The MHEDA Journal - Third Quarter, 2016 - (Page 33)

WOMEN @WORK linda anlauf company: Wholesale Pallet Rack Products - WPRP title: Pallet Rack Specialist Years on Job: 6 h ard work and determination have created the person I am today. Before I started my career at Wholesale Pallet Rack Products (WPRP), I worked for a pallet rack manufacturer for almost eight years. AK Material Handling Systems, the parent company of WPRP, was actually one of our largest distributors. At the time that the manufacturer I had been working for went out of business, WPRP's next move was expanding its footprint to the East Coast. As I had been a point of contact for East Coast distributors at my previous job, I was approached and asked to come on board to expand WPRP into the East Coast. I was excited and thrilled at the opportunity. Now, almost six years later, WPRP has hired a second remote location as well as opened a warehouse and added three more employees this past September in East Stroudsburg. It's been evolving through the years and I've loved playing a role in that evolution. Marketing I wear many different hats at WPRP. Inside sales is one of my primary functions, maintaining our current customer base and also new business development. I have been challenged in more ways than I can count! My passion is learning as much as possible and passing on the information through teaching and training. I believe in our favorite saying at WPRP - "Our Goal is to Help You!" I also play a big role in our marketing. I try to maintain our presence on all of the different social platforms, reviewing sales blasts that go out to our customers as well as promoting industry events like the MHEDA Convention. One of our biggest marketing successes has been the WPRP "Would You Like Fries With That?" video series. In our industry, networking is so important. We've recently seen phenomenal results from our social media presence and video series. At MODEX, we saw the incredible reach that we've had from social media when companies, some who aren't even in our industry, would reach out and tell us they saw our latest video. Word of mouth is a really powerful tool and now word of mouth is taking place on these social platforms. an industry for everyone I have been in a MHEDA-Net group for a couple years now known as the "Pacesetters," and it has been a rewarding experience. Recently, I joined the Women in Industry MHEDA-NET Group and it's fantastic. It's the first time I've been able to really network with a group of women and talk about things that we do or encounter on a daily basis. Material handling is still a male-dominated industry but it shouldn't be that way. I think we need to get away from the stigma that it's just for men or that women wouldn't enjoy it. The industry isn't just about fixing forklifts or working in a warehouse. It's so much more than that. There is a huge opportunity in so many areas of a company that I think people don't often realize are there. industry advocate People don't really stop and consider our industry at all so they don't realize how varied the industry is. I have a yogurt on my desk in front of me and if I wasn't in the industry, I wouldn't ever consider the steps that it took to get this yogurt to my desk. All of the processes and material handling and logistics involved. So I think we need to provide opportunities to see material handling in action. Set up local tours. We need to make it real and communicate all of the benefits that the industry has to offer. That's what we're trying to do with the PaceSetters MHEDA-NET video series. We're interviewing people to get real people on screen to explain what is great about what they do. Everybody is involved in something different. The MHEDA Journal | Third Quar ter 2 016 33

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The MHEDA Journal - Third Quarter, 2016

Chairman’s Perspective
From the Desk of Liz Richards
Editor’s Note
MHEDA University Calendar
Ask Your Board
MHEDA Member Profile
@Work
Women @Work
Industry Pulse
Best of the Best
MHEDA Member's Populate Dealer Recognition Lists
MHEDA's MVP Program Turns Five
MHEDA MVP and MVS Award Recipients
Happy Anniversary!
Enhancing Safety in the Warehouse
A Look at Ergonomics in the Distribution Center
How to Keep Pallet Rack Safer
Is Your Warehouse Really Safe?
2016 Emerging Leaders Conference
Building and Protecting Your Personal Brand in an Online World
MHEDA Convention Recap
Forklift Dealership Management Conference
Memo to Material Handling Millenials
New Members
Spotlight on Association News
MHEDA Milestones
Index of Advertisers by Product Category
The Last Word

The MHEDA Journal - Third Quarter, 2016