Welcome to the 2021 Power 50 list, which ranks the most influential people in the industry.

23. Nancy Schmidt

AIA Corporation (asi/109480)

2020 Rank: 28 

Title: CEO

Industry Experience: 3 years

After taking over the Top 40 distributor in the early months of the pandemic, Schmidt – still a relative newcomer to the industry – surely welcomed a new year. Under her leadership, Schmidt has sought to stabilize AIA with the addition of seven new owners who will bring in a projected $9.3 million in total contract sales, along with the company’s “On the Road Again” series of small in-person meetings with affiliate-owners in more than 20 cities across the country. Both last year and this year, she and her team helped buttress AIA owners against even more severe losses by helping them sell much-needed PPE, home office items and workplace sanitation products through a partnership with AIA-owned OfficeZilla.