2020 Distributor Salesperson of the Year

By all appearances, Nick Mirabile was on a career high. After owning a distributorship in the early 1990s and working for a few other companies, he left the promotional products industry in 2013 and joined a New York City-based company selling sponsorship activations for major national and international events. For five years, he was busy closing big deals and finding major success. But he wasn’t happy.

“I decided to go back to where I was most successful and happiest, and where I built the best relationships,” Mirabile says. “That was promotional products. People thought I was crazy to leave what I was doing.”

After researching both suppliers and distributors, he chose to join Stran Promotional Solutions in the summer of 2018. There was no bounty of buyers awaiting him. “We hit it off, but Nick’s supplier network was cold and his client base was even colder,” says Stran President Andy Shape. “He set a high standard for himself and told me his goal was to be number one at the company.”

"I decided to go back to where I was most successful and happiest, and where I built the best relationships. That was promotional products." Nick Mirabile, Stran Promotional Solutions

But Nick’s ambitions didn’t stop there. He happened across a back issue of Advantages magazine featuring that year’s top salesperson. A big believer in visualization, Mirabile took the cover, replaced the headshot with his own likeness and posted it to his office wall, writing underneath, “Nick Mirabile 2020!” New goal: Be number one in the industry.

Crazy? Perhaps. But Mirabile made good on his audacious gambit in a big way in 2019, scoring eight-figure sales and recording a 5,900% increase in revenue compared to the previous half-year. That remarkable feat of persistence and drive has earned him the title of Advantages Distributor Salesperson of the Year.

“Nick represents the unlimited opportunity that exists for the thousands of sales reps in our industry – not just a select few,” says Shape, noting that Mirabile didn’t inherit a book of business or win clients through nepotism or personal relationships. “He has showed how passion, perseverance and professionalism pay off. His work ethic, respect for suppliers and product knowledge is only part of his success. He also decided on what he wanted, set high goals, crossed them off and set them higher. He works hard, does his homework, has a baseline of honesty and integrity, and he perseveres.”

Putting Clients First
Even though Mirabile remained intensely familiar with the promotional products industry, he had to essentially start over. One key strategy he employed was to note company anniversaries and milestones, recognizing that firms spend money to celebrate and promote those events. In his research, he realized that a national government program would be marking 2020 in a big way. He decided to go after the business.

“I put in hours of research on this program, for days and days over a number of weeks, reading, researching and learning about the agencies involved in the program, studying the relationships between them and jotting down names of people who handle different aspects of it,” he says. “Then I looked them up on LinkedIn and started messaging them and making connections. I cold-called when necessary and formulated a strategic plan, selling myself and my agency. I developed one relationship at a time, asking questions and asking for introductions to decision-makers.”

He successfully won the business and, throughout this past year, worked on designing, creating and producing millions of products that will be used in 2020 to promote the government program. He also continues to focus on serving lifestyle brands, quick-serve restaurants, adult beverage companies and sports properties, leagues and teams.

“Nick works extremely hard for his customers,” says Keith Simon, executive vice president of sales at AAA Innovations (asi/30023). “He’s smart and understands that trust and relationships are built over the long term. He’s creative and takes time to understand our business so he can proactively offer ideas, and he does all of this in a manner that makes everyone around him comfortable.”

Winning major RFPs isn’t easy, but Mirabile banks on his experience working with high-profile clients (like sports leagues and Home Depot) in addition to a desire to know as much about a company and its programs as possible. “I always start with selling myself before the products,” he says. “Then once they trust me, I sell my company and the services we offer to provide the support they’ll need. Then I sell the creative and products.”

“Nick is a pleasure to work with and exhibits high integrity and professionalism when developing and presenting his clients’ values and project ideas,” says Peter J. Leon, vice president of sales & marketing at Garland Writing Instrument Co. (asi/55870). “His communication skills and speedy follow-up are outstanding, which help everyone adhere to manufacturing and delivery timelines.”

And while landing big business and high-profile accounts has helped Mirabile rake in the sales, everything relies on building solid relationships with customers. “I treat them like family, in the way I expect to be treated,” he says. “I put my clients first, period.” – Sara Lavenduski

Charles Duggan knows all about going the extra mile – and we’re not just talking about the 75,000 frequent flyer miles he racks up each year as the sales manager at Goldstar. The industry veteran competes in Ironman triathlons for fun – swimming, biking and running just over 140 miles in the course of a few hours. “If he puts his mind to something, he doesn’t give up,” says Kenny Ved, vice president of sales and Duggan’s partner in crime at Goldstar.

