PPB September 2021

Continued on page 29 Kara Keister, MAS Age 38 Promise Keeper Social Good Promotions, Inc. Sandusky, Ohio M eeting the right person at the right time can completely change life’s direction. Just ask Kara Keister, MAS. After graduating fromThe Ohio State University in 2004 with a degree in consumer affairs, she worked as a legal assistant and thought about becoming a lawyer. When the economy tanked in 2008-2009, she was working as operations manager for a regional construction firm and decided it was time to go back to school—to get her MBA. She chose University of Findlay, and during her time in northwest Ohio, she says she was lucky enough to cross paths with the Kramer family, who owns companies City Uniforms and Linen, City Dry Cleaning and industry supplier City Apparel. “They gave me a shot at sales,” says Keister, who started as an outside sales rep in January 2010. “What I thought was going to be a steppingstone turned into a career that I absolutely love.” Nominator Roger Burnett, CAS, founder of Social Good Promotions, calls Keister a volunteer rock star. He got to know her in the fall of 2018 when he was invited to speak at two Ohio Promotional Products Association’s end-buyer events in Cleveland and Columbus. Keister was OPPA president at the time. “We realized howmuch we agreed on the ways promotional products should be elevated as a marketing medium in comparison to other ad spend that most companies commit to,” he says. In addition to leading OPPA, she’s played a key role inMidwest Promotional Products Association’s Midwest Leadership Conference, met with legislators on Capitol Hill during multiple PPAI L.E.A.D. events and was instrumental in a joint project involving Social Good Promotions, Special Olympics Ohio (where she’s been a volunteer for 24 years) and the Cleveland Browns. The project won a silver PPAI Pyramid award this year. She’s also is a current member of the Regional Association Council (RAC) board of directors. In her “spare” time, she’s served as an adjunct marketing professor at Tiffin University where she teaches the next generation about the importance of promotional products as a marketing medium and exposes those students to the ways the industry can make a lasting impression on clients and consumers alike. Biggest challenge in the past year: The pandemic affected us all in different ways. I am an extremely methodical person, so my process is to stop, assess, plan and execute. I realized quickly that not everyone in my bubble operated in that same manner. It forced me to take a longer pause and better understand how my inner circle was being affected emotionally and adjust processes accordingly. There was a solid two months where our distributorship saw zero dollars in sales. As a small business in its start-up phase without the financial stability or insurance required to break into the import game, it was a scary moment. We decided early on as a team that we would use our powers for good and help our friends who were not as familiar with importing and personal protective equipment (PPE) requirements, and create solid solutions for our existing client base that would assist them in converting or sustaining their marketing goals. This quick adjustment to our process and the re-focus on our mission resulted in an 86-percent revenue increase in 2020 over 2019. Proudest career accomplishment: There are plaques, articles and PPAI Pyramid awards that I am extremely proud of, but my greatest joy came last year watching our Michigan SummerWorks interns graduate and excel. SummerWorks is an amazing program that provides mentorship, internships and basic transitional skills for young adults in the Southwestern Michigan region, and we are an employee partner. Our first set of interns worked so hard, remotely, during the worldwide pandemic on projects that were integral to our success during that time. These young adults made me so proud, and both are already back as members of our staff. SummerWorks was so happy with our first-year employer progress that they asked me to speak to potential employers and mentors this year about the importance of the program and creating meaningful projects for interns to execute during their summer internships. Most optimistic about for the industry’s future: I am excited to see change. Change in the faces around us, the addition of amazing talent, efficiencies and new technology enhancing the way we work, products with real purpose—now is the time. The past 18 months forced us onto a rollercoaster of surviving and thriving; now it is up to us to decide what this next chapter looks like. “Back to normal” needs Rising Stars | FEATURE | SEPTEMBER 2021 | 21