Episode 324: Sky High Soars to New Heights: One of America's Top 100 Businesses

Welcome to Skucast, the podcast for entrepreneurs in the promotional products industry. Skucast shines a light on our industry's best work, features maverick personalities, and discusses what's really involved in running a modern promotional products business. Skucast is the official podcast of Common Skew. When Sky High Marketing partnered with Common Skew about 4 years ago, they had 25 employees, and in the short time since have doubled their team to 50. Owners Josh and Rachel Kaczynski just opened a brand new 40,000 square foot state-of-the-art facility in the Milwaukee area. It's complete with warehousing, in-house decoration and embroidery, I was honored to join them for their open house. What an amazing team and experience. As the official merch provider of the Chicago Bulls and the Milwaukee Bucks, Sky High has locations in Milwaukee and Las Vegas, and they also provide merch for the Milwaukee Brewers, the Memphis Grizzlies, Washington Wizards, the Capitals, and the Chicago Blackhawks. But sports merch comprises around 20 to 30% of their portfolio. The rest in their corporate sector are names you'd be familiar with, like AWS, Johnsonville, and more. Josh serves as CEO and Rachel as CFO, and they lead an amazing team, which is one of the topics we unpack here today on the SkuCast. But the biggest news to hit the Sky High team lately is they just made the U.S. Chamber of Commerce list of America's top 100 small businesses. They were chosen out of 14,000 businesses across the country and will be traveling to Washington, D.C. to accept their award. Before our chat with Josh and Rachel, I have just one fast note for you. If If you are a Commenscue customer, do you realize the wealth of resources we have available to your team in webinars? I mean, just this week we recorded a webinar with Dominique Volker, VP of Sales of Whitestone, and we have more webinars and past webinars on all kinds of topics, payment integrations, finance, production, and more. You can find out all the info in the Commenscue application. Just hit webinars in the upper right corner. Today's episode is brought to you compliments of us at Commenscue. We are the work from anywhere platform that powers your connected workflow. Enabling you to process more orders and dramatically grow your sales. To learn more, visit commonsku.com. Now here's my conversation with our friends Josh and Rachel. Josh and Rachel, thank you for joining us on SkuCast.

Thank you for having us.

Yeah, thanks for, thanks for letting us be here.

Well, since I visited, I visited you in your beautiful new headquarters. I know all about it, but let's give our audio listeners a visual so they can understand the scope of it. Josh, what does your new headquarters entail? What size building you're in? Give us a little, a a little visual of that.

Yeah, absolutely. So the campus is 12.5 acres. We built a 40,000-square-foot facility which has room to expand, put a lot of investment into natural light throughout our entire complex. So a lot of windows, a lot of glass throughout the entire facility, probably one of only a few warehouses that every one of our operations, production, and warehouse managers actually has windows where they sit in, in the warehouse. And so we get a lot of compliments on that. We've invested a ton into work-life balance. So we have walking trails, we have a fitness room, we've got a pickleball court, a plaza, a deck, and just a lot of great spaces for our team to collaborate and work from.

It's a beautiful facility. I cannot stress it enough. And Rachel, you also have a Las Vegas facility too. What do you do differently in Vegas versus Milwaukee?

So our Las Vegas office is about 10,000 square feet, and it primarily focuses on sales and marketing. We do have a warehouse out there as well, which mostly does the fulfillment aspect, but we do not do any decorating there.

Okay.

So I would say that's the biggest difference.

And Rachel, when we talk about making an investment in the brand, this is— you guys have made a big investment in your brand. Like, this is no small investment. It's a big commitment, and it's a real belief in your own future. And it feels like with this investment, you're just getting started. Like, why did you choose to invest in your own fulfillment and partial decoration instead of outsourcing all this to a 3PL or other partners?

So this investment is based on us wanting to be in control of as many of our processes as possible. We learned through the pandemic that we had success with those processes when we were in control of them. So based on this, we are looking at to expand to as many additional techniques as we possibly can, which will also help us become unique within our industry.

