Thanks to ingenuity and ambition, Drew Schamehorn has enjoyed a robust 45-year career with Elite Promotional Marketing (asi/186738). But if it weren’t for his in-laws, he would have never found his way into promo.

After serving in the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II, Cecil Bishop – Schamehorn’s future father-in-law – learned how to engrave freehand, courtesy of the Canadian government’s support of trades post-conflict. The New Brunswick native moved to Alberta to work at a jewelry store and started a family there.

By 1952, Bishop had founded his own company, Alberta Trophy & Gift Shop – the province’s first standalone trophy retailer. (Previously, trophies had been sold exclusively by jewelers.) Bishop built up the company to the point that he was sizing about 80 rings a day and hand-engraving about 5,000 bowling trophies every year.

Meanwhile, Bishop’s daughter Sharon married one of the store’s employees: Drew Schamehorn. By 1980, Schamehorn was exploring options for the next chapter of his career. He had worked for his father-in-law in the mid-1970s, then left for a couple years to explore opportunities elsewhere; now he wanted to go into business for himself. Meanwhile, the Bishops were ready for retirement.

“They asked me if I wanted to buy the business,” says Schamehorn, now the company president. He soon had several employees; in 1988, he bought a local business called Elite T-Shirts to offer decorated apparel and was trained by the previous owners in the art of screen printing. The business continued to expand, but Schamehorn had big ambitions.

“We were making about $1 million a year, mostly serving schools, police departments and firefighters,” says Schamehorn. “But I wanted to grow it more, and I saw even more opportunity in apparel. So we started offering embroidery and pro twill.”

By 2017, the combined companies were known as Elite Promotional Marketing. Today, the team operates in 65,000 square feet in two Alberta locations with about 85 people. Some have been with the company since Schamehorn took over in the 1980s.

“My dad is firm but fair, and respects everyone like family,” says son Gord, now the vice president of business development. “We have people who’ve been here since I was a kid. There’s something to be said for treating people properly. You can measure success by how many long-term employees you have.”

In the early days, Gord would work odd jobs in the shop, like folding shirts. After a career in sales, he came back to the family business 12 years ago. (Three other siblings have also previously worked for the company.)

“I wanted to be a hockey player originally,” he says. “But I always found the family business interesting. We always had cool hockey jerseys because my dad was in the business.”

“We have people who’ve been here since I was a kid. There’s something to be said for treating people properly.”Gord Schamehorn, Elite Promotional Marketing

In the years that followed, the family has kept up with changing demand. The Schamehorns say decorated apparel is their top seller, followed by hard goods and awards; they still do all their own engraving and laser-etching, and offer both on-location spiritwear pop-ups with on-demand decoration as well as company stores. A lot of what they offer was made possible by looking for nearby opportunities.

“I didn’t know how to screen print, so I bought a screen-printing company,” says Drew Schamehorn. “I didn’t know how to embroider, so I bought an embroidery company. If you can buy a small book of business, you have something to start with.”

Next, the Schamehorns plan to continue to expand their e-commerce offerings and open a U.S.-based office over the next several years.

“There’s no substitute for hard work,” says Drew. “You have to put your hours in, work smart, work hard and good things will happen.”