Promote or Perish | Jennifer Crowder, GR Promotions #012

Hi everyone, it's Karissa from Shining Light on Minnesota. I am super excited today. We have one of my most favorite people in the whole wide world, Jennifer Crowder here. Welcome Jennifer. Thank you so much, Karissa, for having me. You bet. Appreciate it. Why don't we start off just by telling everybody who you're with and kind of a little bit about your backstory. Okay. So, uh we are with I'm with GR Promotions of Vernon company and I my husband started it in 1994 and I came on board in 1998 and have loved this industry. I needed to get back into corporate America. I was not before and absolutely just love being in the industry helping people market themselves. And in 2001, I think it was, I decided that I wanted, my husband wanted to take a backseat. So, I decided that I was going to uh take over ownership of it. So, amazing. Yeah. What did you do prior to GR Promotions? Oh, goodness. I was Well, I was in corporate America for a little while. Then I decided that um uh someone asked me if I wanted to be in Mary Kay. So, I said, "Sure, I suppose. Yeah, that sounds okay." And so, yes, I did win one of those pink Cadillacs, and that was great. Oh, fun. Um, but then again, my my pull to corporate America uh was real hard for me, so I decided to give that up and and come come back into corporate America. Why don't you tell everybody a little bit about some of your promotional stuff and the cool things that you guys have to offer and who all you try to reach in what areas? Well, you know, the the fun thing is we started out with the chambers of commerces and then we decided that, you know, let's expand our network and I got involved in the association of women contractors which just has been a breath of fresh air for me, meeting other women, supporting other women and so I do a lot with construction. Um, but some of the promotions that we do are, you know, this time of year golf is huge. golf tournaments. We were talking earlier, golf tournaments are just huge right now. We've been at golf tournaments together. Yes, we've been at golf tournaments together. Um and so anything to do with golf um are great handouts. Uh we do, you know, sleeves of golf balls. Um it's funny how people get excited about purchasing, you know, Titleless Prov1 or something, but most people don't really use a Prov1 because I do. You do. But that's because you're really good, right? You know, the Wilsons of the world. Yeah. Not so much. Um, so those are always good. And then we get into things like, um, we'll be getting into trade shows now coming up with the fall. So, handouts for trade shows, working with people's budgets. Um, we do things like uh banners, table covers, and of course the handouts. Yeah. Nice. So, you're now a womanowned business. Yes. tell people a little bit about what that's been like since you took over from having Ray be there. That's a great question. It's been very interesting. Um I enjoy it. I I love uh learning from other women that are, you know, owner business owners and so it's been I I I really enjoy that part. What have been some of the up and downs that you've dealt with along the way? Like obviously you had CO come on and you had other things and the economy the way it is. Yes. Do you see that it's kind of starting to go back up? I do. That's a good question, Chrissa. I um Yeah, 2008 we didn't see much of a a dip, but then 9 and 10 we did see a dip. And then of course when CO hit because trade shows, um awards, cuz I do a lot with awards for companies, all that just kind of stopped. So it was like you were sitting there going, "Oh my goodness." Um, but you know the thing is is that people still need to get their name out in front of people or people think that they've gone away. And I know just just within the Chamber of Commerce, if I don't see people on a regular basis, I kind of go, "Oh, are they did they go out of business?" Yeah. And so it's so important. You don't have to spend a lot of money to get your name out there, right? What do you guys find with your own sales and brand awareness? How do you try to reach other people? Good. Gosh, you're just asking great questions. I know. Guess you've done this before. We love these conversations, right? Um, you know, we we do what we call self-promos and we pick some items from our vendors that we feel people are going to use and want. Like I have my favorite pen and notebooks and things. So, we use that. And then we usually have gift bags with our names on them. and we're going through because we've um slimmed down on a bunch of items. We are now trying to get some new ones. So, we're ordering some new promotional items. But yeah, it's just it's being out there like you are. You are such um an ambassador of Sun Control. You are everywhere. I try to be. You do. You do. And and I