Darn Good Distributors

Hiring marketing talent in the unsexy world of B2B manufacturing and distribution is notoriously difficult. How do you find people who actually care about selling industrial or dental products?

Kyler Nixon sits down with Brian Shoberg to challenge everything you know about recruiting and onboarding. Brian argues that the traditional HR playbook belongs in the trash. Instead of looking for perfect resumes, he searches for raw passion and adaptability.

Brian shares his unconventional interview questions and explains why clear expectations in the first 90 days are critical for new hires. The conversation also covers how a strong brand story can change not just your external marketing, but your internal company culture.

Brian Shoberg is the Director of Marketing at Zirc Dental Products, a family-run medical device manufacturer known for its Color Method system. Before entering the dental manufacturing sector, Brian built a strong foundation in storytelling and media production.

He specializes in clarifying brand positioning and unifying cross-functional teams. His core philosophy is that clarity drives performance. At Zirc, Brian led a massive digital transformation and corporate rebranding to modernize the buying experience without alienating crucial B2B distributors.

• Why the traditional HR interview playbook needs to be thrown out and set on fire.
• How to interview for passion and why it matters more than experience in B2B marketing.
• The unexpected elephant question Brian uses to test a candidate's adaptability.
• Why paying above market value sets a standard of excellence for your team.
• The 90-day onboarding strategy: picking 10 specific things for a new hire to focus on.
• How implementing the StoryBrand framework changed Zirc Dental Products from the inside out.
• Why a strong brand story gives employees a reason to be proud of their daily work.

• Book: No Rules Rules by Reed Hastings
• Book: Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller
• Company Website: Zirc Dental Products
• Guest LinkedIn: Brian Shoberg

What happens when you bring a fast-paced retail playbook into a legacy B2B distribution environment? Kyler Nixon sits down with Andy Hall to find out.

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After spending 12 years building digital experiences at The Home Depot, Andy took his philosophy to US Foods. His core rule is simple: stay close to the cash register and the customer. But how does that actually look when you are selling to thousands of independent restaurants and hospitality managers?

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Kyler and Andy examine the reality of treating B2B e-commerce like a true software product. They discuss the difference between physical category management and digital merchandising, how to run agile sprints in distribution, and why a B2B buyer never checks their consumer habits at the door. If you want to know how a multi-billion-dollar giant rolls out artificial intelligence to enrich catalogs and predict out-of-stock events, this conversation has the answers.

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Guest Bio

Andy Hall is the Director of Digital Product & Strategy at US Foods, a leading American foodservice distributor generating over $28 billion in annual revenue. Before stepping into the food distribution sector, Andy spent over a decade driving multichannel e-commerce and online merchandising at The Home Depot.

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Today, his focus is firmly on bringing a retail pace to the B2B space. He builds frictionless user experiences and scales customer-centric digital products by blending heavy data analysis with direct field feedback.

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What We Cover

1. Why distributors must separate software product management from physical inventory management.
2. The exact method Andy uses to stay close to the customer through a salesperson in the Champions Group.
3. How US Foods uses agile sprints to test, iterate, and roll out digital features without the fear of failing.
4. Practical ways to use artificial intelligence for catalog data enrichment and supply chain predictability.
5. Why cross-functional change management relies heavily on giving your team a slice of the pie to own.
6. The reason B2B digital merchandising requires specs like nutrition and box weight to satisfy chefs.
7. How hyper-personalization ensures digital features actually serve local, geographic-specific customer needs.

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Resources Mentioned

1. US Foods
2. The Home Depot
3. Microsoft Copilot

Marketing in the distribution world often feels like a constant battle for budget, attention, and sales team buy-in. How do you bridge the gap between building brand awareness and hitting targeted revenue goals? Kyler Nixon sits down with Jasmine Widmer to explore how a century-old business stays culturally modern while serving the heavy industries of the Intermountain West.

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They discuss the realities of running a marketing department as a one-person team. Jasmine explains why securing the ground-level trust of the sales team is the absolute foundation of a working marketing strategy. She reveals a highly effective media play: trading traditional TV commercials for hybrid audio-and-video streaming campaigns on platforms like Spotify.

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The conversation also highlights how B2B companies build dedicated customer e-commerce portals to simplify the buying process. If you want to learn how to stretch co-op funds with major suppliers while keeping your brand highly relevant, this conversation delivers exactly that.

