PPB September 2018

Tina Berres Filipski is editor of PPB. Inspiration Lucash: I’m inspired by the constant need to innovate and develop amazing products for the promo industry. I feel like the industry has really embraced Origaudio for being the leader in terms of innovation and for constantly pushing the limits of the industry. I’m inspired by being able to give distributors amazing tools and products in order for them to take their business, just like ours, to the next level. Szymczak: Creativity inspires me. It can come across various mediums: advertising, comedy, technology, art and design. Whenever I experience and recognize superior creativity, it inspires me to get my own creative juices flowing. TheNext 24Months Lucash: I’d really like to see even more growth here at Origaudio. We’re in the process of adding key leadership personnel to help with the company’s growth trajectory. I’m constantly working on new product development, creative, sales and marketing for the company, but I’d love to see additional people come in to help fuel the growth. Also, I’d like to continue on the path of domination we’ve had within the industry. Szymczak: I hope to interrupt at least two more product categories and significantly contribute to the growth of Origaudio domestically and on an international level. We still have such a high ceiling of potential to achieve, and we keep dangling new carrots in front of ourselves. Best Advice Lucash: Don’t take yourself seriously, but take your business very seriously. I live by this motto that I learned early on from my mentor, Skip Yowell, founder of Jansport. Szymczak: Never give up. You are going to hear “no’” nine times for every “yes” you get. You cannot allow that to get you discouraged; you have to keep firing away. When failures and setbacks do occur, how you take your next step is what truly defines you and will show your true colors. Changes They’dLike To See Lucash: Over the next five years I would love to see the industry become more technologically advanced and not so old-school. I like to think we’re pushing the limits of advancing the industry, but it would be phenomenal to see other suppliers doing the same. Whether it’s streamlined ordering, sales strategy or a more robust way of doing business, this industry needs major change, and as long as I’m in it I’m going to continue to make that a priority, just as I always have—to change it for the better and advance it for the future. Szymczak: Eliminate a lot of the unnecessary waste that occurs from the industry. Whether that comes in the form of overruns in China that end up in a landfill, over-ordering of cheap giveaways that recipients truly do not want and throw away immediately, reducing physical paper catalogs or various other examples that affect our environment. Jason Lucash, 34 Mike Szymczak, 35 CEO And COO Origaudio B usiness partners Jason Lucash and Mike Szymczak opened supplier Origaudio in 2009 with little experience but with a clear mission and plenty of determination. Lucash had previously worked in collegiate and promotional marketing for backpack company Jansport. He says he was buying millions of dollars of promo items from the promotional products industry but was extremely aggravated with the process. “So, I decided to start my own company in this industry and disrupt it,” he says. Szymczak was working for a boutique experiential marketing agency in Chicago and running national campaigns for NAPA and MillerCoors. “The founding of Origaudio was a no-brainer segue into this industry,” he says. “Origaudio’s mission was to create not only a top- notch product offering, but also to eradicate a lot of the surcharges and ease-of-ordering hurdles that existed. I feel since entering the industry that we have set new standards for the supplier side.” The duo initially made a name for themselves by appearing on Shark Tank in 2009 to introduce the Fold ‘N’ Play Recycled Speakers and the Rock-It TM 3.0 Vibration Speaker, and they struck a $150,000 deal with shark Robert Herjavek. “Jason and Mike are challenging the norms of an industry that no one thought was shakable,” says nominator Brookelynn Graditi, sales and marketing coordinator at Origaudio. “If it’s new, different and a little bit scary— they’re going to try it.” This year, they launched backpacks that are cut and sewn in California with a 72-hour turnaround time, and their fun and different Flyington TM Selfie Drone was a hit at The PPAI Expo. “Every year, the focus is on elevating the business,” she adds. Rising Stars | FEATURE | SEPTEMBER 2018 | 53