The pallet industry used to be dominated by men. But the landscape is changing where increasingly women are calling the shots and taking top spots.
As overall workplace demographics shift, the pallet industry is evolving as well. The Pallet Enterprise has interviewed six women who are top leaders in their companies, some are even key leaders of industry trade associations.
These women share their insights on key issues and discuss how women can uniquely help drive a better future for their companies.
Carolyn Beach – vice president of Westside Pallet Inc. in Newman, California
When and how did you get into the industry? How has the pallet sector changed since you first got in the industry?
Carolyn Beach: I first got into the pallet business in 1999 working for my dad. He started the business as an owner operator truck driver and was collecting, repairing and selling pallets on the side. In a few years, it turned into a full-time business, and he needed someone to be the office manager. I worked alongside him until his untimely death in 2009. And then decided to keep the business going with our loyal staff that stayed with me.
The industry has changed a lot since 1999. I remember companies paying us to come get their core pallets out of their yards. Then they stopped paying and started just giving them for free. And now, there is much competition to pay high prices for cores. Also, customers were really loyal in the past. Good quality and service meant something to them. That is not the case as much anymore.
Put on your futurist hat, what is one major change you foresee happening in the industry over the next 10 years that will surprise us the most?
Carolyn Beach: I don’t know if it will surprise us but one major change that is happening right now is consolidation of pallet companies. And I think that will continue over the next 10 years.
What’s the best lesson you have learned about business since the COVID-19 pandemic began?
Carolyn Beach: I learned just how essential our business is during the pandemic. And our employees learned that what they are doing is very important for the supply chain.
What is your advice to young women who are following your footsteps into this industry?
Carolyn Beach: Get involved in the associations and committees. Networking and getting your name out there are invaluable. And the information the associations share with their members will keep you informed on how to build a stronger company.
Beatrice A. Vasquez – CFO of Oxnard Pallet Company in Oxnard, California
When and how did you get into the industry? How has the pallet sector changed since you first got in the industry?
Beatrice Vasquez: Over 28½ years ago, I partnered with my husband (Elias) to start up a pallet company. While Elias was trucking some ice from the Oxnard area to a local farmer, he became aware of a growing need for people to buy and get rid of pallets. We searched the area and learned there were only some smaller pallet yards, and there were a lot of pallets on the market. I was at a point in my administrative banking career to make a change. We both saw a good window of opportunity to begin our new pallet business with just a truck and a dream. We rented a two-acre lot, hired one more employee/forklift operator and put out signs and began marketing our business.
The pallet sector has changed a lot, particularly over the last two years thanks to the COVID pandemic. The industry has faced many challenges including forest fires, core shortages, and supply chain disruptions, such as a lack of nails. Lumber pricing volatility is a constant concern. Labor availability is challenging more and more. There’s never a dull moment in the pallet market.
What do you wish was different about the pallet industry?
Beatrice Vasquez: We wish we had more core pallets to refurbish, plenty of nails, reliable labor and good lumber availability and pricing!
What’s the best lesson you have learned about business since the COVID-19 pandemic began?
Beatrice Vasquez: Be prepared, stock up and have important understanding with your pallet team. Keep learning and growing with better understanding of what the future brings. And don’t ignore the clear signs of challenges to come!
What is your advice to young women who are following your footsteps into this industry?
Beatrice Vasquez: This industry requires a certain amount of discipline and good work ethic to succeed. There are great rewards for those who follow this path with a passion. Be sure it is a career you enjoy for true success in the future.
Tracie Sanchez – president of Lima Pallet in Lima, Ohio
When and how did you get into the industry? How has the pallet sector changed since you first got in the industry?
Tracie Sanchez: My mom and dad started our company out of their garage. I was in high school at the time and would help after school and on the weekends. The business grew rather quickly, and we purchased land next to I-75 and grew from family members to now 55 employees. I became president of the company in 2002 and bought the company from my parents in 2004. Many things have changed in the industry from automation to heat treat for exports.
As a woman in a largely male-dominated industry, what individual traits and skills have helped you succeed?
Tracie Sanchez: We hire many former prisoners with a lot of issues and baggage and the ability to work through these issues has been a real asset. Also, learning everything I can about lumber and customer needs has helped me be successful. Becoming a woman-owned business many years ago has helped us meet diversity qualifications that many larger companies have today.
What’s the best lesson you have learned about business since the COVID-19 pandemic began?
Tracie Sanchez: We learned how important and essential the pallet industry is. Before, pallets have always been the bottom feeders. No one worries about or cares about pallets until they need us. With COVID, we became more than essential. Our major customers were worried we could not supply, from healthcare to essential foods and products. So, pallets became supply chain gold.
What is your advice to young women who are following your footsteps into this industry?
Tracie Sanchez: They must be resilient in a very cutthroat business. Stay ahead of the curve. Workforce and pricing will be the biggest challenges in the future.
Annie Montey – sales for American Pallet Inc. in Oakdale, California
When and how did you get into the industry? How has the
pallet sector changed since you first got in the industry?
Annie Montey: My dad and my grandfather started the business in 1976, so I grew up with the business. I spent high school summers filing paperwork in the office, and I started working full- time shortly after I graduated from college in 2007. I speak Spanish so my family originally hired me to work full-time in human resources to develop a bilingual safety training program. After successfully completing that program, I was reassigned to freight dispatching and inside sales, and in 2013 moved into full-time sales under the guidance of my mentors, Mark Berger and John Fauria.
I think technological advancements in automation have been the most significant changes. When I began working in the industry, sawmills had just begun to integrate state-of-the-art scanning and database systems into their production lines. In recent years, I’ve seen pallet businesses use similar scanning and tracking technology to optimize their pallet operations.
