Top 40 Distributor Stran & Company (asi/337725) has named promotional products industry veteran Sheila Johnshoy as chief operating officer to help support the company’s continued growth.

Sheila Johnshoy, COO, Stran

Andy Shape, president and CEO of Stran, said the company was honored to welcome Johnshoy into the senior management team. “She is a highly regarded professional in our industry with an impressive track record developing and executing growth strategies, managing multichannel business/brands, as well as developing sales and marketing teams,” he added.  

Johnshoy’s appointment comes at a “key inflection point” for Stran as it looks to accelerate growth both organically and through acquisitions, Shape said. “We look forward to Sheila’s contributions as we continue to expand our market position as a leading provider of outsourced marketing solutions,” he noted.

Johnshoy has more than 20 years of leadership experience in the industry. Before joining Stran, she served as vice president of sourcing and merchandising at SwagUp (asi/340527), where she designed the merchandising and sourcing structure, as well as its supply chain functions. Prior to that, she was the chief revenue officer for Top 40 distributor ePromos Promotional Products (asi/188515), where she developed strategic plans that helped grow revenue from $18 million to more than $70 million, while increasing gross profit and net profitability.

Johnshoy created and led the promotional products division at San Antonio-based Harland Clarke (asi/219943) as vice president of merchandising. Harland Clarke is known for powering Walmart and Costco’s entry into the promo market.

Shape noted that Johnshoy played a pivotal role in bringing some of the world’s largest retailers into the promo industry. “While at Harland Clarke, she helped grow revenues from startup to $8 million with the first 12 months alone,” Shape added.

Before her stint at Harland Clarke, she served as vice president of marketing at ePromos.

Johnshoy received a mini-MBA from the University of St. Thomas and a bachelor’s of business management from St. Cloud State University.

Last year, Stran raised $20.7 million during its IPO; it raised an additional $21.7 million during a private placement to institutional investors. The company ranked on Counselor’s Top 40 list for the first time in 2021, after a 48% year-over-year revenue increase in 2020. The tally of $46.9 million in North American promotional product revenue was good enough to rank Stran as 32nd on the list of top distributors in the industry.