It’s well documented that a majority of independent manufacturers’ representatives gravitate to their agency careers after enjoying solid tenures elsewhere in sales or marketing with manufacturers. In addition, there are any number of representatives who have found their calling after spending years in completely disparate careers such as educators, FBI agents, and even as professional baseball and basketball players.

Add to that list the experience of Frank Brady who got his first taste of sales and marketing while still in college and before he even had a chance to begin his career. Brady has parlayed that initial experience into a representative firm supporting many of the world’s leading suppliers of housewares, giftware and tabletop industries.

Brady, who heads Brady Marketing Company, Walnut Creek, California, admits that “I had never been in sales, nor was anyone in my family involved in sales when I took a part-time position demonstrating houseware products for a large manufacturer.

A Knack for Marketing

“This all came about after the manufacturer approached me with the observation that they felt I had a knack for marketing. They followed that up by asking me if I knew what marketing was. Naturally, my honest answer was ‘No,’ and they quickly educated me that marketing was the creation of a need for something and sales is the fulfillment of that need.”

At the time Brady was a student studying modern language and philosophy at Iona College, New Rochelle, New York. With no really clear vision of what he wanted to do in the future, he was understandably apprehensive about the job offer. “I asked them if I didn’t like the products I was working with, could I be transferred to another division?”

The deal was sealed, however, when the manufacturer offered him a car, insurance, an expense account and every college student’s dream of $160 a week. So armed with what little information he had been provided on sales and marketing, he continued taking business courses as he began his 20-hour-a-week position demonstrating everything from hair dryers to floor care products to local dealers in the Bronx and the Westchester County area just outside of New York City.

When asked if he thought he had made the right decision way back when, Brady noted that “I wound up working for them while I continued to take business courses in college. But, the fact is I never really took the leap I was looking for.” He adds, however, that by the time he had reached graduation, he was heading the company’s $10-million floor care division in New York City.

Go West Young Man

After a relatively quick stop selling for a clock manufacturer, Brady and his family made the move from Connecticut to California with the goal of starting his own business. That move was made primarily because of the weather that the Golden State had to offer vs. the east coast. “I was fortunate in that during my first two business positions, I had learned what reps were since I worked with them all the time. I loved the people, their creativity and level of independence. I found that they simply weren’t as encumbered as so many employees are. Their desire for risk perfectly fit my personality. Basically, that’s what attracted me to being an independent representative.”

Deciding that being a representative was the desired career path is one thing, choosing lines and getting them to represent is another. That’s a task that’s easier said than done, however, since Brady quickly found getting lines was difficult. “I turned to friends for help in this area and learned in a hurry that good lines weren’t available.”

It’s at this point that personal interests and the ability to network and make friends kicked in to point Brady in the right direction.

“It wasn’t long after our move to Walnut Creek that we identified a real difference between people in Connecticut and California. In Connecticut we found that people would generally go out to eat about once a week. Here in California, that number jumps to four or five times a week.”

That observation pointed Brady in the direction of gourmet housewares and the other products his company currently represents.

While admitting that he can only trace his culinary experience back to the food his mother prepared for the family, Brady notes that friendships he developed with restaurateur Thomas Keller, author and editor Chuck Williams (the founder of Williams Sonoma), and author/chef Julia Child pointed him in the direction of the products that he ultimately would represent. Early experiences with everything from coffee makers to cookware and much more resulted in the lines of housewares, giftware and tabletop products that Brady Marketing represents throughout California, Nevada, and Hawaii.

Common Concerns

If Brady’s personal and professional history is a bit different from the majority of independent manufacturers’ representatives that make up the membership of MANA, his experiences, beliefs and reliance on MANA for support illustrate how similar agents are no matter what industry they serve.

“When I began as a rep, I thought there was very little in common between me and others. After years of experience — not to mention more than three decades as a member of MANA — it’s obvious that we’re all bound together by the same issues. We all face the process of negotiating commissions, the threat of commission cuts, identifying business challenges and making the most of opportunities.”

And, along the way he’s learned to participate in and rely upon MANA. “MANA got my attention more than 30 years ago when I felt there was a lack of respect for reps in general. I thought there had to be some organization or association that would communicate what reps are, and work to raise the standards of the profession. MANA’s Code of Ethics is just what I’m talking about here. When I read the code, it showed me that the association’s standards were exactly what I believed in.”

Legal Aid

Then there is the legal assistance that MANA has provided over the years. According to Brady, “As the agency grew and we became more experienced, there were some issues that kept on recurring. For instance, we had a case when a principal gave us a 30-day termination notice and wouldn’t provide a reason why. It was devastating. Our first call was to MANA, who referred us to an attorney. The result was that we wound up with a full year’s commission from the manufacturer.”

On another occasion, Brady recalls the benefit of seeking legal counsel during the negotiations with a principal. “When we were starting with a foreign principal, our attorney insisted that we have the ability to terminate a principal and pick up a competitive line within a specified period of time. When the principal came to us with a plan to expand our territory but cut the commission at the same time, it’s then that we exercised our right to terminate the agreement.

“This is just another example of how MANA has been able to respond to the needs of its membership. As a result, now when we sit down with a prospective principal we’re negotiating agreements that are based on mutual respect.”

Brady continues that “I don’t know how someone could hope to be part of a profession if they don’t join others — like MANA — who have been working for decades to raise the bar and bring respect to the profession. I know from our experience that our membership in MANA has gone a long way towards alleviating problems with vendors and keeping those problems from mushrooming out of control. MANA has been there for us and for others to not necessarily place us in the winning seat, but rather to position us to be able to make reasonable decisions now and in the future.”

It’s that word “future” that obviously has Brady’s attention as he considers where his agency has been and how it will change to address business and marketing needs.

“If I look out five or more years,” he says, “I can see our agency as larger and more dynamic that it is today. I know we’ll be doing a lot of the same things as we are today, but at the same time, we’re aware of the many changes taking place in ‘repdom’ that will cause us to change who and what we will be.

“It’s obvious that in the future the alliance among reps, manufacturers and customers is going to be more important than ever. At the same time, there will be fewer reps meeting the needs of fewer retail customers. And, those fewer reps will be larger and able to do more things that will allow them to control sales. We plan on being there to control sales. We won’t only provide products, but help with merchandising and other functions that will make us welcome in customers’ stores.

“We’ll have to be more professional and better educated than at any time in the past — that is obviously where MANA comes in.”