#22 Nancy Schmidt

AIA Corp. (asi/109480) – CEO

2021 Rank: #23 

Industry Experience: 4 years

Previous Appearances on Power 50: 2

Now in her third year as CEO of AIA, Schmidt continues to strengthen the Top 40 distributor’s support of and connection to its owner community, while also investing in the AIA team and company culture. Close partnering with preferred suppliers helped the firm navigate supply chain-related issues early in the year, and Schmidt is happy to report that YTD, the AIA community achieved more than a 30% sales increase year over year. “Our owners are working hard and it’s paying off,” she adds.

Guided by the vision of “Community Strong, Owner Experience, Trusted Partner,” Schmidt started an enterprise strategy to create a differentiated, self-sustaining technology and marketing ecosystem that drives owner success, rewards AIA team members and suppliers, and contributes to profitable growth. “To deepen connections with AIA’s owner community throughout the year,” Schmidt notes, “we launched a multi-pronged communication and engagement approach, with a variety of touchpoints, including a virtual Marketing Lab on digital sales strategies, an in-person annual sales meeting at our Appleton headquarters, and four regional sales meetings located across the U.S.”

Schmidt continues to build out the distributor’s executive team with a spate of recent hires, including Stacy Price as VP of marketing; Wendy Smith as VP of business development; and industry veteran Rich Berg as senior VP of owner success. Schmidt’s focus on team and culture led AIA to again being named to Counselor’s Best Places to Work list in 2022.