That “Ironman energy” is what sets Duggan apart, according to the distributors and co-workers who rave about him. “The real magic of Charles is his relentless energy in combination with his positive attitude and passion for selling,” says Goldstar General Manager Howard Cubberly. “That’s what makes him a force in the market.”

The key – whether it’s training for a triathlon or selling promotional pens – is to dream big, then back it up with achievable goals, Duggan says. Since he started at Goldstar almost five years ago, Duggan has set a goal of doubling sales each year. (Though he hasn’t quite managed to meet that lofty benchmark, he has been able to average an impressive 30% to 40% sales growth over the last four years.) “I love the Ironman slogan: ‘Anything is possible.’ That’s my mantra,” says Duggan, who lives in the Greater St. Louis area. “I want to help distributors be successful and achieve their goals. I can really help be a strategic partner.”

Renowned for his sense of humor and winning smile, perhaps it’s fitting that Duggan started his career in the tooth business, “pouring hot wax” for a dental manufacturing company right out of high school. He soon discovered, however, that his true passion was for sales and transitioned off the factory floor. His mentor at the time advised him to find an industry he enjoyed and stick with it for the long haul, eventually becoming a sought-after expert. When he fell into the promotional products world, landing a job with Alexander Manufacturing (asi/34040), he “instantly fell in love,” he says.

Duggan took his mentor’s advice to heart, working for a variety of industry suppliers over the years and volunteering his time and expertise on various boards and committees for the Promotional Products Association International (PPAI) and PPAMidwest. “His involvement in our industry is first-rate,” says Janie Gaunce, president and CEO of Grapevine Designs (asi/212829) in Lenexa, KS, who served with him in PPAMidwest. “He’s been there, done that and continues to do more. And because he’s a ‘doer,’ he’s impacted our industry by getting his hands dirty, helping out when needed and being there when called to serve.”

At Goldstar, Ved says, Duggan has really been able to come into his own, using his creative energy and goofy humor to help his distributor partners sell more pens. “He’s come out of his shell. He’s on his way to peaking in his career,” Ved adds. “When we’re together, we have these crazy brainstorming sessions where we’re like, ‘We should just do that and see what happens.’”

One of those brainstorming sessions resulted in what Duggan calls “Car Pen Karaoke,” amateur videos where Duggan – sometimes accompanied by Ved – cranks up the car stereo, croons into a pen “microphone,” and improvs new lyrics to classic hits to help educate clients about Goldstar’s latest products and deals. On the Fourth of July, for example, Duggan proclaimed that “Goldstar was born in the USA” to promote the company’s line of U.S.-made pens. After Lady Gaga won an Oscar for “Shallow,” Duggan threw together an impromptu video featuring his dog, Shadow.

Several of the videos feature Duggan and Ved’s alter egos: the “Simplicity Brothers” aka “Fun DMC.” The dynamic duo will dress up in matching red tracksuits and gold chains, complete with salad plate-sized Goldstar logo medallions, and wax rhapsodic about Goldstar’s mission to be “the easiest pen company to do business with.” The two send out self-promo boxes to key accounts.

“It’s like SNL all the time,” Ved says of their Simplicity Brothers’ routine.

Duggan and Ved have even started sending out self-promo boxes in their Fun DMC getup, putting themselves on pens, cooling towels, socks and other promotional products and sending the care package to key accounts. “It’s sticky,” Duggan says. “People will take pictures of themselves wearing the socks or writing with the pen and send them to us.”

Duggan brings that same inventive spirit to the distributors he works with. “He’s never constrained by a ‘this is all we have’ attitude,” says Dan Gittemeier, sales director at Dallas-based distributor Tic Toc (asi/158990). “He’s constantly able to understand my client’s needs and bring creative solutions that often involve adapting Goldstar’s products, packaging or printing techniques. He goes the extra mile enhancing designs or backgrounds to make products even more relevant to our clients.”

