Episode 354: Tim Andrews on Promo, Culture, and 23 Years at ASI

[00:00:00] Music Intro

[00:00:06] Bobby: What does it look like to lead through some of the biggest cultural and economic swings of the past two decades and still come out more optimistic about an industry than when you began? On today's show, we're exploring how the industry has evolved during Tim Andrews' remarkable tenure, what he's learned from navigating everything from recessions to rapid technological change, and why human connection still sits at the heart of our industry.

[00:00:31] Bobby: Welcome to the skucast, the podcast for innovators and maverick thinkers in the promotional product space. My name is Bobby Lehew. I'm glad you're here. Tim Andrews, CEO at ASI, needs no introduction to most of you. Not only has he led ASI for more than 20 years, he's helped shepherd this industry through some of its most defining moments, from global supply chain complexity to the rise of e-commerce and AI.

[00:00:55] Bobby: Tim has been at the front lines of the conversations shaping promo's future [00:01:00] for years. He also grew up in rural Indiana, worked his way up through journalism and publishing, and brings a remarkably grounded human perspective to leadership that you don't often hear from CEOs. As many of you know, Tim announced his retirement. So as a frequent guest on the skucast and as a speaker at our events, we wanted to chat with him one more time.

[00:01:18] Bobby: We talk about the biggest shifts he's seen in the industry in 20 years and, as always with Tim, the most significant facing us looking ahead. Today's episode is brought to you, courtesy of us at commonsku. Over 900 distributors powering 1.8 billion in network volume rely on commonsku's connected workflow.

[00:01:36] Bobby: Process more orders, connect your team and dramatically grow your sales. To learn how, visit commonsku.com. Now here's my chat with Tim Andrews.

[00:01:46] Bobby: Tim Andrews, welcome to the skucast.

[00:01:48] Tim: Thank you very much. Thanks for having me.

[00:01:50] Bobby: Obviously through the years, we've talked many times. I don't know if you remember this, but when you first joined ASI, I wrote an article about [00:02:00] how much, in like six to eight months transition, we had seen transformation at ASI. And it was because you had come in and you'd done a lot of big changes.

[00:02:09] Bobby: What's fascinating to me though is you've had a front row seat to more than two decades of change in promo. And when you look back across, you've been through some major moments, some major disruption. There was the economic recession, 2008. There was the tech bubble fallout. There was the 9/11 economic aftershocks and COVID.

[00:02:30] Bobby: I mean, when we talk about this industry being incredibly resilient, you know, that's been a theme for years. You've seen it through suppliers and distributors. Which moment has revealed this industry's resilience to you the most?

[00:02:42] Tim: Gosh, you know Bobby, I would say every moment you cited proves just really how flexible our industry is. I mean, just look at the speed of change when tariffs being part of our daily lives, shifting supply chains, renegotiating contracts, lobbying exemptions, I mean, all sorts of stuff. I think while each of those crises revealed something [00:03:00] different, COVID has to be the defining moment. You know, during COVID, the industry completely transformed. It performed its greatest service ever. It moved to PPE products. Suppliers found them, they created them. The distributors found where to sell them and how to service that very specific and very different marketplace. I mean, if we had asked in January about what PPE stood for, I'm not sure what people would've thought. Promo would've been in there, right?

[00:03:25] Bobby: Right. Yes.

[00:03:27] Tim: And we got that into the hands of healthcare professionals and the public at large, and we saved lives. So I think that really was a defining moment, but it really just shows, you know, how incredibly resilient, how flexible the industry is. Distributors, suppliers, decorators, the whole gamut of who we are. It's pretty amazing, honestly.

[00:03:48] Bobby: It really is. And during your tenure, not only did the industry itself, the resiliency shine, but the promo product as a medium really evolved. When you look back at, you know, two decades of your experience leading [00:04:00] ASI, you have had to see a shift from what was kind of known as traditional giveaways, the bad monikers, like trinkets and trash, to something more experiential, branded, strategic. I mean, what's the biggest shift you've seen in how organizations are using promo?