So going back to the building itself, Josh, you spent a lot of time working through particular details, and Rachel, you, you both have spent a lot of time thinking through how this would be, what this place would be like coming to work every day, day after day, because it's beautiful. The light you mentioned, I was in the warehouse taking pictures of geese out the window. But you've spent a lot of time thinking about this And even details, Josh, where like you're, you're, you're where you're sitting in relation to, to the marketing department, sales department. What else was crucial to you in the design from a, from just a human design standpoint?

Yeah. Well, I think, I, I think again, like Rachel said, in a post-pandemic world, we wanted to first of all make investments for our team that would allow them to want to get up and come to a place, a destination on a daily basis. Yeah. So we really looked at making pretty large investments in just the space overall. As it pertains to like workflow and departments, our leadership team studied really 3 different types of orders. The first one would be like your typical, like custom dropship order. The second one would be an order where there was in-house production needed. And then the third one was anything having to do with our online stores, which can involve again, warehousing and fulfillment. And so what we did is we studied each of those 3 different orders and tried to determine the handoff points from department to department that were needed to make each of those 3 orders be as efficient as possible. And so we incorporated that sort of a flow into our entire building. And now that we've been in for a few months, we're definitely seeing that that time spent, which was pretty exhaustive, was time well spent as our team on a daily basis is just telling us how much more efficient they are.

I can imagine. Let's switch a little bit to talk about sports and corporate markets. Sky High is the official merch provider of the Chicago Bulls and the Milwaukee Bucks, as well as creators for Milwaukee Brewers, Memphis Grizzlies, Washington Wizards, the Capitals, Chicago Blackhawks. Anyone else I'm missing there? I'm sure there's more.

There's more. Yeah, there's more. Okay, we don't have time to go into—

okay, so the sports market is like notoriously difficult to break into, and, and to have multiple successes like this is a really big deal. It's a massive testament to your perseverance. What do you think has enabled you to capitalize on the sports market specifically?

Yeah, I mean, I, I would say we have invested a fair amount in departments that focus on servicing those types of accounts. So we've got a wonderful creative services team. We also have a product development team. Those two teams are about 8 people full-time that are spending time offering those teams as well as other clients proactive product development and again, creative services that those types of clients need and kind of demand from companies that they work with. And just like we talked about a little bit ago, our facility and the campus being an investment, that's been an investment. And you and I, we go back long enough to know when, you know, we've added and scaled in a lot of different ways, but people has definitely been a major point of emphasis for us. And as we've made those investments, we've had more success within the sports market.

Yeah, Rachel, sounds like, like a lot of us in the industry, we get into a client, we don't really know what we're doing, we kind of figure it out. And then, and then the beauty of it is that we can duplicate that experience with other clients. And you've certainly done this with the sports market because things like, let's say, season ticket holder gifts, you know, that's a, that's an item that you would repeat again and again with different sports franchises. But what else, what, what's, what services do you, else do you align to make Sky High attractive to the sports market? And you may have already answered this 'cause you were talking about your creative department that does things like that as well, and your fulfillment and your decorating. But is there something, is there any, and there may not be, is there anything different with the sports market than the corporate market? Is there more importing or anything like that?

Definitely more importing.

Mm-hmm.

Yes, definitely. And again, I do say that our creative department is really, really instrumental in a lot of the work that we do for our sports teams. Yeah. We do. We have one of our designers specifically who works on 3D modeling, and she's amazing at that. And so that really helps us with our custom designs.

Yeah. So sports merch tends to get a lot of, a lot of attention, but really a majority of your business is corporate still, right? Is that 70 or 80%? What's the percentage you do for corporate?

So our corporate is about 80%, and so about 20% of sports.

Okay. You, you have also— I noticed this with Josh, so, so for listeners listening I just had met Josh for drinks and dinner the other night, and we were chatting about his ability to break through these difficult accounts. And as long as I've known you, Josh, you have had this ability to— this perseverance that I rarely met. What advice would you give to those that are trying to break through to a difficult client or prospect? Like, can you share a tactic or a tip that works for you?

