Celebrating a 10-year work anniversary by remembering the early days

Our fulfillment center in Riverside, California is the heart of our U.S. Cross Border Trade operation. Today the 240,000 sq. ft facility ships millions of products from thousands of U.S. vendors and brands to Korea and Taiwan, providing an important sales channel for U.S. partners to grow their business outside the U.S. Lance Kelly – the first hire at our fulfillment center in Riverside, CA – looks back as he prepares to celebrate his 10-year anniversary with Coupang.

Growing up on a farm in Kankakee, IL, Senior Operations Manager Lance Kelly didn’t realize his experience riding tractors in an idyllic rural setting would one day come in handy driving powered forklifts in a bustling industrial logistics facility.

“I’ve always liked change and I’ve seen a lot of it in this center,” says Lance. Hired in 2014, the facility he arrived at then was little more than four walls and an empty floor.

“When I first started, there was nothing here. We had to layout and design the entire facility – everything from where we’d put the pallets, the shelves, the network, even the restrooms.” He remembers those early days where receiving (the process of unloading inventory from trucks and bringing it into the facility for storage) was done manually with excel sheets printed out on clipboards.

Despite this being a big departure from his prior work, Lance fully embraced the change. He was laser focused on quickly evolving the building’s operations to make the facility a well-oiled machine the team envisioned. The opportunity to join what he describes as a startup after a 30+ year career and finally have the chance to “build something the way we wanted to build it” was too good to pass up.

Lance and team were building the plane while flying it, establishing processes, procedures and laying out the facility to enable the team to execute its goals. He fondly remembers using an overturned empty box as a desk and bringing in a lawn chair with the logo of his favorite San Diego Chargers to use in his office. The team rallied together and successfully shipped the first set of products to Korea within the first 20 days and haven’t looked back since. That first shipment consisted of 18 units of vitamins and baby items. Since that time, the Riverside Fulfillment Center has shipped hundreds of million different items from a vast range of categories including apparel, shoes, handbags, coffee and tea, computers and electronics, home goods, auto accessories, sporting goods and more. All from U.S.-based vendors who are successfully expanding their business through Coupang.

Lance’s original desk from 2014

Lance, who will celebrate his 10-year anniversary with Coupang later this year, has worn many hats since he first joined. Today he leads a team of 8 employees and continues to play a critical role in shaping the culture of the team in Riverside. He cites teamwork, the growth of the company, and the recognition his team receives as the best parts about working at Coupang.

“It’s important for everyone working here, regardless of their level or responsibility, to understand the business and our critical processes. So I make sure to spend time getting to know my team on a personal level and work with them to ensure we’re all on the same page, that we all know how to handle various issues. As a result, my team feels empowered and knows what to do when challenges arise.”

Lance agrees that joining a startup in the second phase of his career may not be for everyone, but he can’t see himself slowing down. “I love what I do! Come join a great team – this is an excellent atmosphere and this is our home.”