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👤 Guest Bio

Jasmine Widmer is the Marketing Manager at Industrial Supply Company. She has spent the last eight years climbing the ranks within the Intermountain West's largest privately owned MROP distributor.

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Jasmine specializes in modernizing industrial marketing through digital campaigns and tightening the crucial relationship between sales and marketing teams. She holds an MBA from Western Governors University and is a strong advocate for advancing women in the heavy industry and wholesale distribution sectors.

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📌 What We Cover

1. How Jasmine built mutual respect and open communication between her marketing department and the boots on the ground sales team.
2. The surprising reach and targeting power of audio and visual streaming ads on platforms like Spotify and iHeartRadio.
3. Strategies for pooling co-op marketing budgets with major suppliers like 3M Company, DeWalt, and Milwaukee.
4. Why custom e-commerce catalogs and dedicated customer portals are massive revenue drivers that relieve pressure from sales reps.
5. How Industrial Supply Company uses tool allowances to bring direct value to large customer accounts.
6. Preparing for a 110-year company anniversary while navigating massive local infrastructure projects and the upcoming Salt Lake City Olympics.

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🔗 Resources Mentioned

1. Jasmine Widmer on LinkedIn
2. Industrial Supply Company Website
3. Affiliated Distributors
4. Spotify and iHeartRadio
5. 3M Company, DeWalt, and Milwaukee

Distribution companies often rely on legacy relationships and a 20-year-old logo to drive sales. But what happens when the digital age brings fierce competition right to your doorstep? Host Kyler Nixon sits down with Mordy Kurtz, Marketing Director at The Boxery, to explore why a packaging supplier needs a distinct personality.

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Mordy explains how branding goes far beyond a simple visual identity. He details how an effective brand operates as a medium of connection, driving nostalgia, trust, and even excitement for something as straightforward as corrugated cardboard. From creating engaging unboxing videos for third-party logistics companies to understanding why a strong brand must be backed by exceptional customer service, this conversation lays out the reality of modern distribution marketing. Listeners will hear exactly why consistency builds trust and how to align visual design, written tone, and leadership vision to stay relevant in a highly competitive space.

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Guest Bio

Mordy Kurtz is the Marketing Director at The Boxery, a premier provider of packaging solutions founded in 1998 and headquartered in Brooklyn, New York. Since joining the company in June 2018, Mordy has shaped their organic marketing, visual design, and social media strategy, proudly adopting the tagline, "Keeping corrugated cool since 2018." Before dedicating his creative talents to the corporate sector, he co-founded the award-winning Hasidic folk-rock duo, Rogers Park Band. Mordy believes in building experiential brand connections and famously states that designing ads is his happy place.

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What We Cover

1. The Power of Unboxing: Why The Boxery launched unboxing videos for their own boxes to capture the customer experience for creators and ecommerce sellers.
2. Defining a Brand: Mordy explains why a brand is much more than a logo and acts as a direct medium of connection to build emotional trust with buyers.
3. Branding in Distribution: The shift from relying strictly on long-term relationships to using visual identity to fight off cheaper digital competition.
4. Passing the Squint Test: How colors, fonts, and patterns combine to make your brand instantly recognizable from a distance.
5. The Fyre Festival Effect: Why selling a highly attractive image will ultimately fail if your company lacks the actual customer service to back it up.
6. Aligning Tone and Design: Why your written copy must match your visual aesthetics to keep the brand accessible for everyday buyers instead of coming off as rigid.
7. Getting Executive Buy-In: The practical importance of looping founders into the rebranding process early to ensure your goals for staying relevant are perfectly aligned.

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Resources Mentioned

1. The Boxery
2. Fiverr
3. Alan Peters' book on branding
4. Building a StoryBrand

Most distributors view a fifty-dollar online order as a transaction. Kristin Livesay views it as a handshake. As the Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Component Supply, Kristin uses a "starting point" strategy to turn small, urgent R&D orders into long-term custom fabrication partnerships.

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In this conversation, Kyler Nixon asks Kristin how her team bridges the gap between raw manufacturing and the engineers who need "onesies and twosies" to prototype life-saving devices. Kristin breaks down why their e-commerce platform functions primarily as a lead-generation engine and how personal follow-ups help customers transition from standard parts to volume production.

