When Mona Tracy, as a young mother, got her first job in the pallet industry, she didn’t know for sure what a pallet was. Her boss, Jack Thornton, owner of Hazlethorn Machine Co. and Woodthorn Corp., tested her knowledge on the subject. “Aren’t those the wood things you see at the grocery store?” she replied hesitantly, much to Thornton’s enjoyment. But the real surprise came shortly thereafter.
Mona Tracy had only been with the company a short time when Thornton was heading out of the office on sales calls. “I’ll be gone all week,” she recalled him saying over his shoulder as he left. “Just take messages, and we’ll answer them when we come back.” When he returned, Tracy proudly told him she had sold three machines in his absence.
“How did you do that?” he asked her incredulously, and she replied that she simply read the spec sheets to the prospective customers. “But HOW did you do it?” he continued to probe her. “I said I read the specs to them. With ENTHUSIASM,” she laughed, underscoring early in her career the impact that women can have in the business. About two months later, that combination of enthusiasm and closed sales landed her a full-time sales role. “I never looked back,” she said.
Mona Tracy now owns and operates Universal Machinery Sales. She considers her company to be a partner as much as a supplier, having established a reputation not just for selling but for helping customers build sustainable equipment strategies.
“I ask, ‘What do you have to work with? How many people?’” she said. “Then we sit down and figure out a plan. I never try to oversell. Sometimes I’ll tell them, ‘Wait six months; see what you can afford.’” Tracy prides herself on being relatable and direct, traits she credits to her modest upbringing and sales-savvy family background. “I show respect no matter how small the operation is. They just might be the biggest one in the industry in a few years.”
Universal sells equipment from multiple manufacturers and has helped pallet businesses across the country find machinery that fits both their operations and budgets. “If I can’t make it for you, I’ll find it for you,” Mona said.
Two of Universal’s customers that are led by women are also covered in this story – Holly Miller-Bopp of J.C. Pallet Company and Denise Catanzaro of Lumberjack Pallet Recycling. They share their experience working with Mona as well as the keys that have helped them become successful in the pallet sector.
Holly Miller-Bopp, now president of J.C. Pallet Company, had a background in legal administration when she entered the family business almost 24 years ago. The company was going through a rough patch. “When I joined the company, we had fo locations, and things were kind of out of control financially,” recalled Miller-Bopp. “But my dad made it clear that I wasn’t going to come in and tell people what to do. I had to learn the business from the ‘ground up.’”
Miller-Bopp did just that, learning to build pallets and operate dismantlers. “I had to physically do every job before I could manage it,” she said. “That’s how I earned respect.” In a move that restored financial stability, she soon afterwards convinced her father that they could close their two leased locations, save substantially, and still serve all of their customers from their main locations in North Carolina and Virginia. Displaced employees were transferred to the consolidated sites.
Early in her career arc, Miller-Bopp came to know Tracy, whom she recalls as being friendly and supportive. “Mona was one of the first women that I dealt with,” Miller-Bopp recalled. “There weren’t many of us in the industry at all.”
Denise Catanzaro, owner of Cincinnati, Ohio-based Lumberjack Pallet Recycling, was a stay-at-home mom for many years before re-entering the workforce. Her husband, Tom, worked as a UPS driver and ran a pallet repair side hustle to help make ends meet. As that small operation gained traction, he encouraged her to take the entrepreneurial leap. With the children growing older, she had started a career she enjoyed as a school photographer, but the business was growing. She had made the tough decision to move full-time to the emerging family enterprise.
“I started in 2008 with one employee and a box truck,” she said. “Now I have 13 employees, 39 trailers and three machines from Mona that I love.” They run a Renegade bandsaw dismantler, a Trim-Trac end trim saw, and an SN-20 automatic single-head notcher. “That thing is a beast,” she said of the Renegade. “It cuts the pallets like butter. It’s just amazing.”
“All three of these are just huge assets to our company to help us get our jobs done more efficiently and consistently,” she continued.
