#40 Tamara Borello

ePromos Promotional Products (asi/188515) – COO

2022 Rank: NR

Industry Experience: 37 Years

Previous Appearances on Power 50: 0

Tamara Borello’s long career in promo started with a pen.

It was 37 years ago that Borello was weighing career options when a friend in real estate asked her to locate some engravable pens. Borello, having zero knowledge about the industry, rifled through the yellow pages and tracked down a nearby distributor. “I went to his office and saw his showroom and I was mesmerized immediately,” she recalls. She walked out with a catalog, found pens from Garland, called the company’s 1-800 number and ultimately sold the pens to her friend. “And the rest,” she says, “is history.”

To be clear, Borello is still making history even after a decorated career spent working for some of the largest distributors in the promo products industry. It was five years ago that Borello joined Top 40 distributor ePromos, and as the COO she’s heavily engaged in day-to-day operations, including what she describes as “our digital and organizational transformation.” Right now that means an intensive transformation off of legacy systems to a new ERP that ePromos is looking to wrap up this year. “That’s a big one,” Borello says. “That’s really key in order to get where we want to be. It’s a balancing act between changing the company and the mindset, and also balancing very fast growth.”

“What makes Tamara extraordinary is her ability to see a developing situation and create a solution before it ever became a problem.” Dick Nelson, MARCO Promos

Her tone warm, her answers succinct but informative, Borrello has “just the right balance of confidence and humility, the two key attributes all great leaders share,” says Dick Nelson.

“What makes her extraordinary,” adds Nelson, the founder of 4imprint and current CEO of MARCO Promos (asi/260870) who worked with Borello at Top 40 distributor AIA (asi/109480), “is her ability to see a developing situation and create a solution before it ever became a problem. In my experience, this foresight is rare.”

Borello lists her leadership philosophy as “listen, learn, inspire and act” – a sentiment that Latisha Marshall agrees with. The VP of operations for ePromos says Borello is always willing to help and makes her colleagues feel more like a partner. “She gives me a different perspective on things,” says Marshall. “When I’m bouncing things off of her, she’ll challenge me – in a good way. She’ll say ‘Look at it from this angle’ and I’ll say ‘Oh yeah, you’re right.’ It makes me better and furthers my growth.”

Adds Marshall: “I feel like Tamara develops me and is taking the time to invest in me.”

A native New Englander who moved to Orlando three years ago, Borello loves boating, traveling, spending time with family (including her dog Rylee) and a lifelong passion for learning. Nearly four decades into her promo career, she’s still exceptionally bullish about the relationships and the creativity within the industry, as well as finding ways to help others. “It’s really important for people to think about taking the time to give back to others, to help them build their careers and inspire them,” she says. “I think that’s super important if we want to continue the growth of the industry.”