[00:04:15] Tim: I think it's really, as you said, we were really giveaways, right? And in some ways, you know, I've said a couple times, and I think to you once or twice, that people sort of, you know, you get in an elevator and people sort of look down at their toes when you ask them what they do. And we don't do that anymore. I think organizations that are using promotional products as part of their overall branding are really leveraging it as a strategic tool that carries really emotional weight. And that shift has been huge. I think our industry is thinking of itself in a very different way. We think of ourselves as marketers and people that solve marketing problems, and that shift is really incredibly important. We at ASI have helped to do that by providing research and other information that lets distributors, suppliers tell that story [00:05:00] to their clients and their prospects. But also in what was originally a periphery of our industry, and now arguably is an important part and probably not counted or reflected on, just the rise of merch to tell the stories, you know, from onboarding kits that make employees feel like they're loved, curated gifts. This is gift season. We're recording this in, all of that moved promo from merely the margins of business into the center of how organizations, incredibly and importantly, communicate sort of who they are to their clients. And I think the distributors and suppliers have done a great job of that.

[00:05:35] Tim: We've also moved up the ladder a bit in terms of the people that we communicate with, the importance we have with those individuals. I think PPE and really that whole world of COVID helped. But that's really important and we've made, we've also brought to market better products. So compared to 20 years ago when you'd walk around the show floor, you see a different class of product. And certainly that has really [00:06:00] helped us come from margins into sort of the center of how businesses market themselves and position themselves.

[00:06:06] Bobby: Yeah, you've always been really good at looking at forward trends, and there are some big sort of tectonic shifts happening right now. You have sustainability, you have tariffs, you have globalization, e-commerce, and then you have the digital transformation that's happened through the years and now AI. As you look at the future trends, which trend are you seeing as having the biggest impact on the industry in the future?

[00:06:29] Tim: Well, I'm gonna package some trends together and there's a through line. Okay. So I'll say AI, automation, robotics, and the through line, of course, is technology to that. And that really isn't only the future, that's also the past. If we sort of went back 20 or 30 years ago, you know, Norman Cohn loves to tell a story about how ASI brought a fax machine, really the first fax machine to the industry and had it set up in a booth at one of our Chicago shows. And the second day we brought a second one in because people didn't quite get it. [00:07:00] And they set a second one up on the other side of the booth and they said to people, "Write your name on this sheet of paper and we're gonna fax it across." And it captivated people about how they wouldn't have to use U.S. mail any longer to be able to get orders to suppliers, right? And so that through line of technology continues and really is amplified by AI, automation, robotics. What we're seeing suppliers do and how they're automating their factory floors is amazing. How the digitization of decoration is happening and how that personalization we've talked about for a really long time is coming to fruition. A couple days ago I got an ad popped up on my Instagram for a personalized kids' book and I uploaded my godniece and godson's photos and made incredible books in like five seconds.

[00:07:51] Bobby: Yes.

[00:07:52] Tim: So all of that is gonna speed the change, the precision of how we operate, the creativity. And it's super exciting. I mean, it's [00:08:00] really an amazing, it's gonna be an amazing five years ahead. We can't even imagine what it's gonna look like.

[00:08:06] Bobby: Yeah. As technology accelerates, speaking on this topic, this industry has always been about human connection and just the art of human connection. As big as this industry is, everyone always jokes about how small it is. Also, it's very collegial, it's very connected. There are lots of deep friendships formed in this industry. Where do you think the heart of this human connection will be? Will this still be a crucial part as we move forward? What are your thoughts on this, this like almost dislocation between technology and human connection?

