Tony Coutsoftides

CEO and Freight Guru

A native of Cyprus – an island off the coasts of Greece and Turkey – Anthony (Tony) Coutsoftides spent his youth moving around the world with his family, following the career of his father, a commercial airline pilot. After graduating from high school in Singapore, Tony moved to the United States by himself with the dream of joining the U.S. Army. Under the protests of his parents (they wanted him to finish college and join the Army as an officer), he enlisted first in the Army Reserve and transitioned into full-time service as soon as he turned 18.

While enlisted, he was names the US Army Soldier of the Year in 1997 and then selected for Officer Candidate School. Upon receiving his citizenship and completing his degree, he became an officer in the Army and was stationed in South Korea, Colombia and several locations in the United States, eventually achieving the rank of Captain. Unfortunately, his military career was cut short by a training accident at Fort Bragg that resulted in his medical retirement.

After leaving the Army, Tony worked in Cleveland at Smurfit Stone Container before returning to Europe at age 28, securing $10 million in financing, and starting his own cargo airline with routes to Asia, Africa, and Europe. A weak global economy and exorbitant fuel prices forced him out of business, and he returned to the U.S. to find a career that could fill the void his exit from the Army had left in his life. Tony found a career he loved in third-party logistics brokerage, working for Cincinnati-based TQL. The fast pace, the reward of sales, and the chance to apply his knowledge of military logistics combined to create a civilian life that finally lived up to the high standards he’d set for himself in the military. What he didn’t love, however, was the culture at the organization where he was working, and the gaps in the marketplace that he felt they weren’t addressing. So, even though he was TQL’s top salesperson, setting new records every year, Tony made the decision to leave TQL, sit out a year, and in 2010, he joined his then-wife, Lacy, who had started a new 3PL, Legion Logistics.

When he’s not serving at Legion’s Freight Guru, Tony enjoys horses, soccer (especially FC Cincinnati), Formula 1 racing, CrossFit and spending time at home with his wife, children, and pets.

Tony is good at pricing, solving operational problems and having big ideas.

Lacy Starling

President and Fearless Leader

The daughter of a truck driver and a part-time librarian, Lacy Starling grew up seeing first-hand how the logistics industry affects working-class Americans. In addition to working swing shift driving a tanker truck, her dad also did construction work and both of her parents worked on the family farm. It was that work ethic that drove Lacy to want more than small-town life, and she believed a career as a newspaper reporter was the way to accomplish that. The world had different plans, however, and as she was getting ready to graduate from college, the entire world of print journalism was turned upside-down by the advent of the Internet and the subsequent slashing of editorial staffs nationwide. Even with graduating Summa Cum Laude and being names one of Scripps Top Ten journalism students in the country, she knew it would be a long road to finding permanent, gainful employment at a newspaper.

Luckily, in her senior year at Kent State University, Lacy had started a media marketing and web design company with two other students and discovered a talent for business management and a love of sales. She was so excited by entrepreneurship that she decided to go back to school and pursue her MBA so she would have more credibility in the business world. While attending graduate school at night, Lacy had several marketing and management positions in canton, Ohio in both for-profit and non-profit organizations. In 2007 she moved to Cincinnati and began her sales career in earnest, working first in development for the United Way of Greater Cincinnati and then as an independent consultant for Mary Kay Cosmetics, eventually working her way up to the position of Sales Director and setting records in her national area for recruitment and sales.

Selling cosmetics wasn’t exactly what she had in mind, though, when she set out to conquer the business world. When the opportunity came along to open Legion Logistics, if felt like the right move. Lacy was able to combine her knowledge of freight, gleaned from years of watching her dad earn a living driving tanker trucks, with her beliefs about how company culture should be formed and nurtured, She often says that she didn’t really care what Legion was selling, as long as they were selling it the right way and treating their employees well at the same time.

Lacy was honored as a 2015 Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year and included in the 2015 Class of the Business Courier’s Forty under 40. Lacy also finds time to teach sales as an adjunct instructor at the University of Cincinnati and facilitate several sales intensives for local business incubators and accelerators. She always jokes that she doesn’t have any hobbies, but she spends her free time mentoring students and startup business owners, guest-lecturing at local universities, speaking to women’s groups, and traveling with her partner, Brian and her daughter, Catherine.

Lacy is good at telling the Legion story, maintaining the company culture, and auditing the P&L.

Staci Roy

Chief Number Cruncher

Our Chief Number Cruncher, Staci, is one of many Legion employees who came to us in an unusual way – she heard about the job from her ex-boss’s wife. Staci started at Legion in 2012 as a Number Cruncher and was promoted to the manager of the accounting department in 2016. Outside of Legion, Staci enjoys listening to country music, swimming in the pool, and spending time with her husband and children.

Staci is good at helping others, hula-hooping in the Office Olympics, and making sure we don’t run out of coffee, creamer, or paper towels.

Traci O’Neil

Chief Relationship Builder

Traci is the manager of our Carrier Services department and works tirelessly to make sure that all of our carriers are able to get freight from point A to point B with no issues. She joined the Legion team in 2013, and was promoted to manager of her department in 2015. Her greatest passion, however, is handling our day to day LTL orders, which she is fantastic at! If you look around the office, you may see double, as her twin sister Staci also works for Legion.

Traci is good at LTL freight, handling claims and making sure Legion’s partner carriers stay in compliance.