Yeah, I mean, I think, I think a lot of us in this industry probably have walked down the path of having kind of a shotgun approach of saying, You know what, I'm going to try this, and if that doesn't work, I'll try this, and if that doesn't work, I'll try this. And a lot of us have had success in various forms or to various degrees doing that. Certainly in our early days, that was part of that, that probably was somewhat of our approach. But I mean, since that point, we've just gotten a lot more systematic as far as how we go to market, who we're looking to go to market to. You know, we're kind of now at the point where we would say not every client is a good client for us and we'll pass opportunities up if we don't feel like they're, if they're going to mesh with us. But, you know, as far as like a little tactic or tip, I would say it's going to sound tried and true, but like really, really creative self-promo marketing to me is essential if we're going to be in the branded merchandise space and we can showcase to our clients how you can effectively use really creative branded merchandise. That is something that not everybody in our industry can do, and I think it is something that will get attention from large clients.

What I hear you saying too, Josh, is that once you identify markets that you know you can serve well, it sort of gives you the conviction that you can go in and ask for that business and push for that business.

Absolutely. Absolutely.

And Rachel, we all sort of, and when I say all of us, all three of us have cut our teeth on the company store and shops model for a while. And back before it was prevalent, you and I might remember the painful days of pre-COVID where we were the few that were kind of doing this, but you still use it as a service for a primary anchor point with your clients. How has the sophistication grown with those kind of customers over the years?

So the more you gain enterprise accounts, we have found that the more your sophistication has to improve. That's pretty much what I would say.

Yeah. And do you think the, do you think the multiple, like we've seen like categories expand, print on demand, things like that, is that same thing happened in most of your shops as well?

Yes, for sure. Yes.

And do you, and it feels like, do you use shops as sort of an anchor point for your customers? Like, like back in the day, one of the one of the things was if you get a shop, you can sort of gain a customer, that long-term traction for customers. That still play true for you?

Yes, I would say definitely. Yeah, we really do market our, our online stores for sure.

Yeah, I think that's a good, that's a good point. I mean, if you can get an account that will have a store with you, certainly there's times where stores are incredible revenue generators, but other times the store really is a value-added service that just makes you stickier within accounts.

Yeah, yeah. Let's talk a little bit about Commonsku and Skyhigh because about 4 years ago when Skyhigh partnered with Commonsku, you were a team of 25 and since you've soared to a team of 50 and that, that's a relatively short amount of time. How has Commonsku actually helped amplify your growth?

Yeah, I mean, I think Bobby, just doing things like this and not only being the people that are being interviewed, but, you know, looking at all the educational things that Commonsku has invested in to be really open and transparent throughout the industry, those things have helped us learn and grow as we look at other companies that are okay with sharing best practices and really are a phone call or an email away. And certainly our relationship kind of predates this and goes back to those sorts of conversations. Commonsku has really allowed us to systematize our business and make us much, much more effective and efficient to get data in real time that is super, super helpful to understanding the health of our business.

Yeah.

Yeah, it— our, our sales team is just so happy with Commsku and the time that— because we've come over from other ASI platforms and that have not been as efficient. So it— that's really great for sure.

We hear that a lot. Let's talk a little bit about leadership and working together. So, uh, Rachel, a catalyst to growth as a leader is recruiting senior leadership team. And I just, you know, Benji was— he's a hero off camera, but he was getting us set up here before the meeting. But a catalyst to your growth is making sure you've hired sort of middle management, and I hate that term, but like VPs or other leaders to help you pull the business because you, you both know it can be a difficult job pulling it all by yourself. What advice would you give to those trying to scale their business by recruiting a leadership team? Because you've got— I was there. You have an amazing leadership team.

Oh, thank you so much. We, we are very, very blessed, honestly, with, with everybody that is on our leadership team. Investing in a leadership team is very expensive, but it's an investment. And we have found that if you want to take your business to the next level, it needs to be run, you know, more than just by Josh and I. You have to have a team effort. And we've just found that, you know, we just can't have our hands in everything. So you have to be able to have these people that you can truly depend on and trust they're on the same page. It's just, it's been amazing.

Yeah. So Josh, do you wanna add to that? I think, I think, I think that's— Yeah, go ahead.

Yeah. Yeah. So I mean, you know, our, and you got to meet a lot of these people recently, but so our executive leadership team is Rachel, myself, and two others. Then we've got a, what we would call like a, a senior management leadership team that brings on 3 more additional people, including experts in marketing and product development, creative services, and operations. So, you know, we have kind of this team that's real high level, like a leadership team, executive level that makes really high level decisions. And that team includes Rachel and I then. We open it up to really every department that's important here at Skyhigh so that every department has somebody within their department that has a voice at the leadership table. And since we've done that, we've just experienced huge growth and momentum and have just a lot of exciting things that seem to be happening on a monthly basis, you know, around here. And this makes us super excited for the future.

