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Alyssa Inkrott, CAS Age 27 National Sales Executive Raining Rose, Inc. Eagle Lake, Minnesota A lyssa Inkrott found her way into the promo industry by responding to a LinkedIn job listing for a sales position at supplier 3M Promotional Markets in May 2016. She had recently graduated from Rasmussen College with a bachelor’s degree in human resources management and organization development. Inkrott spent three years at 3M as a business development rep and then as national account manager before accepting a new position with Raining Rose, Inc. in August 2019. Inkrott was nominated by her boss, Lindsey Davis, MAS, at Raining Rose, Inc. and by former PPB Rising Star Taylor Borst at American Solutions for Business. “Alyssa is a tough young lady who is quick-witted, sharp and clever,” says Davis. “But she also has a sense of patience and composure that can be rare in someone so early in their career.” Inkrott has served on the board for Upper Midwest Association of Promotional Professionals, was a speaker at PPAI’s SPARK and chaired the SPARK Work Group, and was a speaker at the PPAI Expo. What impact has the COVID-19 lockdown had on your life both personally and professionally? The biggest impact it has had on my life professionally has been not being able to travel to visit my customers face-to-face and having to quickly learn how to better navigate virtual meetings instead. Personally, not spending time with my family really hit hard; distancing from my grandparents was especially tough. We are back to spending time together again, thankfully. What have you learned about yourself during this time? I am 100 percent not a homebody, and I absolutely love being surrounded by my family, friends and colleagues. What concerns you most about the future of the promo products industry? I’m mostly just curious what the “new normal” is going to be for the industry, or if it will go back to normal. Prior to COVID-19, I was spending most of my time traveling to meetings or doing shows, which quickly moved into virtual meetings when the pandemic hit. Will we continue with the virtual style of things or will we move back into the face-to-face meetings and shows? If companies are doing fewer events, how will that impact the industry? What are you most optimistic about moving forward? I’m optimistic that eventually we will get back to a place where we are doing business as usual again and in-person events will start happening more and more. I’m looking forward to when things start to feel a little more normal. Who or what inspires you and why? My mom is easily my biggest inspiration. She has always been a great example of a strong, hardworking and kind woman, and has taught me and continues to teach me so much. In addition to the things I just mentioned, she is also a two-time breast cancer survivor. Through all of her surgeries and treatments, she still demonstrated patience and positivity to those around her. I am thankful for her each and every day. What would you like to accomplish over the next 24 months? I am hoping to develop more organization and standards around the accounts that I oversee. I’m hoping this will help us to partner better with these accounts, and help our entire team work more efficiently and effectively with them. How can the industry attract, recruit and retain more young professionals? I think that we first need to educate more people about the industry, what it is and what it has to offer. I know personally, before stumbling upon a random ad on LinkedIn for a sales position, I had no idea this industry even existed. Now that I am in it and know what it is, I feel it would easily attract other young professionals if they knew more about it. What’s the best advice you can give others who are just starting out? Get involved and expand your network. One of the best things I did when first starting out in this industry was to involve myself in anything and everything I could find that was of interest to me. You meet some great people who can teach you a lot, both personally and professionally. Rising Stars | FEATURE | SEPTEMBER 2020 | 27