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Awards

2018 Hot List: Rory Young, Pop! Promos

Meet the new stars shaking up the promo market with their ambition, empathy and passion to be the very best.

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Rory Young

Pop! Promos (asi/45657)

At first glance, Rory Young perhaps didn’t make the best candidate for a sales position at Pop! Promos.

He’d never worked in the promotional products industry. His sales resume was little more than helping customers at his father’s record store. Nonetheless, Pop! co-founders Sterling Wilson and Erin Reilly had a hunch Young would excel.

Boy, were they ever right.

Since Pop! hired him in 2014, Young has accelerated his sales career into hyper-speed – success that’s helped build the Philadelphia-based supplier from a seven-person operation when he joined to a business with more than 30 employees. In 2017, Young cleared about $2.3 million in sales.

“Rory’s success is mostly due to his friendly nature and ability to connect with every distributor he works with,” says Pop! Marketing Director Kelly Shermer.

Now vice president of sales, Young uses his creativity, leadership skills and infectious energy to help other Pop! pros achieve success. He’s also had a hand in innovations, recently recommending how Pop! could improve its virtual design services. “That idea turned into a complete overhaul of the proposals that get sent to distributors,” says Shermer. “The benefits have been huge.”

Young loves both the creativity of his job and helping build brand identities. He’s especially thankful for the support and entrepreneurial spirit at Pop!. “I’ve been very lucky to work for owners who give people a shot,” he says. “I’m surrounded by an extremely smart and focused team. A lot of my success is due to them.”