want to be Karissa when I get younger. Oh, you're already young. We're good. Nope. So, let's talk a little bit about your why. Like, what what drives you? What what gets you up every morning and gets you out there and want to reach more people? Well, I I'm a huge believer in setting goals. Um, I do uh I have my goals for weekly goals, daily goals. So, those are the one thing that drives me. And the I guess the most important thing that drives me is being able to help people within their budgets be able to get their name out there, brand awareness, and being able to help people um concentrate on not having so many colors in their logo. Um they want, excuse me, they they should do things like make sure that the colors are always consistent. Um and that their name is always the same. Don't change up your logo. be sure that you're keeping your logo the same and the colors the same because that's what people get to know, right? So, you have some small goals. Do you ever set really large goals obviously for the year or anything that you try to attain? I do. Um the wonderful thing about our company, the uh GR Promotions, we're part of a large conglomerate which is called the Vernon Company and they do incentive trips and a couple years ago we earned a trip to Portugal which was fantastic. This year it is um we finish our year our fiscal year at the end of February and this year it'll be to um uh Cabo San Lucas. Oh, fun. And so that's my goal. February too. It's No, it the year ends in February. They are they plan their trip in like April, May. Nice. So, yeah. So, traveling, you've obviously done some traveling. Where have been some of your favorite places you've traveled to? Ooh, I would have to say Portugal was amazing. I liked it because I felt really safe over there. Okay. The um police officers don't wear all the garb that they do here. Um, nobody's carrying these big machine guns. Um, I loved London and Germany, Bavaria. Um, so yeah, those are some of the my favorite places. Fun. Fun. And you also go to Arizona. Yes. And how often do you go there? Well, we started this last year just booking our pl booking a place down there for the month of February. And it was just wonderful. It was nice to just be able to, of course, Minnesota had its warmest winter, of course. Of course. And um but yeah, we just went down there and we were able to visit friends and it was nice to see green grass and the birds singing and it was just amazing. Change of scenery. Exactly. So, how do you find that through your daily rituals you try to change it up and find those different things that'll help you reset and refresh? Well, I'm a firm believer in reading books, listening to tapes, um, podcasts, anything that is motivational, has some, um, good ideas for how to be better, bigger, um, tips on organizing, all those kinds of things. Favorite book? Oh, goodness. Um, well, I'd probably have to say my the favorite book that I've ever read was Good to Great. Mhm. Um and I think that's important for companies that are um have lots of uh employees being sure that the right people are on the right seat in the right bus. Right. It's so important because you can have people that are great, but they're not on the right seat in the bus and consequently they're not happy. And I've seen you at a lot of events. You like to surround yourself by people that are happy and are moving up and want to see you be successful. What are some of your tips for the viewers out there trying to find people like that and just trying to keep pushing through their day? Oo, that's a good question. Well, I am a firm believer in you can't make your journey by yourself. You have to surround yourself with positive people. And I do that. We organized a group within the Vernon company of six account executives that we meet twice a month. Nice. And we talk about things like, you know, what are the challenges? What are your wins? What are your losses? Why did you lose? Why did you win? How did you win? What are some fresh ideas? Whether it's for Christmas or whether it's for the golfing season, what are you kind of doing? So, I love to surround myself with people like that. And then I have um a friend of mine um and we have calls on Mondays and Fridays. Uh what's your goals for the week? Perfect. And then what how did you do exactly? And being accountable to one another. Yep. So you've obviously had some obstacles and challenges. How do you find yourself that you usually regulate and get through those? Well, I'm kind of a spiritual person. Not kind of. I am a spiritual person. So I start my day out with daily devotionals. And I feel like that is huge for getting my day on the right track. Um, and every morning it's a choice to wake up. Yeah. Are you going to be happy today or are you going to be a Krabby, right? You know, Krabby Patty. Krabby