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Kate Plummer, MAS Age 34 Vice President of Sales and Marketing Clearmount Plastics, Ltd. Scarborough, Ontario K ate Plummer officially started working at supplier Clearmount as office manager in 2007—but unofficially she’s been working at her family’s company since she was six years old. In those days, she stuffed catalogs, assembled boxes, took inventory and similar tasks. Like some who grow up in family-owned companies, Plummer was willing to work there temporarily but was adamantly opposed to making it her career. After earning a degree in English from the University of Western Ontario in 2007, she filled in as office manager at Clearmount until she could find another job. “I was only going to work temporarily for my family and then go off and never work for my parents again. I ended up moving into a customer service role, then a sales role and then, as we grew, my role and responsibilities grew,” she says. “I’ve loved (almost) every minute of it. They’ve encouraged and motivated me so much.” “Kate came into the family business with no expectation of anything being given to her—she expected to earn it from the ground up and on her own terms,” says nominator Kippie Helzel, MAS, of Keystone/CPS. “When she agreed to lead the sales of Clearmount’s new line/division, SIGG—a very specific and high-end line that was very different from their core products— Kate saw no boundaries, just opportunity.” Plummer has also made a name for herself as an active industry volunteer for PPAI committees, Promotional Product Professionals of Canada's Women’s Empowerment Event Committee, the PPAI Women’s Leadership Conference Work Group and as a PromoKitchen chef. “Kate is someone I admire tremendously, and someone I turn to regularly for inspiration or sometimes just a good laugh—and technically speaking, we are competitors,” says nominator Kate Kailik at Spector & Co., who has known Plummer for the past seven years. What impact has the COVID-19 lockdown had on your life both personally and professionally? It’s been incredibly tough. We were mandated by the Ontario government to shut down operations in March and only reopened in June. Being closed and having the massive uncertainty of “what’s next?” has been stressful. We chose not to pivot to PPE and I questioned myself every week about that. It was a great chance as a company to take a breath and reevaluate what we were doing. We have redone websites, changed accounting systems and reworked order processes. Would I have preferred being busy writing up orders? Of course! But I took the statement of “you can’t use ‘I’m too busy’ as an excuse not to do something big during the pandemic” to heart. I mean, I ended up being busier than ever, but the goal was always that when we were allowed to re-open, we would hit the ground running. Personally, it’s been tough time, too. I have a lot of friends and family members who are in the high-risk category. It’s incredibly frustrating to see the debate over wearing a mask. We need to think about masks as an act of kindness to others—making not only yourself safe but those who need an extra layer of protection. What have you learned about yourself during this time? There is a lot of talk that the pandemic has exposed the aws in systems and people that were hidden by easier times. While I think that we truly can’t be re ective when we’re still in the thick of it, I do think that it’s made me better. With a lot of clutter and “busy” brushed away, I’ve had to focus on what’s important to me—what energizes me and what steals that energy away. What concerns you most about the future of the promo products industry? I’m worried that we’re going to step back from sustainability. The nature of COVID-19 is that it’s put fear in us for reusable items. Some grocery stores are not allowing you to bring your own bags, and gloves and masks get thrown out after one use. We went from thinking of the multiple uses for an item to thinking of single-use items. The promo industry is already ghting against the perception of trinkets and trash, so we need to put more intention into our product development and functionality. We can’t move backwards on sustainability. What are you most optimistic about moving forward? We have such interesting and creative people entering the industry. There is still an old guard who thinks “this is the way we’ve always done Continued on Page 42 Rising Stars | FEATURE | SEPTEMBER 2020 | 37