Liz Richards (centre) with her colleagues at MHEDA.

The Material Handling Equipment Distributors' Association (MHEDA), which represents mostly male forklift distributors is, ironically, staffed mainly by women. Liz Richards is MHEDA executive vice president, having taken over from Tony Colletti in 1994.

"Traditionally this has been a very male-dominated industry, but I see that changing. I would recommend the industry to anyone. It is full of great opportunities for men and women," Richards said.

At the MHEDA office, six full-time and three part-time staff members serve 650 member companies, representing several thousand individual members.

Richards said the primarily female team juggled many projects simultaneously and "handle numerous details".

"In general I feel women are able to multi-task extremely well.

"I happen to work with the best."

Richards attended a women's leadership conference several months ago that focused on differences between male and female leaders.

"One key finding cited was that women tend to work by committee and consensus while men typically decide independently. We are definitely consensus driven at MHEDA."

As executive vice president of a national trade association, Richards oversees management of the association headquarters, working closely with the MHEDA board of directors to guide the association's direction.

Richards said one of MHEDA's initiatives through its Industry Advocacy Committee was to increase the industry's visibility.

"Materials handling is generally hidden to the public yet everything we consume has been touched by the industry.

"[The] industry represents the equipment, services and technologies that enable the supply chain. It is a most vital part of our existence yet invisible to so many people."

The task is not on Richards's shoulders alone.

"I am part of the MHEDA team. We work alongside one another in the office. There is no task I consider below me and there never will be."

The MHEDA HQ seems an ideal workplace.

"MHEDA is extremely family friendly. We don't punch time clocks and our work always gets done. We have a lot of fun working here, which just makes life more enjoyable.

"I have been able to achieve a work-life balance because of an outstanding team environment, at home and at work."

Richards said she enjoyed reading about MHEDA members in Forkliftaction.com News, especially the industry profiles section. Forkliftaction.com News has previously featured MHEDA 2006 president John Maybury in the profiles section (Forkliftaction.com News #255).