PPB October 2020

NICHOLE STELLA CEO AIM Smarter, Ltd. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Nichole Stella began her career in B2B publishing and later moved into management, taking on increasing responsibility with publisher NAPCO Media. After almost 12 years at the company, she joined the Altitude Group, parent company of distributor AIM Smarter, in 2017 and was named CEO of AIM in 2019. Nominator Megan Beisser worked for Stella for five years at NAPCO and now reports to her at AIM. “She inspires everyone around her with her business brilliance, unparalleled work ethic and genuine enthusiasm for the promo industry,” says Beisser. “She empowers the many women working at AIM Smarter and pushes all of us to be our best and to accomplish our goals. Working with Nikki, I have seen firsthand how everyone in the industry respects and admires her. I truly believe she is unmatched in her support of women in the industry.” Nominator Stacy McConnell, who has reported to Stella for almost three years, says, “Her drive and passion for success in everything she does have taught me to never give up on your goals, to stay focused on the end result and know that obstacles in the process are just tiny pause buttons to allow the team to refocus and work together, to be true to who you are and, best of all, that family is always first, always.” Another of Stella’s six nominators, Laura Coggeshall, says her boss inspires her every day. “She shows genuine care for those in her employ, and I see how she values people above and beyond everything else. She has a heart of gold and demonstrates true empathy. Nikki is also a visionary, always seeing what is possible and the true potential in any circumstance. I’m proud to follow her leadership.” Stella recalls that she has always enjoyed leading teams and has held managerial roles since she was 17. During high school and college, she worked as a supervisor at a facility for kids with special needs. “It’s here that I learned the work that I did was more than a job. It had impact and meaning for the people that I served and for me as well. From that point forward, I always managed teams in some capacity,” she says. Nichole Stella on her best boss. My grandfather was a tremendous influence on me and the way I approach business, leadership and teams. He was a true entrepreneur, owning a large car dealership in a suburb just outside of Philadelphia. I grew up helping out in his showroom, assisting during events, counting inventory on Saturdays and answering phones. He worked really hard, led by example and was always driven to provide a second-to-none experience for his customers. He knew that a great customer experience required two things: a great product and a great team of people guiding customers every step of the way. He had high expectations but was humble and always recognized the efforts of his team. I still have mugs and t-shirts from those days. He also loved a great promotional product to give to his customers. The most valuable lesson she’s learned frommanaging others. I try to harken back to my grandfather’s belief in the importance of a great team. Having done the work to assemble a great group of people, it is so important to let them shine. Steve Jobs said it best, “It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and then tell them what to do; we hire smart people so they can tell us what to do.” I work hard to foster an environment of collaboration, lead by example, offer counsel and guidance, be fair-minded and always recognize great work when I see it. Her best advice for being a great boss. Allow your team to shine, always take the time to acknowledge great work and show respect for individual teammember differences, skill sets and knowledge—this will drive morale, innovation and, ultimately, unified success. “She inspires everyone around her with her business brilliance, unparalleled work ethic and genuine enthusiasm for the promo industry. She empowers the many women working at AIM Smarter and pushes all of us to be our best.” —Megan Beisser FEATURE | Best Bosses 2020 28 | OCTOBER 2020 |