Patty. Right. Right. So, I just believe, you know, life is a choice and you make of it what you want to. Right. And I know we've talked about kind of just trying different things and thinking outside the box. We've sat down and had lunches together. What are some of the things that you look forward to in the future or some things that you want to try? Oo boy, you are just full of good questions. Yeah. Um, so things I want to try. Well, one of the things that I always make sure I attend is the Vernon um, national sales meeting because they bring in all of our top vendors and they come in and tell us what's new, what's hot, what's, you know, some new ideas. And so I I make sure I do that. But then I also we have the vendors that come into town into Minneapolis St. Paul area. I make sure that they are giving us ideas of what we can do and what's new and how to promote what's doing out there and how to grow. Exactly. Yep. And and what can you do just a little bit different to set yourself apart from the competition because there are just like there's lots of people that sell insurance, right? There's lots of people that sell promotional products and I don't want to be the person that's just picking up the phone and being reactive. I want to be proactive with my customers and make sure that um they're getting virtuals on a consistent basis and uh spec samples if it's something that they need to see. Yeah. Perfect. So, outside of the Vernon company, you like to read, you like to listen to tapes, motivational. What are some of the things that you like to do when you're not at work to kind of help balance? Well, I have a 2-year-old chocolate or excuse me, a boxer. Oh, boy. And she's um likes to walk. So, we go on walks. I love to garden. Um I just And you have hostas. I do have hostas. Lots of hostas. In fact, I had hired somebody to, excuse me, to come out and remove a bunch of my hostas because they were just overgrowing my garden. So, I had him put those in the back and then I put in other plants, uh, perennials, and so I love to garden. And then my other passion is, um, sewing. I love to quilt. Fun. And then um something that people probably don't know about me is that I picked up my flute from 30 years ago and started taking flute lessons again and playing in our our church wind ensemble. Amazing. I love how you always try to stay fresh and bring stuff up, but you keep going like you're one of the people I look up to just because you wake up positive every day and you're ready to go and ready to hit the streets and and just move forward. So, you and Ray travel, you've got the Vernon company you like to garden. What are some of the things that you guys can find or that you look forward to in the future? I think we'll keep doing the same thing. Absolutely. I just, you know, my husband goes, I pro I'll probably die at my desk. That's fine. He's tried, I think, three times now to retire. Yep. And he just doesn't keep himself busy enough. Right. So he comes back and goes, "I can't I can't not do this." And I go, "I know. It's just fun." And as long as you stay refreshed and uh with it, if you will, and not get stuck in the same old same old, you can do this for many years to come. And I enjoy it. And I love my customers. Yeah. So you have a pretty large customer base. What are some of the new or some of the other people out there other than the chambers that you are going to try to reach this year? I would like to get into some other organizations. Um I have a a women in trucking um event coming up in November that we're going to be going to down in Dallas. Nice. Yeah. And I'm looking forward to that. And I also have a passion for seniors. Um, both my parents have passed and I saw how they went through their senior living and the things that I want to make sure that other seniors are being taken care of and making sure it is and making sure there's good facilities for people and that they make good choices. So, I'd like to get more involved in the senior living. Yeah. I mean, it's it's tough when parents get old and when they when they move on to the other place. um seeing like they're living, seeing how they're treated when they get older and the work environment for people wanting to work and trying to get out there and help too. I mean there's a shortage of workers obviously. Um so that makes it difficult too. It does. And I think unfortunately I saw it with my mom and that was, you know, young people um the medical field, the young people look at somebody who's 70 or 75 and go, well, they've lived a good life. Bye-bye. And I I'm an advocate that people can live into their 80s and 90s. My grandma was 106 when she passed. We're now 107. Yes. Wow. And if you have all your faculties and you can communicate and you're doing good, by all means, power to you. Absolutely. And sometimes when when you work and you