skucast: Recent Episodes
commonsku
Welcome to skucast, the #1 podcast for entrepreneurs in the print and promotional products industries. skucast shines a light on our industries' best work, features maverick personalities, and discusses what’s really involved in running a modern print or promotional products business. skucast is the official podcast of commonsku.
On this episode of skucast, Bobby Lehew and Charlie Moscoe interview each other on the state of AI in promo, skubot's return, and what's shipping on the roadmap for the rest of the year.
On this episode of skucast, Bobby and Bella Chamoun-Ko run through the mid-year update: Q2 releases, the new AI suite, and a look at what's coming next quarter.
On this episode of skucast, we pull the highlights from a webinar with three PPAI Top 100 distributors — Sandy Gonzalez (MadeToOrder), Michael Wolaver (Magellan Promotions), and Robert Fiveash (Brand Fuel) — on what unlocked their growth, why culture fit beats book of business, and the calls that got them onto the list.
On this episode of skucast, Kara Parkinson, commonsku's SVP of Marketing and a veteran of Apple, Intuit, Nestlé, and PepsiCo, shares the creative brief she's drafting for merch buyers, the difference between category thinking and context thinking, and what makes a distributor pitch land with a CMO.
from client conversations, how she built a global distribution partner network through years of trial and error, and how a commonsku Backpack newsletter sparked an eight-shop website rebuild.
On this episode of skucast, commonsku's Outside Sales Director Maria Acquarola talks strategic growth for promo distributors, the seven-touch cadence that cuts through email fatigue, and the partnership reframe for solving order problems in the promotional products industry
On this episode of skucast, commonsku's new Chief AI Officer Bobby Lehew talks treating AI as team (not tools), customer intelligence, and the AI reset moment for the promotional products industry
On this episode of skucast, City Paper CEO Stephanie Friedman talks walking away from a multimillion-dollar contract, vulnerable leadership, and how a 129-year-old family business grew from $13M to $32M
Bobby Lehew covers Q1 platform updates, skucamp's move to Montréal, and AI features shipping inside commonsku for promo distributors
On skucast’s latest episode, VP of Technology Dileshni Jayasinghe reveals how AI is accelerating feature development for promotional products distributors.
On skucast’s latest episode, Danny Rosin of Brand Fuel about leading PPAI, the landmark carbon study, and why promotional products need more punk rock energy.
On skucast’s latest episode, Caleb Gilbertson and Colin Loughran share Imprint Engine's playbook for global scale, plus AI champions and the leadership split.
On commonsku’s latest episode, Mark McCormack reveals the formula for finding million-dollar accounts in plain sight, plus the future of POD and AI.
Bobby Lehew shares where to find commonsku at PPAI Expo 2026, new Shopify and tax features, and how 930+ companies built momentum in 2025 heading into 2026.
Eku Malcolm on skucast: Stop tinkering with AI and start scaling it. Frameworks to move your team from experimentation to fluency in 2026.
Tim Andrews shares 23 years of promotional products insights on culture, leadership, and industry evolution. A commonsku skucast with the ASI CEO.
The Icebox's Scott Alterman on surviving cyber attacks, betting on inventory over POD, and scaling promotional products businesses with commonsku.
metrics that can transform promotional products sales teams. Essential insights for distributors.
Team SCG CEO Shayna Cohen reveals how firing 20% of clients, rebranding during crisis, and aggressive hiring led to explosive growth from $5M to $30M in 4 years.
Charlie Moscoe reveals commonsku's platform evolution: AI-powered search, automatic bill matching, and finance tools that give distributors time back.
skucamp 2025's most powerful moments in one episode. Industry CEOs share real numbers, real failures, and what's disrupting promotional products now.
Live at skucamp 2025: Catherine Graham leads a supplier CEO panel with S&S, HIT, and Koozie leaders on M&A, AI-powered ops, POD’s rise, and tariff turbulence.
PPAI's new CEO Drew Holmgreen reframes promo as a marketing channel, not tchotchkes. Learn his agency-driven vision, $1T+ economic impact study & how AI wins deals in 2025.
Storm Creek tracks carbon emissions down to zippers, earned B Corp status & went Connected+ on commonsku. Learn how sustainability data wins deals in 2025.
What if the secret to growth isn't sending more emails, but sending fewer? Dean Caravelis, founder of Blezoo and author of "The Experience in a Box Playbook," explains why precision beats volume in promotional products.We dive into why campaign complexity kills memorability, the physical renaissance happening as digital fatigue sets in, and how commonsku amplifies personal relationships instead of replacing them.
Joel Freet's team ships orders in 6 minutes flat. The Cutter & Buck CEO reveals how robots, AI, and smart automation transformed their fulfillment operations.
What if the next $100 million distributor only needs 10 employees? Leo Friedman, CEO of iPromo, believes this bold prediction is already becoming reality. Since 1999, Leo has built iPromo from startup to industry powerhouse: 75 employees, 55,000+ customers, and 500+ on-demand products that solve the MOQ problem everyone else struggles with. But here's the kicker: AI is about to make everything we know about scaling obsolete. From 30-minute store builds to AI agents that nurture leads while you sleep, Leo reveals why physical products will dominate the digital noise and how smart distributors can ride this wave. Ready to future-proof your distributorship? Dive in!
What does the promo industry look like from the inside out? I mean, all the way to the source, from manufacturing in Asia to the delivered product to clients. Well, in today’s show, we’re getting a peek behind the scenes as we take a promo tour through Asia with Dave Shultz, commonsku’s VP of Supplier Partnerships, and Mark Graham, commonsku’s President and Chief Brand Officer! The two industry vets journeyed to Asia for a factory tour and a visit to the Hong Kong Gifts and Premium Fair, plus, they joined CJ Schmidt, the CEO of HIT Promo to help build a water tower outside of Hanoi with PromoCares through Planet Water Foundation’s “Water for Good” initiative.
Can you hit a 30% growth target YTD and still make a major contribution to your community? Apparently, you can. In this episode, we talk with Nevin Bansal. Nevin is the Founder and CEO of Outreach Promos, a Columbus-based company providing online brandstores, branded merch, and design solutions. Nevin is also the founder and Executive Director of Small Biz Cares, a nonprofit that engages small businesses for philanthropy and community impact. Tune in to learn how to impact your bottom line and your community!
Britney Godsey is the dynamic CRO at Gold Bond, we chat about tariffs, the "China plus one" strategy some suppliers employ, the recent implementation of commonsku ePOs for streamlined order processing, and tech advancements like the Brand Lab AI podcast and chatbot, alongside a focus on team growth, plus their strategic focus on Tech, Golf Dominance, Green Gallery, and ZipShip. Join us for a wide-ranging but incredibly informative chat with Britney!
Tom Havens, a creative powerhouse and the visionary founder of Havens Consulting, possesses a remarkable sales background and deep roots in creative and design for the promo industry. His leadership propelled Catalyst Marketing to $25 MM before its acquisition by HALO in 2017. Driven by his passion for innovation, Tom launched Havens Consulting in 2024, dedicated to empowering distributors and suppliers to achieve unprecedented sales growth.
Episode 338: A Branded Product Agency Philosophy with Francis Pierrel, LR Paris by commonsku
Episode 337: Mastering Client Complexity Through Mergers: A Chat with Kate Ivory and Laura Mazy, Premier Press by commonsku
Episode 336: The “Quiet Work” of a Power Brand: Inside MOTIF’s Unique Culture with Joel Antymniuk by commonsku
Episode 334: The Optimism & Anxiety of Sales Growth: Tips from Sales Expert Kevin Baumgart by commonsku
Blackfish is an unapologetically boutique brand that focuses on a customer-obsessed experience as the bedrock for building growth.
Monty Mims is one of the many folks leading SanMar’s Decorator & Tech Solutions division, he’s brilliant at both helping distributors work better with their decorators, but also helping decorators navigate the landscape of trends, equipment, and supply chain.
When John Henry of JH started in 1998, little did he know that JH would soon expand into culture and recruitment services for businesses, consulting, digital services, and more. Many of us in the industry consider ourselves strategic advisors to our clients, but when our CCO, Bobby Lehew, got to participate in JH’s “Expand Your Brand” event (virtually) this year, we realized that if there’s one thing JH is exceptional at, above all, it’s expanding their own brand to serve their clients.
Episode 330: The Impact Journey: Fairware's Sarah White and Denise Taschereau by commonsku
Episode 329: Ethically Sourced Merch for Socially Responsible Clients (Daniel Cardozo, Ethix Merch) by commonsku
Hit Promo is now a connected+ supplier on commonsku, what does that mean? A lightening fast ordering process, securing inventory quicker, and the elimination of order entry errors by you and your team (and more!) Today, we’re talking with Amy Rabideau, Hit’s VP of Product and Jon Norris, Chief Strategy Officer at Hit.
Episode 327: "Marketing Made Easy: Unleashing the Power of commonsku + PromoPulse (with Jason Nokes) by commonsku
Our guest on this episode of the skucast is Kyla Scanlon, founder of the financial education company, Bread, and a prolific creator. Kyla writes a weekly newsletter, makes YouTube videos, hosts the “Let’s Appreciate” podcast, and posts —almost daily— short-form videos about the economy and markets.
Todd Henry is one of the most sought-after creativity coaches in the world, he teaches leaders and organizations how to establish practices that lead to everyday brilliance.
When Sky High Marketing partnered with commonsku about four years ago they had 25 employees and in the short time since, have doubled their team to 50! Owners, Josh and Rachel Kozinski just opened a brand new 40,000 square foot, state-of-the-art facility in the Milwaukee area complete with warehousing, in-house decoration, and embroidery. We were honored to join them for their open house, what an amazing team and experience.
Founded in 2013 in New York City. Whitestone has graced the Inc 5000 List for Fastest-Growing Private Companies in America the last seven years. Founder and President Joe Sommer has led a superstar sales team and is looking at growth through both organic sales and acquisitions, they recently acquired Merchful (who operates in Canada and Europe) and they acquired San Francisco-founded distributor Design Like Whoa.
Today Rob Watson, CEO at Vantage Apparel joins us to talk about their look into the future and the aspirations and realities they are creating as a tech-enabled pioneer in apparel.
Ryan Paules pivoted to the promo industry after losing his job as a manager with a national chain on the same day of his wife's first ultrasound. With a new baby on the way and a mortgage to pay, he turned his IT hobby into a full-time venture, launching Radar Support, which he later closed despite its success.
Tim Andrews is a luminary in the promo industry, he’s the CEO of the Advertising Specialty Institute (ASI) whose 350 employees serve a network of 25,000 suppliers, distributors, and decorators in the industry.
Todd Mawyer is the President and CEO of TK Promotions, a commonsku distributor customer, and yet another very successful entrepreneur in this industry who started during a recession, in 2008.
In our chat today, Dean will share some-real time tactics and ideas that will help you build a brand that people want to connect with (through every business touchpoint). From the way your team communicates to generous marketing, Dean combines his experience as both client and distributor to help you build a brand your customers will like, love, and trust!
Today, we have a really special sneak peek episode featuring Charlie Moscoe, commonsku’s VP of Product Management. Whether you’re an OG client, a new client, a supplier, or even just someone who is commonsku curious, today, we’ll unpack some exciting new developments coming up in June and for the remaining year.
Doug Jackson, President of Storm Creek and Teresa Fudenberg CEO of Storm Creek, both join us today to talk about their sustainability journey, their passion for impact, and since they’re the OG’s of eco, we talk about today’s buyer demands, how it’s changed, and their practical tips on how we as distributors can make eco a priority with our clients.
Pop! Promos removed 36,000 pounds of plastic from their supply chain, expanded their organic, recycled, and sustainable materials, and achieved a bronze designation from EcoVadis, the world’s largest and most trusted provider of business sustainability ratings. And the Pops! Promos Transformation toward sustainability and its increased effort toward social impact all began with a small group of volunteers from within the organization. Today, we talk with Sterling Wilson, President of Pop! Promos about how a small voluntary group made such a huge impact, how they formed the group, what priorities they decided upon, and his tips on how you and your team can do the same to fast-track your sustainability efforts!
Walk into the coolest, local, craft coffee shop in your market and the likelihood is high that you’ll see coffeeware and insulated drinkware on the shelves from our guests today, Jeremy Moss and Ryan Schneider, who started Created Co in 2015. Fast forward a few years and Jeremy and Ryan with Created Co and Numo’s Jim Martin found one another. Two strong and proven but disruptive brands that both have an affinity for making cool products for discerning buyers. Now, we see a lot of brands enter our industry but there’s something about this that feels different and perhaps it’s the way they approach their partnership which is what we talk about today.
Today, we’re chatting with Issac Childs, founder of Rustico, one of the most beloved brands who closed their doors after a very successful run of 22 years.
