Chicago's Rose Pallet is a 100% woman-owned business with 40 years of combined experience and was recently ranked 18 out of 75 on the Crain's list of Chicago's Biggest Women-Owned Businesses.
Rose Pallet is a full-service pallet, lumber and crating distribution company that can build pallets of all types and sizes, and offers both used and new products along with a pallet recycling program.
Sisters Mia Allen and Amy Olsen grew up in Olympia Fields, Illinois. Allen attended Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights and would go on to study public communication and human resources with a minor in marketing at Western Illinois University. Olson went to Carl Sandburg in Orland Park and attended Eastern Illinois University, earning a degree in communications.
Family is important to the sisters and the two came together to form Rose Pallet in 2011 with the help of their uncle, Alan Rose. The partnership started after Allen's previous employer refused to hire Olson, even though she had a proven track record in the industry. The sisters successfully continued to grow the company together and eventually bought out their uncle.
The pair say the company aims to build strong relationships with their clients, while delivering innovative solutions and exceptional value to their customers. The sisters told Illinois Business Daily that their skill in communications has been a key component to the company's success.
"I pride myself on getting back to customers ASAP," Allen said. "I hear from clients that their providers do not get back to them in a timely manner. That’s where we differ. You can always get a hold of someone at my company when you need them. We are extremely accessible."
"At Rose, we began the company based on sales and marketing. We want to make sure that we became known by our brand and not just another company," Olson said. "We specialize in swift responses, strong communication with our customers and vendors, relationship building and competitive pricing structures. We treat our customers with the respect they deserve and take our relationships as if they were a partnership."
The sisters say Rose Pallet's No. 18 ranking on Crain's list means a lot in a primarily male dominated industry.
"I am very proud of this ranking and just another reason why I am so pleased we put in the extra effort to become WBENC (Women's Business Enterprise National Council) Certified," Allen said. "Our entire team here at Rose made this happen."
"It's always great to be recognized in the industry; we have worked very hard for our reputation amongst our peers and celebrate when we are honored to receive recognition," Olson said. "Many companies are starting to look at supplier diversity as an integral part of doing business. Being able to be part of helping companies in other ways than just supplying pallets is what I love about being women-owned."
The sisters say that as the COVID-19 pandemic ends, companies are slowing down to try and find savings due to to the rising cost of lumber and consolidating their supplier base.
"Instead of using 20 different pallet suppliers nationwide they want to go down to less than five for example," Allen said. "This has afforded us a lot of opportunities for national bids and that department has grown at Rose."
"There has been a lot of consolidation in the market by a few large national companies, more than we have ever seen in the past," Olson said. "Also, there has been a major slow down in the market. We have to stay proactive and make sure we are not only planning for today but also the potential of the market a year from now. Over the years, there has been many larger companies that have wanted to consolidate as well. So we want to make sure we are always adapting to the volatile market changes we have been seeing over the last several years."
When asked about what they predict for the company over the next five years, the sisters predict that the company will continue to grow rapidly.
"We are doubling our staff this year," Allen said. "We have brought on a director of operations who currently has three support staff. We recently hired a director of sales who is in the process of hiring on three more sales people. One to two of those will help handle national accounts."
"We are focusing on restructuring the company and strategically planning our growth over the next several years," Olson said. "We operate the majority of our business in the Midwest but are looking to expand and have more of a national presence"
Allen, as CEO, owner and co-founder, brings 24 years of experience to Rose Pallet with a career spent in logistics. According to the company's website, Allen leads the sales team at Rose Pallet to continue to grow the family business, which now has about triple the customer base as when the company first started back in 2011. Through years of experience managing shipping and warehousing projects for Fortune 100 and 500 companies, she oversees operational initiatives and seeks to create long-lasting partnerships with clients to meet their logistics needs. She and her husband Justin have three children and will be celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary this November.
Olson, as CFO, owner and co-founder, has more than 16 years of experience with the wood pallet industry. Olson has also spent her career with Fortune 100 and 500 companies, serving their pallet management needs at both the regional and national levels. Her current role at the company focuses on continuing to build relationships, developing new accounts, and national growth for Rose Pallet. She has been married seven years to her husband Eddie and has three children.