You too had to make the decision that we are going to make this investment because it is a significant investment. And I think that's been a big key to scaling yourself and your own leadership. I have an interest, a question about you too, as I'm sitting here visiting with you both, known you for years. I'm looking behind you in one of your offices. For those that don't know, is on one side and the other office we're looking at is Rachel's. So we have Josh and Rachel's offices we're looking into. You have a unique working relationship. You're raising a family together. You're running a large, successful business. Is there a secret to doing that successfully?

Yeah, I mean, I would— well, yeah, I mean, we get along.

Get along.

Yeah, we like to get along. We're in love. Yeah, that's first and foremost. I would say from early on, we've both identified what our lanes are.

Yeah.

And we've stayed in those lanes. And so Rachel is great at analytics and finance. I'm probably more on the sales marketing vision side. And so it's really kind of identifying what each other's strengths are and on a daily basis, not interfering with each other's lane. And again, that kind of then goes to our leadership team is finding individuals that can drive, you know, down a lane that either A, we aren't as good in at driving, or B, even if we are good in that lane, we see somebody else who has ideas and skills and talents, and we want to delegate and allow to empower them to drive down down that lane for us. And so that would be, that would be one kind of secret or tactic, I would say. Another one is we've gotten very, very strong at communicating and living out our core values. And again, a lot of companies talk about core values, and certainly they've been around for a while. But at Sky High, we truly do think that those are living things that are the foundational principles of what we do here. And a lot of what we we basically grade out on and evaluate on and give reviews on is based on how somebody fits the culture that we've established and that we want to maintain.

Yeah.

And of course, we, we would have to model that culture every day as well. So we really truly— yes.

So you both also have leaned heavily into the book Traction and the, the visionary implementer, if I'm getting the terms right, on some of that. And that's been a big help. And now your team is going through that whole book as well.

Is that Yeah, yeah, that's, I mean, it's a good, you know, there's a lot of good business models out there. That's one that kind of spoke to us and one that we determined was something that would be a good fit for our company and our culture. So yeah, we are committed to that sort of a business model. As more and more of our team members read the book, they're coming back to us and just saying, hey, I understand where we're at. I understand where we're going even better than what I did before because I got done reading this book.

Yeah, I— last question I have is for both of you, and we've all been at this a while. I have never seen a more optimistic time to be in the business. I know there's all kinds of challenges, there will always be challenges. There's— as you look at the future of the industry in general, what excites you the most, Rachel?

So I would say this has just been an adventure, and it's been a long time coming. It's, it's a process, it's not a very quick thing. It's been a process. We've been in business for a long time, 27 years, so we're just excited to continue the venture and to see how all of our investments are paying off. Yeah, it's just, it's great.

What do you, as you look at it, Josh, you look at the future of the business, you know, you both have, you know, said 27 years experience, that's significant. This feels like a new beginning for you and your team at Sky High. What are you most excited about?

For, for me, it's exploring like multiple revenue generators for the company that based on where we're at, all still are within our core competency. So, you know, you made the point or the comment earlier about sometimes you find a new account or a new industry and then you kind of figure it out as you're going. Now with experience and the broad, vast array of clients and industries that we work in, we are finding many, many different ways revenue-wise that still fall right within the core of what we do. And so I think that's something that's super exciting to me to continue to explore moving forward.

Yeah, it's very cool. Well, thank you, my friends, for welcoming me into your business home physically and then here virtually today. And I'm so glad to share a part of your story and to share a tiny little part in your story as someone who's walked along beside you throughout this entire journey. So congrats on all the growth, and I appreciate you guys. And thank you from the CommonsQ team too.

Thank you so much. Appreciate it. Have a wonderful day.

Thanks so much for tuning in to this episode of SKU Cast. Be sure to keep up with our latest content by subscribing to SKU Cast on iTunes or to our blog at community.commsku.com. Until next time, friends, thanks so much for listening.