skucast

Jorge began working for Hirsch in 2010, straight out of high school, after meeting Hirch vice president Paul Hirsch on the soccer field. He started as a production assistant and after 12 years of mastering every machine in the building, from the print machines to the forklift, he’s now the Lead Production Manager. Jorge, or George, is an integral asset to the back of house at Hirsch, and, accordin...

We’ve been hearing and talking recession rhetoric for months. And by “we” I mean the collective we: business leaders, media, economists, and the world. Regardless of whether we’re already in a recession, or whether there will be a recession, or whether there won’t be a recession, for business planning purposes you can still find your focus for growth for 2023, regardless of the economic climate.

At skucamp, the leaders of three of the industry’s largest suppliers joined Catherine Graham, commonsku’s Co-founder and CEO on stage to answer audience questions and discuss the state of the industry now and their perspective on the future. The panel featured David Nicholson - Vice Chairman at PCNA, Dan Pantano, President & CEO at AlphaBroder Prime, and Jonathan Isaacson, Chairman, and CEO at Gem...

Landon Wade, the owner of Goodson Clothing Supply, and his team are reinventing the way we think about branded merch, business partnerships, and transparency. They believe that the product you choose to carry your brand name speaks values and the old way of choosing merch is broken.

donothingclub is a collaborative design project curated by Ben Gabriel and Julian Trompeter based in New York City focused on exploring the potential of connection through design.

There are undercurrents happening in the industry that start as small ripples but eventually become waves that bring a sea change of disruption to the business: that’s what this episode is about. Each quarter, we’ll bring you highlights and insights from guests featured on our podcast, our events, and our articles, that reveal an undercurrent of an idea that has the potential to completely reshape...

Chuck Hammond bought the family-owned business back in 2003. At that time, there were 15 employees, and today, Raining Rose employs over 300 full-time and 150 contract employees. Raining Rose was an early adopter of everything sustainable: they received their LEED certification in 2015, and were designated a B Corp in 2016. Raining Rose has appeared on Fortune’s annual 100 Fastest-Growing Inner Ci...

Today we talk with Michael about how to tame your advice monster as a leader and how to transform your leadership by embracing curiosity-driven coaching. And whether you’re in a leadership position or simply work with others, you’ll learn some fascinating tactics you can use now!

Gemma Aguiar is Founder and CEO of Design Like Whoa, a women-led and San Francisco-based agency with a design-forward focus who makes sustainable attainable for their clients.

Microsoft dropped their first capsule collection called Hardware and to create their branded clothing line they partnered with Gavin Mathieu, Creative Director and CEO of Supervsn Studios, the LA Times called Supervsn LA’s premier streetwear energy brand.

Here's the thing about that piece on swag by Elizabeth Segran in Fast Company: it missed the mark. Where Fast Company is right: No one wants the return of useless low-quality conference swag that ends up in the trash. No one. Not recipients, not buyers, and (surprise!) not sellers.

Kate Hallett is the Chief Marketing Officer at Harper + Scott. She has over ten years of integrated marketing experience with a proven track record for growing businesses. Kate is a passionate storyteller with disciplines across multiple industries, including enterprise and late-stage startups in both B2B and B2C environments.

Dan Pantano is the President and CEO of alphabroder –  Prime Line, one of the foremost leaders in the industry. With more than 90,000 customers, they ship over 50,000 boxes and more than a million units of product a day. It’s a massive operation, and we chat with Dan about some of the most pressing issues facing alphabroder and our industry.

Ben Pawsey is the VP of Marketing at HPG, one of the largest promotional products suppliers in North America, comprising 10 specialist brands including Hub, Origaudio, Debco, and more.

Each year, ASI (Advertising Specialty Institute) reveals insights from their State of the Industry Report, the single most researched report about the promotional products industry, providing in-depth analysis on multiple topics including trends in growth, challenges in manufacturing, industry verticals that possess the most opportunity, and much more.

SwagCycle is a startup focused on responsibly managing the lifecycle of branded merch. When companies rebrand or get acquired, many of those companies, through their distributor partners, often dispose of their obsolete branded merchandise.

Our guests are Matt Fischer, CEO and one of the founders and owners at Probitas Promotions, and Krisi Lund, Account Manager and client expert extraordinaire. Probitas is a North Dakota based distributor. Part of their story is the merging/acquisition of Trojan Promotions in 2019. Trojan Promotions was a distributorship owned by Jessica and Troy Nelson who were tragically killed in an accident. Tod...

In this special episode of skucast, Seth Godin joins us to talk about the opposing views in which people view the challenges of climate change: wizards who believe that only technological innovation and human progress offer hope for the planet; prophets who seek dramatic reductions in the ways that humans interact with the natural world; and ostriches who say there is a possibility that the climat...

The impact of an economic slowdown on the cost of materials, fuel and transportation, jobs, and importing, could potentially affect the promotional products industry which is why, last week, we held a live interview with two of the industry’s leading supplier leaders: Jonathan Isaacson (Chairman & CEO of Gemline) and Jeremy Lott (President & CEO of SanMar).

PolyientX helps brands with turnkey strategy and technology solutions to mint, sell, and engage with NFTs, they provide Web3 tools to deliver NFTs, merch, digital goods, reward tokens, and more. NFTs are finding their way into many brand conversations, which is why we wanted to dig deeper by inviting an expert in NFTs to join us for a chat.

Cutter and Buck is a brand many of us are familiar with but like so many of our trusted partners, we know so much about their product and so little about their company, which is why we love talking with folks like our guest today, Joel Freet the CEO at Seattle-based Cutter & Buck.

Vrindavan Rao has over twenty years of experience in meditation, she combines her knowledge of the body-mind-ego connection with the teachings of the Enneagram which offers insight into the core motivations which fuel our ego and behavior.

Welcome to our monthly episode called Open Mic! Once a month we take your questions about a challenge you are having in your business and ask members of the community or a member of our team to help provide solutions. Today’s question comes from Warren Shuya with Encore Promo based out of Edmonton, Alberta. Warren asks:  “In this crazy world of merch and promo what is a unique but simple way to at...

twelveNYC was founded in 2005 to disrupt the conventional promotional product formula by delivering thoughtful, creative merchandise through experiences. The twelveNYC ethos is anchored in thoughtful design, starting with merchandise and extending to every other aspect of the experience from packaging, kitting, influencer, digital engagement, to warehousing and shipping.

Isaac Hetzroni moved to Bali and is now leading a global team. He rebranded his company with a new vision, and they have a new direction all focused around smart sourcing, which is an interesting and bold move as a UVP because his mission sits right in the heart of the supply chain at a very complex time.