Family Matters | Craig & Laura Sahli

ASB sales associate, Craig Sahli, has welcomed his daughter in law, Laura Sahli, to his sales team! Continue reading to learn more about this pair, and how their strong bond grew into a working relationship.

When did you start working at American?

Craig: My two-year anniversary will be in August.

Laura: I just finished my first Discover American in May!

What was your first job and how old were you?

Craig: It was a job at my high school that my brother had a couple years earlier. I would sweep the floors, take all the gum off the desks and buff the floors. I found the master key to all the classrooms and played some pranks on some unsuspecting teachers.

Laura: I’ve been babysitting since I was about 12. But my husband Drew got me a job at Target and I worked there for about 4 years. I really loved making the food and drinks. They let me be really creative and try making different drinks. A lot of those skills really stuck with me.

Craig: Yeah she makes one hell of a cocktail. If you come visit Tulsa, drinks are at Laura’s house.

When did Laura join the Sahli family?

Laura: Drew and I were in band together, but we didn’t start dating until 2004. It was hard because I really liked him, but I was going back to Michigan, and he was in Oklahoma. So, we spent the summer together and I spent the time panicking that I was liking him too much. When I left we thought it wouldn’t work but we would try it. We got married 4.5 years later.

Have you gotten the opportunity to work together before American?

Craig: Well, very briefly back when Laura and Drew were in high school, we had a print catalog distributorship, and they spent some time sorting the files. They did that long enough for Drew and my daughter Jenna to decide that they wanted nothing to do with the industry. ASI Fort Worth was where I was able to show Laura around the industry on a smaller scale and show her what it was all about.

Laura: Even after he brought up the idea, I wasn’t 100% sure what American did.

Craig: By the second day, I could see that she wasn’t going anywhere.

What are some of your favorite projects working together?

Craig: For me it would be this t-shirt order that we thought was going to results in about 2,000 and we ended up doing only 31 unit. We bit off more than we could chew. But the event was a great way to get Laura to build relationships in a project from start to finish. So, we honored the pricing and communicated with them throughout to show that they can trust us in the future. It would have been great to do the 2,000 shirts but now it’s a potential 30-year relationship.

Laura: They actually just asked me to come to their managers meeting to meet the rest of their 70-person team. It’s like using my love language of gift giving to make their lives better.

What do you most look forward to about working together?

Laura: I think it’s really cool that I have the best in-laws, and I get a bonus dad and mom that I now get to work with that I fully trust. I don’t have to build that relationship from scratch while worrying about learning the business. I don’t worry about anything else because I know Craig has my back.

Craig: I’m at a point in my career and my personal life that I want to “impact outcomes”. Laura is a great mom, great wife, and wonderful hostess, trying to gain traction in growing her career. She can do it all here!. She has that flexibility and it’s a no brainer for her, and I am wondering why it took me this long to figure out this would be such a positive change for her – it was hidden in plain sight! I fully expect her book of business to be bigger than mine.  

What’s a fun fact about the two of you?

Craig: My son is Laura’s husband, and we have a 24/7/365 connection that will never end. I’ve had the opportunity to watch their communication grow and develop because he’s an engineer and she’s an artist.

Laura: We also live up the road from each other.

Why do you recommend working with family?

Laura: He’s seen me at my best and my worst through all the curveballs that life has thrown at us and vice versa, and here we are! If you’re having a bad day, I can understand it on a deeper level than just a regular coworker. This business, I’ve found, is all about relationships, so getting to work with family is just another step in the American family.

Craig: Because these are the people that, in many different ways, you don’t get to choose, but they are the most innermost part of your circle of relationships. Now you get to spend more time with them, knowing you can trust them.

To learn more about American Solutions for Business, visit http://www.americanbus.com.