Robert Pugh

Chief Problem Solver

Robert started at Legion in 2015 after returning from a deployment with the U.S. Army Reserves. He had a 16 year career in the Army which included two deployments. Before moving to this side of the industry, he spent 15 years as a truck driver, which provided him extremely helpful knowledge to have starting out. He has moved all kinds of freight types, from different kinds of dry freight to refrigerated multi-drop food product, he even moved over dimensional office trailers. Robert spent three years as a Problem Solver, finishing second in overall profit in 2016. In 2017, he got promoted to Chief Problem Solver (Sales Manager), meaning he oversaw the daily workflow of Problem Solvers, Right Hand People, and Interns. He was promoted again in 2019 to VP of Operations overseeing Problem Solvers, Dispatch, Interns, Carrier Services, and the Night Watch team. Robert is engaged to an amazing woman and has two teenagers, a daughter and a son, and a soon-to-be stepson who is 6.

Robert is good at managing day to day operations, issue resolution, and operations training.

Jesse Hatton

Problem Solver

Jesse is a part time student at Northern Kentucky University, where he is chasing a degree in finance. He was an intern for us back in spring 2017, and he loved us so much that he decided to come back for a second rotation and stay after as a full-time employee. Jesse wants to travel to at least 20 countries by the time he’s 40, which explains why he describes himself as motivated, comical, and curious.

Jesse is good at building relationships with carriers to benefit them, us, and moving every customer’s freight in the best manner possible.

Levi Papai

Problem Solver®

Like many service members who have been deployed, Levi came back to find his construction company had been hit hard by the recession and was no longer a viable employment option. Unlike many service members, his sister (Lacy Starling) just happened to own a brand-new logistics company and asked him to come help. That was 2010, and Levi was employee number three in the company. After working in almost every department, Levi can drop in and help anywhere on the floor and really isn’t a problem with a load or a truck that he hasn’t seen and been able to fix for a customer. During his time at Legion, he has also obtained a degree in Welding Technology and Fabricating, learned to scuba dive, and lost most of his hair (we swear that last one is not our fault.) When he is not at work, he enjoys fixing/tinkering on vehicles, construction projects, running endurance races, and obstacle courses.

Levi is great at being able to work anywhere on the floor and fixing any problem that arises for a customer.

Nathan Hornsby

Problem Solver®

Who buys all the same socks so they always match? That would be Nate, our efficient Problem Solver and easily the quietest one of the bunch. He received his MBA from Ohio Wesleyan University before starting with Legion in 2014. Nate created a niche for himself with extreme low-temperature freight and has moved thousands of truckloads of ice cream in his time here. In his free time, he enjoys working on his farm and spending time with his wife and kids.

Nate is good at moving extreme low-temperature freight and negotiating with drivers.

Ashley Alsip

Problem Solver®

Alessandria Rojas Cerruty

Campaign Coordinator

Alessandria (better known as Ali around Legion) is a part of our New Business Development team, serving as our Campaign Coordinator. She was born in Alabama, but grew up in Venezuela. Before moving to Cincinnati in 2017, she attended the Technological University of Venezuela focusing on logistics. Ali decided that Legion was the place that she wanted to grow her career after reading about the amazing story behind the company foundations, our philosophy, and what the employees had to say.

Ali is good at researching for new customer leads, organizing data, and occasionally helping out her co-workers with Spanish when they need it.

Nick Wilson

Prospector

Nick probably had the least changed commute of any new employee in Legion history – he used to work two floors down from us in the same building, selling life insurance. Nick, who started as a Problem Solver® in 2018, describes himself as honest, dedicated, and responsive, which makes him a great fit for our sales team. He became a Prospector in 2019, starting our first-ever dedicated New Business Development team. When he’s not searching for new Legion prospects, he’s wrangling his four year old son, Bruce. Nick and his family live in Cincinnati and love taking advantage of everything the city has to offer.

Nick is good at creating urgency around customer requests, building relationships and paying attention to detail.

Zach Baker

Number Cruncher

Zach is a Kentucky native working to obtain his finance degree from Northern Kentucky University. Zach started on our accounting team in 2016, and has since been promoted to Senior Number Cruncher because he is an invoicing pro. Outside of work, Zach enjoys going to concerts and music festivals.

Zach is good at making sure every invoice we send is perfect.

James Tarter

Right-Hand Person

James is one of Legion’s veteran hires, serving in the marines for 7 years. He heard about Legion through LinkedIn, and through his experience in the military he has always had an interest in logistics. James joined Legion in 2019 as a Problem Solver®, but soon realized he was more interested in being a part of our dispatch team, where he’s thriving today. James is currently attending Northern Kentucky University studying Business Management. James and his wife live in Cincinnati, where she runs a successful event-planning and rental company.

James is good at prioritizing and being able to manage multiple tasks/problems simultaneously.

Antoni Rojas Cerruty

Right-Hand Person

Toni joined the Legion dispatch team in 2019. Originally from Venezuela, he ended up in Cincinnati and just recently graduated from University of Cincinnati in Sports Administration. He heard about this opportunity from his sister, who works on our New Business Development team. Antoni’s bucket list includes wanting to travel around the world. He would describe himself as committed, passionate, and resilient.

Toni is good at learning to be effective at any operations task.

Geraldine Allen

Right-Hand Person

Hannah Caldwell

Sales Intern

Mayra Velazquez

Mayra Velázquez González, in Legion’s Mexico Office, has a marketing degree and has taken a wide variety of courses in sales, negotiation and administration. She has experience in customer service, sales, negotiation with suppliers and logistics, having worked with companies such as TDR Transportes, Yussen Logistics, DHL Global Forwarding, Panalpina Pilot Airfreight and Penske Logistics before joining the Legion team in 2019.

During her 18 years experience in logistics, she has maintained contact with hundreds of clients from different types of companies where she has been able to implement her knowledge and skills in negotiation, operation, pricing and sales. Mayra has been married for 14 years, has a 12 year son and two beautiful dogs.

Mayra is good at developing deep customer relationships and finding cross-border solutions for her customers.

Segio Hernandez