PPB July 2022

PromoShop’s KimBakalyar IsThe 2022 PPAI Woman Of Achievement In her four-plus decades in the promotional products industry, Kim Bakalyar, CAS, hasn’t spent much time at a loss for words. She’s been a mentor, an educator, and a conduit for people in the industry both young and old. But when Tom Carpenter of Rhombus Canvas LLC called her in mid-May, she was left speechless. Carpenter is on the PPAI Awards Committee, and he informed her that she had won the PPAI Woman of Achievement Award. “Seriously, I feel kind of stunned,” Bakalyar says weeks later. In June, Bakalyar and her accomplishments were recognized at a reception opening the 2022 Women’s Leadership Conference (WLC) in Charlotte. For over 17 years, Bakalyar has been with Los Angeles-based PromoShop (PPAI 204997, D11), leading change, educating her peers, and being the face and voice that so many industry veterans think of first when the distributor is mentioned. “Her impact in the industry and her ability to foster close friendships helped PromoShop recruit and add exceptional teammembers as her reputation speaks volumes,” Kate Alavez, PromoShop’s CEO, wrote in the award’s nomination application. But years before building that reputation, Bakalyar was working at a Beverly Hills law firm—a job she hated—and hoping to break into the advertising industry. So she took an interview at an advertising and promotional products company called Idea Man, which landed her a position as office manager. This was 1980. “So I was hired to type orders,” Bakalyar recalls. “And as I was 80 | JULY 2022 | CONNECT

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