Welcome to the 2019 Power 50 list, which ranks the most influential people in the industry.

#1 Kevin Lyons-Tarr & Suzanne Worwood, 4imprint (asi/197045)

With 2018 North American promo sales of $714.6 million, 4imprint is the market’s largest distributor, a fast-growing innovator that increased revenue 223% between 2013 and last year – a global force that’s on track to become the first billion-dollar distributorship by 2022.

It’s not just the soaring sales that make 4imprint so widely respected by industry firms, it’s how the London, U.K.-based company, whose primary operations are centered in Oshkosh, WI, has achieved the results. More than any other promo firm, 4imprint has mastered e-commerce, fueling a meteoric sales ascent through web-based business without the aid of a traditional sales force. Indeed, 4imprint is promo’s most successful e-commerce disruptor – a fact proved by the bottom line, which stood at after-tax profit of $35.2 million on worldwide revenue of $738.41 million in 2018.

Key catalysts for the runaway success, the essential leaders spearheading the innovation and gains, are CEO Kevin Lyons-Tarr and SVP of Merchandising & Supply Chain Suzanne Worwood. That’s why peers ranked the talented pair highest on this year’s Power 50 list. “Both Suzanne and Kevin embody the values that have made 4imprint such a success: humility, commitment, respect and leadership,” says David Nicholson, president of Top 40 supplier Polyconcept North America (asi/78897).

The Ace of the Supply Chain
Worwood’s time at 4imprint began with a bit of culture shock. The U.K. native admits the transition to Wisconsin took some getting used to. While she jokes that, nearly two decades later, she’s still adapting, there’s no doubt that Counselor’s 2014 International Person of the Year is at home in her job.

The roots of Worwood’s current role reach back to 2004, when she was working to develop a 4imprint merchandising plan. Currently, she oversees four teams involved in merchandising, product data, compliance, corporate social responsibility and operational relationships with suppliers. The work of Worwood and the approximately 60 people she manages are vital to 4imprint, touching all aspects of the company and, given the distributor’s influence and spending power, reverberating throughout promo.

“Our relationship with 4imprint has made PCNA a better supplier in many ways,” says Nicholson. “They’ve challenged us to strengthen our supply chain and supported our efforts around new service initiatives. It was always from a perspective of doing the right thing – more than just profits or growth.”

Worwood has been a driver of much of that influence. Her work includes collaborating with suppliers’ product development teams and their partner factories overseas. “Lately, I spend an increasing amount of time looking at how our supply chain can continue to support our growth, as it’s an integral part of our future plans,” she says. Meanwhile, her designs and product planning have been followed and copied by manufacturers, suppliers and competitors. And she’s where the buck stops when it comes to ensuring that every product 4imprint offers from its vendors is safety-compliant and made in a socially responsible manner.

“We have an obligation to provide safe, responsibly sourced product for our customers, but we believe that it should also be a positive experience for the people involved in making that happen – our team, supplier partners and their factories,” says Worwood.

From Consultant to CEO
Lyons-Tarr began as a consultant at the company that’s evolved into today’s 4imprint. Now, he’s the CEO of the global enterprise that’s grown to approximately 1,100 employees. “My job is to make sure we’re clear about where we’re going, that we have the measures in place to know we’re getting there, and that we’ve got the right people and the right culture to make it happen,” he says.

Clearly, he’s doing a good job of that. Lyons-Tarr won Counselor’s Person of the Year award in 2012, in part because he captained 4imprint to sales of $225 million, or 36% growth over two years at the time. Revenue has more than tripled since then. A key factor in the sales surge has been Lyons-Tarr’s unique qualities as a leader.

With his information technology background, Lyons-Tarr has a nuts-and-bolts tech capability that’s complemented by the big-picture vision and strategizing acumen of business’s most capable leaders. He combines that with a tireless work ethic and a good heart – the kind of leader who penned handwritten letters to each employee to accompany gift cards given at the height of the Great Recession; who mopped floors when there was a flood and chipped in to help build new cubicles; whose outgoing nature permeates 4imprint’s positive, employee-empowering culture. “It’s the people here that make me excited about where we’re headed,” he says. “They come with great ideas and enthusiasm to add exciting chapters to the 4imprint story. I’ve been here long enough to see them grow and achieve all sorts of things. I’m proud of how we’ve gone about developing a strategy and how we’ve done our best to deliver and hold ourselves accountable.”