Can you imagine working in an industry where you know only one other woman doing the same work as you? That’s the reality for entrepreneur Jenny Kleppe, co-owner of Kleppe Forest Products LLC in Mabel, Minn. Jenny has met just one other woman, Bonnie Mulholland of Eyota, Minn., who drives the log skidder with her husband Jack. There simply aren’t many women in the industry.
While she encounters women in sales at expos, it remains a male-dominated field in the woods and on the trucks.
Kleppes buy standing timber and cut logs at their mills in southeast Minnesota and eastern Iowa. They sell pallet lumber, grade lumber, railroad ties, crane mat timbers, and 3 ply laminated mats. They also do customer orders.
The spotlight is on Jenny herself – her grit, humor, and work ethic as a “working woman” in an unexpected career.
Jenny’s path into the timber industry wasn’t planned. After being laid off shortly after giving birth to her first child, Cole, her husband Jason encouraged her to get her CDL license and join him in the family business. Before long she was driving their equipment.
She shared a story about driving in a whiteout snowstorm. The couple headed down to Kendrick Forest Products in Iowa and got caught in a whiteout snowstorm on the way home, unable to see the truck’s front end, she panicked and radioed Jason who was driving a separate vehicle.
“I quit. I can’t do this. I can’t see anything. I’m just going to park the truck. I’ll walk home. I don’t care,” she recalled. But with his reassurance, she pushed through. White-knuckled, she made it home safely.
Jenny also drives log trucks but refused to load logs.
“I’m terrified of heights, so I will not climb. I will not load logs with the loader,” she admitted.
She can be found working alongside Jason in the woods cutting trees, pulling cable off the skidder, and hooking up trees so they can pull them out of the woods.
She mentioned that she tried firing herself from that job a couple of times.
The couple have two other children, Chase and Kaylee. Both Cole and Chase work in the family business. Kaylee, a student at Mabel-Canton, helps out when she’s not playing volleyball for the Cougars.
Ask Jenny her job title, and she laughs: “Jack of all trades.” Officially she refers to herself as the office manager. She handles payroll, invoicing, placing orders, and customer calls in addition to working in the woods.
“You don’t know what your day is going to be,” she explained. Jenny prefers a paper calendar to keep track of everything.
When asked what the future holds for the Kleppe business, Jenny said she’s not sure. Recently, her husband asked if she thought they’d be where they are today saying they made it.
When asked what advice Jenny has for women that want to work in the timber industry or would like to own their own business, she shared, “You’ve got to have a good work ethic and be knowledgeable. You’ve got to have the discipline to run your own business.
“You’ve got to have the drive and willpower to go do what you’ve got to do, without someone telling you, ‘Ok, go do this now.’”
“I’ve never not had a job. I need to work. I need to feel that I’m contributing to the family,” said Jenny.
Jenny admits balance doesn’t really exist. Business discussions happen at the dinner table and at volleyball games. Family members tease her to stop taking phone calls while on vacations, but as she explains, “I don’t have a backup person to cover for me. The work doesn’t stop.”
She credits her grandparents as mentors, especially for instilling a strong work ethic. Her extended family also models entrepreneurship; her great-aunt and uncle transitioned from raising pigs to operating a winery. There are family members that own and operate the Lewiston Sales Barn.
“Now that is dedication,” she said.
Jenny can be reached at Kleppe Forest Products, 11046 U.S. Highway 52, Mabel, Minn., 563-419-0076, or by emailing her at jklogging@yahoo.com.
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