Who’s shaking up the industry today and making it a unique, successful, challenging and innovative sector? The members of the 2016 Counselor Hot 25. Check out their stories.

People thought Nathan Bailey was crazy to start his own business in the middle of a recession in 2009, but Ideation Promotions and Apparel (asi/229699) has not only survived but thrived over the last six years, increasing its sales fivefold. “It was a slow, slow burn for us to get to where we are now,” he says. “Our success comes from doing more for our current customer base over time.”

Bailey no longer sees Ideation as just a promotional products business anymore, but as more of a full-service agency, offering event planning and strategy, full-service creative design, packaging and signage and brand messaging and consulting. “We get to do a lot more and be a part of a lot more with our clients than just taking orders and delivering swag,” Bailey says. “It’s kind of a new challenge and adventure for me and for our team to be able to sit in with our clients to do that kind of stuff.”

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