What do you wish was different about the pallet industry?
Annie Montey: When I first began working in the industry and attending Western Pallet Association (WPA) meetings, I remember wanting to see more cultural diversity at that level of industry involvement.
When I attended my first WPA conference, it was all in English, and I remember seeing mostly white faces. I felt that was unrepresentative of the industry because in my day-to-day job I was speaking Spanish all the time.
So, I volunteered to serve on the WPA board, and in 2019, the board agreed to begin offering translation devices in Spanish so that non-English speakers could benefit from the speaker program. I hope that more non-English speakers will continue to attend the WPA conference so they can benefit from the open exchange of ideas that flows from diversity.
What’s the best lesson you have learned about business since the COVID-19 pandemic began?
Annie Montey: I think it’s incredibly important to be fair with your business partners in a strengthening market. Looking back at the first half of 2021, when supplies were low, I think a lot of people remember who was fair with them on pricing and who took them to the cleaners. I think if your goal is to preserve long-term trust with your business partners, then you should be fair on pricing, even when the scales are tipped in your favor.
What is your advice to young women who are following your footsteps into this industry?
Annie Montey: If my niece was reading this, I’d advise her to be patient because it takes years to fully understand this industry. Find a way to add value to the business and continue to deliver that value.
Holly Miller-Bopp – president of J.C. Pallet Company, Inc. in Barhamsville, Virginia
When and how did you get into the industry? How has the pallet sector changed since you first got in the industry?
Holly Miller-
Bopp: My family has been in the pallet business for over 50 years, but my first real introduction came in September 2001. The business was in struggle mode, and my brother thought a fresh set of eyes could help; 20 years later we are stronger than ever. I feel like changes in this industry are almost daily. When I first started, we could buy cores for $1 or less; now you are looking at $5 or more. From my experience, the biggest change for us has been the collaboration of pallet companies working together. We work with numerous pallet companies for the betterment of the customer and white wood recyclers.
As a woman in a largely male-dominated industry, what individual traits and skills have helped you succeed?
Holly Miller-Bopp: When I first started working for the family business, my dad, John Combs, Sr. said to me, “If you are going to work here, you are going to know how to do everything. You can’t expect people to listen to you if you can’t do the work yourself.” I had to build pallets which set our standard for quality. I worked in de-nail which helped me set up our reclaimed lumber sales division instead of grinding everything that wasn’t used to repair a 48×40 pallet.
Being tasked with knowing how to physically do every job we were asking our employees to do made me a better employer. With all of that knowledge, I take our family business personal because it is. Every day I take into account my family, my employees and their families.
Why do you think so many women have been rising to positions of influence in the pallet sector over the last five years?
Holly Miller-Bopp: I believe having a more diversified workplace increases productivity, improves performance and ultimately will enhance collaboration. I am not the only woman in a position of influence at our business. Katie Lemke dispatches and communicates with all our truck drivers and customers. Karen Barnett oversees human resources and communicates with employees in helping keep their needs met. And in turn, we have several women who work in our de-nail department, cutting and stacking reclaimed pallet lumber for resale.
What’s the best lesson you have learned about business since the COVID-19 pandemic began?
Holly Miller-Bopp: COVID has really put a wrench in any expectations we may have forecasted for the industry. But considering COVID and its lingering effects, companies may look for more local relationships in helping keep their needs met. Supply shortages in the rental market will ultimately open doors and eyes to the white wood recycling industry.
Be prepared, act quickly and over communicate. With rising supply and labor costs, you can’t sit around and wait to see what’s going to happen. You must act fast and communicate well with customers and vendors. We are hit almost weekly with some type of cost increase or supply shortage.
What is your advice to young women who are following your footsteps into this industry?
Holly Miller-Bopp: My advice to young women coming into this industry is to be an aggressive, life-long learner from others that have been in the business.
Araceli Rodriguez – president of Chicago Pallet Service Inc. in Elk Grove Village, Illinois
When and how did you get into the industry? How has the pallet sector changed since you first got in the industry?
Araceli Rodriguez: I joined the pallet industry in 2000. I was in the finance industry, and my dad’s staff person who processed orders resigned. My dad asked me if I could help him out a few days to get back on track and organized. So, I resigned my finance job as I saw the potential at the pallet company. And years later, I am still here.
The pallet sector has changed a lot. Automation, especially over the last few years, has come a long way. Probably the biggest change has been the overall public awareness of the industry. For years, pallets have been the forgotten base of the supply chain. But today, the word pallet is known. Anyone in purchasing, any company shipping anything knows what a pallet is. As a result, pallets are more important than ever.
The pallet industry has always been a cutthroat business. It wasn’t a priority for purchasers except as a place to save nickels and dimes. But over the last few years, pallets are viewed as a critical piece of America’s supply chains. Pallets are finally starting to be valued for the benefits they provide. And customers are willing to pay more as our costs skyrocket.
Why do you think so many women have been rising to positions of influence in the pallet sector over the last five years?
Araceli Rodriguez: Traditionally, women in the industry have started in the office in clerical positions. But that is starting to change with automation. I think women are made to multitask, which tends to work well with new equipment and processes. A lot of the machinery is button controlled and production jobs require more multitasking ability than pure strength.
We are starting to see more women working in our plant. Right now, in our manufacturing plant, we have seven females. That’s the most we’ve had in the years I’ve been here working.
What is your advice to young women who are following your footsteps into this industry?
Araceli Rodriguez: Don’t assume anything. Ask a lot of questions and make sure you understand everything in the process.
