A quartet of top leaders took to the ASI Power Summit stage on Tuesday, Oct. 15, to share their insights on some of the biggest industry trends, how they manage their businesses and what they’ve learned along the way. The panel included: Sandy Gonzalez, CEO of MadeToOrder (asi/259540); Samantha Kates, president of Counselor Top 40 supplier Spector & Co. (asi/88660); Dave Sarro, CEO of Promo Direct (asi/300477); and Jo-an Lantz, CEO of Top 40 distributor Geiger (asi/202900). The session was moderated by ASI Vice Chairman Matthew Cohn.

(From left to right) Jo-an Lantz of Geiger (asi/202900), Dave Sarro of Promo Direct (asi/300477), Samantha Kates of Spector & Co. (asi/88660) and Sandy Gonzalez of MadeToOrder (asi/259540) joined ASI Vice Chairman Matthew Cohn to discuss lessons learned.

The accelerating pace of change was a prominent topic. Lantz, who was named the number-one person on this year’s Counselor Power 50, acknowledged the phenomenon and said it’s had a monumental impact on Geiger. “If I think back six years ago, we are a completely different company except for our culture,” she said.

Considering the distributor maps out its strategic plan in six-year stretches, Lantz said the company will completely change again in another six years. Embracing automation is going to put the company closer to the customer, but it’s also going to shift what employees do, which will dramatically impact their happiness and how they feel. “It’s incumbent upon all of us to change our businesses but not forget the people who are involved along the process,” said Lantz. “We need to make sure we have the tools. And we as leaders need to have the tools to know who will embrace it and who will fight it.”

Sarro too said that the pace of change is accelerating due to technology and AI. Promo Direct is changing its tech platform, moving to open source and embracing AI on the sales and marketing side. Referring to the topic of rising costs that was discussed in yesterday’s panels, Sarro said, “As CEOs, I think we need to manage our businesses better. There’s got to be accountability in place, and we have to get more out of our employees.” He cited his belief that there’s 20-30% wastage from employees, and that improvements on that figure can lead to greater productivity and offset rising costs.

Kates was very recently named the president of Spector. Previously in charge of the sales operation, her tasks include getting to know better the rest of the employee base and modernizing the company smartly while staying true to the Canadian supplier’s strengths. “Our organization was founder-led and run very much like a family-run and very family-culture business. And it’s very hands-on and very personal with our customers,” she said. “Our tagline is ‘Your Brand’s Best Friend.’ I don’t want to ever lose that – I love that. But I want to take that into what the next generation looks like, where you can be your customer’s best friend but do it in a way that maybe isn’t as labor-intensive because it’s hard to hire.”

Gonzalez recounted the unique circumstances that led to MadeToOrder’s merger with RED Promotions (asi/590025). Gonzalez had reached out to RED founder Shelley Stewart to discuss employee stock ownership plan models. But the synergies were so strong in the initial conversation that Gonzalez realized partnering up was a very appealing proposition.

“I was thinking, ‘Sandy, if you don’t ask for that sale, it’s not going to happen,’” Gonzalez recalled. “So, before that conversation was over, I said, ‘We should be having a different conversation right now.’”

Gonzalez also discussed the company’s shift to fully remote, noting that only two out of 45 employees were upset that they didn’t have an office to go to. The distributor keeps employees engaged with experiences and check-ins, and ensures that cameras are always on. “I will join meetings with my hair in a bun and no makeup on Friday if that’s the way that I’m working,” Gonzalez said, “for everyone else to feel really comfortable with camera on.”