Today we talk with Shed about so much, you’ll love the depth of his thinking, we talk about: candor with care, the most important traits of a leader, the struggle some of us have moving from roles like a sales driver to an organizational leader, and more - join us!
Shelley Stewart is the CEO, the Creative Experience Officer, at Red Promotions based out of Seattle WA. As a women-owned, led, and fully operated team, they have become a powerhouse for their clients and have worked hard to build an incredible culture and a fiscally vibrant business.
Danny’s talk walked us through the sometimes rocky and now incredible journey the branded merch industry has been through, from an advertising add-along to today’s intimate merch experience that is embraced by brands and adorned by fans.
Lia Garvin, author and speaker, is known as the team whisperer: She’s the bestselling author of Unstuck and author of a new book released just this week titled The Unstoppable Team: A simple formula for managing your team, reducing overwhelm, and increasing revenue.
Today, we talk with Ryan about this incredible business they’ve built in California, their expansion into the industry providing workwear, plus how their audiences have widened to include not only the trades but also this huge market for transitional workwear.
Our guest today is Ben Higgins, best known from season 20 of ABC’s hit series, “The Bachelor.” Ben stays connected with his loyal Bachelor following with his iHeartMedia podcast, “Almost Famous,” which he co-hosts with his friend and former Bachelor contestant, Ashley laconetti, which has over 150 million downloads.
Linni Kral is a Brooklyn-based writer, editor, and educator. Her work has appeared in The Atlantic, the BBC, Condé Nast Traveler and more.
Denise is the CEO and co-founder of one of the industry’s most respected brands, Fairware. Prior to starting Fairware, Denise spent seven years as the Director of Sustainability and Community for Mountain Equipment Co-op, Canada’s largest outdoor retailer. She is currently a board member of Promotional Products Association International (PPAI) and also a board member of Promocares, a group working to inspire, educate and provide actionable strategies to encourage social and environmental responsibility in the promotional products industry.
Today, we’re sharing an episode that we recorded live from skucon where Jeremy and Jonathan answer questions from Catherine Graham, commonsku’s CEO, on a broad range of topics including: US/China relations and its impact on the supply chain, deglobalization efforts, the impact of international trade, the labor market, and a financial outlook for 2024.
Jason Lucash and Mike Szymczak, the two founders behind one of the industry’s most ingenious company’s Origaudio, are back. Jason and Mike sold their very successful company, Origaudio, to HPG in 2018, and after a few years, both retired from the industry. The two entrepreneurs, known for their innovation in product, production, and distribution, have launched a new brand with a bold new mission. The company is called Rupt — and it sounds just as it was intended, an idea meant to disrupt the industry, particularly the status quo when it comes to transparency in sustainability.
Frank Carpenito was a five-year board member on Gemline’s board of directors, and he loved the company so much that he wanted to help lead it; in 2019, he became President and recently was promoted to CEO and is now responsible for the day-to-day running of the business at Gemline.
Logomark’s story is one of innovation, not just in product but in production, masters at obsessing over speed and accuracy, we begin our chat today with Clive by talking about his entry into the industry, what the pandemic taught him and the team, and how it impacts their work today.
Right now, if you’re listening to this as it's published, you’re in the middle of your 2023 holiday break, and as has been a tradition for us, we like to use these few weeks during the holidays to republish a few hidden gems you might have missed earlier in the year. Today, since the new year is right around the corner, we're republishing our conversation with Rob Dube, CEO of Imageone on the topic: “The 10 Disciplines for Maximizing Your Energy,” it’s the perfect episode to help you as you think ahead to your personal and business goals for 2024!
Right now, if you’re listening to this as it's published, you’re in the middle of your 2023 holiday break, and as has been a tradition for us, we like to use these few weeks during the holidays to republish a few hidden gems you might have missed earlier in the year. Today, we’re republishing an episode about “How to Have a Good Fight” from the Teamwork Doctor Liane Davey. Liane was our keynote speaker at skucamp and held the room spellbound with her talk on how to overcome negative workplace conflict and replace it with healthy conflict. Enjoy!
When we began our podcast adventure over 300 episodes ago, we had no idea the number of incredible people we’d meet along the way and the impact they would make on us and the commonsku community.
In our industry, distributors, and suppliers also have two distinct types of growth, and both are a requisite for future-proofing a thriving business. And since Q4 is well underway, many of us are beginning to think about 2025 business planning and benchmarking, we wanted to share a few ideas from our numerous interviews with leaders on how to create benchmarks for both type 1 and type 2 growth.
David Priemer has had 20 years leading top-performing sales teams, including his tenure with Salesforce, where he was not only the Vice President of Commercial Sales, he was the creator of the Sales Leadership Academy program, and he’s often referred to as “the sales professor”.
PromoCares is an all-volunteer-driven organization; their mission is to inspire, educate, and provide actionable strategies to encourage social and environmental responsibility in the promotional products industry and the industry's communities. Each year, the board at PromoCares picks a new initiative called their “4 good events” to rally the industry around a cause and use the collective energy of suppliers, distributors and service providers to make an impact on the world.
Today, we’re talking mergers. KG Specialties is a Portland-based distributor who, this year, merged with Premier Press. Premier employs over 200 people, and they handle a wide variety of print, fulfillment, and logistics management for clients. Our guests are Kyle Gibson, the owner of KG Specialties and now Director of Promotional Merchandise at Premier, and Premier’s Vice President, Manuel Saez.
Sam Brown is one of the very few marketing strategists whose expertise is solely in the promotional products business. Sam has been the chief marketing strategist at some of the most notable brands in the industry including Summit Group and Brandvia.
Today, we are talking with Neil about two fundamental priorities for Polyconcept: sustainability and how deeply sustainability permeates all of their decisions at PCNA, and technology through the lens of making distributors’ lives easier.
Stephen Musgrave is the Executive Vice President at Genumark, the largest Canadian-owned distributor and one of the largest in North America. Genumark has been recognized as one of Canada’s Best Managed Companies, is a 13-time Prix Image Award recipient, and was honored as one of Counselor Magazine’s Best Places to Work. With its 42,000-square-foot sales and distribution facility and over 100 full-time employees, Genumark serves over 2500 active accounts.
Liz got her start as the production manager at RightSleeve, then became the director of supply chain for Rightsleeve and eventually, the VP of Supply Chain and sustainability for Genumark, one of the largest distributors in North America and managing a team of 16 people focused on optimizing supply chain diversification and sustainability to drive growth.
Today on the skucast, we’re joined by Kirby Hasseman, whom some of you know as the CEO of Hasseman Marketing & Communications, a full service marketing company and promo distributor.
This year, a renewed focus on operations, sourcing, and technology has emerged for suppliers. At skucamp in Austin, Texas, we held an interview on stage with three of the industry’s largest supplier leaders: Neil Ringle, CEO at PCNA, Dan Pantano, President and CEO at alphabroder prime, and CJ Schmidt, President and CEO at Hit Promotional Products.
Emma Ralphs is a strategist and copywriter at Butterfly Cannon, an independent, award-winning, sustainably-focused brand design agency, headquartered in London, specializing in aspirational brands across the world. Emma wrote an article, “From Tacky to Trendsetting: How to Create Covetable Brand Merch,” based on her research experience and work done for the exceptional Johnnie Walker merch campaign.
From protest merch to campaign merch to bands and brands, branded merch has become what one author calls a social signifier: From Tim Horton’s shop to UPS merch to Biden’s Dark Brandon mug and more. Plus, how branded merch is the perfect medium for what some are calling the Joyconomy.
Tune into today’s skucast as Joey shares his best tips from "Never Lose an Employee Again" and in January at skucon, he’ll be sharing some useful insights!
Today we talk with Steve about sales leadership, technology, and SanMar’s recognition by the Wall Street Journal as one of 2022’s best-managed companies alongside companies like Apple and Microsoft!
Brett Boake, whom many of you know, is the General Manager at Score Promotions, a team of over 50 dedicated promo professionals in the US and Canada. Brett is one of the industry’s most inspirational sales leaders, which is why it’s no surprise that this year Brett and the leadership team at Score Promotions, hired an in-house Performance Coach & Therapist, Yonah Budd.
Today, we chat with Craig about this astonishing growth, covering topics ranging from their new e-commerce academy, to tips on integrating new DCX employees with your team, the incredible cultural exchange happening between American and Filipino employees, plus, the new DCX + commonsku collab!
Today, Kirby and Bill join us on our show and next week Mark Graham and I will be joining Bill and Kirby on their show in a fun little crossover project, but for this episode, we wanted to get inside the head of these two leading industry thinkers to talk about the most innovative trends they are changing this industry for the better.
A sustainable idea factory, that’s the vision of a Quebec-based company called Kotmo. Founded by Céline Juppeau and her business partner Cindy Couture, Kotmo is now selling their vision into the US Market.
Frontier, based in Charlotte, NC is a private equity growth firm with $1 billion in active funds focused exclusively on software. Frontier Growth was listed on Inc Magazine’s inaugural list of “The 50 Best Private Equity Firms for Entrepreneurs,” a list of founder-friendly private equity firms.
Join us as we chat with commonsku co-founders Mark and Catherine Graham about this chapter in the commonsku journey!
“Making business a force for good,” that’s the purpose behind B Corp. And when our good friends Danny Rosin and Robert Fiveash, through their company Brand Fuel became B Corp certified, it’s as if they opened a door for our industry in a way that wasn’t quite possible.
Mike is moving out of his role as Production Manager and into a new role as Program and Fulfillment Manager for Paperclip, so during our chat, we wanted to know not only what his experience was like in the production role but how he’s training his replacement, plus, his advice on how to do this production job well and what it involves.
Paul Roetzer is founder and CEO of Marketing AI Institute, and founder of Ready North (formerly PR 20/20), HubSpot’s first partner agency. He is the author of Marketing Artificial Intelligence (published last year) The Marketing Performance Blueprint, and The Marketing Agency Blueprint (Wiley, 2012); and he’s the creator of the Marketing AI Conference (MAICON). Paul’s mission is to make AI approachable and actionable for marketers and business leaders and he has consulted for hundreds of organizations.
Dale Denham joined PPAI as president and CEO in 2021, leading the rebound of the industry’s largest trade association following its 50% loss of revenue and staff due to COVID restrictions. Dale has guided the organization, now growing once again, through an explosion of industry initiatives, driving digital transformation and corporate social responsibility while also raising awareness of the power of promotional items.
Andrea Stoll is a brand fanatic. A graduate from one of the most prestigious business schools in the world, Babson, with an MBA in entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial studies… she’s a veteran of brand experience through her work with some of the greatest brands in the world, including Nike, Vans, Reebok, and Converse — and today, she advises clients and serves as director of brand engagement for Touchstone.
We recently hosted a company retreat, but “retreat” is not the right word; it was a combination of competition, collaborative brainstorming, a values-building, peer-to-peer gathering experience …. We learned a lot. About how to bring your team together in a way that fosters ingenuity, about how to spark the most progressive ideas to help our customers, and it included our own hackathon, values exercises, and even play.
Mike Paton has spent a lifetime learning from entrepreneurs. He’s an author, speaker, EOS Implementer, and host of The EOS Leader Podcast.
Three friends are laid off from their jobs around the same time, and one thing they have in common is a love for all things outdoors, including surfing.
They decide to start, of all things, a beach towel company.
After a scrappy and humble start investing their last dollars in the business, fast forward a few years, and the company born as Slowtide is now partnering with famous bands like the Wu-Tang Clan and famous brands like fashion icon Kith. Eventually, the founders at Slowtide —Kyler Spencer, Dario Phillips, and Wylie Von Tempsky— discovered the branded merch industry through our friends at Gemline, where their now famous towel line is available.
Kyle Spencer joins us to talk about their journey, from those early start-up days, to their support of many great ocean-friendly non-profits, plus, we get around to the topic of what surfing and business have in common. And Kyle says? It’s all about abundance. Grab your boards, friends, Slowtide’s coming!
Our good friend Seth Godin released a new book today, May 30th, and in concert with his new book, Seth joined us to pre-record today’s conversation so that we could publish it simultaneously when the book dropped, the book is called, The Song of Significance: A New Manifesto for Teams and it’s a management book for a new era.
Eric Liedtke was responsible for ushering in some of the most famous collabs ever produced such as Kanye West’s Yeezy and Beyonce’s Ivy Park. And now, Erik has stepped away from all that and started a fascinating brand called Unless Collective. Unless makes plant-based streetwear designed to leave zero plastic waste.
Debbie Grishman founded Cowdin Collaborative to help leaders get unstuck. Think of Debbie as a Peloton instructor for your career or a fiercely intelligent counselor for your business, she has nothing but your best interests at heart, she’s an intense listener and coach, and she has only one ambition: to help you discover roadblocks and realize a better (or maybe clearer and less confused) version of yourself.
