Viva (New) Las Vegas…

When I first thought about writing a blog I wondered what the heck I would say and if people would really even care. I suppose both remain in the “pending” stage. With that being said, I can tell you that after some deep thinking and alone time, I have made the commitment to express myself through a blog.

Chances are I will offend you, and I apologize for that in advance. I will go on the record as saying that I am a fairly opinionated guy. I may ruffle some feathers from time to time, but please don’t interpret that as disrespect—rather view it as my passion. I consider myself an overly passionate guy who remains frustrated… always challenging the norm, the establishment and asking a lot of stupid questions.

I also pride myself on being an open book. I love collaboration, sharing ideas and the ability to provide folks with different perspectives that hopefully enrich their personal and/or professional lives.

So with that being said, I want to first give you a snapshot of how I stumbled into the goofy promotional products industry…because no one goes to college to get a degree in how to sell koozies. (One day I plan on writing a coffee table book full of crazy stories about how people find themselves in this industry… but that’s for a later time.)

I love and hate the promotional products industry in the same breath. This industry has some amazing people who love to give hugs and high-fives and are just those good-to-be-around folks. But this industry is also one of the most unsophisticated, unprofessional and backward industries that there is—to say it is behind the curve would be an understatement. Think Las Vegas. Fifty years of doing and thinking the same way—see downtown Vegas. And then…bam! The Strip. Times they are a changin’.

So looking back after being in the industry for 15 or so years, I often reflect on that pivotal conversation I had with Frank Krasovec, founder and former CEO of Norwood. To set the stage, Frank is a close friend who took me under his wing and coached me in business. His son is one of my closest friends for whom I have the utmost respect.

To this day, I have replayed his words over and over again in my head. I can hear Frank saying “you can make a couple hundred-thousand dollars in the promotional products industry.” My knee-jerk response was “I don’t want to sell that crap!” But 15 years later I am still selling that crap and having a blast.

Today I work at Boundless Network for a great group of salespeople—a growing group. We’re on a mission to challenge the establishment, change the rules of the game…shake up a few folks and leave tired “thinkers” behind in downtown Las Vegas.

Stay tuned… JB

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