PPB May 2021

JoAnn Gi l l ey Leadership In Motion JoAnn Gilley’s 28-year career full of varied marketing roles for companies with unique missions and purposes prepared her for her current role as CEO of distributor Overture Promotions, where she is leading her team through expansive growth. by Danielle Renda B ehind JoAnn Gilley’s soft smile and warm laugh lies a richness of marketing experience and leadership expertise. As the CEO of Waukegan, Illinois- based distributor Overture Promotions, and having held many managerial roles over her 28-year career, Gilley is accustomed to taking the reins, exploring uncharted territories and leading her team toward and through change. Gilley has perfected her craft over the years though some describe her as a natural-born leader. Relatively new to promotional products, Gilley started working at Overture Promotions in 2017 as a consultant and replaced its original CEO, Heather Sanderson, 10 months later, preserving the company’s status as a woman-owned business. She is an original investor with Overture Promotions, which was founded in 2001. In her first two years as CEO, Gilley led the now 150-employee company— which provides end-to-end services for promotional products solutions, including webstores and ecommerce, embroidery, screen print, graphic design, and picking, packing and shipping—to expand organically, growing annual revenue from $47 million to $127 million in her first three years. She also led the company’s move from its original headquarters in Vernon Hills, Illinois, to its current location in a new, state- of-the-art headquarters which includes 150,000 square feet of warehouse space. And recently, Gilley, together with Lou Weisbach, founder and former CEO of the distributor that is now HALO Branded Solutions, led Overture through its March 1 acquisition by Westbridge Capital Ltd, a private equity company. Gilley remains CEO of Overture Promotions and maintains the same responsibilities. The acquisition is a move to establish a global branding company, and Gilley, who also sits on Overture Promotions' board Overture Promotions provides a one-stop client experience including decoration, picking and packing, and shipping. JoAnn Gilley 74 | MAY 2021 | THINK