101 / 124
CLOSE UP
HEN FORREST FAIRLEY WAS
EIGHT years old, he wanted a
new bicycle. But when he asked
for the bike, his father said, “Ok, here’s what you need
to do in order to earn it,” and offered to pay for half of
the bike if Fairley worked to pay for the other half.
“He proceeded to show me my first lesson of earn-
ing and valuing what you want out of life with a project
that became something that I would look back on and
realize that, with ingenuity, creativity and marketing,
anything is possible,” says Fairley. Father and son
planted tomato seeds and sold the plants to neigh-
bors, church members and his father’s co-workers until
Fairley earned his 50 percent.
Not surprisingly, Fairley brings that same “anything is
possible” philosophy to his job as director of product sup-
port for promotional products and apparel at distributor
Safeguard (UPIC: S587086), where he recently celebrated
his 10th employment anniversary. He urges distributors to
use a consultative approach with customers, rooting out
their business challenges first and providing great solution
ideas second. “Those ideas are what get you invited back
the next time they need ideas,” he says. “Otherwise you
become one of many in our industry who treat customers
like those at a fast food drive-through establishment.”
When he’s not at work, Fairley spends time with his
wife, Pamela, and gives back to his McKinney, Texas, com-
munity by serving on the boards of two local non-profit
organizations: Hugs Café, an organization dedicated to
providing training and employment for adults with special
needs, and Believe, an organization that raises money to
provide private school scholarships to low-income chil-
dren. He’s also an accomplished actor who has performed
in more than 100 theater productions.
What was your first job in the promotional products industry?
I got my start in the consumer packaged goods industry in
brand promotion and trade marketing, working for a large com-
pany in Cincinnati, Ohio. One of my responsibilities was devel-
oping promotion strategies that our national broker sales force
could use to get incremental off-shelf merchandising at the
retail level for food, drug and mass merchant accounts. One of
the common vehicles was using promotional and premium
products in dealer loader and liquidator-type promotions to get
customers to respond and purchase our products. I instantly fell
in love with this avenue of execution and saw how impactful
promotional products were in driving customer purchase intent.
What do you enjoy most about your work?
The ability to create and innovate. And my position allows
me to do just that. By working together with our preferred
suppliers and developing unique and innovative promotion
strategies that benefit both our distributor network and our
Safeguard customers, we are constantly attempting to develop
outcomes based on providing promotional solutions rooted in
our industry’s greatest products.
However, the one thing that I probably enjoy most about
my job is when I see the “light” go on inside a distributor’s head
that signals that he “gets it” and understands the importance of
Fairley and his wife, Pamela, in the holiday spirit.
Leaving A Footprint
W
FORREST FAIRLEY STRIVES TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
BY JULIE RICHIE
SEPTEMBER 2015 •
PPB
• 99
CONNECT