Danny Rosin, co-president of Morrisville, NC-based distributor Brand Fuel (asi/145025) recalls a recent sales meeting where Duggan went above and beyond: “He researched what we loved as a staff: music. His whole presentation was music-based, and it was so much damn fun. It was engaging, memorable, thoughtful and highly personalized.”

Beyond creativity, Duggan also has demonstrated his dedication and attentiveness to clients time and again. Thanks to today’s technology, he’s on-call 24/7, and it’s not unusual for him to answer an email or text on a Saturday evening. “There have been multiple times that I’ve called or emailed him with questions on pricing or product, and even when his out-of-office email response pops up, within the hour, I still get a response,” says Matt Shucart, vice president of Advertising Premium Sales (asi/111800) in St. Louis.

Shucart was blown away when Duggan showed up at his office two weeks after the birth of Shucart’s son with a congratulatory gift of personalized pens. “I’ve never had another rep do anything like that for me,” Shucart says.

For Duggan, though, his highly personalized and relationship-based model of sales just makes sense. “I get paid by Goldstar, but I really work for the distributors,” he says. “I can’t have anything happen unless they sell our products.” – Theresa Hegel

In 2017, when T-Mobile wanted a customer-facing company store chock-full of brightly hued, cutting-edge merch, they turned to Leslie Schreck to create and run it. After all, the director of strategic accounts at Catalyst (HALO) had been one of the wireless provider’s top promo distributors since 2006.

Schreck built the “Be Magenta” site from the ground up, stocking it with 100% custom apparel and promo items and refreshing the stock regularly to reflect bleeding-edge trends. (Schreck and her team are already developing the custom T-Mobile merch that will launch next fall.) “We have an agency approach,” says Schreck, who has been with Catalyst since 2002 and lives in the Seattle area. “We think outside the box to create custom apparel and merchandise that speaks to the brand and its personality. … We try to push the limits.”

The online store has been a hit with T-Mobile employees, who often will post selfies in their branded gear on social media. “They have pride in wearing the clothes we design and the merchandise we sell,” Schreck says.

With customers like T-Mobile and Pokémon International, Schreck has enjoyed impressive year-over-year sales growth, upping 2019 revenue by around 44% compared to 2018. The key to Schreck’s success is that she views both her clients and her suppliers as “true partners” and exhibits grace under pressure, according to Tanya McKinney, manager of custom and retail sales at SanMar (asi/84863). “No matter what type of curve ball is thrown at her,” McKinney says, “she always takes it in stride and somehow finds the positive in a negative.”

According to Marc Simon, CEO of Top 40 distributor HALO Branded Solutions, Schreck quickly established herself as a company leader after HALO acquired Catalyst in 2017. “Leslie is successful because she doesn’t sell, she helps her clients buy,” he adds. “She listens, she understands and she provides well-thought-out, highly creative solutions that provide the greatest return for her clients. As a result, her clients are fiercely loyal to her.” – TH

Brett Marz is redefining what it means to be a strategic partner.

The president of Top 40 distributor BAMKO works almost exclusively with CMOs of Fortune 500 firms. He has assumed a brand strategy role that transcends promotional products and crosses over into broader functions like customer engagement, employee retention and supply chain management. Sometimes, he’ll take on a project where he doesn’t even end up selling promo items.

For example, fitness brand Peloton tends to congratulate its customers for achieving milestones. Marz introduced his client to another client – floral delivery service The Bouqs Company – so Peloton can surprise its members with a bouquet of flowers. “If we can cross-promote brands and introduce them to someone who they haven’t thought of partnering with, that’s a fantastic situation,” Marz says. “They see us as more than a company just making product for them.”

What separates the Sherman Oaks resident from the rest of his competition is his endless commitment to clients. When developing the Dunkin’ Donuts’ merchandise reboot, he visited over 100 locations all over the country, talking to employees about merchandise needs and consumer feedback. As for Peloton, he purchased one of the company’s bikes for his home. He spends time every night reading the Peloton community board online and visits boutiques to talk to employees and managers.

“Most people think I work for this company because I’m so invested in seeing them succeed,” Marz says. “As soon as you start to understand your client and ask and learn, you end up being a better partner.”

