Dominique Volker, 33
Vice President of Sales
Whitestone
New York City
What do you love about the promotional products industry?
I love the ability to work with anyone and the creative side of this industry. Coming from a product development background, I love seeing how things are made and finding solutions for people while still being able to have that creative outlet.
What excites you in your role?
My 9-to-5 now is more managing managers. Seeing the team’s wins has made me proud. Seeing newcomers to the industry have that lightbulb moment through training and having our top sales reps start to get recognized within the industry is super fulfilling to me on a day-to-day basis.
What’s your best leadership trait?
I’m a good connector. I try to find different strengths on the team, making sure that everyone is in the right seat for each project. Delegating is important, but so is connecting people so that they can come to a more creative and efficient solution.
How could the promotional products industry improve its reputation?
In a few different areas, such as sustainability and corporate responsibility. Making sure we’re producing products that don’t immediately go into a landfill, that have good design and quality and that people actually want to use. We need to have distributors and suppliers work together to produce that product and push it to end users. The industry also tends to skew older, so making sure we’re attracting young talent and educating new sales reps to help push the industry toward the future we’re looking for.
What has been your proudest moment in your work?
I’ve had a few this year, including being named a PPAI Rising Star. I also spoke at my first event – skucamp – which was scary and outside of my comfort zone. We’ve also been recognized as a best place to work, which, with being in a leadership role and with culture being something I’m very passionate about, means a lot to me.
