PPB August 2019

Daryll H. Griffin, MAS: Gratitude For A Life Of Service T he experiences of Daryll H. Griffin, MAS, both in and out of the promotional products industry, are underscored by a lifetime of offering helping hands and genuine guidance to those in need. It’s a dynamic that reflects Griffin’s chosen life of service—a path that was first nurtured during her childhood. Nominated by Danon Middleton, vice president of merchandising and program accounts at Silver Spring, Maryland-based Summit Group LLC, and Marsha Londe, partner and CEO of Tango Partners in Atlanta, and a previous PPAI Woman of Achievement award recipient, Griffin describes the award as one defined by “character,” “knowledge” and a “willingness to share,” coupled with industry service, and an honor she felt “humbled, honored and privileged” to receive. Characteristic of Griffin’s giving personality, she invited the women in attendance at the presentation during the Women’s Leadership Conference to share in her accomplishments, addressing them throughout her acceptance speech as her “sisters” and referring to the 13 previous award recipients as “steel magnolias,” “kind,” “compassionate,” “doers of good” and “industry pillars.” She talked about the links between herself and other promo professionals, including the late Irene Kogutt, MAS, with whom she not only shared this year’s honor but similar personal experiences: both started their own businesses, became mothers and named their sons Michael. She then recalled a memory with the late Janelle Nevins, former owner of Nevins Marketing and a previous Woman of Achievement Award winner, who welcomed Griffin into the industry in the 1990s and told her, “We are not competitors, we are colleagues.” When Griffin started her career, she didn’t enter directly into promo, but instead worked as a schoolteacher in Dekalb County, Georgia, and St. Louis, Missouri. She went on to work for Xerox Corporation as a southeast regional manager of personnel operations before founding Accolades, Inc. in 1990—the same year she met Nevins. And although “Metaphorically, seeing eachof you strong, capable sisters, I have every confidence that the future success ofWLC, sustained by the sisters in this room, will be continued and manifest itself into a sisterhood like no other.” —Daryll Griffin, MAS Daryll Griffin, MAS, with Mike Griffin, her college sweetheart and husband of 46 years. Woman of Achievement ™ 2019 A WARD R ECIPIENT | AUGUST 2019 | 51 THINK