Someone You Should Know: Mallerie Merchant

With so many ERA members, it is not easy to get to know every rep, manufacturer and distributor in the business.“Someone You Should Know” is The Representor department that gives readers the chance to learn about fellow ERA members, including how their time is spent both in and out of the office.

Meet Mallerie Merchant, partner at R.C. Merchant & Co., a manufacturers’ rep firm that is celebrating 100 years in business in 2024! The Representor asked Merchant a few questions about her time in the manufacturers’ representative business and her experiences with ERA. Here is what she had to say.

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I was born and raised in Detroit and have lived here my entire life, except for a 10-year period when I lived in Chicago, which is where I went to college and started my career. I am the fourth generation in my family to work at R.C. Merchant. I have finished five marathons, I have a rescue dog and I love anything to do with the water, including swimming, scuba, kayaking and boating.

What are some things you enjoy outside of the workplace?

Outside of the workplace, I enjoy renovating older houses. I purchased and renovated a 100-year-old house and have renovated a few older properties with my fiancée. We just recently purchased a house and I’m looking forward to renovating it.

How long have you been an ERA member and how long in the rep business?

Our firm has been a member of the ERA since 1937. I began my career in the electronics industry in 2011 and have been with R.C. Merchant since 2017.

How did you become interested in being a rep in the electronics industry?

I was born into the business and would go to the office when my grandfather was running the company. As a child, when I would arrive at the office, my grandfather would always have a job for us—a real job— one time, it was sorting fuses. In the summer, I would work for the company and do anything that was required, whether it was cleaning up or stuffing envelopes.

When I finished college, I worked for a Chicago-based distributor of electronic equipment. I worked there for six years where I learned the ins and outs of sales and what it takes to be a manufacturers’ rep.

What have you found to be most rewarding about the rep business?

What I love about our industry is that it continues to grow as electronics become integral in almost every product we use in our lives. What’s exciting for me is that we get to be a part of so many different applications and learn about a huge variety of emerging technologies. I love that our industry is constantly changing and is always exciting. For example, as a manufacturers’ rep firm headquartered in Detroit, we have seen a huge shift in the technology used in vehicles in the last ten years.

Briefly describe your rep firm.

R.C. Merchant is a 100-year-old manufacturers’ representative for electronic and electrical products serving Michigan, Indiana and Ohio. Our lines are primarily sold into large data centers and manufacturing facilities. We serve the auto, healthcare, military and other industries with manufacturing facilities. Our product portfolio includes assemblies, displays, switches, power supplies and microelectronics. I’m the fourth generation of my family in this business so I feel like it’s in my blood.

What recent innovations, best practices and/or changes has your firm made?

As our industry ages and many stalwarts are about to reach retirement age, we are focused on planning for the next generation. As a company, we have spent a lot of time planning for turnover as employees begin to make retirement plans, and as part of that, we have created a program where we bring in the next generation of our team at least a year before employees retire. We feel that maintaining stability is incredibly important for our customers and the lines we represent, and we want new employees to be embraced into our culture and be strongly mentored. This year of overlap also allows us to vet the situation and determine if the person is the right fit for our company and the accounts they are managing. Investing in this plan allows us to be very proactive and strategic in the training and hiring we do.

What have you learned and/or what contacts have you made through ERA that have had the greatest positive impacts on you and/or your business?

I have had the opportunity to attend many ERA conferences both as an adult member of the industry and as a child, getting my first taste of business interactions. Spending time with industry leaders inspired me to dream big and set lofty goals for my career. It showed me the many possibilities of entrepreneurship and inspired me to pursue this path. These interactions, and the stories of industry leaders, have also taught me a lot about perseverance in business and the need to be constantly evolving and integrating. The ERA organization is so valuable in many ways, but for me, the facilitation of collaboration and sharing of knowledge between businesses is particularly special.