Clients are seeking higher quality merchandise experiences as evidenced by some of the most notable distributors seeking the Original Favorites brand, join us to hear why!
The most encouraging part of CEO Summit? To hear how humble beginnings led to incredible growth, humility, challenges, opportunities, and seasons of overcoming and winning.
In today’s episode, we ask Pierre and Camila to break down the process they went through and the impact it has had on the clarity of their mission. Plus, we talk about the difficulty of navigating –as a supplier– between providing transparency as a manufacturer and working through their distributors while creating a memorable brand for both.
More and more distributors are faced with the challenge of serving International clients, sometimes it’s just one project, a client that requires merchandise drop-shipped anywhere in the world. At other times, it’s an RFP opportunity that requires international expertise.
Kate Hallett, CMO at Harper + Scott is one of my all-time favorite guests because she is a) brilliant b) she doesn’t hold back, she’s very forthcoming about her experiences and c) has expertise as a client, a journalist, and a distributor/agency.
Brian Duran has been an essential part of Media Tree’s growth and success over the past decade. You’ll soon see he’s a logistical strategist and is constantly thinking about how to drive innovation through tech in digital promotions and rewards. Brian is a leader in the digital reward space, a category that has become increasingly popular in a post-COVID world.
If you are struggling with any of these: getting the most out of your day, prioritizing the important things, planning, even just feeling lost in the volatility of change in business — have we got a refreshing episode for you.
This year, many distributors are in the process of rethinking their brand strategy and their visual identity, including, of course, their digital presence, and whether you are doing this or not, there are some big changes coming with Google Analytics on July 1 that everyone needs to act on now, which is why we invited our in-house expert on Digital Marketing, Luke Williams, to the skucast to talk about these topics. Luke is a digital marketing specialist in web enhancements, google analytics, paid and organic search, and more.
Ethan Dowie is the customer-obsessed CEO of Indigo Promotions, a top branded merchandise distributorship located in New York. Ethan’s 25 years old, with a passion for building businesses, his goal is to create the most innovative and successful distributorship in the world, one that puts the needs of its clients first.
About two weeks ago, the largest gathering of technologists in the promotional products industry happened at PromoStandards Tech Summit. Over 150 attendees from over 60 companies gathered together at the premier tech event, and today on the skucast, we’re sharing with you a glimpse behind the scenes at Tech Summit, which includes a panel led by commonsku’s CEO Catherine Graham and also, a brief breakdown from Robert Cathro-Oliver, commonsku’s Director of Software Development on the work of the PromoStandards committee. Dave Shultz, commonsku’s Vice President of Supplier Partnerships, also joins us to answer this question: What is tech summit?
Today, we talk with Liane all about conflict: how to do it right, how to channel it for good, how to not let conflict become a debt snowball, and how to flip the fight for good!
Sterling Wilson is the founder and President of Pop! Promos and somewhat of a polymath with deep expertise in the supply chain which also gives him a very unique perspective on US-China relations at the moment and its potential ramifications for our industry.
With more than twenty years of experience in the apparel industry's retail, wholesale, and manufacturing sectors, Jerry Wheeler brings a unique perspective to the business. In 2008 he founded EcoCentric Brands, a sustainability consultancy built on the premise of an integrated bottom line that equally values human, natural, and financial capital.
Today, we will identify four essentials missing from your plan. Join us for our next installment in this series, where we’ll unpack the first one: strategy. We’ll bring you interviews, stories, and lessons from the trenches, from those who have learned to rise above and jump light years ahead.
Tom’s an ultra runner, someone who runs 50, 100 mile races for the challenge of it. Tom is the founder and CEO of 1-800-TSHIRTS and Envision Custom Screen Printing and Embroidery, an Inc. 5000 company. Tom is also the co-founder of Dimensional Brewing Company, a micro-brewery in Dubuque, Iowa,s and he has served on many notable boards and non-profits including a foundation Tom and his wife Amanda started, the Rauen Family Foundation, with a mission to giving back to the community.
In January, we traveled to Las Vegas to host skucon and early the next morning, Rob Spector, President of Spector and Co, treated us to a tour of the new facility. But this episode isn’t just about a factory tour. Part of our team: Mark Graham and Dave Shultz and I, joined Rob and his VP of Manufacturing, Juan Martinez to view the progress and also, understand how a Montreal-based company considered many different avenues for growth.
In today’s episode of the skucast, we’re bringing you a live session recorded at skucon 2023, “CRO Secrets to Driving Sales Success.” Our panel is hosted by Catherine Graham, commonsku’s CEO, and our guests are Trina Bicknell, CRO of HPG; Sam Kates, Chief Sales Officer for Spector and Co.; and Holly Brown, Chief Revenue Officer at Polyconcept.
In today’s episode of the skucast, we’re bringing you a live session from skucon 2023, recorded just this past Sunday, and it’s called The Tipping Point: In three, brief 10 min interviews, we’ll talk with three distributors who have each experienced a turning point in their business, we’ll uncover the challenges they faced, the obstacles they overcame, and the tipping point that led to their growth.
Tom Rector (Founder and CEO) and his team at ScreenBroidery grew over 143% from 2021 to 2022, and along the way, they created a pretty special experience: A Shark Tank Experience bringing together clients and suppliers.Today, we talk with Tom about their phenomenal growth, his advice for entrepreneurs during uncertain economic times, and a little something he calls, “Storytelling Land.” Join us!
Today’s episode is all about AI and, more specifically, the phenomenon of chatGPT. Are new emerging technologies like chatGPT threats or opportunities? Will deep learning tools replace consultative salespeople in the promotional products industry? Will tools like chatGPT disrupt traditional search methods like ESP and Sage? Join us as we explore the future of AI and chatGPT for promo!
Whether you are a team that is in-person and at the office 100% of the time or whether you are a hybrid team or completely virtual, we are all figuring it out: trying to find the best way forward to work on strategy together while maintaining a strong culture
The supplier of the future is working –right now– to create this very catalyst for growth. And we’re not talking to the wonderful technologists who are behind the scenes making these changes possible, we’re talking with the front line sales team who sees this change as the new leverage for sales growth.
And we can think of no better way to celebrate our 250th episode than by inviting commonsku cofounders Mark Graham and Catherine Graham on today’s episode to talk about the major trends driving and shaping the future of our industry and the sometimes small-scale and quiet changes happening beneath the surface that will become seismic disruptors in the immediate future and over the next 2-3 years.
Jeremy Parker began in the business just like many of you did: hoofing it, old-school style, knocking on doors, cold calling customers, and landing business.Today, we talk about how swag.com has soared from $300k in sales to nearly $40 million in a span of seven years and how an award-winning documentarian became the co-founder of swag.com
Jorge began working for Hirsch in 2010, straight out of high school, after meeting Hirch vice president Paul Hirsch on the soccer field. He started as a production assistant and after 12 years of mastering every machine in the building, from the print machines to the forklift, he’s now the Lead Production Manager. Jorge, or George, is an integral asset to the back of house at Hirsch, and, according to Director of Sales and Marketing, Brittany Frase, “he still makes the best box of anyone on the floor.”
We’ve been hearing and talking recession rhetoric for months. And by “we” I mean the collective we: business leaders, media, economists, and the world. Regardless of whether we’re already in a recession, or whether there will be a recession, or whether there won’t be a recession, for business planning purposes you can still find your focus for growth for 2023, regardless of the economic climate.
At skucamp, the leaders of three of the industry’s largest suppliers joined Catherine Graham, commonsku’s Co-founder and CEO on stage to answer audience questions and discuss the state of the industry now and their perspective on the future. The panel featured David Nicholson - Vice Chairman at PCNA, Dan Pantano, President & CEO at AlphaBroder Prime, and Jonathan Isaacson, Chairman, and CEO at Gemline.
Landon Wade, the owner of Goodson Clothing Supply, and his team are reinventing the way we think about branded merch, business partnerships, and transparency.
They believe that the product you choose to carry your brand name speaks values and the old way of choosing merch is broken.
donothingclub is a collaborative design project curated by Ben Gabriel and Julian Trompeter based in New York City focused on exploring the potential of connection through design.
There are undercurrents happening in the industry that start as small ripples but eventually become waves that bring a sea change of disruption to the business: that’s what this episode is about.
Each quarter, we’ll bring you highlights and insights from guests featured on our podcast, our events, and our articles, that reveal an undercurrent of an idea that has the potential to completely reshape our industry and radically change your business.
Join Bobby Lehew and Mark Graham as they talk through the underlying shifts happening right beneath us!
Chuck Hammond bought the family-owned business back in 2003. At that time, there were 15 employees, and today, Raining Rose employs over 300 full-time and 150 contract employees.
Raining Rose was an early adopter of everything sustainable: they received their LEED certification in 2015, and were designated a B Corp in 2016. Raining Rose has appeared on Fortune’s annual 100 Fastest-Growing Inner City Businesses an impressive 10 times since 2005, and they were 8 times on the Inc 5,000 list.
Today we talk with Michael about how to tame your advice monster as a leader and how to transform your leadership by embracing curiosity-driven coaching. And whether you’re in a leadership position or simply work with others, you’ll learn some fascinating tactics you can use now!
Gemma Aguiar is Founder and CEO of Design Like Whoa, a women-led and San Francisco-based agency with a design-forward focus who makes sustainable attainable for their clients.
Microsoft dropped their first capsule collection called Hardware and to create their branded clothing line they partnered with Gavin Mathieu, Creative Director and CEO of Supervsn Studios, the LA Times called Supervsn LA’s premier streetwear energy brand.
Here's the thing about that piece on swag by Elizabeth Segran in Fast Company: it missed the mark. Where Fast Company is right: No one wants the return of useless low-quality conference swag that ends up in the trash. No one. Not recipients, not buyers, and (surprise!) not sellers.
Kate Hallett is the Chief Marketing Officer at Harper + Scott. She has over ten years of integrated marketing experience with a proven track record for growing businesses. Kate is a passionate storyteller with disciplines across multiple industries, including enterprise and late-stage startups in both B2B and B2C environments.
Dan Pantano is the President and CEO of alphabroder – Prime Line, one of the foremost leaders in the industry. With more than 90,000 customers, they ship over 50,000 boxes and more than a million units of product a day. It’s a massive operation, and we chat with Dan about some of the most pressing issues facing alphabroder and our industry.
Ben Pawsey is the VP of Marketing at HPG, one of the largest promotional products suppliers in North America, comprising 10 specialist brands including Hub, Origaudio, Debco, and more.
Each year, ASI (Advertising Specialty Institute) reveals insights from their State of the Industry Report, the single most researched report about the promotional products industry, providing in-depth analysis on multiple topics including trends in growth, challenges in manufacturing, industry verticals that possess the most opportunity, and much more.
SwagCycle is a startup focused on responsibly managing the lifecycle of branded merch. When companies rebrand or get acquired, many of those companies, through their distributor partners, often dispose of their obsolete branded merchandise.
Our guests are Matt Fischer, CEO and one of the founders and owners at Probitas Promotions, and Krisi Lund, Account Manager and client expert extraordinaire. Probitas is a North Dakota based distributor. Part of their story is the merging/acquisition of Trojan Promotions in 2019. Trojan Promotions was a distributorship owned by Jessica and Troy Nelson who were tragically killed in an accident. Today, Krisi and Matt share the story of how they integrated two different teams while honoring the work of Jessica and Troy.
In this special episode of skucast, Seth Godin joins us to talk about the opposing views in which people view the challenges of climate change: wizards who believe that only technological innovation and human progress offer hope for the planet; prophets who seek dramatic reductions in the ways that humans interact with the natural world; and ostriches who say there is a possibility that the climate isn’t actually changing.
The impact of an economic slowdown on the cost of materials, fuel and transportation, jobs, and importing, could potentially affect the promotional products industry which is why, last week, we held a live interview with two of the industry’s leading supplier leaders: Jonathan Isaacson (Chairman & CEO of Gemline) and Jeremy Lott (President & CEO of SanMar).
PolyientX helps brands with turnkey strategy and technology solutions to mint, sell, and engage with NFTs, they provide Web3 tools to deliver NFTs, merch, digital goods, reward tokens, and more.
NFTs are finding their way into many brand conversations, which is why we wanted to dig deeper by inviting an expert in NFTs to join us for a chat.
Cutter and Buck is a brand many of us are familiar with but like so many of our trusted partners, we know so much about their product and so little about their company, which is why we love talking with folks like our guest today, Joel Freet the CEO at Seattle-based Cutter & Buck.
Vrindavan Rao has over twenty years of experience in meditation, she combines her knowledge of the body-mind-ego connection with the teachings of the Enneagram which offers insight into the core motivations which fuel our ego and behavior.
Welcome to our monthly episode called Open Mic!