His innovative approach and nonstop hustle has certainly paid off. Already an eight-figure sales producer, Marz’s annual growth rate of 20-30% shot up to 50% this year. “Brett represents the future of where the industry is headed,” says Josh White, general counsel and SVP of strategic partnerships at BAMKO. “He doesn’t sell ‘using product.’ He’s a trusted adviser using the tools of promotional products and BAMKO’s advanced technological solutions to achieve the aims of the world’s biggest brands.” – John Corrigan

When Remy Barker started in sales at Image Source, it was a tall task wading through 40-page global supplier agreements for the distributor’s largest accounts. But that’s nothing compared to her most recent project: parenthood. “It’s the biggest challenge of my life,” says Barker, who gave birth to a son in mid-June (and also has a 7-year-old stepson). “I’ve always been a very organized person, so as a working mom, letting go of some of that is hard.”

Every parent knows the chaos a newborn can wreak at home, yet the Seattle resident still grew her sales by $1.5 million last year while pregnant and on maternity leave. It’s a testament to the rock-solid relationships she’s built with major video game and retail clients, as well as the unfailing support of Senior Program Manager Buffie Zwicker and Account Coordinator Laura Glenn. The team chats by video and messenger every day and habitually falls back on its mantra of “Family First.” “We leaned on that this year more than ever,” Barker says. “We consider each other family, and when family stuff comes up, that’s our priority and we’ve always covered for each other.”

The senior account executive never pictured herself in sales but was thrilled to work with Image Source’s biggest clients after two summer internships at the company as well as front desk and coordinator stints. “I really felt I was thrown into the deep end and it was sink or swim,” says Barker. “Anybody in the promotional products industry has to be pretty versatile, because every project has so many variables. But I like all of that.” Still, she admits she doesn’t fit the slick stereotype. “Even after nine years in this business,” she adds, “if you asked me to give an elevator pitch, I’d wince and my palms would start to sweat.”

“Remy is truly exceptional – the best of the best when it comes to developing complex multimillion-dollar promotional product campaigns,” says Tom Goos, president of Image Source. He lauds Barker’s “fun and kind personality” and her countless contributions, like the distributor’s Culture Club that comes up with fun ways to make remote employees feel appreciated. Adds Goos: “She’s always the first person to respond to requests by our internal teams looking for ideas for their clients.” – C.J. Mittica

Hitting the links is a great way to learn about your clients, especially if you’re a former golf pro like Jerry Brauneis.

In between putts, the “3 to 6 handicap” golfer split his time teaching aspiring golfers at a country club in Dallas and handling shop operations throughout Texas, primarily dealing with sales of equipment and apparel. After the birth of his first daughter, he moved back home to the Chicago area, bringing his expertise and passion to a new territory. Covering five states required a lot of travel, and as his family continued to grow, Brauneis took an opportunity to plant himself in the corporate side.

Since 2002, the executive vice president of Concord Marketing Solutions has increased his sales almost every year, including a career high 12% sales growth last year for the multimillion-dollar producer.

“My success is built on understanding the customer’s needs, not only from a product and program standpoint, but in every facet of their business,” Brauneis says. “I enjoy developing and sustaining relationships with long-term customers. Naturally, you get to know them better on the course.”

Specializing in the financial, insurance and professional services sector, Brauneis currently manages 20 online store accounts. Technology plays a major role in Concord’s success, as the company works closely with clients to help analyze its marketing and customer data in order to create significant ROI. “We make it clear from the beginning that we want to measure the success of our programs,” Brauneis says. “It’s about demonstrating new methodologies that positively affect our clients’ sales and marketing efforts.”

His knowledge of the corporate side has been a tremendous asset over the past year, as Brauneis has seen a surge in onboarding, as well as recognition and other programs. For example, he and his team created a program for “door openers,” in which a financial client targeted 1,000 potential customers they’ve never been able to get in the door. Brauneis’ team created two-minute videos highlighting a new product or service for the client to send out. The program was a hole-in-one – 25% of recipients responded, leading to many new sales opportunities. Says Brauneis: “Never stop considering what the client will need next, and what will best assist their business.” – JC

Julia Cross celebrated the end of 2019 with almost a million dollars more in sales than the year before. That’s impressive, and even more so since she once wasn’t interested in selling at all.

Before promo, the Greenwood, IN, resident worked in customer service and as a dispatcher for an Indianapolis-area HVAC company. But once the economic downturn hit in 2008, Cross was let go. Fortunately, her husband Brian worked for OmniSource as a graphic artist and put in a good word. Though the company’s policy at the time was not to hire family of employees, management made an exception for Julia.