Catanzaro has remained deeply hands-on since Day One. “I’ve always been in it,” she said. “I still go out and pull pallets and help to load/unload trailers when need be. I get in the truck to help make deliveries/pick-ups. That’s just how I’ve always done it.”
In an industry where women are still a rarity, she said earning credibility didn’t come quickly or easily. “You don’t just get it handed to you. You earn it. I had to prove I knew what I was doing.”
One of the defining themes in all three women’s stories is the slow but steady journey toward being taken seriously. “There wasn’t a single moment when I felt like, ‘Okay, I’ve arrived,’” Miller-Bopp said. “But there were moments when people stopped questioning me and started asking for my advice.”
Mona Tracy’s credibility came from immersion. “Jack would take me to every mill and yard he visited,” she said. “I’d walk the mud, watch the machines, and learn everything. Eventually, I could tell you not only what machine fits your needs, but why it would help you grow. That builds trust.”
The moment she felt she had truly arrived in the pallet industry came at her first National Wooden Pallet & Container Association (NWPCA) meeting. Surrounded by industry veterans, she found herself comfortable working the room, shaking hands, handing out cards, and connecting with people.
Advice for Women Coming Up
Despite different paths, all three women offered similar advice to those starting in the industry.
“Never underestimate the value of relationships,” said Miller-Bopp, and don’t be afraid to ask questions. “Get your hands dirty and keep learning. I feel like I’ve had some success with that, and I think learning all of it is extremely important, because you just get a well-rounded sense of how the entire operation can be successful or where you see failures.”
“I started out not really knowing about the pallet business, but I did know about people,” Tracy reflected. “I think just talking to people and listening is the biggest thing that you’ve got in this industry. And know what you’re doing.”
Earning respect, Catanzaro noted, doesn’t come automatically. It comes through effort and consistency. “You’ve got to have thick skin, because you’re going to deal with men. But once you prove yourself, and once they see that you’re working just as hard if not harder, that’s when you earn their respect.”
Her advice to women entering the business: be willing to learn, speak up, and don’t wait for permission to lead. Have the courage to be vulnerable. Ask questions and don’t be intimidated by not knowing the answers. This approach has yielded enduring positive relationships not only with customers but also with other pallet companies.
The Way Things Are… and Looking Ahead
While the women profiled in this story have earned their place in the industry, they are quick to acknowledge that progress remains uneven and often slow. For Holly Miller-Bopp, being heard didn’t come automatically, even after proving herself operationally and financially.
“I had ideas early on, ways to fix things, ways to streamline, and I got a lot of ‘thanks but no thanks,’” she said. “It took years before people started asking for my opinion. But now they do, and I try to make space for others.”
Despite her current leadership position, she’s candid about the ongoing disparities. “There are some really amazing women in this business, but we’re still outnumbered. We still have to work twice as hard to get the same recognition. That’s the truth.” She added, “I don’t think women have a strong voice in the industry, not really. Not yet. I think there’s still a little bit of, you know, ‘She doesn’t know what she’s talking about,’ or ‘She’s just here because of her dad or her husband.’”
Denise Catanzaro sees a shift in how women are perceived, especially those who have long held operational roles behind the scenes. “A lot of times it’s the wives or the daughters that are actually running the office and keeping everything going, and the guys are out on the road or in the yard,” she said. “And now you see that they’re getting more respect for it. They’re not just being called the secretary anymore.”
Catanzaro noted her hands-on involvement in the daily operations of the business. She said, “To this day, when the delivery and pickup schedule gets very busy, I end up hopping in the truck to take care of these. It’s always fun to get out in the field and say ‘Hi’ to the people I talk to on the phone!”
A big part of the joy of working in the pallet industry is the regular involvement of her children in the business. Since her husband, Tom, recently retired from UPS, he also works actively in the business, as do their three children. Justin, youngest, works as a pickup and delivery driver, as well as in sales and logistics. Andrea, middle, joined in 2023 as administrator, and Stacey, the eldest, provides graphic and web support.
As Catanzaro put it, “I never thought I would do this. I’ve learned a lot, and I’ve worked hard. If I can do it, anybody can do it.”
