Cover Story Eileen Mozinski Schmidt
‘Don’t Hesitate’ Women in material handling talk about the opportunities and evolution of the business
When it comes to chances for the advancement of women in material handling, Amber Schenck has seen the momentum building. “I see that tide starting to turn. I do see more things being put in place to help empower women,” she said. Schenck is a field service supervisor for Toyota ProLift and has been with the company for three and a half years. Coming from the service industry, the business was her first introduction to industrial equipment. But she has advanced to her supervisory role and is currently in charge of half of the road tech team; the direct report for 19 people. She makes sure her team is on track and goes over audits and open tickets, along with ensuring customers’ needs are met. Schenck said her team covers a service area about 70 miles around the shop. “I am out with the techs seeing firsthand how we can better support them,” she said, describing her job as being “the boots on the ground and seeing what they go through and meeting the customers.” “I love it,” said Schenck, of her work. “I love getting to work with the techs and seeing some of that world and getting to see the customers,” she added. Schenck said she learns more about the business every day and applies this technical knowledge to her experience in customer service. She said the pandemic conditions did result in more time spent in the office, which was a challenge being new to her position. “I took that really hard. I had only been in the position for six months. It really tested communication skills,” said Schenck, who said the time working remotely did shine a light on how beneficial it is to build relationships with employees and customers. Now, she said more OHIO RACK in-person meetings have resumed and the company has been especially busy. We BUY & SELL “Goods still have to be Portable Stack Racks moved,” Schenck said. “A Flexible Packaging lot of cross-dock operations NEW & USED are doing massive amounts 800-344-4164 of shipping. We’re probably Fax 330-823-8136 busier now than prior to the Email: ohiorack@cannet.com www.ohiorack.com
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October 2021
pandemic. “When things started opening back up, it was just a tidal wave.” Schenck said she would love to see more women involved in the industry and encouraged others to jump in to take opportunities available. “Do it. Don’t hesitate because it’s a maledominated industry. Know who you are and be true to yourself,” she said. Shari Altergott has worked in the industry for two decades. While she says sexism is still present in some quarters, she agrees with Schenck that improvements have been made. “I think that it’s much better than it was 20 years ago. I would still say it’s not easy. It’s challenging, but I think it’s a good challenge,” she said. “I always relish places where there are new opportunities and there are a lot of opportunities for women in this space.” Altergott began in the industry for a material handling dealership in the Chicagoland area while in college, when a temp agency connected her with the business “I interviewed and they were talking about material handling. I remember thinking, ‘I have no idea what this company does and it sounds super boring but I’ll take the job because they offered it to me,” she said. Starting as an office helper, Altergott put her knowledge of sales, marketing, and business development to work and found herself on what would be a rewarding career path. Soon after her start, a new office manager with a strong belief in marketing tapped Altergott to help grow the business. “So, I stayed and it ended up being the best decision,” she said. By the time she left two years ago, Altergott was vice president of customer experience and the company had more than tripled in revenue. “It was a really awesome journey,” she said. In 2019, Altergott left to start her own company, The CX Edge. The business-to-business company focuses on four areas of customer service: people, products, process, and feedback, according to the website. Altergott said she was concerned when the pandemic hit in 2020, just as her business was picking up steam. “I thought for a minute that I made the dumbest decision ever,” she said.