Once a month we take your questions about a challenge you are having in your business and ask members of the community or a member of our team to help provide solutions.
Today’s question comes from Warren Shuya with Encore Promo based out of Edmonton, Alberta. Warren asks: “In this crazy world of merch and promo what is a unique but simple way to attract new clients?!”
twelveNYC was founded in 2005 to disrupt the conventional promotional product formula by delivering thoughtful, creative merchandise through experiences. The twelveNYC ethos is anchored in thoughtful design, starting with merchandise and extending to every other aspect of the experience from packaging, kitting, influencer, digital engagement, to warehousing and shipping.
Isaac Hetzroni moved to Bali and is now leading a global team. He rebranded his company with a new vision, and they have a new direction all focused around smart sourcing, which is an interesting and bold move as a UVP because his mission sits right in the heart of the supply chain at a very complex time.
To create extraordinary teamwork and collaboration, we’ve identified ten crucial traits your high-performance crew should unfailingly possess.
Today, we’re talking with one of the partners at Delegate whom many of you know as well, Rory Young, Senior Vice President of Sales, we cover highlights from the report and break it down to some of the most crucial challenges and opportunities facing business leaders as they develop a high-performance team.
Merchology has provided merch for over 60,000 companies worldwide including 86% of the fortune 500. Merchology is a disability-owned business and they were recognized by the Star Tribune as one of the top workplaces in 2021.
No matter what change you are considering, abolishing self-limiting beliefs is what the most successful entrepreneurs do well. Listen to this episode to see if you have any of the most common self-limiting beliefs for people in the promotional product industry!
We started a new series, where we occasionally unpack the most innovative and creative uses of branded merch in the market.
Merch is the new press release, instigator, and provocateur, that creates cult-like fervor in followers, and now branded merch is leading trends vs following trends.
In today’s episode, we’re going to talk about A24 movie merch!
Welcome to a new episode experience called Open Mic where we take your questions and ask a member of the community (or a member of our team) to join us as our experts to provide solutions.
Today, we’ve invited Yvonne Zeman, VP of Sales at Juice Marketing to share her advice about kitting. Yvonne is a master at kitting, having created amazing kits for clients both in-house as well as outsourced.
Imprint Engine opened their doors just under ten years ago and have now surpassed $50 million in sales. As an innovative entrepreneur, Caleb’s helped hundreds of businesses, from startups to well-established companies, become more efficient.
From pixie dust to promotional products, Shelley Williams has tackled a wide range of creative and marketing challenges over her 20+ year career. Shelley joined SanMar as the VP, Marketing in January 2020.
You might think that no one would ever match NYFW + UPS as brands who could partner together in a way that would create magic, but that type of stereotyping with brands, merch, and experiences is what prevents us from thinking critically and creatively.
Joelly Goodson (AKA the Branding Badass) is an award-winning Branding Expert who’s passionate about helping her clients create brand awareness to increase profit. She is a Sr. Account Manager at Genumark, one of North America’s leading promotional products distributors.
Josh Ellis joined PPAI (Promotional Products Association International) in December as the new publisher and editor-in-chief for PPB magazine and the Association’s various digital and print publications.
Michael Scott Cohen is CEO and co-founder (along with his business partner, Jon Alagem) of the creative agency, Harper+Scott. Harper+Scott is a name that is spoken of almost reverentially within the industry, their branding, their team, and their mission have all been behind a secret veil and there’s a reason for that: they’ve just been busy — cranking out innovation after innovation.
Genumark is the largest Canadian owned-distributor and recently named Mitch Freed its new Chief Executive Officer. Mark Freed served as the company’s top executive for 27 years and Mitch -prior to joining Genumark in 2017- worked as a Strategy Consultant in KPMG’s Management Consulting Practice and was the Co-Founder and General Manager of an experiential entertainment company.
On Friday, when we got the notice about Jason Lucash’s departure, all three of us immediately agreed to have one last conversation before Jason rides off into the sunset. There are so many lessons to learn unpacking Jason’s journey so we explore multiple areas.
They were the most unlikely pair to form a partnership and yet several years later Robert Lederman and Lee Fine find themselves in the middle of an incredible growth season professionally and personally as they co-navigate the creative powerhouse known as Juice Marketing.
Jeremy Siegers was born with muscular dystrophy. By his Junior year in high school, muscular dystrophy really began taking its toll on Jeremy. This is his story about struggling to find his place in a world that did not easily welcome him, eventually overcoming obstacles by creating his own path which led to the start of his entrepreneurial journey and the founding of Sharp Mill Graphics.
At skucamp, our bootcamp for entrepreneurs held in September in Palm Springs, we hosted a panel discussion on the future of the industry. That panel featured a microcosm of different types of businesses. Voices that represent smaller distributors, larger distributors, the association, technology/service providers and suppliers.
As most of you know, we made the difficult decision to cancel the in-person event at skucon. In this short episode, Mark Graham and Bobby Lehew unpack a number of things including the highlights you can expect from the event, how to make the most out of skucon, and much more!
Today, we’re resharing our conversation with journalist Adam Bluestein because his topic is probably one of the most influential articles ever written about branded merch by an outsider: “How Supreme-Style Merch Drops Took Over Corporate America” published in Marker.
We’re proud to have put out over 150 pieces of content this year, including blog posts, videos, podcasts, lookbooks, and eBooks. We’re taking a look back at our readers’ favorite posts, and highlighting them as we head into the new year!
If 2020 was the year of fear, 2021 was the year of turbulence. Despite end-user skittishness, frozen budgets, continued lockdowns, supply chain problems, inflation, and “the great resignation”, many of you thrived. This industry’s ability to overcome any challenge is astounding and your optimism knows no bounds.
Jeremy and Jonathan both lead organizations, that despite the challenges of this year, have achieved record growth and more importantly they both lead our industry in social responsibility and sustainability efforts.
Bill Petrie is the founder and managing partner at brandivate. Bill created brandivate to help ignite and accelerate the growth of their clients through market innovation. With over 22 years working in executive leadership positions in the promotional products industry, Bill works with both suppliers and distributors who are seeking to grow.
During the past year, there’s been a huge shift in the sales world with marketing playing a key role. Marketers are now the new Sales Makers. For a long time, the marketing profession was like the stepchild in the sales household in our industry. But now, marketing is the compass, how customers find you; marketing is the fuel for sales growth with existing clients, and marketing is how you differentiate and distinguish yourself from the herd.
I can’t tell you how many frustrated salespeople I’ve sat across from, people who are doing all the right things but are not yet breaking through and are about to give up, when suddenly one final tactic opens the door, gets the prospect’s attention.
Given the state of the global supply chain and the impact it has had on everyone in our industry, as you can imagine this was a very tense and lean-forward conversation felt by everyone in the room.
Our guest today is Ellen Tucker, Director of Business Development and Expositions with PPAI (The Promotional Products Association International). Ellen joins us for a brief chat to talk about what to expect from Expo this year, we discuss the health and safety protocols, what PPAI is doing to ensure a safe show, and we talk about the most important part: how you can make the most out of Expo.
In this sales planning series, we’re going to unpack how to create a solid sales plan as you head into 2022, but before we do, there are a few key trends you should be aware of that will greatly impact your planning, your budget, and your mission for growth.
Davis Smith is the Founder and CEO of Cotapaxi. Cotapaxi is on track to becoming one of the biggest outdoor brands in the world challenging brands like Patagonia and North Face but there are more differences in Cotapaxi than similarities plus, Davis prefers the idea of collaboration over competition.
We’re learning lessons from the world of fundraising and we have three guests on the skucast from two different organizations. One organization is PromoKitchen and the other, Promocares. Each organization recently worked on separate fundraising initiatives. Today, we interview some of the participants involved, as a way to help bring awareness to their work but also, to explore their experiences as a teaching moment for us.
Today, we talk with Aaron Draplin about his love for branded merch. Aaron sells a ridiculous amount of cool merch at draplin.com and is a huge fan of our industry and what we do. In fact. I’d go so far as saying he is one of us but just …. a bit more extreme.
Your entrenched habits are a 1-ton boulder. Despite summoning the fiercest will, you can’t budge that boulder an inch. We struggle with habits because habits are behavioral patterns so deeply engrained, that self-will (alone) won’t loosen their grip. But you possess leverage that might surprise you.
Today we talk with Brian Duran, VP of Sales & Marketing for MediaTree Rewards. A leader in digital promotions, he has been with the company for a decade and has proven to be a problem solver when it comes to logistical challenges.
Catherine Graham, commonsku’s CEO, and Mark Graham, commonsku’s president and chief brand officer, join me to talk about their entrepreneurial journey, the struggles, the low moments, how the industry has changed, what they’ve learned about building a team, how leaders evolve and adapt, and, we explore what it takes to build a bold, future-forward business.
Of the social media platforms, Linkedin -not facebook, not Twitter, not Instagram, not Tik Tok- is the most effective. Among the B2B marketers who use paid social media, LinkedIn is the platform used most often. They also say it is the organic platform that generated the best overall content marketing results for their organization in the last 12 months.
One danger in running a business post-pandemic --alongside massive supply chain issues-- is that we’re overwhelmed handling critical HR challenges (such as hybrid workplaces and new virus variants) while swatting away supply chain problems project-by-project.
Anita Emoff is the Chairman and Owner of Boost Engagement, and author of the new book, 7 Deadly Myths That Will Destroy Your Company Culture, Workforce Engagement, & Sales Growth.
Promo Marketing and their parent company NAPCO Media are at an interesting cross-section of makers, manufacturers, distributors (and more), involving all types of media. Moreover, they, like us, keep an eye on trends happening in the industry, plus, they have a keen eye for consumer trends as well.
Today, we’re joined by Michele Bell and Nate Kucsma from ASI. The SOI is a report produced annually by ASI, it was released this week and it’s an incredibly comprehensive report which includes rankings of the top 40 suppliers and distributors and also a wide variety of topics: which categories sold more, verticals, issues facing the industry, more.
Anne Stone is the director of advocacy, member engagement, and education for PPAI, Promotional Product Association International. She guides PPAI’s legislative and government relations efforts, oversees the product responsibility programs, and the Product Responsibility Summit, which we discuss in this episode.
In April, we interviewed Bryan Papé, CEO and founder of MiiR, through a partnership with our friends at Gemline, and we had record attendance at that event but sometimes these conversations are so rich but they disappear into the ether before we have a chance to process what we’ve learned into action so, we’re bringing that chat back to you today!
Today, we’re joined by Nesha Logan. Nesha is the founder of The Village Print Studio, a boutique brand merchandising and creative studio located in South Chicago helping businesses build community through beautiful, branded merchandise.
Jesse Genet is cofounder of Lumi, a Los Angeles company that creates custom packaging for some of the most notable brands in the world, like Parachute, Tuft & Needle. Lumi makes tools that simplify the complex workflows, data, and language of packaging so that brands and manufacturers can work better together.
Josh Wolfe co-owns Sky Punch Creative, a promotional products distributorship, which is about to undergo a rebrand, renaming, and relaunch, but he started his career as a photographer and focused on telling the story of climate change, co-authoring a book on the subject, Climate Change: Picturing the Science.
Curating ideas for a client under the old framework of factory specifics only isn’t enough to achieve their goals nor unlock your best work. Those specs are important, but they are not the most critical parts of the conversion anymore.
In this skucast, we’re chatting with a super panel of social media thinkers, three of the most influential social media managers working for three of the most influential brands in the industry: Aly Brunton, Taylor Borst, and Melissa Newman.
They ship 50,000 boxes a day. That’s 1.2 - 1.3 million units of product a day, with over 2,000 employees, 10 facilities in the US and Canada. Join us as we chat with Dan Pantano of alphabroder.
We are all marketing agencies now … whether you sell print, promotional products, apparel, it doesn’t matter, we are all selling experience first, product second. That’s the conversation we have today with Matt Bruno of PSDA.
In this skucast, Mark Graham and Bobby Lehew explore what’s changed in how we work, live, and sell, and more importantly, they chat about how we need to be cognizant of taking the positive gains and purposefully using them in our business moving forward.
Join them as they chat about ushering in a new kind of Renaissance!
Tom Rauen is an entrepreneur with a passion for community, marketing, and innovation. Tom is the founder and CEO of 1-800-TSHIRTS and Envision custom screen printing and embroidery, an Inc. 5000 company. Tom is also the co-founder of Dimensional Brewing Company, a micro-brewery in Dubuque, Iowa.
Listen to this episode with Nadav Raviv of Amplify Marketing Solutions when you need a boost of optimism and share it with your team!
In today’s episode, we talk with Johanna Gottlieb about what we can do -in our own businesses, and in our community- to affect change. Despite her incredibly busy work, Johanna makes time to chair two teams that are important to her values: PromoKitchen and most recently, chair of PPAI’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force (2021) which is the subject of our chat with Jo today.