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They also discuss the counterintuitive approach Component Supply takes to trade shows. Instead of glossy, intimidating displays, they build booths that look like workshops to attract hands-on engineers. You will hear why "trick or treaters" at trade shows are a distraction, how internal branding builds culture, and why just because you have always done something doesn't mean it isn't stupid.

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👤 Guest Bio

Kristin Livesay is the Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Component Supply, a specialized supplier for the medical device industry based in Sparta, Tennessee. With over a decade of experience, she focuses on removing supply chain friction for researchers and engineers.

Kristin ensures that R&D teams have fast access to critical components like hypodermic tubing, wire, and Nitinol. She champions a philosophy where online efficiency serves as the entry point for deep engineering support and custom fabrication.

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📌 What We Cover

1. E-Commerce as Lead Gen: Why 60-70% of initial online orders are viewed as introductions rather than final sales.
2. The "Starting Point" Strategy: How a single piece of tubing leads to volume fabrication contracts.
3. Trade Show Strategy: Why building a booth that looks like a workshop attracts more engineers than a polished corporate display.
4. Internal Branding: How the Bits and Pieces podcast and newsletter foster team camaraderie and ownership.
5. Handling Logistics: The challenges of shipping 72-inch wires and absorbing the manufacturer's minimums for R&D clients.
6. Marketing for Retention: Using content to educate customers on capabilities they didn't know existed.
7. Strategic Partnerships: Expanding reach by placing products on other platforms without sacrificing service quality.

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🔗 Resources Mentioned

1. Component Supply
2. Bits and Pieces Podcast
3. Kristin Livesay on LinkedIn

Most distributors treat their e-commerce site as a simple portal for existing customers to reorder. Denise M. Foley sees it differently: your website should be your best salesperson for acquiring new customers.

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In this episode, Kyler Nixon sits down with Denise to break down how ULE Group transitioned from 25 years of word-of-mouth business to a digital powerhouse. Denise pulls back the curtain on why she chose Shopify over Adobe Commerce (Magento) and BigCommerce, and how she found a systems integrator that actually understands the complexities of B2B.

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You’ll hear why "weights and dimensions" are the silent killers of a site launch, how ULE Group solved the account-based pricing puzzle on Shopify, and why they are testing geofencing to capture contractors on the job site.

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👤 Guest Bio

Denise M. Foley is the Executive Vice President of eCommerce at ULE Group, a full-line electrical and lighting distributor. She previously led digital strategy and e-commerce growth at Bollman Hat Company, Rite Aid, and Pet360. Denise specializes in building digital businesses that balance technical requirements with customer experience.

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📌 What We Cover

1. Shopify vs. The Rest: Why ULE Group bet on Shopify for complex B2B instead of sticking with legacy platforms like Adobe Commerce or BigCommerce.
2. The "B2B" Partner Problem: How to vet a Systems Integrator (SI) to ensure they aren't just a Direct-to-Consumer agency disguised as a B2B expert.
3. Data is Dirty Work: The reality of implementing a PIM (Product Information Management) system and why missing product weights will cripple your shipping logic.
4. Pricing for Pros: How ULE Group handled complex, tiered account-based pricing on Shopify using an iPaaS solution.
5. Acquisition Mode: shifting the internal mindset from "serving the regulars" to using the site as a marketing engine to find new electrical contractors.
6. Search & Discovery: Improving the technical search experience for specific part numbers using Algolia.
7. The 2026 Playbook: A look at ULE Group's upcoming tests with geofencing, cold email outreach, and LinkedIn advertising.
8. Prioritization Framework: Denise’s method for ranking tech requests by ROI, difficulty, and the "Want vs. Need" scale.

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🔗 Resources Mentioned

1. ULE Group
2. Uncap (Systems Integrator)
3. Shopify
4. Algolia

Don Esbjornson started in 1993 with no customers, no suppliers, and a partner's shell company that had been sitting dormant since 1984. Thirty-three years later, Packaging HERO has four distribution centers, 25,000 SKUs, and a website that cost a quarter of a million dollars to build.

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Kyler Nixon sits down with Don Esbjornson, President of Packaging HERO, to discuss what distribution looked like before the internet, why custom packaging is their real answer to Uline, and what makes a customer stick so much that they never want to leave.

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Don also shares a live example from the week before recording - a $4,700 online order that he spotted, investigated, and turned into a potential national franchise account. It's the kind of story that only comes from three decades of watching orders closely.