After three years in accounting, customer service and order entry, owner Janie Goldberg came to Cross with a proposition. “They had a new sales position and she said I was going to take it,” says Cross. “I said I didn’t want to, and she said it wasn’t really a question. So I took it, and I immediately fell in love with it. My only regret was that I hadn’t done it sooner.”

Now, it’s not uncommon for Cross to bring in six figures a month. But there was a time when that was unfathomable for her. “At the beginning, I sat down with the sales manager and we discussed my goals,” says Cross. “He wrote ‘$30,000 a month’ on a Starbucks napkin that I still have, and I had no idea how I was going to hit that number. But I dug my heels in, developed a follow-up system and made sure I was always available to clients. Then $30,000 became $100,000, which became $300,000, which became $500,000. It’s still hard to believe I can say those numbers.”

One high-profile project that boosted Cross’s sales last year was for a call center of a large beverage company. Employees there contact prospects, like convenience stores, and pitch their products. Whenever a prospect becomes a customer, the call center ships them a welcome kit that Cross worked on. “It contains things like branded flags for the store and a chalkboard A-frame they can put outside,” says Cross. “The entire beverage company got behind it and now funds it for the call center. It was lots of pre-production samples, graphics and customization, and we recently got word it will continue into 2020.”

Cross has a natural aptitude for sales shaped by her care for customers and their brands, say her colleagues. “Julia is committed and dedicated to the success of her clients,” says Heather Lazerov, senior sales specialist at OmniSource. “She’s loyal to their brands and she advocates for her customers’ best interests and delivers above and beyond their expectations. It’s an honor to know her and it’s been a great experience to work with her.” – SL

Whether in sales or on the range, Seth Politi is always a straight shooter.

Before becoming a senior account executive at Waltham, MA-based NorthPoint, Politi was a resident athlete for the U.S. Olympic Shooting Team. Specializing in trapshooting (shooting clay targets with a shotgun), the Massachusetts native honed his craft at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO. Missing out by just a few points to qualify for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, he moved back home and studied studio art and graphic design at the University of Maine.

“Shooting was a great passion of mine, but joining the military is really the only way to make a career out of it,” Politi says. “It’s much harder to get a shooter on a Wheaties box than it is a swimmer. Art is like shooting in that it takes a lot of concentration and hyper-focus.”

Politi ended up taking a sales job out of college and joined NorthPoint in 2016 at the behest of a friend who worked there. By his second full year of sales, he cracked the $1 million mark; no other rep in company history has reached the mark faster, according to Raffi Bouladian, vice president of sales and marketing at NorthPoint. “His ability to build relationships, bond with customers and run through brick walls for them is his key to success and an example to the other reps around him,” Bouladian says.

From 2017 to 2019, Politi’s sales growth has skyrocketed 282% as he’s aimed to partner with large tech and cloud-based security companies. In his brief tenure, he’s most proud of creating self-promotional kits for a major multinational tech conglomerate. He and his team built custom box packaging filled with branded swag that the company uses for high-level events. “We try to get as creative as we can,” Politi says. “Kits have been an asset to us because you haven’t seen them much in the industry yet. They’re a multi-level thing with different items and packaging that allows for lots of branding opportunities.”

Politi credits Bouladian with his rapid success and acclimation to the industry. “He’s given me full control on how I want to take my career,” Politi says. “I’m trying to meet everyone and build relationships as fast as possible. I’m making every minute count.” – JC

With a background in the trucking industry, Barbara Buyers’ journey to the promotional products industry has certainly been the road less traveled. Back in the 1990s, she established a trucking company with her husband, but sold the firm after his death in 2010. The late Jayne Emoff Miller, Shumsky’s former owner and Buyers’ promo sales rep, suggested she come work for them as a way to start over.

“They didn’t have any clients in transportation or logistics,” says Buyers, “so I basically started a new division for them with my expertise.” The results have been impressive; the senior national account executive has recorded double-digit percentage annual sales growth while also embedding herself in the healthcare and retail markets in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Europe.