Today our community of distributors achieved an incredible milestone: $1 Billion in network volume. Together, we achieved this in less than 10 years. While we did some virtual high fives around the virtual office, this milestone is not about us, it’s about you, the skummunity.
Adam Bluestein’s article is written from the perspective of someone outside of our business who did a tremendous amount of research into the companies that use branded merch and why.
So, what happens when the largest distributor in Canada and one of the most progressive brands in the business face integrating their companies, their brands and their clients? In today’s episode, you’ll hear the story of how Mitch Freed, Genumark’s Vice President of Strategic Initiatives, and Stephen Musgrave, Rightsleeve’s Vice President and General Manager guided the merger, their clients, and their teams over the past several months.
Josh Kozinski is the founder and CEO of Sky High Marketing. Sky High Marketing serves many Fortune 500 brands, they are the official promotional merchandise partner of the Milwaukee Bucks and they have offices both in Las Vegas and Milwaukee. Today, we talk with Josh about several timely topics including shops, inventory, and more!
Lee Fine is the co-founder and the head of sales and strategy at Juice Marketing, a marketing production house focused on creating interactive experiences, which includes disciplines like branded merch, web development, and video production, fulfillment, print, and creative services too.
When the pandemic hit in 2020, many of us were inspired with ideas about how we could help our communities. Showpony is a branded merch company located in Augusta, GA and together with their sister company Wier/Stewart, a strategic creative firm, they too wondered how they could help.
Sarah Whitaker is the Owner and Client Success Manager for Williams Advertising and the founder of its newly launched division called Branded. What Sarah does so incredibly well is that she obsesses over the user experience. And being a native to all things digital, she naturally bridges human-to-human engagement with digital sales proficiency.
Our guest today is Paul Roetzer, Paul is the creator of the Marketing Artificial Intelligence Institute and is the founder of the agency PR 20/20. In this #skucast, we talk with Paul about the results from this landmark study but we chat with Paul not just as the preeminent leader of AI progress in marketing but also as an entrepreneur and marketing professional himself.
Our guest on this #skucast is Rhys Bowen, VP of Sales for Name Brand Promotions and we kick off our conversation talking about this decisive moment when it comes to creating campaigns for clients.
Today on #skucast, we talk with Brittny, founder of Brandmerch, about her innovative approach to partnering with unique artists and craftsman, plus we chat about the future of shops, the secret to successful curation, and what’s working in their marketing now.
2020 put promotional products in the spotlight.
Promotional products were the one thing that connected us, created a bond and unity. But we have a new challenge now. How do we not let this new opportunity slip into commoditization?
In this episode of skucast, we reflect on one of our most popular episodes of the year posted back in January of 2020. Many of the challenges and opportunities discussed in this episode were accelerated because of the pandemic and so, today we discuss what the new decade ahead looks like for the promotional products industry.
In this episode of skucast, we reflect on one of our most popular episodes of the year posted back in January of 2020. Many of the challenges and opportunities discussed in this episode were accelerated because of the pandemic and so, today we discuss what the new decade ahead looks like for the promotional products industry.
In today’s episode, Ann Handley empowers us to escape marketing mediocrity and she compels us to do work we’re proud of. Ann is also our opening keynote speaker at skucon on January 7th where she will share “The Big, Bold, Brave New World of Content and Storytelling.”
Now that we know WFH is here to stay and moreover, as we look to 2021 as the year when we have to make some tough decision about whether to be in the office or change our infrastructure to offer remote options, we’re facing more challenges ahead.
Mitra is one of our special guests speaking at skucon on January 7th, where we’ll talk further about How to Create Merchandise Experiences That Connect and in today’s episode we talk about building iconic brands, licensing, creating high-demand merch experiences and we chat all around this intersection of art and commerce.
When the chips are down, when the economy is limping along, and when your team is exhausted by overwhelming uncertainty, there is no better way to regain your equilibrium and find your focus than by rallying around a shared goal.
We had the privilege of welcoming Rener Gracie of Quikflip to a skucast Live! episode this week, and what an insanely energetic time, learning from a master instructor in sales, problem-solving, and passion!
Today on the skucast, we sit down with Catherine Graham (commonsku’s CEO) and Mark Graham (commonsku’s President and Chief Brand Officer) and talk about what a momentous time we live in for innovation, and what the future will continue to unfold for us as we move forward.
Today on the skucast, we’re joined by Denise Taschereau and Karie Cowden on behalf of PromoCares. PromoCares brings awareness to environmental responsibility, ethical sourcing, diversity equality inclusions, sustainability, and community impact in the promotional products industry.
Join us for a rich and wide-ranging conversation on today's #skucast, not only about the rise of comfort food and M&A, but also the impact of private equity, the negotiation of the deal, and the vital importance of strategic partnerships with Lance Stier of Nassau Candy.
In this episode, we’re bringing you highlights from the event that include some of the best sales tips for creating sales, growing sales, and leading your sales team!
On this episode of skucast, we sit down with Stan Phelps and Roger Burnett co-authors of the new book, Red Goldfish Promo Edition: How Promotional Products Leverage Purpose to Increase Impact. Red Goldfish is a part of a series of books that Stan has created, called Purple Goldfish that focus on a range of topics from attracting raving customers to driving employee engagement and more.
Today on #skucast we discuss the lessons we have learned early on and throughout our careers. We unpack the helpful tips and advice we were given that changed our way of thinking from those who are considered visionaries. We discuss our experiences in both mentee and mentor roles and highlight how mentorship is a dynamic, two-way interaction where the student is as much the teacher as the teacher is to the student.
Today Nathan Goldberg joins the #skucast to share why you should keep asking questions, build strong relationships, and seek new ways to provide value. He shares his questioning strategy and reveals why his business competes on complexity and uniqueness instead of price.
Mike Michalowicz, commonsku Sessions at Home keynote, joins us today to discuss why different is better in business, marketing, and sales. Join us for a fast and rich conversation with the man whom Simon Sinek declared, “the top contender for the patron saint of entrepreneurs.”
In today's episode of #skucast we're joined by Joseph Sommer and Christa Ramus of Whitestone Branding, a distributor honored with a place on the Inc 5000 list of fastest-growing private businesses in the U.S. for the third year in a row. In this discussion, they share what happened to their business when the pandemic hit their HQ city, New York, hard and how they turned things around.
On Tuesday, September 1, 2020, we hosted our first-ever live skucast episode! This skucast Live offered attendees the opportunity to peek behind the curtain and discover how Jason Lucash and the HPG team developed the Batch & Bodega concept.
Nevin Bansal joins the #skucast today to share how the Elevate program at Outreach Promotional Solutions helps small businesses and non-profit organizations tackle their toughest marketing challenges. He shares how his team helps companies create strategies to enhance digital revenue streams through marketing, planning, and transparency.
Everything about the way we sell is becoming extinct. Our selling styles, our training, in fact, our whole industry is built on outmoded tools that create passive salespeople.
In this episode of #skucast, we're joined by Brussels-based Merchery, who launched their new business in the middle of a pandemic. Simon Polet and his business partner Benoit Fortpied are only five months into their journey but they’re getting press and attention most of us would envy, including a mention by Courier magazine, the defining media brand for a new generation.
Today you’ll hear from Brenda Speirs, owner and “Queen Bee” of Buzztag, a promotional marketing agency focused on creating passion-driven marketing assets for a variety of brands. Brenda shares why mastermind groups form and how business relationships can blossom into friendships forged through transparency, confidentiality, and trust plus, and how to either start your own mastermind group or join a group, plus the keys to a vibrant mentor/mentee relationship.
Safety, security, comfort, and expertise are traits they will value exponentially in the upcoming months and years. This skucast is a fast 15-min informative episode where Rosanne Webster of SnugZ USA breaks down how to make the vetting process simpler.
We’re joined by one of our favorite guests, futurist and trend editor Vicki Ostrom (Sanmar) to update us on all the trends in demand now. Vicki is a specialist in identifying societal trends and translating them into profitable products.
Today's episode of #skucast features Joel Antymniuk, owner of Motif Marketing located in Saskatoon, the largest city in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon is one of Canada’s fastest-growing cities. Joel was born and raised on the Canadian prairies. Growing up, he always possessed an entrepreneurial spirit, before taking the leap to start MOTIF in 2016, Joel worked in the industry for six years.
It has never been about the product, it’s how we’ve trained the client to think about us and our product. Here are four ways we can respond to the customer of tomorrow today, read by Bobby Lehew, from a recent commonsku blog post in our Future of Work Series.
Join Kate Masewich, commonsku’s Marketing Director, Bobby Lehew, commonsku's Chief Content Officer, and Mark Graham, commonsku’s President, and Chief Brand Officer, on today's episode of #skucast as they share with you the joys and challenges of building the best virtual experience possible!
Today, Mark Graham, commonsku’s President and Chief brand officer, and Bobby Lehew, commonsku’s Chief Content Officer explore the choice to innovate, even during hard times.
In this episode of #skucast, we talk with Joe Zangrili and Lucas Guariglia of Rowboat Creative about how they are using merch and e-commerce to give back, forge new relationships while keeping their dream alive. Join us for a quick chat with a few of our favorite renegades!
Our guest is Matty Toomb, Vice President at Profill. Matty has worked in the promotional industry for 30 years for some of the most well-known firms, soaking up best practices related to culture, creativity, and operations. In today's episode we have a highly tactical conversation about all the important aspects of kitting campaigns: creative, design, messaging, packaging, building an unboxing experience, freight, plus, how to price these complex projects.
This week we opened up registration for skucon at home! It’s not a webinar, but a virtual, interactive experience featuring interviews, keynotes, and plenty of breakout sessions to allow for collaboration and best practice sharing. Tickets to attend are only $20, and proceeds from the event will be donated to the United Way Worldwide.
We chat with Tom Rector of Screenbroidery about some of the new initiatives and campaigns that he and his team are working, plus how to stay motivated and positive.
In this episode, Catherine Graham (CEO at commonsku) and Mark Graham (President and Chief Brand Officer at commonsku) join me to discuss this unique time in our industry’s history.
We started this series a few weeks ago called Growing Through Adversity, where we’re bringing together the voices of those reluctant heroes we know that have overcome serious setbacks. Today, our guest is Dena Hirschberg president of HHPLIFT, a Chicago-based nonprofit and social enterprise.
Blue Sky Marketing was founded 23 years ago by President Elliott Zirlin and has since been a family-led business. Blue Sky has a high-touch service and a relentless work ethic that stems from Elliott’s influence but they have also experienced multiple setbacks, including a challenge two years ago that disrupted the business. Join us as we journey with the Zirlin’s through the rise, fall, and rise again building Blue Sky Marketing!
We’re bringing together the voices of those reluctant heroes we know that have overcome serious setbacks, both in their business and in their personal lives, an honest look at the unforeseen moments that change us, drawing out the essential lessons that shape our journey. Join us as we chat with Paul about his rebound from multiple setbacks, including the recession, 9/11, and some incredibly difficult personal challenges.
In today's episode of #skucast Joan Landorf, with Axis Promotions shares her story of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, what business looked like before and after 9/11, and its effects on her and her team and the leadership lessons she learned through adversity. Joan also shares with us how the Axis team is responding to the current crisis and how to think beyond the crisis, to a positive future.
To celebrate our fourth anniversary, in today’s episode, Mark Graham, commonsku’s President, and Chief Branding Officer and Bobby Lehew, commonsku's Chief Content Officer, each selects their four favorite episodes and play highlights from each guest.
John Jantsch is the founder of Duct Tape Marketing has been called “the Peter Drucker of small business tactics,” he’s the author of numerous books about sales, marketing, and entrepreneurship and his books have been translated into 14 languages. Sparked by a controversial tweet, John joined us for a great discussion around the efficacy of the product, the 7 phases of the customer’s journey, and the purpose of the intentional entrepreneur.
Today's episode of #skucast features Claudia St. John, author of Transforming Teams: Tips for Improving Collaboration and Building Trust, and founder of Affinity HR Group, a national human resources and management consulting firm specializing in hiring and recruiting, and employee engagement.
Today on #skucast, we sit down with Jamie Mair, founder of Swervepoint, to talk about the decade ahead from the distributor’s perspective.
In this episode, we’re looking at the decade ahead through the lens of the supplier and are joined by David Nicholson, the President of Top 40 supplier PNCA, parent company of Leed’s, Bullet, Trimark, and JournalBooks, and Jonathan Isaacson, President, and CEO of Top 40 supplier The Gem Group, the parent company of Gemline.
In today's episode of #skucast, Mark Graham and Bobby Lehew sit down with Tim Andrews of ASI and Paul Bellantone of PPAI to talk about the topics that have the potential to make the biggest impact on our industry, from consolidation to sustainability, diversity, and much more.
