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Describe your office atmosphere.
We’ve transformed completely in the past
five years, going from a single office in
Washington, D.C. where every employee
came to work every day, to where we are
today. We now have two offices in Bethesda
and Virginia Beach, and more employees who
work remotely than appear at either office on
a daily basis. It can be a challenge to connect
with one another, but technology does a great
job of bridging that gap.
What kinds of projects or tasks
might you tackle on a given
day?
I love the fact that you never know what
your day will entail—it can be really good or
really bad, but never boring. In addition to
running a distributorship, overseeing sales,
operations and marketing, I’m still a salesper-
son at heart and I love maintaining my own
book of business.
How do you collaborate with
co-workers?
We take a team approach to company-
wide efforts, usually setting a platform and
asking for creative feedback. We also don’t
have a lot of layers. If someone needs me,
they can call or email anytime and I’ll address
their need as soon as possible. During work
hours, I expect the same in return.
How does this job challenge you?
Being able to juggle client expectations
along with supplier capabilities and still remain-
ing profitable continues to be a challenge.
What do you love about your
company?
We have a wonderful corporate culture
that provides us the best of both worlds. We
run a serious business serving our clients and
turning a profit, but we still retain the attrib-
utes of a small, family-run business.
What changes or improvements
have you recently implemented, or
are planning to make in the future?
We took a lot of time this summer
reflecting on where we are now, where we
think the industry is going, and what we
think our clients will expect from us in 2017
and beyond. Now we’re in the process of
implementing those plans.
What makes Mac Mannes a valu-
able member of the promotional
products community?
Fifty-eight years of steady success in the
industry has given us a lot of well-earned
respect. We’re not a one-hit wonder. We
focus as much of our business as we can on a
select group of top-performing suppliers. We
expect to be treated both professionally and
fairly, and we will do the same in return.
Jen Alexander is associate editor for
PPB
.
98 •
PPB
• JANUARY 2016
CONNECT
We run a serious business serving our clients and turning a profit, but we still
retain the attributes of a small, family-run business.
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