“I network deep within accounts and build long-lasting, sustainable partnerships,” says the resident of Clayton, OH. “I don’t look for easy solutions. I want each client to feel that I’m an extension of their brand. I’m really proud of building my book from the ground up, without any warm leads from the company. In eight years, in an industry I knew nothing about, I’ve grown a nice business with comfortable margins. I’m proud of that.”

“Barbara creates clients for life,” says Michael Emoff, Chief Vision Officer at Shumsky and Jayne’s son. “She’s committed to the solution, detail-oriented and a friend to all. She understands the value of differentiation, and she truly cares.”

Her compassionate nature made one recent campaign a perfect fit: a major teen clothing retailer collaborated with Buyers to put together an anti-bullying promotion in high schools. Students were invited to have lunch with peers they didn’t know and received branded pins and coupons for redemption at retail locations, resulting in a spike in store sales. “It was incredibly rewarding to play a part,” says Buyers.

Tim O’Boyle, president of Journalbooks (asi/91340), calls her energy and enthusiasm “infectious,” adding, “I’ve worked with Barbara for many years, and she’s a true professional and friend. She knows the meaning of collaboration, she’s a good listener and we always enjoy working with her. She treats everyone with respect and shows gratitude for our mutual success.”

Adds Shumsky CEO Dawn Conway: “Barbara’s passionate about building brand relevance for each of her clients. She loves what she does and has fun doing it.” – SL

Promotional products salesperson may be Ali Leitzinger’s job, but she views herself as having a different sort of role: professional problem solver. “If somebody has a problem, I like to fix it,” says the Gifts by Design account executive. “I’m a natural helper. I don’t ever feel like I’m selling swag. I’m just finding a solution for someone.”

And increasingly, local tech giants such as Amazon and Microsoft are relying on the solutions that the Seattle resident provides. It’s no surprise Leitzinger has doubled her sales revenue in the last two years and increased it by over $1 million in 2019.

But if she’s making it look easy now, that wasn’t always the case, especially when she became an account executive in 2013 after two years as a sales assistant. “Probably a little shaky at first,” she recalls with a laugh. “It’s definitely different going from supporting someone to moving out on your own. There are some landmines, and it’s a steep learning curve for sure. This industry can seem huge. But once you get the hang of it, it’s pretty small.”

Leitzinger’s goal is to bring to every client the “Nordstrom experience” – concierge-level service that caters to whatever their needs are. That always-on-call, whatever-it-takes attitude is what sets her apart. “There are lots of things that make Ali so exceptional,” says Jamie Stone, president of Gifts by Design, “but top of the list is her super-responsiveness, how friendly and warm she is, and the high level of customer service she provides. She makes each of her clients feel like they are her most important client.”

Working with a team of two coordinators, Leitzinger is hoping to diversify into different channels (such as collegiate or healthcare) and aggressively increase growth without sacrificing her approachable selling style. And she plans to preserve the joy she finds in her job. “I think what we do is really fun,” she says. “I mean, I get to shop all day for my clients, and I really like that. I get to use my creative side, and I work with great customers.” – CM

Jay Harman is a busy man. The regional manager and marketing consultant at Top 40 distributor American Solutions for Business’s (ASB) LaGrange, GA, sales hub – one of the company’s largest – also runs a Georgia-based sales team for American Diversity, a woman-owned business enterprise-certified distributor and ASB sister company headquartered in Minnesota.

The combined ASB and American Diversity team, says Harman, has increased sales about 40% since 2014, and Harman himself is still going strong after more than 25 years in the industry, including 17 at ASB and American Diversity.

“I give 110% to create the best solution, I’m always open with my clients and I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure they’re taken care of,” says Harman, who lives in Greenville, GA. “No one stands between me and a customer. I’m not an order-taker and I truly care for my clients, suppliers and team.”

Harman now works with clients in manufacturing, healthcare and finance, and has made a name for himself in e-commerce-based program management for enterprise accounts. “I’ve learned the promo industry inside and out, and now I’m able to implement large-scale programs through great e-commerce technology solutions,” says Harman. “They help clients reduce cost and create efficiencies.”

He’s also proven himself adept at handling large, complicated projects. When a sporting goods client needed items for more than 325 retail locations from Florida to Alaska, Harman jumped into action. He created and launched the campaign, which turned into a $750,000 order. “It had many moving parts,” he says. “The client collaborated with me, including sharing their strengths and weaknesses, which allowed us to develop the right products to manufacture, kit and ship to the different locations. The entire program went perfectly and was a success for the customer.”

