Today Is Day 1

By Ryan Wenkus on 5 Jul 2016

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After spending 20 years and 20 days selling sporting goods as a “team dealer,” today I embark on a new journey with the remarkable team at OrderMyGear.

After such a long history selling to teams, I knew this move would be scary. I knew it would be a challenge. I also knew that I was headed to a company that has quickly proven itself as a leader in the industry.

I remember being at Metro Athletic the day we got our first computer, our first email accounts, and our first web site. I was also there when we first met with Kent McKeaigg from a little startup called OrderMyGear. I instantly realized that he was on to something. I was fortunate to be able to help them shape the future of OrderMyGear while substantially growing our own team sales business in the process.

It was a win win.

OrderMyGear has since been a major part of my day-to-day life for over 8 years. So, when conversations started about me joining the OrderMyGear team, I was already intimately familiar with the business and knew exactly how I could contribute.

So here I am on day 1. Phone calls, emails, conversations with vendors, conversations with team dealers, conversations with road guys… it feels like not much has changed, even though everything has changed.

I’m excited to still be a part of the sporting goods industry, just on a different side of the business. At OrderMyGear, my job is simply to help the company grow. As we grow, our dealers and vendors will also grow. A win win, no different than 8 years ago.

I will be overseeing three teams:

  • the sales team that finds new dealers and educates them on using OrderMyGear to grow their business;
  • the success team, which has the sole responsibility of helping existing dealers grow their business; and
  • the vendor team, our newest venture, tasked with helping vendors and vendor reps understand how their products are being sold online and how we can help them grow their brands.

So, as I near the end of my first day here, I reflect on how lucky I have been to get to work in this industry with so many great people and I couldn’t be happier about my life’s next chapter with OrderMyGear.