have those passions, no matter what it may be, whether it's gardening or walking or whatever, when you lose them or when you stop using them, you lose them. So why not just keep doing what you're doing and doing the things you love to do? You just might have to do them a little slower. Yeah, that's fine. Let's Let's just keep going. Right. Exactly. I'll be 100 years old out on the golf course not being able to see my ball, but I'll still be out there looking around. That's right. That's right. So, you and Ray have such a great business. You want to get into some new areas. What are some obstacles that you guys have faced other than just the little bit of an economy the way that happened? Yeah. I I'm I'm pleased that we didn't go into a full recession because I think that could have really been challenging. Um, I think what we're going to be continuing to do is getting our name out there, attending um, chamber events, as many events that we can um, so that we keep moving forward. Yeah. Moving forward. Yeah. Yeah. Perfect. And you like to do a lot outside. What about wintertime? What are some of your activities? Are you going to continue to travel, do you think? I hope so. Yes. As long as we're able. I'd love to keep traveling. That's one of my passions in life. Um, I love the ocean. So, I lived in San Diego for three and a half years and absolutely loved it out there. Um, so yes, I want to continue traveling as long as we're able to do that. I'm not a big outside person when it comes to winter. That's why it's better for me to be somewhere where it's warm. So, you used to live in San Diego. When's the last time you've been back? Actually, Vernon had a national sales meeting about three or four years ago. So, it was fun to be back there. And of course, you know, cities never stay the same. They always change, right? Especially California, too. Especially California. Exactly. Do you still have a lot of contacts back there or do you Have they all pretty much moved on, too? Yes. Exactly. Nice. Yeah. So, Vernon has their next trip coming up outside of Vernon. Do you guys want to go anywhere? Do you think you'll go back to Arizona this year? We we booked a place. So, yeah, we're hoping to do that. Um, you know, God willing, we'll we'll be sure to get there. And, you know, our dog, um, our boxer absolutely was an amazing traveler. So, you know, you always worry that they're going to be anxiety. Yes. Exactly. She just curled up in the back seat and she just thought it was a great thing. Nice. Yeah, that's good that she's young to be able to do that, too, cuz a lot of times when they get older and they're not used to it, right? How did she like the atmosphere down there and the heat and everything like that? She loved it. She loved it. And of course, she hadn't been used to ducks and geese and pigeons and and she thought she had they were her play toys. So, but they didn't want to play with her. No, no, not at all. Fun. Well, you have a lot going on. We're super excited to see where you're going. We have a lot of events coming up. What are some of the events you're looking forward to that you have coming up? Oh, thank you. Um, the Minnesota Builders Exchange has their golf tournament coming up. Um, I think it's June. Oh, goodness. Uh, you know, it's in June. I apologize. I should know that off the top of my head. And then another fun thing is our customer appreciation show is uh back in um October 16th at the it used to be the Best Western, but it was purchased by the Windham Hotels. So that's October 16th. So to that last year, it's so fun. Our customers love it because they can go shopping without us, you know, wondering what they're doing and what are they looking at. Well, and it's the hands-on, especially for the people that are looking, seeing, seeing, feeling, looking at it. Absolutely. I I am that type of person. I need to look and feel and touch because how many times have you looked at a catalog and gone or online and gone, "Oh, this looks so nice." And then you get it and you're like, "Nasty." That's when online shopping is kind of coming to be. You see, you see something perfect and then you get it and you're like, "This is not what I wanted, right? It's not going to fit. It doesn't look right. It's not going to the colors don't match. Yes, that's right. So, you have a lot there. How can people get a hold of you? Well, thank you. Um, they can either be sure to reach out to us via phone, which is 952-73619. My cell phone is 952-457-3257. And our website is www.grpromotions.com. So they will get a hold of you via call, text, email, everything like that. Again, one more time, what was the website? grotions.com. Perfect. Well, we've loved having you on today, Jennifer. I look forward to seeing you at all the events and what we have coming up. Me, too. Thank you so much, Karissa. Thank you.