PPB January 2015

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JANUARY 2015 • PPB • 35
PPAI HALL OF FAME | Giving Back Comes Full Circle
After years of business success, Kiewiet is now giving
back by serving as executive director of the Michigan
Promotional Professionals Association (MiPPA), a position he
assumed in 2012.
Since he took on the role, Kiewiet has reversed a trend of
declining membership, trade-show attendance and member-
ship engagement, and he has substantially grown distributor
attendance at MiPPA’s trade shows.
What advice does Kiewiet have for those just starting out in
the industry? “Put your passion to work for you,” he says.
“People respond to passion. We have an industry that touches
people. Promotional products connect people in a different
way and more than any other medium. I think if we get pas-
sionate about that, we’ll be more successful than we could
have ever imagined.”
Having always been a “big-idea guy” with experience
guiding America’s big-name brands, Kiewiet’s parting words
are fitting.
“Don’t be afraid to dream big,” Kiewiet says. “Just be bold
and go for it. Life really begins at the edge of your comfort
zone, and we need to all push ourselves right to that very
edge. That’s where the real living takes place. It’s also where
the good stuff starts happening.”
Brittany Glenn is a former associate editor for PPB magazine
and a former full-time freelance writer. Currently, she serves as cor-
porate communications manager at a national mortgage lender.
After a long day’s work at a planning meeting in Savannah, Georgia, in 2007, the PPAI board, then chaired by Kiewiet
(seated center), relaxes outdoors.
Kiewiet joins the Ohio Promotional Professionals Association
board for its Promotions At The Bay event in September.