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Rising Stars | FEATURE 10-plus years and experienced that with him, it restored their confidence. I am thankful we have not had to lay-off anyone, and I’m proud of the team for working even harder now to grow the business. I’m also amazed watching my dad aggressively source the PPE products for our line. He recognized the need and immediately jumped in. It’s an inspiration being able to watch him respond in a time of crisis, and it will be a growing experience for me to go through this with him. What would you like to accomplish over the next 24 months? At the beginning of the year, I was working with our sales team to increase our sales by about 10 percent. With the growth that we’ve been seeing with the PPE products, I’m targeting a 15-20-percent increase. It’s been a challenge since everything is moving so quickly, but I’m proud of the staff and my goal is to work with them to continue to grow the company. Our priority is being able to have all of our staff keep their jobs and provide a need in the industry for the essential products. How can the industry attract, recruit and retain more young professionals? I think a lot of young people don’t know about the industry since it’s backend marketing. They can be recruited through college job boards, internship positions and postings on places like LinkedIn, Indeed, Monster, etc. Promotional products positions need to be marketed as creative jobs. We are more than just putting logos on products—we are here to provide solutions and needed goods. Young professionals can be retained with a fair salary and engaging them beyond day-to-day mundane tasks. I see high turnover when they are hired just for tasks like order entry. It’s important to be open to hearing their ideas or letting them try new positions if they are interested. Being able to retain employees is a huge value-add to the company. What’s the best advice you can give others who are just starting out? The best advice I can give is not being afraid of talking to people and being open to making friends. I’ve made so many friends simply from saying “hi” to the person next to me while waiting for a class to start at SAAC and PPAI events. These professional friends have become the best mentors and personal friends, too. The other advice I have is being open to making supplier and distributor friends. I see people hesitating, thinking they don’t want to befriend their “competition,” but that’s not the case at all in our industry. Many of the professionals you meet in promotional products are the nicest people you’ll ever know. Having friends on the same supplier or distributor level as you is also great since they can provide advice and their experiences when you need it. Continued from page 40 Tiffany Wu What would you like to accomplish over the next 24 months? If anything, I’ve learned during this time to not forecast farther than a few months. You need to remain nimble and adaptive to change. I want to continue to grow Clearmount. I think the need to recognize and reward employees is going to be greater than ever. I want to push for change of more inclusive and connected cultures. I also love the work that I am doing as co-chair of the nonprofit PromoKitchen. It’s focused on education, mentorship and community in the promotional products industry and we’re having amazing conversations about diversity and growth. I want us to be able to enact real change in the industry and be a starting point for people just joining the industry. A rising tide raises all boats and we want to be moving that tide towards inclusion and excellence. How can the industry attract, recruit and retain more young professionals? We need to start looking [for people] in non-traditional ways. This industry can be very white and very male so it’s important that we make changes where we can. When you’re looking to hire, advertise in new spaces, think hard about what you’re lacking and hire for that. Think about internships and scholarships at historically Black colleges and universities, expand out from the usual and look for people who don’t think like you. They’re the ones who will keep innovating when you might be stuck. Look for a counterpoint instead of a “yes” person. By being a more dynamic and creative space, we will be able to attract and retain young professionals. We don’t want to age ourselves out of relevance. What’s the best advice you can give others who are just starting out? Ask for help. Don’t always waste your time trying to figure it out on your own. Ask for help and learn what was done before. Then you take that knowledge, take what works for you and do your own thing. Don’t dismiss guidance and wisdom from others. You don’t have to always follow what they say, but it’s given because people think it’s valuable and at some point, they wished they had followed it. | SEPTEMBER 2020 | 43