The Beacon – NEPPA Spotlight - Stran Promotional Solutions

THE BEAC
N
New England Promotional Products Association • December 2013 Newsletter
NEPPA MVP Spotlight Series
HIGHLIGHTING NEPPA MEMBERS FOR AN INSIDE LOOK AT THEIR
SUPER STAR CAREERS AND PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENTS!
The spotlight is on Andy Shape of Stran & Company, Boston, MA and
Gregg Szpicek of Tekweld, Farmingdale, NY.
ANDY SHAPE
GREGG SZPICEK
What is your title/role at Stran?
As President of Stran & Company I wear
many hats within our organization, but
my main role at Stran is to establish our
vision and message and to ensure that we
are accomplishing the goals that we have
set for our company. In order to do that,
I help make sure that all of our employees
are providing our customers with the best
possible experience by offering creative
and appropriate solutions, showing them all of the value-added
tools that we have to offer, and delivering what our customers
and potential customers expect. What is your title/role at Tekweld?
I am the National Sales Director for
Tekweld. My role is to continue the
direction and implementation of Tekweld’s
relationships with all of our great
distributors, and develop and grow its sales
team to evangelize Tekweld products and
services.
What do you like best about your
company?
The things I like best about our company are the quality of both
our products and our people, along with the excitement of so
much growth.
What do you like best about your company?
We are excited to be celebrating 20 years of business in 2014, and
I am proud of the atmosphere and corporate culture that we have
built over those 20 years. We like to reward our employees for
their creativity and entrepreneurial spirit yet hold each individual
accountable for their actions – which has fostered that culture. Because of that, we are flexible enough to meet the different
needs of our customers while having the resources, capital, and
infrastructure in place to execute for them. What is new & upcoming with your company?
Since we are very well established in the health and beauty
categories, the workflow formula that was created to be a
3 day production shop is now moving us into other exciting
commodity areas. Microfiber cloths, sunglasses, everyday plastic
items, and USB items are just the beginning of how are product
line is expanding. Every day our goal is to consistently research
and develop better ways for be the go to source for distributors
to rely on for their favorite selling products. Taylor Tadmor,
president, always says “If I had more space for the inventory we
would be in every category.” With our growth of 40% per year,
it’s just a matter of time till the space we need will be there.
What is new & upcoming with your company?
Stran recently partnered with Harte-Hanks – a worldwide leader
in fulfillment, direct mail, and print-on-demand services. Prior
to 2011, we staffed and managed our own warehouse and had
success doing so but wanted to expand that part of our business
and make it even better and more efficient. In 2011, we subcontracted our warehouse and logistics operations to HarteHanks in order to bolster our fulfillment capabilities and allow us
to concentrate on providing customers with our core business of
providing promotional solutions. Upon partnering with them we
realized that they offer a host of value-added marketing services
that allows our customers to accomplish more of their marketing
functions under one roof. As a billion dollar company with
multiple Fortune 500 customers Harte-Hanks had the operations,
procedures, and compliance already in place which allowed us to
free up more capital, resources, and manpower to concentrate on
Continued on page 10
Tell us something about you that most people may not know?
Well in my past life I was a Master of Ceremonies for corporate
and private events. So, being up on a stage in front of a crowd is
very comfortable for me. I am also an advocate of living healthy.
Being a cancer survivor I am very conscious of what I eat, what
environment I keep, and what stresses in life to stay clear from.
6
If you could choose any profession other than your current one,
what would it be?
Some kind of TV host. I don’t have fear of being in front of a
camera or an audience. Game show maybe, or an informative
travel adventure channel theme. Food Network would be nice,
too.
Continued on page 10
THE BEAC
N
New England Promotional Products Association • December 2013 Newsletter
NEPPA MVP SPOTLIGHT
Continued from page 6
ANDY SHAPE
selling more of those services and better products to our customers. Because of this partnership we are now able to offer our customer a
central location to manage content, production, and distribution of all
of their marketing supplies while offering best in class and the most
creative product selection in the marketplace.
Tell us something about you that most people may not know?
I am an avid surfer and surf year-round in the icy waters of New
England – even in the cold winter months when the swell is typically
the most prominent. Growing up in Michigan most people assume
that I learned to surf on the West Coast or some warm tropical
island but when I tell them that I learned to surf while in college at
The University of New Hampshire, it really throws them for a loop.
If you could choose any profession other than your current one,
what would it be?
If I could choose another profession, I would want to be a doctor
because I would love to make a positive difference in people’s lives. Unfortunately, I do not have the patience or learning capacity to
spend that many years in school. Plus, I have been known to become
light headed and even faint from the site of blood – so that may cause
a problem and maybe should have been listed as something most
people don’t know about me in the question above. What is your favorite quote (movie/literary/personal)?
“Individual commitment to a group effort – that is what makes a
team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.” –
Vince Lombardi
What is your passion?
I am passionate about helping customers successfully market their
brand in the most effective and efficient way possible. Any of our
competition can claim that they will sell a better, cheaper, or more
creative product than the next. To me, those things are expected so I
am passionate about offering our clients all of those things along with
additional solutions to help them effectively manage their marketing
spend. What drives you?
I am determined to be an integral part of making Stran one of the
top promotional marketing companies in our industry. We have had
steady growth and success over the last 20 years but are trying to
build upon that even more. I am driven to make sure that we build a
solid business that has the ability to solve problems for other people
and offer truly unique marketing solutions.
10
GREGG SZPICEK
What is your favorite quote (movie/literary/personal)?
Believe it or not I love the quote from Rocky Balboa
“Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t
all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and
I don’t care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees
and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or
nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard
ya hit. It’s about how hard you can get it and keep moving
forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward.
That’s how winning is done! Now if you know what you’re
worth then go out and get what you’re worth. But ya gotta
be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you
ain’t where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody!
Cowards do that and that ain’t you! You’re better than that.”
What is your passion?
Life is an adventure, I’m not one to sit still, when there is a
world of adventure out there. I love to go out and see what
I can get creative with. I have tremendous energy to inspire
and be inspired. Passion to me is being able to do something
for myself outside of work. My own private passion projects
that give me balance in my life. Sharing them with family and
friends, who are the best supporters in my world.
What drives you?
I always want to succeed and strive for more. When I
accomplish a goal, I immediately move on to the next. I break
down projects to figure out the best way to complete them.
I learned that surviving is not the way to live – it’s about
thriving. I wake up with a purpose, and go to sleep at night
excited for tomorrow. Life drives me and I love it.
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