If you didn’t make it to the PPAI Expo this year, you might not know that the Numo booth was the buzz of the show. Thousands of people converged on their booth and, unlike many come-and-go experiences at tradeshows, their guests stayed. Why?
This is the story of the house that Numo built.
In today’s episodeof #skucast, we’re chatting about practical tactics and life-hacks to achieve your vision for personal and business success. Our guest is Kirby Hasseman who just released his new book titled, The Give First Economy and How to Succeed in it.
Jeremy Picker is the creative director and CEO at AMB3R Creative, a Colorado-based merchandise design firm with over 20 years of experience in the fashion industry. Jeremy has helped launch and grow merchandise for major label brands and is passionate about creating retail quality merchandise for the non-profit sector to fuel fundraising efforts and expand awareness. On today's skucast, Jeremy shares freely from his lessons learned while fighting cancer and building a successful business.
In today’s skucast, Bobby Lehew sits down with Kate Boyce who is the new Vice President and General Manager of Trimark, the apparel division of PCNA. Kate comes to PCNA with over 20 years of apparel experience in the retail industry, most recently from Dick’s Sporting Goods where she was Vice President of Merchandising for Outerwear and Outdoor Apparel.
In today’s episode of skucast, Bobby Lehew (commonsku’s Chief Content Officer) and Mark Graham (commonsku’s Chief Technology Officer) sit down with our special guest and friend Bill Petrie, President of PromoCorner, to discuss the importance of content marketing.
In this episode of #skucast we sit down with Howard Cubberly Goldstar’s global general manager, and RJ Hagel, Global Marketing Manager about how they were able to achieve scale with intimacy. Goldstar the pen company, became goldstar the quirkey personality you love, here’s the story of how they did it.
In today’s episode of #skucast we talk with Nate Bailey, CEO of Ideation, about this journey from salesperson to CEO, the struggles and triumphs of those early days and challenges around cash, biggest mistakes, and something he does really well that might be helpful to you, sales forecasting.
Today's #skucast features Ben Adams with Advoc8, declared Adweek's fastest growing agency in the U.S. and the second fastest-growing agency in the world. Ben sits down to discuss the alchemy of brand positioning and focus that has produced such fast-growth, his favorite projects, and much more!
Last week, the news hit the industry that Genumark acquired RIGHTSLEEVE. Today on #skucast we're joined by commonsku co-founders Mark and Catherine Graham for an interview on their experience and the lessons learned.
A few weeks ago, Mark Graham saw an article on Medium that really captured his imagination and he sent it to our team. We were all stunned by the insights in that article and we thought it was such an important topic for our industry, for suppliers and distributors, that we contacted the author who wrote it, Zander Nethercutt, and asked if we could read it on the skucast.
In today’s episode of #skucast, Bobby Lehew is joined by Mark Graham, commonsku’s Chief Platform Officer, to answer a question from a distributor about how to go about hiring for marketing and launching a marketing strategy.
SanMar is one of the most respected names in the industry and they’ve earned respect through a careful and conscientious focus on the customer. In today’s episode, Mark Graham, commonsku’s co-founder and chief platform officer, chats with Jeremy Lott, President of SanMar, about the ins and outs of running a successful family business.
Eckhard Sohns is the Chief Sales and Marketing Officer for Swiss-based Pagani Pens, the parent company of Prodir, Pigra, and Premec. With a PhD in literature, Eckard’s mission connects both his personal and professional passion, “to convey our competence in this area of communication.”
Carey Guglielmo and his business partner Billy Haile recognized a niche within the corporate sector for just-in-time branded merchandise; they launched AST E-Commerce just five years ago and are already carving a lead in the company store space. Join us for an insightful conversation with Carey as we talk stores, sales growth, and a look toward the future!
In today’s episode, we’re tackling the topic of how to scale with intimacy. Mark Graham and Bobby Lehew are joined by Kate Masewich, commonsku’s Marketing Director. You’ve experienced Kate’s work through every touch-point of our brand and our events, her opinion on this topic is a direct result of working tirelessly to build emotional connections with customers.
What does the future of the promotional products industry really look like? In a fast-moving digital world, what place does branded merch have?
We’re not talking theory today, we’re not speculating. The future of promo has never looked brighter and today, we look at it through the lens of someone who should know: Isaac Hetzroni, Founder and CEO of Imprint Genius.
In today's episode of #skucast, Mark Graham and Bobby Lehew grapple with tactical ideas on how to be more creative (and not just artistically), we explore the subject of creativity from creative sourcing to creative design.
In today's episode of #skucast, we sit down with BELLA + CANVAS Co-Founder, Danny Harris. He discusses the early days of the business and how they pioneered a movement toward fashion wear in the wholesale market, their ecological footprint, the influx of competition in the premium market, and much more!
In today’s episode of skucast Cindy discusses how her choice to begin a life of extreme adventure has infused and transformed her business adventure.
In today’s episode, commonsku’s CEO Catherine Graham joins us to talk about the new connected workflow and how ePOs (electronic purchase orders), the strongest link in the connected workflow chain, allow for the effortless transfer of accurate, live data, from ideation to orders to production to invoicing without compromising the accuracy on any order.
Today’s conversation is with Aly Brunton, commonsku’s Marketing and Event Coordinator, you’ve met Aly if you’ve attended our events or interacted with us on social, she’s an incredibly articulate (if not reluctant) voice for Gen Z, the generation that by 2020 is expected to account for about 40% of all consumers.
After spending 10 years as touring musicians, Lucas Guariglia and Joe Zangrilli started Rowboat Creative in a basement in Chicago, that basement would eventually grow to over 60,000 square feet of some incredibly creative and progressive work.
Kathleen Quinn Votaw is the Founder and CEO of TalenTrust, which is revolutionizing how companies find, keep, and grow great people. On today's #skucast she reveals crucial knowledge and tips surrounding hiring and recruiting, what top-talent candidates are looking for in a business and employer, and much more!
Lisa Smith started her career in the business as a temp, at that time she was recently divorced and as a single mom, learned the ins-and-outs of this business box by box, and order by order. Six years ago, she struck out on her own along with business partners Amber and Dee Dee, and built Republic Promos, one of Austin’s most vibrant promotional products companies.
In over 108 episodes, we have rarely -almost never- talked about new features that we develop, preferring instead, to put our guests and our friends first. We hope you can indulge us this one time as we introduce an exciting development we are proud to announce: shops! In this episode, Mark Graham, commonsku’s Chief Platform Officer, and Bobby Lehew, commonsku’s Chief Content Officer, introduce shops.
Jay Acunzo is the author of the book Break the Wheel, which helps people make better decisions, faster, when they’re surrounded by too much information. Jay is our keynote speaker at skucamp September the 22nd through the 25th.
Ray DelMuro, founder of Refresh Glass, is on a mission to rescue 10 million bottles. Recently featured in Forbes magazine, his glasses have been purchased by Francis Ford Coppola, Wolfgang Puck, Ritz Carlton, and have even been featured on Anthony Bourdain’s show. Today Ray talks about why promotional products feel like home to him, how the industry can position more purpose-driven sustainable promotions, and much more!
Today's #skucast features Ruth Verver and Beth Walker, Co-Founders and Partners of Paperclip Promotions, a distributor based in Austin, TX. In today's episode they discuss the critical missing piece in their values (missing on purpose!), an order for their biggest client that went south, and much more!
Marine Layer, a retail phenomenon founded in 2009 and known for their absurdly soft shirts, now has a custom projects division led by Andrew Graham, Director of Custom Projects. Today, Andrew discusses the story behind Marine Layer and the creation of a unique fabric blend, marketing strategies they use, and much more!
In today's episode of #skucast, we're joined by futurist and Trend Editor, Vicki Ostrom from SanMar, a specialist in identifying societal trends and translating them into profitable products. With 20 years in the fashion industry, she has designed for companies such as Eddie Bauer, Tommy Bahama and JCPenney. Today she discusses the differences between macro-trends and micro-trends, how to capitalize on color trends, and much more!
Trevor Sarver is the founder and CEO of 85 Supply, a raw, fiercely original, and high-energy distributor based out of Nashville, TN. Today, Trevor discusses his quick shift from selling band merch to other markets, his advice for new entrepreneurs in the promotional products industry, and much more!
Nate Robson is the Director of Promotional Sales at Raining Rose, a supplier of fine organic lip balms and body care products in the promotional products space. Nate share his views on brand positioning and developing a brand personality. He reveals how Raining Rose leverages its quirky brand personality and image to grow sales and much more!
Big order fails. Brilliant client saves. Narrow margin orders that went south. Product disasters. Embarrassing client moments. And big, unexpected wins. We've all had them. skucon stories are stories told from the trenches by some of the most experienced pros in the business. Our stories today are told by Gillian Hammond with Brandfuel, Kevin Mullaney with Brandito, Steve Rone with Snugz USA.
Join Bobby Lehew, Mark Graham, commonsku's chief platform officer, and Catherine Graham, commonsku's CEO, as we celebrate the 100th episode of the skucast in classic commonsku style: by looking forward. Buckle up and straight ahead skummunity, it's front-windshield-view-only and we're not slowing down!
In this episode from our supplier CMO series, Saadia Bryant, Digital Marketing Director at Gemline, sits down to discuss a variety of topics that help make Gemline and their marketing efforts unique, including how the direct to consumer experience affects her decision making at Gemline, the channel that gets the most attention for a supplier, and much more!
Jay Busselle is the marketing director for Equipment Zone and many of you may know Jay as the lovable and hilarious host of #promochat on Twitter, where weekly industry thinkers gather together to shape trends, explore new ideas, and discuss current issues. Today Jay discusses how to build a brand manifesto, the difference between tone and voice, and much more!
In this episode, Mark Graham (commonsku's co-founder and chief platform officer) and Bobby Lehew (commonsku's chief content officer) share why a good economy can blind us to bigger opportunities, why sales-focused training needs to shift and why it is imperative, and much more!
In today's episode of #skucast, we sit down with Flywheel's millennial leaders Bart Simpson, Vice President of Client Development, and Matthew Nutt, Client Development Executive, to discuss how they're nearly doubling the size of their company for 2019, how they've found success with podcasting, and much more!
Molly Dietz, Marketing Manager of the Promotional Division of Strideline Socks, joins us to discuss her role and to share how the company’s retail and promotional divisions seamlessly intersect and reinforce each other, how being hyper-focused often creates the best marketing opportunities, and their plans for incorporating traditional marketing and trade shows into their marketing strategy.
We invited Elizabeth Segran, staff writer for Fast Company and whose work has appeared in The Atlantic, The New Republic, Salon and more, to chat about her recent article on conference swag. Mark Graham and Bobby Lehew chat with Elizabeth about what motivated her to write the article, the impact of fast fashion on sustainability and its counterpart in promotional products, the need for transparency along the supply chain, and more.
In this episode, Jason Lucash, CEO, CMO, and Co-founder of Origaudio, discusses the marketing decisions that have led to Origaudio becoming one of the most original brands in the promotional products industry.
In this episode, we explore what this new era of collaboration looks like with Adam Walterscheid, CEO of T Tycoon and YourCo, and Ben Taylor the Chief Marketing Officer at BamBams. Adam and Ben share the story of a complex project that would become CoLab, a service designed for distributors to build a completely custom product collection that transcends traditional supply lines while sharing creative resources and channeling communication through one contact.
In this episode, Bobby Lehew sits down with Mark Graham, commonsku's co-founder and chief platform officer, as we chat with Memo Kahan about the highs and lows of his business journey and his thoughts on how the recession refined and focused their value proposition, what it takes to succeed in sales and the advice Memo would give to his past self or young entrepreneurs.
In today's episode, Bobby Lehew, the chief content officer at commonsku, Mark Graham, commonsku’s co-founder and chief platform officer, and Winston Lo, president of Creative Boulevard, explore this article and the potential ramifications but moreover, the opportunity this moment presents for many in the business.
With 10 million in sales, 22 employees, and 17 years in the business, the brother and sister team of Daniel Gardner and Carolina Junghans lead Nashville based distributorship Blink Marketing and for the last several years have experienced tremendous growth.
Bobby Lehew sits down with several attendees of #skucamp2018 to talk about what they were inspired by but more importantly, what they plan to change in their business moving forward!
Adam Kovar is the Vice President of Marketing at ETS Express, one of the industry's most admired and innovative drinkware companies. In this episode, Mark Graham, commonsku's chief platform officer, sits down with Adam to discuss how Prop 65 has improved ETS, knowing your value and the confidence to believe in your company and your product and much more!
Ryan Moor is the CEO and founder of Ryonet, a company that grew from shirt printing in a garage in 2004 to a business with annual revenue of over $50 million. In 2017, Ryonet co-founded Allmade® Apparel, a living wage and sustainable apparel brand. Ryan will be a keynote speaker at skucon in Las Vegas on January 13th. In this episode, I sit down with Ryan to talk about his journey and how to catalyze and carve a new niche.
