Meet 350+ Suppliers. Find New Products. Source Inventory. All at ASI Show Chicago, July 23-25.   Register Now.

Awards

Luke Freeman - The Hot 25

Who’s shaking up the industry today and making it a unique, successful, challenging and innovative sector? The members of the 2016 Counselor Hot 25. Check out their stories.

Maybe it was the fact that he’s produced a 10-minute pitch video for The Apprentice, or that he was a contestant on Shark Tank in 2013, but Luke Freeman knows a thing or two about selling. As the president of FL-based Wizard Creations (asi/362568)  – named for his father who wore many hats, including teacher, magician and screenprinter – Freeman and his team, who grew the company from humble beginnings in his parents’ garage, have shaken up the industry with an unorthodox sales approach. For starters, the company has shirked individual incentives and motivation for team-based selling, goals and rewards. “When the team wins, we all win,” Freeman says, citing the firm’s triple-digit growth.

Freeman, inspired by his father who printed T-shirts past 2 a.m. after a day in the classroom, says his sellers are compensated based upon corporate growth, rather than individual sales results. Doing so creates greater employee investment in the firm. Says Freeman, “this strategy creates a team of winners all moving in the same direction.”

Want more Hot 25 profiles? Of course you do!