Jill Haspert was already CEO of Foxtrot Marketing Group (asi/170720).

Now, she owns the Minnesota-headquartered promotional products distributorship, too.

In early March, Haspert closed on the acquisition of Foxtrot from Mille Lacs Corporate Ventures, a parent company that had owned the promo firm since 2014. Financial terms of the deal were not released.

Jill Haspert, Foxtrot Marketing Group

“The team at Foxtrot is grateful to have benefitted from the leadership of Mille Lacs Corporate Ventures,” Haspert said. “We are energized by the opportunities ahead and remain focused on executing our growth strategy.”

Haspert is now the sole owner of Foxtrot, a firm with about 45 employees that is projecting 25% year-over-year revenue growth in 2023. Employee headcount is also expected to increase by 10% to 15%, Haspert told ASI Media. Foxtrot ranked 41^st on Counselor’s 2022 list of the Best Places to Work in the promo products industry.

Haspert’s first job in promo was in 2017 when she joined Foxtrot Marketing as chief operating officer. Within a year, she rose to CEO. Over the last five years, she’s found a home in promo – a key reason prompting her decision to buy Foxtrot.

“Before I came to Foxtrot, I was at General Mills, and we used branded merch, of course, but I had no idea there was this massive entrepreneurial industry driving all that,” Haspert told ASI Media. “The more I learned, the more I fell in love with this industry and its people. It’s an exciting place to compete.”

Haspert earned an MBA from the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management. During her six years at General Mills, she held leadership roles that included being marketing manager of integrated business planning implementation. In that position, she was charged with leading change across the $10 billion North American retail organization through the design and rollout of an integrated business planning process.

Formerly known as 20/20 Brand Solutions, Foxtrot has been in business for nearly 47 years.

The company has driven growth especially of late by providing end-clients with online company stores. It’s also brought services like embroidery and screen printing in-house to more efficiently fulfill orders generated through those stores. Focusing on e-commerce-fueled growth will be key for Foxtrot going forward, as it continues to invest in technology to provide the best web-based company store experience possible, Haspert said.

“We’re excited to have recently won several big contracts, including in the healthcare market,” she told ASI Media. “We’re definitely in growth mode.”

Mille Lacs Corporate Ventures is owned by the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe and manages its numerous businesses, including Grand Casino Mille Lacs, Grand Casino Hinckley, the InterContinental Saint Paul Riverfront Hotel, and others.

“Jill is an impressive executive,” said Joe Nayquonabe, CEO of Mille Lacs Corporate Ventures. “We are so proud of her leadership, and we are grateful for the partners and Foxtrot employees that put their faith in us during our stewardship of the business.”