[00:08:36] Tim: I think actually technology allows human connection to get stronger. I graduated from college in 1984. One of the things that I regret tremendously is that we didn't have email and social media then because I wasn't able to keep in touch with some incredibly important friends. And now we can use [00:09:00] technology to keep in touch with people, to prioritize what's important in our lives. I think AI and all the technology we're talking about is gonna allow people to have more time to understand the business problems, to explore business problems, and the solutions they can bring. Leverage AI to understand how to bring those technologies to bear, you know, to be able to solve those business problems. All of that is gonna help distributors and suppliers, and I don't think that personal touch goes away or that relationship goes away. I think that is what keeps our industry human. That's what solves the problems.

[00:09:22] Tim: So many relationships did not disappear, and I would argue have been strengthened because of social media and email and texting everybody all the time. I agree. You know, it's amazing. We can't even imagine 25 years ago, none of that was going on nearly as deep and as wide as it is today. So I'm not afraid of technology at all. It will change some jobs. It will eliminate some jobs. It will allow people to spend more time on better things, and that's all really positive. So I'm excited about the technology impact on our ability to have personal, deep relationships.

[00:09:59] Bobby: I agree. [00:10:00] Let's talk a little bit about leadership. How many employees are at ASI now?

[00:10:06] Tim: Uh, 500, 400. Okay. I mean, it's a massive organization. I want to sort of talk about leadership and just you've seen it grow from when you were there. How many employees were there when you joined?

[00:10:13] Bobby: Almost the same number, and I am incredibly proud of that fact. Very different jobs, and this really goes to my answer a second ago, very different jobs. We had 22 people in a group called Order Processing that entered orders into the platform for billing and for fulfillment. And we've got two people doing that now, you know, and they're really riding over the data integrity aspects of things. So really the same number of people doing much higher level and much more thoughtful work that really I think helps distributors, suppliers be more efficient every day. 'Cause that's the business we're in.

[00:10:51] Bobby: That's incredible. Scaling to grow from where you were to where you are now and to have still the same number of employees is an incredible story about scaling. You [00:11:00] also, to get a little bit into your backstory, I know you've published this, so I know you're comfortable talking about this.

[00:11:04] Tim: We'll see.

[00:11:05] Bobby: I, well, okay. All right. So I don't know if you remember, Rod Brown invited us to dinner. There were several of us there. David Nicholson, who then was the president of PCNA. CJ was there. Catherine was there. I was there. And you were there and we all shared, we all sort of brought something that we had to share, a story around that represented our background. But you shared how you grew up very poor in rural Indiana and how those early experiences shaped your sense of responsibility and leadership. How did that influence the way you led at ASI right now and especially when those decisions, I've seen you celebrate how the decisions made at ASI have impacted people's livelihoods.

[00:11:46] Tim: You know, I did, I grew up in a, we didn't have indoor plumbing till I was in fifth grade. There's not many people probably that can say that. And, you know, how did it impact me? It made me understand how quickly things can change and how fragile things are. [00:12:00] I've always felt a deep responsibility for the people who work at ASI and the entrepreneurs that we support. You know, that distributors, suppliers, every decision we make and how we help people inside ASI and outside impacts their mortgage and their childcare. If we help a distributor land a big piece of business by the tools we provide, they're gonna have a better life. So I really take that seriously 'cause I know how that needle can move one way or the other and it can be really great or it can be really disruptive. I've tried to share that a few times internally, and I remember that dinner very well in San Francisco because it's not to bring attention on me, it's to sort of say we all have our story.

[00:12:39] Tim: And that transparency, I hope, allows people to realize that we're all carrying stuff around, every one of us. And so how does that impact us and how can we, can we turn that to be more empathetic, to be more transparent, to be able to explain sort of where, where do I come from? What's the context of my decision process and what means a lot to me?

[00:12:59] Tim: You know, we're [00:13:00] wrapping up, we do a lot of community work at ASI, we just calculated that in the last 22 years, we've done more than about $2 million of fundraising that have helped local communities and many around us. Wow. And we just wrapped up something, we've got something like eight or $10,000 in gifts that we've purchased and money that we've donated to a local homeless shelter. So that all, you know, it's because we've got great employees who value all of that too. And I've told my story to them because I think it is, yeah, it we, we all have one. You've got one. And I think sharing it shows people that you're human and it also allows them to connect with you in a way that they might not easily be able to otherwise.

