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with the St. Louis Cardinals,
Schnuck’s Markets and Fred
Pryor Seminars, among others.
Earning a living as a
commissioned sales rep taught
me the high value of being face to
face with customers, prospects,
colleagues and suppliers, and
listening very carefully while
with these important people. I
also learned to sweat the small
details of a transaction and the
importance of doing what you
said you would do.
What professional
accomplishment are
youmost proud of?
I’ve been privileged to be
a member of some of the
strongest leadership teams in the
industries in which I’ve worked
and have also had the privilege of
building and leading exceptional
leadership teams. I never cease
to be amazed by what a high-
caliber team that’s in sync and
moving in the same direction can
accomplish. For example, in four
separate businesses my teams
have been able to at least double
sales and profits in a relatively
short amount of time. Growing a
business with people you respect
and enjoy is the most fun you can
have in business and is a source
of great professional pride.
Who are your mentors
and what have they
taught you?
I’ve been lucky to have been
mentored by some of the best in
the business. Most recently, Tom
Lehr [executive vice president
and chief operating officer] at AIA
has been a patient mentor as he’s
taught me the ins and outs of the
promotional products business.
I still have a long way to go, but I
have a steady guide in Tom.
Going farther back, Mark
Angelson, our CEO at Moore
Wallace and RR Donnelley,
taught me the importance of
balancing a relentless focus on
delivering financial results with a
sincere and tireless focus on the
key personal relationships that
make a business go.
TomQuinlan, our CEO
at RRDonnelley and LSC
Communications, taught me
the value of keeping it simple,
meeting commitments and always
searching for the better way.
Lastly, Jim Ellward, now
president of TOPS Products and
one of my first hires as a new
manager 25 years ago, taught me
the power and potential of close
collaboration within a team and
that the power of the team is far
greater than the power of a leader.
If you wrote a book
about your life, what
would the title be?
Matt’s Excellent Adventure: The
Joys of The RandomWalk
.
My career has been anything
but a straight line, but I’ve
enjoyed it immensely. I’ve met
great people, been endlessly
fascinated and entertained by the
businesses I’ve been part of, and
been able to travel all over the
United States and the world.
What are your plans
for AIA in 2017?
The AIA community has big
dreams and great expectations.
So, the first order of business is
to put a leadership team in place
that will meet and exceed the
wants and needs of our owners.
AIA had a strong foundation,
but to meet our commitments
we needed to add new leaders
in sales, marketing, supplier
relations and human resources.
Fortunately, AIA has been able
to attract strong talent for each of
these positions.
Mark Evans, our new chief
marketing officer, comes to us
from Essendant where he had
a long, successful track record
of marketing with and for
Essendant’s 3,500 independent
distributors. Katrina Willis,
our new senior vice president
of supplier relations, comes
to us from Sports Authority,
OfficeMax and Sears Holdings,
where she successfully led
vendor relations, retail,
e-commerce and B2B
merchandising in a variety of
product categories.
The new leaders for sales (Tim
Parrish, who previously served
as vice president of franchise
sales and operations at Miracle
Ear) and human resources
[announced after this issue went
to press] come to AIA with very
successful track records and will
be a great fit with the AIA team
and community. In addition
to assembling a strong team,
AIA will spend 2017 focused
on providing our owners with
upgraded sales strategies and
tactics, customer-focused
marketing tools and programs,
current technology, deeper,
more strategic supplier relations,
services that transfer low-value
administrative burdens from
our owners to AIA, and more
opportunities to network with
one another.
We’re excited about our future
and see huge potential for AIA
owners.
Julie Richie is associate
editor for
PPB.
“I never cease tobe
amazedbywhat a
high-caliber team
that’s insyncand
moving in the
samedirection
canaccomplish.”
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MARCH 2017
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