PPB March 2020

How would you describe your company to a client? We are a creative merchandise agency. We really analyze the brands we work with in a similar way that an ad agency does. We do a deep dive into analyzing the brands we work with. We know exactly who their end users are. For example, if we are working with Goldman Sachs, which has a well-established base and a very sophisticated brand, before we’ll suggest products for, let’s say, their employees, we analyze data to see who exactly they are. We’ll look at salaries and what they do on the weekends. We also try to find brands outside of our industry that are interested in doing custom products as well. We like to use brands that have already established themselves and that have the capabilities of relabeling, debossing or embroidering. We have a great team of graphic designers, and I think my vast experience in marketing has helped us to speak the same language as our buyers. I’ve been able to train our employees who don’t have agency experience to know exactly how the agencies run. They need things done quickly. For example, at the experimental marketing agency that I used to work for, they work a lot with AT&T and Chase, and the events they produce often happen on the fly. Let’s say the Golden State Warriors just won a game, and they quickly need products that say Golden State Warriors and Chase. A lot of those agency clients need things in a matter of days, and so we’ve really adjusted our business model to support that—to support those last-minute orders on a Friday night. Our relationships with our suppliers are really strong, and that feeds into our business model: exceptional customer service and quality design. In what ways is your company different from others? I was recognized early on in the industry for doing this differently and for capitalizing on that agency model. I didn’t know that I was doing anything different from other companies because I didn’t have experience with other promotional companies, but I didn’t set the company up as a team of salespeople. We’ve been fortunate in that the clients we work with feed us more and more clients, and I think it’s just because of the quality of work we do. We don’t have a team of sales reps who we tell to sell a million dollars this year and you’ll make this. We tried to do that, and it didn’t work for us—it didn’t work for our clients, and it was a poor reflection on our brand. We are about relationships; that is our thing. When we go out and visit clients in L.A., Chicago or New York, we are taking them out to dinner, we are having a good time with them; we are not asking them what their budget is for the year. We have taken the traditional sales out of it and have just become partners. And because we are a young company—we are mostly Millennials— we know the market well. If we don’t think it’s cool, we aren’t selling it. We work with companies that have been with us since our inception, and, to us, that is the greatest compliment. They’ve stuck with us throughout our growth struggles. What is your proudest career accomplishment so far? I am really proud of the team that I’ve built. I am able to take off time right now, away frommy business, and it’s doing, I don’t want to say better because I’m not there, but that’s kind of the truth. It’s running great and our clients are happy, and we are still getting big brands that we are working with. At one point, I would have said that I am so proud of the clients and big brands we get to work for, from Adidas to Nike, but nowadays I am switching my point of view to my team. They’re unstoppable; they are making sound decisions without me while keeping our customers in mind. We are growing organically in a cool way. What are your plans/goals for this year? Are you trying anything new? Last year and the year before, we looked into building a software program so we could compete with some of the online promotional companies that sell direct to consumers. But we realized that wasn’t us because it was taking the interaction out of it. That wasn’t the right move for us. The right move for us was to take a look at the clients we have and build stronger relationships with those, and fire some of our clients that don’t necessarily value design because quality design is one of our values. Not every project is going to be cool, but sometimes you get the opportunity tomake a custom product. We got tomake a customproduct for Nike for Lebron James’s shoe release. Those are the types of projects where you aren’t making anymoney and you’re eating into your bottom line, but we don’t look at it that way because that’s an order that makes us excited. Our plan for this year is to build up our clients, and we are so protective of the clients we have now. We value companies that value their brand just as much as we value ours. What are your biggest challenges and how are you working to solve them? Hiring the right people. I think this happens to a lot of small business as they start to grow, they find that they need bodies, and it’s more about needing that position filled because we have Women In Business | FEATURE | MARCH 2020 | 65