In September we hosted our annual boot camp experience for entrepreneurs called skucamp, where many of the industry’s market leaders, challenger brands, and entrepreneurs gathered for a few magical and inspiring days at the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs, CA.

At that event, we hosted keynotes, panels, and breakout discussions on some of the most challenging issues and unique opportunities facing our industry. One of those discussions was the session “Our Supply Chain’s Future” and it was an interview hosted by Catherine Graham, commonsku’s CEO, who chatted with three leaders of the largest suppliers in the business: Jeremy Lott (President of SanMar), Chris Anderson (CEO of HPG), CJ Schmidt (President of Hit).

Given the state of the global supply chain and the impact it has had on everyone in our industry, as you can imagine this was a very tense and lean-forward conversation felt by everyone in the room. What transpired in that hour was not just a reflection on the difficulties we’re facing but as each supplier leader shared a glimpse into what it has been like in their world, an opening of empathy, understanding, and a bridge of trust strengthened between suppliers and distributors. We felt it in the breakouts and in the way we opened up to each other throughout those few days.

Today, we’re sharing that interview with you here on the skucast. In this conversation, we hear from all three suppliers on the state of the industry now, the impact this has had on each of their respective companies as well as the impact on themselves and their teams personally, plus their predictions on when we will gain supply chain equilibrium.

Tune into our live recording from skucamp, Palm Springs!

Here are some additional blog resources to help you manage your team: