PODCAST · business
skucast
by commonsku
Welcome to skucast, the #1 podcast for entrepreneurs in the print and promotional products industries. skucast shines a light on our industries' best work, features maverick personalities, and discusses what’s really involved in running a modern print or promotional products business. skucast is the official podcast of commonsku.
Episodes
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Episode 374: skucamp Montréal Highlights
On this episode of skucast, Bobby Lehew shares highlights from skucamp Montréal, with Todd Henry on using AI without losing your creative edge, Ana Andjelic on measuring merch ROI, Tony McNally on building a team that embraces change, and more on print on demand, supplier service, and where the...
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Episode 373: Merch Meets Hybrid Marketing with Kirby Hasseman
On this episode of skucast, Bobby Lehew chats with Kirby Hasseman, CEO of Hasseman Marketing and author of HYBRID Marketing, about random acts of marketing, the six moves that connect merch to digital, and why AI works best as a marketing intern rather than a CMO.
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Episode 372: Introducing Ask skucast
On this episode of skucast, Bobby Lehew chats with commonsku Content Marketing Manager and skucast executive producer Ritika Chhikara about Ask skucast, the free AI tool built on 350+ episodes of the show, how it was built, and what distributors are already asking it.
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Episode 371: Building Toward $100 Million with Tom Rector (Thumbprint)
On this episode of skucast, Bobby Lehew chats with Thumbprint founder and CEO Tom Rector about the road to $100 million, preparing for AI agents, and why leadership is presence.
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Episode 370: Breaking the Sales Ceiling with Nicole McNamee
On this episode of skucast, Bobby Lehew talks with sales coach and fractional executive Nicole McNamee about finding hidden spend in existing accounts, breaking through sales ceilings, and the habits that turn prospecting into growth.
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Episode 369: Inside commonsku's AI Future with Charlie Moscoe
On this episode of skucast, Bobby Lehew and Charlie Moscoe interview each other on the state of AI in promo, skubot's return, and what's shipping on the roadmap for the rest of the year.
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Episode 368: A Mid-Year Update on All Things commonsku
On this episode of skucast, Bobby and Bella Chamoun-Ko run through the mid-year update: Q2 releases, the new AI suite, and a look at what's coming next quarter.
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Episode 367: A Masterclass in Making the PPAI Top 100
On this episode of skucast, we pull the highlights from a webinar with three PPAI Top 100 distributors — Sandy Gonzalez (MadeToOrder), Michael Wolaver (Magellan Promotions), and Robert Fiveash (Brand Fuel) — on what unlocked their growth, why culture fit beats book of business, and the calls that...
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Episode 366: How to Sell Merch as High Impact with Kara Parkinson
On this episode of skucast, Kara Parkinson, commonsku's SVP of Marketing and a veteran of Apple, Intuit, Nestlé, and PepsiCo, shares the creative brief she's drafting for merch buyers, the difference between category thinking and context thinking, and what makes a distributor pitch land with a CMO.
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Episode 365: Why It's Gifting, Not Promo with Erika Athanas
On this episode of skucast, Elevate Gifting founder Erika Athanas explains why she banned the words "promo" and "swag" from client conversations, how she built a global distribution partner network through years of trial and error, and how a commonsku Backpack newsletter sparked an eight-shop...
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Episode 364: Strategic Growth for Promo Distributors with Maria Acquarola
On this episode of skucast, commonsku's Outside Sales Director Maria Acquarola talks strategic growth for promo distributors, the seven-touch cadence that cuts through email fatigue, and the partnership reframe for solving order problems in the promotional products industry
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Episode 363: AI as Team, Not Tools with Bobby Lehew
On this episode of skucast, commonsku's new Chief AI Officer Bobby Lehew talks treating AI as team (not tools), customer intelligence, and the AI reset moment for the promotional products industry
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Episode 362: From $13M to $32M with City Paper's Stephanie Friedman
On this episode of skucast, City Paper CEO Stephanie Friedman talks walking away from a multimillion-dollar contract, vulnerable leadership, and how a 129-year-old family business grew from $13M to $32M
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Episode 361: Q1 Rundown in 7 Minutes (Platform Updates, Events, and AI)
Bobby Lehew covers Q1 platform updates, skucamp's move to Montréal, and AI features shipping inside commonsku for promo distributors
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Episode 360: Behind the Code with Dileshni Jayasinghe
On skucast’s latest episode, VP of Technology Dileshni Jayasinghe reveals how AI is accelerating feature development for promotional products distributors.
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Episode 359: Danny Rosin's Punk Rock Plan for Promo's Future
On skucast’s latest episode, Danny Rosin of Brand Fuel about leading PPAI, the landmark carbon study, and why promotional products need more punk rock energy.
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Episode 358: Imprint Engine's Global Playbook for Promo
On skucast’s latest episode, Caleb Gilbertson and Colin Loughran share Imprint Engine's playbook for global scale, plus AI champions and the leadership split.
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Episode 357: Finding Million-Dollar Accounts in Plain Sight (with Mark McCormack)
On commonsku’s latest episode, Mark McCormack reveals the formula for finding million-dollar accounts in plain sight, plus the future of POD and AI.
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Episode 356: Fresh Start Energy and What's Possible in 2026
Bobby Lehew shares where to find commonsku at PPAI Expo 2026, new Shopify and tax features, and how 930+ companies built momentum in 2025 heading into 2026.
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Episode 355: Your Team's AI Enablement Guide for 2026
Eku Malcolm on skucast: Stop tinkering with AI and start scaling it. Frameworks to move your team from experimentation to fluency in 2026.
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Episode 354: Tim Andrews on Promo, Culture, and 23 Years at ASI
Tim Andrews shares 23 years of promotional products insights on culture, leadership, and industry evolution. A commonsku skucast with the ASI CEO.
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Episode 353: Growth Through Chaos with Scott Alterman (The Icebox)
The Icebox's Scott Alterman on surviving cyber attacks, betting on inventory over POD, and scaling promotional products businesses with commonsku.
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Episode 352: Why Sales Teams Need Systems, Not Just Superstars (with Dickron Kherlopian)
Dickron Kherlopian, commonsku SVP of Sales, shares systems & metrics that can transform promotional products sales teams. Essential insights for distributors.
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Episode 351: Turning Crisis Into a $30M Transformation (Team SCG's Shayna Cohen)
Team SCG CEO Shayna Cohen reveals how firing 20% of clients, rebranding during crisis, and aggressive hiring led to explosive growth from $5M to $30M in 4 years.
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Episode 350: Inside commonsku's Platform Revolution with Charlie Moscoe
Charlie Moscoe reveals commonsku's platform evolution: AI-powered search, automatic bill matching, and finance tools that give distributors time back.
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Episode 349: The Scottsdale Experience (Inside skucamp 2025)
skucamp 2025's most powerful moments in one episode. Industry CEOs share real numbers, real failures, and what's disrupting promotional products now.
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Episode 348: Three CEOs, Billions in Revenue, One Stage (skucamp 2025)
Live at skucamp 2025: Catherine Graham leads a supplier CEO panel with S&S, HIT, and Koozie leaders on M&A, AI-powered ops, POD’s rise, and tariff turbulence.
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Episode 347: Reframing Promo as a Marketing Channel with Drew Holmgreen (PPAI)
PPAI's new CEO Drew Holmgreen reframes promo as a marketing channel, not tchotchkes. Learn his agency-driven vision, $1T+ economic impact study & how AI wins deals in 2025.
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Episode 346: Storm Creek's Blueprint for Sustainability Success
Storm Creek tracks carbon emissions down to zippers, earned B Corp status & went Connected+ on commonsku. Learn how sustainability data wins deals in 2025.
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Episode 345: Why Experiences Beat Deliveries Every Time with Dean Caravelis (Blezoo)
What if the secret to growth isn't sending more emails, but sending fewer? Dean Caravelis, founder of Blezoo and author of "The Experience in a Box Playbook," explains why precision beats volume in promotional products. We dive into why campaign complexity kills memorability, the physical...
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Episode 344: Too Fast to Ship with Joel Freet (Cutter & Buck)
Joel Freet's team ships orders in 6 minutes flat. The Cutter & Buck CEO reveals how robots, AI, and smart automation transformed their fulfillment operations.
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Episode 343: The Next $100M Distributor Will Have 10 Employees (with iPromo's Leo Friedman)
What if the next $100 million distributor only needs 10 employees? Leo Friedman, CEO of iPromo, believes this bold prediction is already becoming reality. Since 1999, Leo has built iPromo from startup to industry powerhouse: 75 employees, 55,000+ customers, and 500+ on-demand products that solve...
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Episode 342: Exploring Asia with Dave and Mark (Factory Tours, Hong Kong Gift Fair, and PromoCares!)
What does the promo industry look like from the inside out? I mean, all the way to the source, from manufacturing in Asia to the delivered product to clients. Well, in today’s show, we’re getting a peek behind the scenes as we take a promo tour through Asia with Dave Shultz, commonsku’s VP of...
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Episode 341: Building a Brandstores Powerhouse (with Outreach Promo's Nevin Bansal)
Can you hit a 30% growth target YTD and still make a major contribution to your community? Apparently, you can. In this episode, we talk with Nevin Bansal. Nevin is the Founder and CEO of Outreach Promos, a Columbus-based company providing online brandstores, branded merch, and design solutions....
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Episode 340: Tariffs, Tech, AI & Building Teams: Gold Bond's Britney Godsey
Britney Godsey is the dynamic CRO at Gold Bond, we chat about tariffs, the "China plus one" strategy some suppliers employ, the recent implementation of commonsku ePOs for streamlined order processing, and tech advancements like the Brand Lab AI podcast and chatbot, alongside a focus on team...
