It’s been a bittersweet few weeks for Lisa Hawkins, as she says farewell to an industry she’s known for over 20 years.

Hawkins officially retired on April 1 from Lisa Hawkins Sales, after spending two decades as a Portland, OR-based multi-line rep for various suppliers, starting with Tri-Mountain and continuing with Top 40 firms Gemline (asi/56070), Stormtech Performance Apparel (asi/89864) and Outdoor Cap Company (asi/75420). Randy Snyder, owner of Randy Snyder Sales and a longtime sales partner who currently represents Outdoor Cap in Alaska, Washington and Montana, will take over Hawkins’ territory comprised of Oregon and Idaho.

Lisa Hawkins, owner of Lisa Hawkins Sales, most recently represented Outdoor Cap in the Pacific Northwest before her retirement.

Hawkins started her career in retail, specifically sporting goods, and moved to multi-line sales for promo in 2000 after a chance referral from a cousin who had joined an agency in Seattle. She established her own company, Lisa Hawkins Sales, in 2003 and started gradually picking up different suppliers’ lines. Snyder, whom Hawkins met as a fellow sales rep in Seattle, also established his own company around the same time, and he and Hawkins continued working together to represent suppliers in the Pacific Northwest.

“Even though we were financially independent, with our own sales firms, we worked together as a team,” Hawkins says. “We both had young kids at the time, so it helped to split the territory. We made it work. Then we took over Outdoor Cap here and we’ve been doing that, too, for about 15 years.”

Hawkins says it was “easy” to sell Outdoor Cap’s line in the outdoors-loving Pacific Northwest, where she was born and raised. “Their caps are the perfect fit for the region,” she says. “We love to go outside and play, and our sales strategy was just really fun. I loved the events-driven projects, like outdoor events for the 4^th of July – the company has so many Americana-themed hats that help clients celebrate national pride.”

Hawkins appreciated the variety of products she sold, as well as the creativity and the independence she enjoyed.

“The retail channel can be brutal,” she says. “There was also so much gender discrimination in the sporting goods industry. In promo, success had nothing to do with my gender, skin color or orientation. You’re paid 100% on commission and you’re 100% in control. You work really hard and you see the fruits of your labor. I felt empowered in an industry that celebrates hard work and creativity.”

For more than 20 years, Snyder had a front-row seat to Hawkins’ sales acumen. “Lisa had an amazing ability to bring everyone together for a project and turn great ideas, challenges and a myriad of details into a successful result, over and over again,” he told ASI Media. “She was always energized and smiling, and she had a special knack for representing her suppliers’ intricate initiatives and layering those into the always-changing needs of her clients. She asked a lot of important questions and was incredibly adaptable, and she worked really hard to keep suppliers and distributors connected in productive ways. She never turned away from a challenge and always asked the tough questions.”

Now that she’s retired, Hawkins has plans to spend more time outdoors, including hiking and skiing on weekdays when she can avoid crowds, and finally learning how to make her own cheese and pair it with fine wines.

“I wasn’t exhausted with my job at the end,” she says. “The time was right, and Randy was well-positioned to take over the territory. I loved every minute of my time in the industry.”