He also credits his team and business partner, his wife Jill, for all the work they do to support the business. “I’ve been lucky enough to have great relationships with clients and suppliers, as well as with an incredible staff and my wife, who has some mad promotional knowledge and skills,” he says.

Harman’s work has certainly been noted by ASB leadership, including President Justin Zavadil. “Jay is incredibly engaging with his customers,” he says, “and works tirelessly to recognize their needs and bring them to fruition. He has strong management skills and does whatever it takes to get the job done.” – SL

It’s been a whirlwind ride for Deborah Lanigan, who three years ago was recruited away from a job selling billboard advertising to open her own Proforma business. Since its first full year in existence, Proforma Mega Marketing Solutions’ sales have skyrocketed a whopping 286%.

“I did it the old-fashioned way,” Lanigan says of building her fledgling business. In addition to contacting “every single person I ever met in my life,” the Jamaican native and mother of three – who now hails from Tampa, FL – would “literally hit the road” every day and do in-person cold-calling, armed with handwritten cards and gifts.

But what’s helped her keep all of those clients happy after landing them has been her ability to stay one step ahead of their needs and offer creative marketing ideas. “I don’t sell products,” Lanigan says. “I sell experiences and feelings. The product is the vehicle.” For instance, she’s sold thousands of Bluetooth speakers to resorts, suggesting they brand them and give them to guests, along with a playlist of Caribbean music – something to keep them warm and nostalgic for their tropical vacation when they return to their cold-weather lives.

Another of Lanigan’s big ideas went live at the end of 2019. She suggested a hotel client incorporate mascots into their marketing plan, as a way to compete with its next-door neighbor – the family-friendly Beaches resorts, which use Sesame Street characters in their marketing. Ivan and Sandy, an iguana and little girl respectively, will entertain children and teach them about the hotel’s fledgling recycling program. The gift shop will sell branded items, like plush dolls, featuring the two mascots. “I try to come up with programs for my clients where they’re going to need my products,” Lanigan says.

Trish Feicke, lead account manager at Proforma Mega Marketing Solutions, attributes Lanigan’s success to her tenacity: “Deb is charismatic and really knows how to dig down deep and find her inner strength to pull the long, late hours that come with raising a child – which is what this company is, her brainchild.” – TH

Felice Bundy is old-school.

She likes everything written down on paper and still sends the occasional fax. She never believed in day care, so she became a stay-at-home entrepreneur, starting with personalizing children’s books and finger-printing kits that led to all sorts of promo items. Named after her son Bryce and daughter Alexis, Bry-Lex Promotional LLC was born in Richboro, PA, a quarter of a century ago.

Of course, the industry has changed since then, especially in regards to women. “If there was a mistake or error, I had to scream and curse before someone would take me seriously,” Bundy says. “Now it’s not the case. So many women are top executives – it’s inspiring.”

Thanks to her honesty, creativity, ingenuity, 24/7 accessibility and never-ending hustle, Bundy has achieved sales growth of 50% over the past year. That growth is largely due to the casino market, another male-dominated industry that she infiltrated about 15 years ago. “There’s a lot involved in working with casinos – you need a pretty clean record,” Bundy says. “I dealt with two guys that looked like the Men in Black. They dug up information on me dating all the way back to my grandparents.”

Licensed and registered in 30 states to work with casinos, Bundy provides embroidered apparel, kitchenware, electronics and drinkware to the “ridiculously growing” market. She also develops continuity programs for casinos, collaborating with a manufacturer to produce themed products for a specific amount of time. During “spa month,” for example, she sold a collection that included a foot massager, back massager and oil diffusers.

“You have to be proactive,” Bundy says. “Anyone can make a sale, but if you’re going to last in this business, you need to know when to back off and when to be aggressive, and you always need to be creative.”

All grown up, her son Bryce now works as an account executive at the family business. Urging her to go paperless and invest in computer programs, he’s helped his mom begrudgingly adapt to the digital age. Of course, it’s that stubbornness that has fueled Bundy’s success. “You realize how much you can do if you really put your mind to it,” she says. “Take a chance. You never know what can happen.” – JC