In this episode, we sit down with Stephen Holden, VP of Operations at Holden Brand, to talk not only about the legacy sales at Holden and his experience at launching an e-commerce platform, but also how his adventurous life outside of work, fuels his entrepreneurial spirit.
Joseph Sommer is a 29-year-old entrepreneur and the founder of Whitestone Branding, a boutique branded products agency, in New York City. In this episode, we chat with Joe about how this failure ended up shaping his success and charting a new path that led to significant growth.
How does collaboration fuel creativity? This is the subject of an epic conversation between Mark Graham and I and seven industry friends, including Denise Taschereau from Faireware, Stephen Musgrave from RIGHTSLEEVE, as well as Jasmine Keen, Alex Symms, and Pierre Martichoux from Chameleon Like.
In this episode, Mark Graham, commonsku's co-founder and Chief Platform Officer, sits down with RJ Hagel of Goldstar to discuss the obstacles and opportunities in marketing pens, growing beyond their staple products and much more!
In this episode, Mark Graham and Bobby Lehew continue the conversation about why e-commerce hasn't consumed the industry and yet how it has affected B2B buying habits. Join them for a discussion on the challenges why customers choose e-commerce over a traditional distributor's selling process, engaging the customer to resolve real business objectives and much more!
In today's episode of skucast we sit down with Monarch and Company's Yvonne Lyngaas Zeman, founder and CEO, and Anna Nguyen, COO and Account Director. Monarch and Company is a creative merchandising agency based in Chicago and Denver, that has grown from a 1-person company to a multi-million dollar distributorship. Today we discuss qualifying the right type of client to work with, moving from survival mode to focus and much more!
We continue our Supplier CMO Series with Julie Fritsch, the Vice President of Marketing at Starline Inc., a Top 40 Supplier and 2017 Distributor Choice Award Winner. Julie joins Mark Graham, commonsku’s co-founder and Chief Platform Officer, to discuss why she believes artists make the best marketers, marketing strategies for small promotional products suppliers and much more!
In this episode, we sit down with Pop! Promo’s Director of Sales Rory Young and Senior Account Executive Sarah Smith to consider a different perspective: Pop! Promos is largely comprised of millennials, and we wanted to explore what that looked like from a sales perspective and consider what it means to sell to the millennial market.
Gold Bond, Inc is a Top 40 supplier, multiple time PPAI supplier star winner, and multiple ASI distributor choice award winner. We sat down with Mark and Britney Godsey, leaders of the 70-year old company, to discuss their process for staying current on industry trends, how the company changed their marketing strategy and much more!
Adam Walterscheid is the CEO of T-Shirt Tycoon Solutions, Inc., a private label supplier located in Garland, Texas. We sat down with Adam to discuss the shape and story of his business journey, his perspective on the future of the promotional products industry and more!
Mark Graham and Bobby Lehew had the privilege of visiting with Pierre Martichoux, Founder and CEO of Chameleon Like, and his team in their Gilroy, CA factory headquarters just 20 miles south of Silicon Valley. Join them for a thought-provoking conversation on how to blend art and commerce into a thriving enterprise that keeps you young-at-heart!
Welcome to a new series designed to uncover the personalities of the industry's most prominent and successful supplier marketers and to explore the role that marketing plays in bringing promotional products to the market.
Brandon Brown began his career with Snugz USA ten years ago, working in the marketing department from the ground up, building what would eventually become one of the most imaginative and hard-working creative teams in the entire industry.
Russ Mogell is the founder of Seven Sourcing, a factory-direct import company that assists promotional product distributors with the development, manufacture, and importation of custom, branded merchandise for leading brands including Pepsi, Budweiser, Verizon, Disney & the NFL.
Before Seven Sourcing, Russ was the 3rd generation owner of supplier, Toppers. Sold in 1999, Toppers was the 5th largest supplier in the industry.
Russ has been featured in several leading industry publications highlighting his experience with importing & product safety, including PPB, Counselor & Identity Marketing magazines and was recognized in 2010 as a PPAI Rising Star.
Russ has also served on PPAI’s North American Leadership committee & currently serves as a chef & past mentor chair at Promo Kitchen, a non-profit community, focused on education & mentorship in the promotional products industry.
In this episode, we talk with Russ about some of the keys to success importing projects, including:
- How to move beyond the catalog to make creativity the commodity killer
- The best ways to work with your importers and supplier partners
- What a distributor should be concerned about when importing
- Trends that the leading importers watch to help create experiences through product
- Tips on handling the financing conversation with your customer
- And more!
Join us for a quick and helpful discussion about how to kill commodities with custom, creative imported products!
Sara Webb began her career in the industry as a college student working for Nevins Group.
Fast forward, and in 2013, Sarah opened InTandem Promotions, a creative and vibrant promotional products distributorship located in the Atlanta, GA area.
We talked with Sarah about her entrepreneurial journey as well as lessons learned along the way, including:
-Fast-growth and adapting to change -Hiring and retaining employees -Letting go and learning to lead
The most important quality needed to thrive in this business Join us for an enthusiastic conversation with one of the most positive and encouraging leaders in the business!
Friends since the 4th grade, Craig Dunlap and Kirk Meyer have led their $8 million dollar distributorship through a host of changes, most notably a conscious cut in 30% of their revenues which led eventually to a 30% increase in gross profit. We sat down with Crag and Kirk to explore why and how they decided to narrow their focus on the right kind of client and how they have managed to build a successful company through a strong partnership. We also discussed the values that govern their business and how it affects the way they work, values that are expressed in the acrostic, "Gimme Magic."
Welcome to a new series designed to uncover the personalities of the industry's most prominent and successful supplier marketers and to explore the role that marketing plays in bringing promotional products to the market.
David Clifton (alphabroder) is our first guest in this series on supplier marketing. David's experience spans to not only include a role as former Executive Director of Marketing with Dell Computers, but David also served as the CEO of promotional products distributor, Hotlink.
Our guest today is Bill Petrie, well-known and loved by many, but also, someone who has experienced both the valleys and the mountaintops in a career that spans over 17 years in executive leadership positions in the industry. In 2014, Bill launched brandivate, the first executive outsourcing company solely focused on helping small and medium-sized promotional products enterprises responsibly grow their business. In 2017, brandivate was acquired by PromoCorner where he now serves as President.
Mark Graham (commonsku's Chief Platform Officer) and Bobby Lehew (commonsku's Chief Content Officer) talk about what’s in store for attendees at skucamp this year and we paint a picture of what the experience will be like, live from the Ace Hotel New Orleans.
In this episode, commonsku's Chief Platform Officer, Mark Graham, and Chief Content Officer, Bobby Lehew, explore what the future of B2B e-commerce could look like. They share their failures at trying to build their own e-commerce solutions and walk through what the buyer’s experience could be if we simply challenged our conventional views of e-commerce and re-imagined the buyer’s journey.
In today’s episode, commonsku’s Chief Platform Officer, Mark Graham and Chief Content Officer Bobby Lehew sit down and discuss a shift that has happened in the marketplace over the past ten or fifteen years: the rise of the progressive distributor.
By his 35th birthday, Mike Michalowicz had founded and sold two multi-million dollar companies. In this episode, Mike talks with Bobby Lehew and Mark Graham about How to Grow a Colossally Successful Business by planting the right seeds, weeding out the losers, and nurturing the winners.
At Caryn Kopp's award-winning firm, Kopp Consulting, she holds the title of Chief Door Opener. Caryn’s talent for seeing a company’s “path to the cash” has inspired her to help thousands of business owners and sales professionals secure initial meetings with hard to reach, high-level decision makers at Pfizer, P&G, Time Warner and more. She will be leading a workshop at skucamp New Orleans in the Fall and today we talk about structuring your business to make business development important, the strengths and weaknesses of social media when it comes to prospecting, messaging, and how our own industry misuses our greatest asset.
Robert Fiveash and Danny Rosin, founders of Brand Fuel are well-known leaders throughout the industry and highly respected for their success but more importantly, for their open door, generous spirit, and brilliant marketing. In this episode we chat about their Band Fuel Project to explore why they created it and what they learned through the process.
From $222,000 in sales in 2013, to $5 million in sales in five years, distributor SoBe Promos based out of Miami, Florida burst onto the scene in a flash, and was honored as one of Inc. Magazine’s 500 Fastest Growing private companies in 2016 and recognized by ASI in 2017 as the fastest-growing distributor. Chris Ferrite, Vice President of Business Development, joins us to riff about their rocket rise in sales, direct importing, their heritage in the industry, and more.
Brandon Mackay, MAS, Six Sigma Lean Certified, and the Owner and CEO/President of Snugz USA, earned his stripes the hard way: experience. A strong advocate for process improvement and employee development, Brandon delivered a brilliant and practical talk at skucon in Las Vegas on How Operational Excellence Fuels Profitable Growth, unpacking his experience as a lean certified organization and the lessons he learned along the way.
Be a brand anthropologist. Know yourself, know your breed. Those are just a few of the truisms that Renya Nelson, founder of Brand+Aid, shared with the skucon audience in Las Vegas where she delivered a talk on “How to Build a Kick-Ass Brand to Attract Kick-Ass Clients.”
At skucon in Las Vegas, Joe Drayer and Anita Emoff from Boost Rewards, led a session entitled "From Incentives to Engagement."
Joe Drayer is the Vice President at Boost, and prior to that, led Sales Strategy for LexisNexis. Since 2015, Joe has been a lecturer and instructor at the University of Dayton School of Business with a concentration on Organizational Behavior.
In this episode, Catherine Graham, President of distributor RIGHTSLEEVE and CEO of commonsku, spoke to an audience full of entrepreneurs at our skucon conference in Las Vegas, on the subject of prospecting.
Janie Gaunce started Grapevine Designs, one of the original, agency-minded distributorships, back in 2000. Since then, Grapevine Designs has been honoured as a “Best Places to Work” company by the Kansas City Business Journal and they consistently rank as one of the top “Women-Owned Businesses in KC,” and have garnered numerous other industry awards.
At skucon in Las Vegas, Scott Alterman (The Icebox) took the crowd on a wild ride through his crazy journey as a serial entrepreneur, sharing lessons learned on how to build a swag empire while evolving your team and transforming even your own role in the business.
What does it mean to be fiercely original? And how do you evolve, as a brand, to command the kind of clients and work that enable you to thrive at your most creative? These are the questions we explore with Frank Thompson, the wildly eccentric founder, President, and frontman for Planet Logo, an alternative branded merchandise and promotional products company headquartered in the coastal town of Wilmington, North Carolina.
commonsku collections is a brand new in-app tool that allows suppliers to create beautiful collections of product that can be easily shared by a distributor with their customers. In this episode, Mark Graham, commonsku’s co-founder and Chief Platform Officer, and Samantha Kates, commonsku’s Vice President of Sales, sit down to share how collections can save distributors time and how this new tool can make sales happen quicker for both distributor and supplier.
Mark Graham, Chief Platform Officer, and Bobby Lehew, Chief Content Officer, sit down to discuss business podcasting, the why's as well as the how-to's.
In today's episode, we sit down with Justin Carter, founder of BRAND-ON!, to talk about how to activate the entrepreneurial dream by pursuing both the work and life that you want,
In today's episode, we sit down with Dan Taylor, BamBams co-founder, President, & CEO and his son Ben Taylor who, in addition to serving as the Director of Digital Media for Gallup Consulting, worked in a number of roles as a marketing technologist before joining BamBams. Join us for an insightful journey through the evolution of an ever-changing product line by one of the industry's most respected suppliers!
No one in our industry has mastered the art of connecting more than Danny Rosin. Danny is a tireless industry and community leader who, along with his business partner Robert Fiveash, has built one of the most vibrant brands in the business, Brand Fuel. A respected veteran, PPAI board member, founder and chef at promokitchen, and also the active co-founder of Band Together, a volunteer-driven nonprofit that uses live music as a platform for social change that has donated $6.5 million dollars to community efforts, Danny inspires wherever he roams.
At our inaugural skucamp event in Palm Springs, CA, as some of the most influential and progressive distributors and suppliers gathered to spend a few days in community, listening to speakers and learning from one another, Ted Church (Anthem Branding) shared a session that revealed the ideation process behind their agency approach.
Today’s skucast episode features the recording from Ted’s session and includes critical tips on how you can improve your process.
At our inaugural skucamp event in Palm Springs, CA, some of the most influential and progressive distributors and suppliers gathered to spend a few days in community, listening to speakers and learning from one another. Today’s skucast episode was recorded at skucamp where Matty Toomb unpacked his years of practical insight on the subject of selling.
