Baton Rouge natives and childhood friends Carey Guglielmo Jr. and Billy Haile had both been living life on the road as salesmen for Nike before they co-founded a promotional merchandise distribution company of their own about a year ago.
As Business Report details in its Entrepreneur feature from the new issue, Guglielmo worked as the regional sales manager for Nike Golf, racking up 2.2 million miles throughout his career. Haile worked in national account sales at Nike, moving him to eight cities in just 25 years.
Now they’re putting their 45 years of combined experience to good use with their own business, AST Marketing Group, named after Guglielmo’s children: Ann, Scott and Trip.
Guglielmo always wanted to own his own business, while Haile always dreamed of moving home, making the partnership a perfect fit. Having developed strong relationships in their careers, the pair use their network of preferred partnerships with premium brands to provide clients with exclusive promotional merchandise.
Guglielmo says the company’s premium brand model keeps competitors at a minimum.
“This commercial merchandise space is a very mom-and-pop fragmented space,” says Guglielmo, who believes AST’s model gives it room to exceed clients’ expectations.
In addition to providing exclusive gear, AST also specializes in creating company web stores. AST recently completed one for All Star Automotive, where employees can order All Star-branded merchandise and apparel. AST also specializes in custom employee wardrobe and uniform programs, a wide merchandise range with aggressive import programs, and custom hunting, golf and fishing apparel.
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