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Episode 339: How Design Thinking Drives Promo Sales with Tom Havens
Tom Havens, a creative powerhouse and the visionary founder of Havens Consulting, possesses a remarkable sales background and deep roots in creative and design for the promo industry. His leadership propelled Catalyst Marketing to $25 MM before its acquisition by HALO in 2017. Driven by his…
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Episode 338: A Branded Product Agency Philosophy with Francis Pierrel, LR Paris
Episode 338: A Branded Product Agency Philosophy with Francis Pierrel, LR Paris by commonsku
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Episode 337: Mastering Client Complexity Through Mergers: A Chat with Kate Ivory and Laura Mazy, Premier Press
Episode 337: Mastering Client Complexity Through Mergers: A Chat with Kate Ivory and Laura Mazy, Premier Press by commonsku
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Episode 336: The “Quiet Work” of a Power Brand: Inside MOTIF’s Unique Culture with Joel Antymniuk
Episode 336: The “Quiet Work” of a Power Brand: Inside MOTIF’s Unique Culture with Joel Antymniuk by commonsku
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Episode 335: Customer Experience is the New Differentiator (Dan Gingiss)
Episode 335: Customer Experience is the New Differentiator (Dan Gingiss) by commonsku
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Episode 334: The Optimism & Anxiety of Sales Growth: Tips from Sales Expert Kevin Baumgart
Episode 334: The Optimism & Anxiety of Sales Growth: Tips from Sales Expert Kevin Baumgart by commonsku
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Episode 333: The Real Sales Growth Unlock? Joy (A Chat with Matthew Dart, Blackfish)
Blackfish is an unapologetically boutique brand that focuses on a customer-obsessed experience as the bedrock for building growth.
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Episode 332: Monty Mims: How SanMar’s Connected+ Partnership with commonsku Boosts Real-Time ePOs
Monty Mims is one of the many folks leading SanMar’s Decorator & Tech Solutions division, he’s brilliant at both helping distributors work better with their decorators, but also helping decorators navigate the landscape of trends, equipment, and supply chain.
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Episode 331: From Promo to Transforming Culture with John Henry at JH
When John Henry of JH started in 1998, little did he know that JH would soon expand into culture and recruitment services for businesses, consulting, digital services, and more. Many of us in the industry consider ourselves strategic advisors to our clients, but when our CCO, Bobby Lehew, got to...
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Episode 330: The Impact Journey: Fairware's Sarah White and Denise Taschereau
Episode 330: The Impact Journey: Fairware's Sarah White and Denise Taschereau by commonsku
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Episode 329: Ethically Sourced Merch for Socially Responsible Clients (Daniel Cardozo, Ethix Merch)
Episode 329: Ethically Sourced Merch for Socially Responsible Clients (Daniel Cardozo, Ethix Merch) by commonsku
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Episode 328: Hit Promo's Amy Rabideau and Jon Norris Are Making Big Changes
Hit Promo is now a connected+ supplier on commonsku, what does that mean? A lightening fast ordering process, securing inventory quicker, and the elimination of order entry errors by you and your team (and more!) Today, we’re talking with Amy Rabideau, Hit’s VP of Product and Jon Norris, Chief...
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Episode 327: "Marketing Made Easy: Unleashing the Power of commonsku + PromoPulse (with Jason Nokes)
Episode 327: "Marketing Made Easy: Unleashing the Power of commonsku + PromoPulse (with Jason Nokes) by commonsku
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Episode 326: How to Thrive in an Emotion-Driven Economy (with Kyla Scanlon)
Our guest on this episode of the skucast is Kyla Scanlon, founder of the financial education company, Bread, and a prolific creator. Kyla writes a weekly newsletter, makes YouTube videos, hosts the “Let’s Appreciate” podcast, and posts —almost daily— short-form videos about the economy and markets.
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Episode 325: The Secret to Courage? Brave Habits (with Todd Henry)
Todd Henry is one of the most sought-after creativity coaches in the world, he teaches leaders and organizations how to establish practices that lead to everyday brilliance.
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Welcome to skucast, the #1 podcast for entrepreneurs in the print and promotional products industries. skucast shines a light on our industries' best work, features maverick personalities, and discusses what’s really involved in running a modern print or promotional products business. skucast is the official podcast of commonsku.
HOSTED BY
commonsku
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does skucast have?
skucast currently has 401 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is skucast about?
Welcome to skucast, the #1 podcast for entrepreneurs in the print and promotional products industries. skucast shines a light on our industries' best work, features maverick personalities, and discusses what’s really involved in running a modern print or promotional products business. skucast is...
How often does skucast release new episodes?
skucast publishes regularly with 401 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to skucast?
You can listen to skucast on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts skucast?
skucast is created and hosted by commonsku.
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