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Guest Bio

Don Esbjornson is the President and owner of Packaging HERO, a Chicago-based packaging materials and custom packaging company, which he has led since 1993. He spent five years at Sealed Air before leaving to start his own distribution venture with one of his distributors. After buying out his partner, he has run the business solo ever since. Today, Packaging HERO operates four distribution centers across Chicago, Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Dallas.

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What We Cover

1. Walking the beat in 1993: No internet, no email, just a binder of price pages and knocking on every door on both sides of the street. Don breaks down what belly-to-belly sales actually looked like when he started out.
2. Profitable in year one: Despite starting from scratch with a borrowed warehouse, borrowed truck, and borrowed staff, Conpac Group turned a profit in its first year - enough that Don bought out his partner in three and a half years.
3. Three website eras: From a BoxPartners white-label site in 2010 to a self-hosted bad build, to the $250,000 custom platform launched in 2020 that finally made digital marketing possible.
4. Why 93% of their revenue isn't commodity stock: Don explains how custom corrugated makes up over 70% of what they do - and why that's the real differentiator from Uline, not price or speed.
5. The customer survey that revealed their true edge: When they surveyed customers directly and asked why they buy from Packaging HERO, the answer that kept coming back wasn't product or price. It was: your people.
6. The $4,700 order and what Don did next: A custom tray order from a California franchise caught Don's eye. Two locations out of 20 were being bought. He's now working to bring the whole chain on board - with printed trays, truckload quantities, and a lower per-unit cost than what they started with.
7. Your existing customers are your best prospects: Don reflects on a salesperson who cold-called four days a week and never landed appointments - while an existing customer base sat largely untouched. He makes the case for putting that energy into the relationship where it already exists.
8. Down-gauging stretch film as a sales strategy: 20 years ago, everyone bought 80- or 90-gauge. Today it's 43 or 55 gauge. If you're not proactively showing your customers better technology, someone else will.
9. Moving all marketing to India: A few weeks into shifting SEO, paid search, and email marketing to an agency overseas - Don shares his early impressions and why he wouldn't have considered it even five years ago.

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Resources Mentioned

1. Packaging HERO - Don's company, packaging materials, and custom packaging solutions
2. Sealed Air - Don's first employer before moving into distribution
3. Uline - Referenced throughout as both a competitor and a catalog pioneer, Don helped build business early in his career
4. BoxPartners - White-label e-commerce platform Don used for his first website around 2010
5. Grainger - Mentioned as an example of a large competitor, distributors often face
6. Fastenal - Mentioned alongside Grainger as another major player in the distribution category

Search engines are changing. The days of simply stuffing keywords and chasing domain authority are fading. Now, the focus is on Answer Engine Optimization (AEO). The goal isn't just to get a click: it is to provide the direct answer inside tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Google’s AI overviews.

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Kyler Nixon sits down with Wendy Sponaugle, Vice President of Marketing at SupplyOne, to break down this massive shift in digital discovery. Wendy explains why distributors must move from generic product descriptions to conversational content that solves specific problems.

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They discuss why "zero-click" searches are becoming the norm and how to structure your website to survive the change. You will learn why context now beats keywords and how to find the exact questions your customers are asking—sometimes by looking in unexpected places like Reddit or even their browser history.

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Guest Bio

Wendy Sponaugle is the Vice President of Marketing at SupplyOne, Inc., the largest independent supplier of corrugated and value-added packaging products in the U.S. With over 15 years of experience in manufacturing, distribution, and logistics, Wendy specializes in data-driven demand generation and transforming complex operational capabilities into clear market narratives. She focuses on aligning product positioning with the "Voice of the Customer" to drive measurable revenue growth.

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What We Cover

1. Defining AEO: The critical difference between traditional Search Engine Optimization and the new world of Answer Engine Optimization.
2. The Conversational Shift: Why content must sound human to rank in AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude.
3. Three Key Content Pillars: Wendy’s strategy relies on FAQs, Case Studies, and specific Blogs to capture traffic.
4. Context Over Keywords: Why describing the job site or the problem is now more effective than listing product specs.
5. Mining for Questions: How to use sales team feedback and platforms like Reddit to identify what customers actually need.
6. The Search History Strategy: Kyler shares a bold tactic for finding out exactly how procurement professionals search for products.
7. Value-Add Services: How moving beyond "lowest price" and offering expert consultation creates sticky customer relationships.

