Mary Casillo

I attribute my success to my work ethic - thank you, Mom and Dad, right? I really appreciate the things I learned as a kid: you work hard at something that you enjoy, and you'll do well at it. I think that's why I'm successful where I am. I can't help but mention the people within the supply chain industry that have also just been so encouraging. It's wonderful. I also believe that teamwork makes the dream work. You find the strengths of the people around you, and you learn how to work together and use everybody's strength to everyone as a benefit. I work with pallet scientists, wood packaging engineers, and packaging engineers who bring the scientific approach to the pallet industry, and I think I can communicate that on a level that's different from how they can show that. Being part of a team has been my go-to my entire life.

The best career advice I ever received was don't be afraid to have feedback, whether it's good or bad, because no matter the feedback, you can always grow from it. Another piece of advice I received recently was about being agile when something new is presented - don't be afraid to pivot. I think that's really important in my work and has helped me navigate my career.

The best advice I can share is to don't be afraid to be unapologetically yourself, because I feel like women can provide a different perspective on the industry. Or maybe we could take a step back and take a look at the bigger picture of the industry, and know and understand that as it is a very male-populated industry, women are definitely on the rise. I think if you are unapologetically yourself, you will provide an insight to the industry that no one else has ever seen before. What's really awesome is that the pallet industry is seeing a lot of women-owned businesses and women-owned pallet manufacturers. I just think that that's the coolest thing, because as a male-populated industry, women are just creating this wave of, hey, we're here, we're taking over, and we're doing great things. It's pretty cool.

I think one of the largest challenges we have is the lack of knowledge that exists regarding how much transformation you can actually create from a well-managed, scientifically proven approach to national pallet management. What's so difficult about that is that we can break down pallets in general on a design aspect all the way down to the molecular level of a wood species, and that makes such a huge impact in the supply chain and the cost efficiencies. I feel like I blow people's minds when I talk to them a little bit about what we do, and how we do it, and why it's important, and what the impact is. I feel like the biggest challenge is actually getting people to want to take a look at their pallet program on that type of level. Right now, specifically within the supply chain, there's so much going on in the world that everyone is looking for multiple ways to make an impact, and I think getting out there and convincing people that taking a look from the ground up is really what's most important. We all know that in the supply chain, what's on the ground is the pallet. I think sometimes people overlook that, so that's one of my biggest challenges - getting people to understand that maybe they should take a look from the ground up.

My values are work hard, stay humble, and have fun. I think once you stop having fun, you're not enjoying what you do anymore, and I think it's time to find something different. But I think that's why I stayed in the pallet industry for so long, and I plan to stay in it, because every day is something different, every day there's something new to learn, and every day I have fun. As long as you work hard and stay humble, you'll continue to grow.