Joel DeJong: in Arvada, CO

My business partner and I started Division West from the ground up and built a successful men's streetwear/lifestyle boutique. We accomplished this by building relationships with our clients, our sales reps and the brands they worked for. This allowed us to increase our product offerings and better manage our accounts. Our success as a business started with our highly effective sales approach that emphasized personal service, consumer education, and relationship building. One of the most important things I learned in this position was that my employees' success was far more important than my own, and to help these guys build themselves up for better opportunities was one of the best rewards I could get.