[00:13:39] Bobby: You've also had such a robust internship program that I've seen you celebrate so much and I, you just kind of see how your background sort of imbues the passion you have for helping people get started and get their start in careers and entrepreneurship as well.

[00:13:52] Tim: Thank you. I had internships all in high school and college, and then my final internship between my junior and senior, [00:14:00] I landed an internship I never fathomed I would have, working at Dow Jones, which publishes the Wall Street Journal in New York City. I left New York, I mean left Indiana. I had never been on a plane before. I'd never been to a big city before. And I spent the summer in New York and it changed my life. And so we've had, as you mentioned, internships and, uh, we run an internship program for the industry that allows distributors, suppliers to understand how to locate, recruit, hire, onboard interns. And then we help do some onboarding for them so they can spend time running their business while the interns are learning about the industry. And then at ASI, we've had, every year I've been here, I think 10 or 12 interns every summer, one in almost every department because it just, it feels good, but it's also good business because it infuses the organization with new ideas, new ways of looking at things. Sure. You know, new technologies, I mean, it's amazing. And if people aren't yet hiring interns, I would really urge you to enroll in the ASI internship program next year so that you can be helped by us to locate, hire, and leverage an intern who [00:15:00] may or may not come back to your business. We've had over 2,000 interns go through that program. I'm incredibly proud of it.

[00:15:04] Bobby: Wow. That's amazing. We will link to that in the show notes, by the way, if one's looking for that. Speaking of your beginnings as a journalist, that has had to have a very important role as CEO, because as you came to ASI through a journalism background, you had led media and other companies, and then of course, as a salesperson, I cut my teeth on Counselor Magazine. For those that don't know, this was the de facto magazine published in the industry, particularly at that time. Probably the only source or one of the few, one of two or three sources of information on how to run a business and still the best, and it's still the best, winning awards still.

[00:15:43] Bobby: Um, and great example of this is just the way you and your team and Michelle and the team have covered the tariffs and supply chain since COVID especially has been such a tremendous benefit to the industry. Thank you. But how does your journalism [00:16:00] degree, I've always wanted to ask you this, impact the way you see the world and the way you see leadership and running ASI?

[00:16:01] Tim: You know, a well-qualified journalist spends a lot of time asking the same questions to many people and understanding their viewpoints, gathering facts and laying those facts one upon the next to come to truth. And that is a deliberate process. And I think that a good distributor does that. I think a good supplier does that. I think a good journalist does that. It is a skill that is incredibly important to all of our roles because a journalist talks to all those people and comes up with what they think their truth is. What is the headline of that story, right? What's the lead of that story and what am I going to try to communicate to the readers and the consumers of this, of this content?

[00:16:44] Tim: And so I think it's a great skill that everyone has or should have, and is one they could hone. But it really has helped me. It allows me to spend time with employees, all sorts of interactions I've spoken to. I mean, thousands of distributors, [00:17:00] suppliers, and I can come back from a trade show having spoken to a few hundred distributors and a few dozen or more suppliers and come back with a real viewpoint of what's the pulse of the industry like, and served me really well on the business front as well as early in my career as a journalist.

[00:17:15] Bobby: Journalism, publishing, promo. Is there an unexpected through line through all of this that you see?

[00:17:20] Tim: It's asking questions 'cause we serve the promo industry, but we are not a component of the supply chain specifically in the promo industry. Right. We're not, we're not buying or selling or taking delivery or decorating. We are that through line of the industry, I would argue, and we're an incredibly important part of that. So I think that is the through line. Yeah. It's how do you link all of that together and help people be more efficient, more effective, use their time in better ways? People can spend hours chasing down a $50 order. How do we make that easier with our technology platform and how do we help them feel confident saying no to that order too? That's part of the lessons, [00:18:00] right, in Counselor magazine sometimes.

