistics and warehousing services.
“We sold our trucks, but use our trailers for rentals and we now have a warehouse of over six thousand square feet off of Lane Avenue and we’re focused on providing logistics and renting out warehouse space for customers,” she said.
Recognizing her business success, Mobley was selected as the Jax Chamber’s 2023 Small Business Leader of the Year by its Transportation and Logistics Council, was named a Woman of Influence by the Jacksonville Business Journal in 2024 – and is being recognized by the journal again this year as an Ultimate CEO.
Her advice for someone who may be facing a career change or challenge: knowing the space you’re working in and seeing its capacity in the future.