Hiring consultants to fix problems or implement new technologies is a well-worn path. They bring broad experience and proven methods from working with many other businesses. What consultants often lack, however, is deep knowledge of your business, including its relationships, history, and the lessons learned from past successes and failures. That’s where investing in your own people can offer a powerful advantage.

Specialized programs, like Texas A&M University’s Master of Industrial Distribution (MID), give employees industry-wide expertise while keeping them grounded in your organization’s realities. They return with new insights, peer perspectives and practical strategies they can apply immediately.

Growing leaders from the ground up 

In industrial distribution, there’s a saying: the best employees start in the warehouse.

“A B2B distributor operates in an intensely customer-centric environment,” said Adam Kerman, lighting and electrical category manager at Steiner Electric, a family-owned, electrical wholesale distribution business. “You need to understand the operations of the business and how it impacts the customer.”

Over nearly 15 years at Steiner, Kerman has held several leadership roles across sales, marketing and operations. He has led strategic initiatives such as relocating branches, building a centralized distribution model, implementing new software, driving process improvements and more.   

As Director of Strategic Programs, Kerman conducted several case studies for underperforming divisions, one of which resulted in an acquisition. These case studies required building financial models, developing market strategy, summarizing performance and more. During this time, he was encouraged to pursue a master’s degree to further his career. His past experiences and focus on distribution led him to the MID program. 

“The MID program takes each student through a holistic rotation of distribution,” said Kerman. “I walked away with not only getting exposed to each area of the business but understanding a distributor’s role within the supply chain.”

Throughout the program, Kerman consistently applied what he learned to his role and brought his real-world experience to the classroom. Through his capstone project, he learned how to stratify manufacturers by analyzing transaction data, market share and product line profitability to identify strategic suppliers. In some cases, his analysis was used to rationalize manufacturers. He also surveyed 40 manufacturers, which helped him create a supplier growth program to foster collaboration and drive growth with key manufacturers.

“Without understanding the fundamentals of distribution, it is difficult to maximize organizational efficiencies and outperform competition,” said Kerman. “A healthy distributor can flex with market conditions. Understanding those financial levers allows a leadership team to know what levers need to be pulled and to what degree.”

Kerman’s journey demonstrates how developing leaders from within equips companies to make sharper financial and operational decisions, often faster than relying on external expertise.

A career accelerator and a talent magnet

While Kerman focused on operational improvements, Amy Venezia’s MID and capstone experience show how employee-led expertise can influence growth strategies. 

Over 12 years, she rose from sales representative to chief talent officer at a wholesale distributor of high-performance engineered plastics. Seeking to broaden her business knowledge, she entered the MID program. 

“There is a significant benefit to having someone who has risen through the ranks lead a project, rather than relying on a third-party consultant who may offer more generic solutions,” said Venezia. 

Her company grows primarily through acquisitions but lacked a consistent onboarding process across its 37 brands. Her capstone project, which is actively being used to this day, was an acquisition playbook. 

Venezia conducted 30 interviews with internal staff members and external leaders from companies like Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin through her capstone project. She found mentors, was given advice, gained credibility from her colleagues and, ultimately, was promoted to chief talent officer as a result of her capstone project. 

Everyone she spoke to from her company expressed the same complaints about the lack of a streamlined process. Venezia believes these people were even more candid with her because she was internal; they didn’t have to worry about confidentiality concerns.

“I had also taken part in a lot of these acquisitions…so I had more specific questions to ask,” recalled Venezia. “It wasn’t just a one-way interview; it was really like we were workshopping together.”

She also found tremendous value in learning from faculty with decades of industry experience.

“The program itself is really unique, but the professors really drive home how applicable the program is to the industrial distribution industry, and that’s really hard to find.”

Venezia’s company has seen such value from her experience that they’ve recruited several graduates from the program. 

Turning education into measurable business impact 

Austin Martens, general manager of sales at Ryerson, a metal distribution company, offers yet another perspective: how structured development can strengthen leadership and decision-making across the organization.

Ryerson actively recruits from Texas A&M University’s undergraduate program in industrial distribution, so when Martens began researching opportunities for advanced education, the company pointed him to Texas A&M’s MID program.

“They know the reputation of the program and the course nature, so it was very easy for Ryerson to have faith that this was a worthwhile investment of my time and their resources,” said Martens, who has been with the company for almost 12 years. 

Martens believes the program is ideal for mid-career individuals who can bring experiences with them to share with their cohort while still having enough time left in their journey to bring back valuable knowledge to their company. For Martens, the networking and collaborative learning with peers was beneficial, especially learning from people in other areas of distribution.

“From a management perspective, from a financial perspective, from a technical perspective, there were little bits of information that you didn’t even realize you were learning until all of a sudden you had these experiences to convey back to your team, which is just as valuable as any return you get from a specific capstone project.”

His capstone project, like Kerman’s and Venezia’s, was internally driven.  

“A consultant can come in and say, here’s our recommendation, take their check and leave. They don’t live with the results.” 

By contrast, Martens was deeply invested in the outcome. He echoes Venezia’s finding that employees were potentially more personable and collaborative than they would have been with an external consultant.

“Not only do you develop as a leader and delegator in running a project, but you also get the internal and external resources to very personally solve a problem. Everyone benefits.”

The perspective and attention to detail that Martens applied to his capstone project has followed him: His decision-making process improved, and he gained the confidence and comfort to discuss complex and highly visible problems.

“The MID program is an investment, so everyone else around you is trying to get the same thing out of the program. That level of focus [in the teaching, curriculum, projects and cohort] has a higher rate of return.”

Investing in people drives growth and profitability

Kerman, Venezia and Martens each took a different path, but their stories point to the same conclusion: investing in employee expertise creates measurable business value. By developing internal talent, distributors gain leaders who not only understand the complexities of their organizations but also have the tools to optimize operations and drive strategic change.

Unlike outside consultants, these employees live with the results of their decisions. They build solutions that fit their company’s culture and goals, and they inspire trust and collaboration across teams. Their education translates directly into smarter financial decisions, stronger operational models and better long-term strategies.

For companies, this investment pays off in multiple ways. They reduce reliance on external consultants, retain top talent by offering growth opportunities and build a deep bench of leaders whose expertise can identify efficiencies, optimize operations, innovate from within and accelerate growth to improve profitability.

In a competitive distribution landscape, developing internal expertise is a smart strategy and a profitability driver. Companies that nurture their people position themselves to adapt faster and serve customers better. 

Dr. Bharani is the Texas A&M University Master of Industrial Distribution Director and co-founder of the Talent Development Council.