46. Sandy Gonzalez

MadeToOrder (asi/259540)

2020 Rank: N/A

Title: CEO

Industry Experience: 38 years

After ascending to the CEO role at MadeToOrder (MTO) in 2019, Gonzalez was quickly challenged with the trial of a lifetime: the COVID pandemic. A veteran of promo, she headed into “the unknown,” as she calls it, by tapping into her years of leadership, peer mentoring and industry expertise to move her team remote while keeping the company moving forward.

For her efforts, the 2021 Counselor Woman of Distinction is now also on the Power 50 list for the first time.

Like her journey to the Power 50, the path to becoming CEO wasn’t quick – nearly 20 years after she first joined MTO. She spent a sleepless night in the hours before the critical day where she stood before MTO management and asked for the role, offering her rationale as to why she deserved it. The team gave her their full confidence.

It’s been an exciting journey for Gonzalez, who first took a customer service job at a promo supplier in California in the 1980s for the flexibility and convenience it offered (which was essential as a new mom), after experience in ad sales at a newspaper and radio station. She quickly learned the ins and outs of this massive industry, and got her feet wet at ASI Show Chicago, her first promo trade show.

It was supposed to be a “for now” job; soon, she couldn’t imagine doing anything else. It ended up becoming her career, something she never expected at the time. Now, as CEO, she encourages her team to support each other and take advantage of the many educational resources the industry offers, since things move so fast.

“We’re at the precipice of many changes in our lives,” she says. “We need to focus on both our internal teams as well as our client partners as things happen over the next few years.”

Next year, it’s eyes forward as MTO (and the industry) continue recovering from the pandemic. “We’re focused on growing our sales through our value-added services,” says Gonzalez, “and keeping the team motivated and open to doing new things or doing the same things in new ways.”