Today's skucast episode was recorded at skucamp where Jamie Watson, a partner with Certified Marketing Consultants, shared what a distributorship in optimum health looks like. Based on her experience, successfully transacting many distributor acquisitions, Jamie walks through example P&Ls, balance sheets, plus, provides tips on how to position your company for maximum profitability.
At our inaugural skucamp event in Palm Springs, CA, some of the most influential and progressive distributors and suppliers gathered to spend a few days in community, listening to speakers and learning from one another. Catherine Graham (CEO, commonsku) distilled her years of experience as a successful distributor into a presentation at skucamp entitled "Strategies for Scaling,"
Denise Taschereau, CEO and co-founder of Fairware, took four months off from work to travel, and in this episode, Mark Graham visits with both Denise and Sarah White (Fairware's Chief Operating Officer) about how they were able to work together to create such a refreshing opportunity.
Snugz USA is a $40 million powerhouse led by owner and CEO, Brandon Mackay. Powered by an incredible team of talented professionals, Snugz remains one of the most respected suppliers in the industry, a manufacturer whose diverse product line has grown far beyond lanyards to include leather goods, personal care products, food, and even shoes.
We sit down with Jake Malishkevich (Promodealer) to learn about his journey and mine the lessons he has learned, including: the importance of Google AdWords then and now, how process is the most important part of a new salesperson’s training (and a distributor's growth), navigating the online world of trendspotting with products and how Amazon and Wal-Mart entering the industry is a non-issue.
Steve Levschuk is the CEO of Talbot, recognized by Deloitte as one of The 50 Best Managed Companies in Canada - twice! We sit down with Steve to talk about acquisitions vs. organic growth, supplier partnerships, international business, compensation models, and what it takes to become a “best-managed company.” Steve is also a distributor candidate for the PPAI board, and we discuss his vision for the industry and the opportunities and challenges he sees on the road ahead.
Lori Kates has overseen many transitions since she first began as controller of Vitronic in 1996. Honored as ASI’s Supplier Woman of Distinction in 2013 and listed on The Counselor Power 50 for the past 4-years, she continues to pursue excellent operating principles intended to propel Top 40 supplier IMAGEN Brands to even greater heights.
Todd Pottebaum is the President of Quality Resource Group, a $35 million promotional products and print distributor with over 50 salespeople, located in the Minneapolis, MN area. This episode reflects on principles of success, particularly personal and professional development, and how we can implement these into our own experience.
skucon, the conference for entrepreneurs, mavericks, and both young and young-at-heart professionals, is back, and it's at an all-new venue with a stellar lineup of some of the brightest and best in the business. In this episode, Mark Graham and Bobby Lehew provide a quick overview of topics and highlight some of the speakers who are taking the stage.
Dan Frailey is the President of RuMe BrandSuite, the promotional division of the wildly popular retail brand RuMe (which stands for “reuse me”). RuMe BrandSuite has taken the industry by storm and was recognized this year by ASI’s The Counselor magazine as the fastest-growing supplier.
Andy Thorne, Co-Founder and Sales and Marketing Director at Outstanding Branding, was our special guest at commonsku University at The ASI Show Chicago, discusses the realities of partnerships, building a brand, utilizing a business coach, healthy margins, workplace culture, and more.
Recorded live at commonsku University at The ASI Show Chicago, we discuss what it takes to climb the path to success, and we chat about key factors that contribute to growth: net profit, mentorship, sales persistence, margins, and more.
In this episode, we sit down with Mitch Freed, Vice President of Strategic Initiatives with Genumark and we explore how to begin to affect change that invigorates and transforms your business!
In today’s skucast, we discuss successful distributor client shows and, through the lense of a learning perspective, we share the evolution of the commonsku events. Mark Graham shares the sweat, the fear, the risk, the return, and the reward of spectacular event marketing. We hope this episode inspires you to build community events with your customers!
The author of “Promo Plight,” Counselor Magazine’s Executive Editor Chris Ruvo, joins us to highlight his research. We discuss what this pressure means for the health of the industry, and, most importantly, how distributors are responding to market pressure with positive solutions.
Tactics! From referrals to uber-like sample delivery, Mitch Silver of Printable Promotions shares some of the secrets to building a robust inside sales organization in the promotional products industry.
In this episode, we sit down with Rod Brown, the CFO of MadeToOrder, a $25 million Bay area distributor and we ask critical questions regarding some of the most important numbers in business.
Amazon has won a patent for on-demand apparel, and the news headlines suggest panic for all apparel manufacturers. Is this news an opportunity or a threat? Does this impact the corporate apparel business, and if so, how? We cover these questions and more in this episode.
This special edition of skucast was recorded live at The PPAI Expo during Mark Graham's Podcasting 101 class. As a part of the class, we demonstrated the power of podcasting by discussing a distributor's unique value proposition. Through this conversation we discovered insights into how you might discover your unique voice, not only for podcasting, but also for attracting passionate, dedicated customers.
Join us in this episode as we trace the business journey made by Casey Schorr and Kevin Materi of Printfection and learn how they created a robust swag management platform that found its stride after continuous acts of transfiguration.
In this episode, you’ll learn about Ted’s passion to distinguish himself and his company from the plight of the “me, too” promotional world and you’ll learn about his journey from atypical promotional company to a discerning agency that works with customers who value his service.
In this episode, we speak with Tom Goos, President of Image Source, about the speed of change in the industry. As a former chairman of PPAI, Tom has a unique perspective on the health of the industry and what the future may hold.
In this episode, Mark Graham and Bobby Lehew travel to California for a site visit of the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs to give you a taste of the skucamp experience.
In this episode Mark Graham and Bobby Lehew continue their look into the future of the industry and discuss the trends that are shaping this movement, highlighting just a few of the key players who are becoming dominant forces in the race to emerge as winners of the new creative class.
This episode was sparked by a controversial article published in The Counselor magazine entitled, "The Big Squeeze: Are Promo Distributors Putting Too Much Demand on Suppliers?" Samantha Kates, commonsku's Vice President of Sales, joins Mark Graham and Bobby Lehew as they wade into the controversy to discuss supplier rebates, price negotiations, and more!
In this episode, Mark and Bobby discuss how the industry has splintered into specialties, namely four distinct market segments: smaller distributors (usually 1-person, less than $500,000 in annual sales), pure e-commerce players, agency or niche verticals and company store providers.
In today’s episode, Mark Graham and Bobby Lehew discuss the potential pitfalls and opportunities with the company store model.
In today’s episode, Mark Graham and Bobby Lehew share Tiny Tasks for Ginormous Sales Gain.
In today’s episode, we explore the world of marketing automation. commonsku recently integrated with a marketing automation software provider called Wishpond. They make it easy for marketers to create landing pages and contests, track leads, send emails and much more. To explore how marketing automation can work for those in the promotional products industry, we sat down with Nick Steeves, Chief Product Officer at Wishpond to share with us some best practices, top hacks and tricks.
Today’s episode is part of our skucon speaker series. We kick the series off with Saul Colt, Founder and Creative Director at SAUL COLT – The Idea Integration Company. Saul’s work in the fields of experiential, word of mouth and stunt marketing is legendary.
On this episode of skucast, we look at the world of mergers and acquisitions in the promotional products industry with Jamie Watson, a Partner at Certified Marketing Consultants
In this episode we explore the world of corporate social responsibility with President of SanMar Jeremy Lott. The apparel sector makes up more than 40% of our industry’s sales so it’s fitting that we get the chance to speak with someone who knows a thing or two about the subject.
This is part two of our special series focused on how to do marketing right. In part one we explored how distributors are using marketing effectively with Sam Brown, Marketing Director of BrandVia. In part two we look at the world of marketing from the supplier perspective with Lee Strom, Chief Marketing Officer for SanMar. In this episode, we are going to the learn about the art and science behind creating a marketing plan that delivers strong results.
This is part one of a special two part series focused on how to do marketing right. This first episode explores marketing from a distributor perspective. Our second episode to follow will explore how suppliers implement marketing effectively.
In this discussion, we speak with Sam Brown about why marketing matters more than ever today for the modern distributor.
Mark speaks to a close friend and long time collaborator, Danny Rosin. Danny is the President of Brand Fuel in Raleigh, North Carolina, the founder of Band Together and a chef with PromoKitchen, to highlight a few of his many responsibilities. Danny is currently a distributor candidate to be on the PPAI Board of Directors. This discussion will reveal what it means to run for the board and the impact that volunteering for the association can have on our industry.
Thought leadership is one of today's hottest business buzzwords. Usually it refers to creating content to build traffic and attention online. But that narrow definition discounts the larger opportunities this strategy offers.
In this workshop, we will reintroduce imagination and personality back into sales and jointly construct an approach to build a competitive advantage that is uniquely yours.
Mark Graham conducts an up close and personal fireside chat with two of the sharpest business minds in the industry about how we can ready ourselves for the next 5-10 years. PPAI’s CEO Paul Bellantone and ASI’s CEO Tim Andrews lead vast organizations that oversee, represent and advocate for our industry. This is only the second time in their careers that Paul and Tim have appeared on stage together.
From Hollywood story secrets to This-American-Life style narrative, you’ll learn how to brush off that stale 30-second elevator pitch by creating customer-centric stories that cut through the noise with a compelling and memorable message.
In this keynote, Lon McGowan shares success stories as well as a key lessons he’s learned from some prominent business failures. Lon founded what has become one of the industry’s most beloved companies, iClick as well as 2 additional companies outside the promotional products industry.
Mark and Catherine Graham kickoff the 2016 skucon Chicago conference at The Virgin Hotel.
Our guest today is Gill Thorpe, CEO and Managing Director of UK based The Sourcing Team. Gill got her start in the promotional products industry in 1996 and built The Sourcing Team into one of the country’s most innovative distributors. Gill and her team are in the eye of the Brexit Storm so who better to help us wrap our heads around what this means for the promotional products industry in Europe, North America and the rest of the world.
Through learning to brainstorm with others, you’ll be surprised by how your BIG IDEAS can suddenly evolve and take a different shape than how the idea was originally presented – and, with the help of others – maybe even get you past obstacles holding you back.
In this episode of skucast we’re going to spend some time with one of our most recent additions to the commonsku team, Joe Kemple. Joe is joining Aaron Kucherawy as a customer success representative and we couldn’t be more excited to have him on board!
This episode is all about content. We are going to talk about how to create excellent content and why this matters to the modern promotional products professional. Our guest is Kirby Hasseman, President of Hasseman Marketing and Communications. In addition to Kirby’s successful distributor business, he is also a speaker, blogger, podcaster, video personality and author. Kirby talks to us about how he balances the demands of running a business with these content efforts. We’ll also discuss the impact content has had on his business and how you can get started today with your own content program.
Our guest today is Patrick McHargue. Patrick is a promo industry innovator and co-founder of PromoPlacement, the industry's leading search and placement firm. In today’s episode we are going to explore the world of hiring and Patrick will share his hiring playbook.
Our guest today is Ben Baker, President of Your Brand Marketing in Richmond, British Columbia. We talk about the ins and outs of trade shows and how they can generate high ROI. Ben explains exactly what you need to do before, during, and after a trade show to ensure positive results from your investment.
Our guest this episode is the talented graphic designer at RIGHTSLEEVE, Regan McDonell. Regan talks about how her designs have revolutionized the company, allowing them to stand out in the crowd of similar promotional product companies in the industry.
For anyone who has been trained on the commonsku software platform, they will be very familiar with our guest this episode. Aaron Kucherawy is commonsku’s Customer Success Manager and is responsible for training distributors on the platform, fielding support questions and offering comic relief to anyone in need.
Our guest today is Tonia Allen Gould, Founder and CEO of Tagsource. Tonia’s journey is a fascinating one and involves the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, all par for the course for most entrepreneurs in the industry. She will be sharing her story this summer at skucon Chicago on July 12, but this episode will whet our appetites for what’s in store.
Our guest this episode is Bobby Lehew, one of our speakers this summer at skucon in Chicago. His keynote will be on the art of creative storytelling and how that specifically applies to sales and growing one’s business. Bobby brings a ton of passion to this subject and he joins us for some time today to give us a sneak peak of what he will be talking about at skucon.
This episode is all about imaginative selling. We'll discuss Bill's upcoming workshop at skucon, the 3 traits a successful modern sales person has, and shifting the conversation away from price.
This episode digs into the RuMe story, the problem they set out solve with their bags and what it takes to juggle a marriage and a business partnership.
In this episode of skucast, we speak with Lon McGowan about creativity in business and his upcoming keynote at skucon Chicago on July 12, 2016. Learn more at commonsku.com/skucon
In this episode of skucast, we speak with Heidi Thorne about Thought Leadership and her upcoming workshop at skucon Chicago on July 12, 2016. Learn more at commonsku.com/skucon