[00:18:00] Bobby: Right. Right. Speaking of these thousands of hours now that you've probably spent in conversations with people across this industry, entrepreneurs, suppliers, creatives, events, is there one of these conversations you think you'll carry with you long after you step away?

[00:18:14] Tim: Oh gosh, there's been so many. I sat with someone four or five years ago just after COVID who talked about how they watched a webinar that we had in very early days and they were feeling as if their business would never recover and that they really were distraught and didn't know what they were gonna do. And sitting through that webinar with some distributors, suppliers, with me hosting allowed them to get confidence in themselves, confidence that the industry was coming together, confidence they could sell product in the face of a very difficult situation. And they really shared with me how they thought it really, I'm not gonna say saved their life, but it certainly had a profound impact on their ability to sit up straight the next day and keep moving forward. And so [00:19:00] those kind of things. And a year or so ago, I was with someone who proudly introduced me to a young member of their team who had been one of the interns they had hired a couple years before, and when they graduated, they came back to the organization.

[00:19:11] Tim: Those things are super important. Now, I'll never forget those conversations, but you're right. I mean, probably millions of hours, Bobby. I mean, I know we should end and see what it says. Sure. And suppliers, you know, I've used distributors as an example, but the same thing with suppliers. There's a supplier that I'm very close to who relayed to me one day their frustrations with their team, and I said, "Listen, it sounds like you're working harder to keep that person than they are working to stay working for you and you need to think about that." And a couple of weeks later, the person called and said, "I had that person go to another business to work." And it was great advice. So those little times that you're helping people really means so much.

[00:19:51] Bobby: Yeah. As you reflect on the past 20 years, this industry [00:20:00] comprises so many traits, like the people, the creativity, the scrappiness. What part of this industry do you think you'll miss the most?

[00:20:03] Tim: Oh, the entrepreneurship, the energy you feel when you're walking the show floor, the creativity, optimism, all of that is wrapped in this entrepreneurial envelope that is just amazing to me. It's what has kept me here for so long. It's what's kept you and so many other people here for so long. That energy, when I'm walking on a show floor, nine times out of 10, the person in that booth is the decision maker on whether they come back the next year to that trade show. And I love the fact that entrepreneur is there and boy, they'll tell me what's working really well and what needs to be improved. And I love that. I love that connectivity. It's the people and that all of that together is really the community. And I will for sure miss the community of promo. It is a special community that has been incredibly important to my life for more than two decades, and I will definitely miss it.

[00:20:52] Bobby: Oh, I agree. The values and perspectives that you've held from that, what do you hope the industry carries forward, either the values and [00:21:00] perspectives that you've held or the industry contains that you admire so much? What do you hope we carry forward?

[00:21:04] Tim: ASI has a list of values, and they're all equally important, but the first on the list is "we care." And I hope that stays with the industry. I think it is here. We don't articulate it that much about the industry. We articulate it ourselves all the time at ASI. But I think this industry cares. Suppliers that will swap product with each other if somebody's out of product. A distributor who will recommend another distributor who they can find product from. There's so many examples. The caring that we do, the elevation we do of the industry, people in the industry, the recognition we provide across the institutions about who's doing an incredibly great thing and learn from them, doesn't matter if they're a one or two person shop or a big multimillion dollar business, we can all learn from them. I hope that caring and that sharing continues forever 'cause I think it's something endemic to what we do and it's priceless.

[00:21:57] Bobby: I agree. Tim, you've spoken on our [00:22:00] podcast, the skucast here many times. You've spoken at our events, we have chatted many times through the years. Thank you so much. You are such a bright light for our industry. Your directness, your honesty, how you address the challenges within the industry head on has been such a breath of fresh air for this industry for so long. So thank you my friend, for always looking out for us and being a beacon of hope for us.

[00:22:22] Tim: Well, thank you very much. I really appreciate all those comments and I look forward to seeing you in the new year. I'm still fully engaged with ASI until the end of March and we'll be at all the shows in the first quarter, so I hope to see you and everyone else.