Welcome to the “Material Handling Helpful Tools Series”. This series will blog spotlight many different material handling professionals and provide helpful information for the material handling industry. Our goal is to introduce you to individuals and websites that can improve your success in the industry. Today, we will meet Rebecca Hein from MHEDA.

Tell us a little about yourself:

Outside of work my life is my family and friends, specifically my kids and my husband Steve. Steve and I will be married 13 years at the end of this year and have two amazing children. Our son Will is 10 years old and in fifth grade and my daughter Jordyn is six and in first grade. Their school and outside activities keep us very busy! Will plays baseball, flag football, basketball and runs. We’ll see as he gets older what will be his favorite but right now he is enjoying everything. Jordyn is our gymnast, and picking up softball and soccer these days. We also spend a lot of time devoted to helping Jordyn fight a very tough medical condition. About a year and half ago Jordyn was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, a life-threatening autoimmune disease in which a person’s pancreas stops producing insulin – a hormone essential to the ability to get energy from food. It strikes both children and adults suddenly and changes life as they know it forever. It cannot be prevented and there is no cure. We raise money through our JDRF Walk Family Team – Team Glucose, We Stick Together. All money raised goes into finding a cure for this horrible disease. Jordyn is resilient and she is my Superhero. Will is an amazing big brother and has no problem wearing a pink tee shirt to support his little sister.

Rebeccas-Hein-Team-Glucose1 Rebecca-Hein-Team-Glucose2

What is your role in the organization?

I have been with MHEDA since September of 2010, and my official title is Networking & Communications coordinator. My primary responsibility is working with the Networking Committee to maximize every member’s networking opportunity via MHEDA, Regional Networking Summits, or Social Media. I also do a lot of meeting planning for ProMat/MODEX, the Board of Directors meetings and different aspects of MHEDA’s Annual Convention including the golf outing.

How did your career path land you in this role?

I had been staying home with the kids after our daughter was born and looking for something new when it was time to go back. I had worked for Marriott for 9 years and a third party corporate meeting planning company for 6 years. I wanted to still work on meetings but it was time for a change. The association market was just the thing. I sent my resume on a Friday. Liz reviewed over the weekend and emailed me that she wanted to follow up. We met on Tuesday and by Thursday I was offered the position – and it couldn’t have been more perfect.

What is the most exciting aspect of your job?

I wear a lot of hats at MHEDA so every day is different and I get to work with an incredible group of people both the MHEDA Staff and MHEDA’s Board of Directors.

What makes you (or your business) unique and sets you apart from the rest of the industry?

MHEDA provides both Educational and Networking opportunities for the Material Handling Industry so we are not in the trenches daily but around it and we provide a solutions for members to help grow their business’.

What is one tip or bit of advice that you can leave with our readers?

The only way to reap the benefits of MHEDA is to put your time into it. The many networking opportunities we provide are beneficial if you want to meet with industry peers, but if you aren’t willing to put forth your time and energy, you will not get anything out of it.

What are the biggest changes you see in the industry in the future?

Technology, we need to embrace it and learn to use it for its full potential. It’s not going anywhere. Email, texts, social media – it’s here to stay and if we don’t all learn how to use it, it’s going to be hard to do business in the future.