Ever since he declared his candidacy and won in perhaps the most shocking election in American political history, President Donald Trump has been a promo powerhouse. And there’s been one distributor operating behind the scenes, cranking out thousands upon thousands of bumper stickers, plastic straws and MAGA hats: Ace Specialties (asi/103553), based in Lafayette, LA.

At the ASI Power Summit, Ace Specialties founder and owner Christl Mahfouz shared her unlikely story, from struggling to make ends meet to pitching to the president on a whim to the new ways her distributorship is positioning itself for the 2020 election.

Thank you Christl for a great session! Even cooler that her sister Ashley (left) was in attendance. #ASIPowerSummit @AceSpecialties pic.twitter.com/efY9bxmEe2

— C.J. Mittica (@CJ_Advantages) October 28, 2019

It started at the beginning of 2015, when Mahfouz said the oil and gas industry took a nosedive, and her primary sources of revenue dried up. “I didn’t know how I was going to pay my bills,” she recalled. “Sales dropped in half. I had every credit card tapped out. I was probably at the lowest point in my life. Crying, firing employees. It was horrible.”

She looked for a sign, and a few months later she found it in Trump’s announcement that he was running for president. “I saw some shirts in the background, and I went, ‘Ooh, that’s a terrible logo. I can do better.’ Honestly, it was like a lightbulb went off.”

Envisioning slogans like “Team Trump” and “Women for Trump”, within five days she created printed samples and overnighted them to Trump Tower. The items impressed the campaign team enough to allow her to make her pitch in person, and when the president took a look, he loved what he saw. Recalled Mahfouz, “He said, ‘Do you mind if I take these bumper stickers? They’re great.’ ”

To keep up with the growing number of orders, Ace has expanded from a 7,000-square-foot facility to 12,000 square feet to now a 40,000-square-foot facility. The distributor is also bringing decoration in house and partnering with a donation platform for Republican political candidates to add merch to their websites. Mahfouz says she’s seen increasing options for Made-in-USA, but has to be selective with the suppliers she sources from. “The first thing I say when I talk to suppliers is, ‘Can you handle the volume?’ ” she said. “Because if not, I can’t work with you.”

When asked about how distributors can target the political market, Mahfouz says that candidates are increasingly moving to digital, but they shouldn’t overlook the tried-and-true effectiveness of promotional products. “People vote on recognition. We all know that, the studies are there,” she said. “If you’re going to target a candidate, keep it simple. Keep it to the products that are effective and have proven results: yard signs, bumper stickers, buttons, hats, shirts. Try not to make it too complicated.”