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Resources Mentioned

1. SupplyOne, Inc.
2. ChatGPT
3. Reddit
4. Profound (AI Search Tool)

Most business leaders try to keep their personal beliefs separate from their professional lives. Kyler Nixon sits down with Craig Penland to discuss what happens when you do the exact opposite. Craig opens up about the terrifying winter of 2009, when he dropped to his knees in a quiet office to seek direction, only to receive a call that saved the business days later.

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You will hear how Craig navigates the tension of being a "faith-based business" without forcing it on his team. He explains why he refused to remove religious messages from his invoices, even when a sales rep warned it would cost him business. Kyler and Craig also discuss the "NASCAR smoke" visualization that changed how Eurolink handled the uncertainty of 2020: instead of slowing down, they accelerated. This is a candid look at building a company that prioritizes people over profits and service over volume.

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Guest Bio

Craig Penland is the Founder, President, and CEO of Eurolink Fastener Supply Service. Based in Greer, South Carolina, Craig launched the company in 2000 to solve a specific problem in the industrial market: sourcing hard-to-find metric fasteners. Under his leadership, Eurolink has become a premier "master distributor" known for stocking C-class items that larger competitors ignore. Craig is also an active member of C12 and partners with nonprofits, including JUMPSTART SC, to provide employment opportunities.

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What We Cover

1. The specific prayer in 2009 that preceded a company-saving order from a lost customer.
2. How Craig handled a sales rep who wanted him to hide his faith to win more business.
3. Why does Eurolink pay for a chaplain to visit the office every two weeks?
4. The "NASCAR smoke" analogy: How to lead when you cannot see what is in front of you.
5. Navigating the hiring process as a faith-led company without being exclusionary.
6. Why does Eurolink focus on "No Quote" and "No Stock" items rather than competing on volume?
7. Separating your personal identity from the financial success of your business.

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Resources Mentioned

1. Eurolink Fastener Supply Service
2. C12 Business Forums
3. JUMPSTART SC

Most family business transitions happen quietly behind closed doors. For Andrew Johnson, the handoff included a meeting he now calls "The Apocalypse." Before he became the CEO of ShelfAware, Andrew was just a son trying to modernize his father's legacy company, O-ring Sales & Service.

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Host Kyler Nixon talks with Andrew about the messy reality of entrepreneurship. They discuss the friction between founders and the next generation, specifically how Andrew and his brothers-in-law presented a massive growth plan that led to them being "fired" for a night. Andrew also breaks down how constraints—like wanting to compete with giants like Fastenal without adding headcount—forced them to invent the RFID technology that eventually became ShelfAware.

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👤 Guest Bio

Andrew Johnson is the CEO of ShelfAware LLC and an Owner at O-ring Sales & Service, Inc. Growing up in the family business, he started inspecting parts in the warehouse before earning an accounting degree to prove his financial literacy to his father. Today, he runs a connected ecosystem of industrial businesses in the Greater Kansas City area. Andrew focuses on "Digital VMI" (Vendor Managed Inventory), using RFID technology to help independent distributors automate replenishment and compete with national chains.

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📌 What We Cover

1. The "15-15-15" Plan: The specific goal Andrew and his partners set to hit $15 million in revenue with 15 employees in 15,000 square feet.
2. Surviving "The Apocalypse": The story of the night, the next generation presented a modernization plan to the founder, and nearly lost their jobs.
3. Founder's Syndrome: Why creators often treat their company like a "fifth child" that no one else is allowed to raise.
4. Practical Education: Why Andrew’s father forced him to get an accounting degree instead of a marketing one before joining the firm.
5. Competing with Fastenal: How O-ring Sales & Service needed a VMI solution that didn't require expensive field reps or branch locations.
6. RFID Smart Labels: Transforming standard inventory shelves into "virtual vending machines" to track consumption without hardware-heavy investments.
7. The "False Start" in Succession: The consequences of executing major business changes—like a new ERP implementation—without fully communicating the vision to the founder or the staff.

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🔗 Resources Mentioned

1. ShelfAware VMI
2. ShelfAware on YouTube
3. O-ring Sales & Service, Inc.
4. Fastenal
5. Parker Hannifin