When it comes to exemplary leadership, Old Dominion – a leading provider in LTL and transportation logistics, takes implementing its core values of integrity and greatness to the next level. Through its strong relationships both externally with its customers and internally with each individual working for the company, these values are what keep its employees working towards the Old Dominion vision. With her passion for mentoring and leadership, Kim Maready, Vice President of Accounting and Finance for the company, is a prime example of the way Old Dominion takes her position in leadership one step further by shaping employees through a fresh, unique approach. It was this very approach combined with the culture at Old Dominion that ultimately peaked her interest to join the team in 2014.

“I think the Old Dominion culture places a tremendous amount of value on its people. It is a family-oriented culture and once you join the family, you really feel that. I felt that as an outside service provider. They not only cared about their own success, but they cared about my success as a provider,” she said. “A lot of other large public companies haven’t found that magic really. It’s all about the business and I think that comes through the profitability, or lack thereof, of some companies because ODFL recognizes that it’s profitable because of its people and the amount that they give to our customers every single day.”

Kim has served Old Dominion for five years, bringing with her over 20 years of experience in the middle market Fortune 1,000 space. Prior to her onboarding with Old Dominion, she worked as a partner. It was through her time serving the company that convinced her the Old Dominion culture was different.

“They were a client of mine for six years, so I knew the company well, the leadership team well, their environment, and core values. I spent time serving a lot of different companies across a lot of different industries from banking to manufacturing, to retail, consumer products, technology, and other transportation companies,” she said. “What interested me in Old Dominion was the culture – the leadership team, the value they place on their people, and the integrity that’s here at the company.”

In her role as VP of Accounting and Finance, she does a lot more than oversee the financials. Mrs. Maready takes her passion for mentorship and aims to create a strong team that feels valued and respected by challenging them to take their ideas and concerns to the leadership team. Old Dominion prides itself in its “Open-Door” Policy that gives every person at the company a voice. This approach bolsters the company’s vision to create the next generation of employees that carry on the core values of integrity, honesty, and transparency while managing risks. This policy serves as another differentiator among competitors.

“If you’re trying to innovate and get processes that aren’t working anymore to change, and you’re having roadblocks with those changes or don’t know where to take your ideas, you can come in to any of these 20 or so people and have a discussion and get action around that discussion while having someone that can champion it with their authority or help remove those roadblocks. I think that really mitigates a lot of our risk and it really is unique to this organization. I’ve seen a lot of companies and I haven’t heard of other companies embracing that quite like we do,” she adds.

Beyond the company’s robust customer base and successful operations, Old Dominion boasts a large organization of employees that value excellence day in and out. It’s through these valued employees that Old Dominion serves its customers while creating competitive advantage. The value Old Dominion places in its employees follows the wise saying from Richard Branson: “Whatever industry a company is in, its employees are its biggest competitive advantage.”

“In the short term it’s my responsibility and my team’s responsibility to really grow the next generation of leaders and to help them understand our culture, our core values of integrity, and ensure that we have the right leaders in place two decades down the road from now to maintain the culture and the unique environment that we have. It’s beyond just looking at the debits and the credits that some expect us to be talking about and thinking about every day,” she added.

Kimberly S. Maready currently serves as Principal Accounting Officer for Old Dominion Freight Line, Inc., a position she has held since May of 2017. Mrs. Maready joined ODFL in February of 2014 as the Vice President – Accounting and Finance and is responsible for directing ODFL’s accounting operations, financial reporting, payroll, tax and financial planning. Prior to joining ODFL, Mrs. Maready spent 21 years with Ernst & Young LLP, including 9 years as partner in the Assurance and Advisory Services practice. Her finance and accounting experience spans across multiple sectors including banking, retail, technology and transportation. Mrs. Maready holds an accounting degree from North Carolina State University and is a licensed CPA in the state of North Carolina. She has served as an active board member of Goodwill of Central North Carolina and the Winston-Salem Children’s Museum and the advisory boards of N.C. State’s Poole College of Management and Appalachian State University’s Walker School of Business.