For the first time ever, Wall Street has taken notice of master agents and the distribution channel, further solidifying the channel’s potential and my investment in TBI. Furthermore, multi-billion-dollar companies like Verizon and AT&T have entered and are significantly driving growth. At one time, the active vendors in the connectivity channel had a total value of $43 billion, and today that has increased to over $350 billion. Like me, these tech giants and now newer cloud vendors realize that there is considerable, underutilized opportunity in the channel.

Convergence has notably changed both hardware and software sales; connectivity, though has been affected the least. This is because there will always be a need for a connection to converged devices and applications at the end user. In the future, our channel will be there to help customers with the connections that will deliver greater functionality that was once provided by the hardware and software industries. With that being said, it’s safe to say this is the hottest segment in technology, and one of the best investments in American business. In my opinion, we are still years off from seeing the greatest returns on our investments, which is why TBI is not for sale. Instead of cashing out, I’m doubling down and investing into upgrading everything that makes us the best: honing in and improving best practices for our back-office, adding headcount to sales engineering and solution specialists, and creating efficiencies with automation.

Despite it being a major motivator, money isn’t the only reason I’m choosing to hold onto TBI. While I have many interests and hobbies, my greatest passion is my business. I’m proud of the heights this company has reached – from offering the biggest and best back office and creating a best in class, vendor-agnostic training program to adding more value to the pre and post sales process than other master agents.

Additionally, this company allows me to make a difference in the lives of many. My mother was a teacher, and I took from her a strong desire to positively impact the lives of others. With that being said, there’s nothing more gratifying than seeing my employees become first-time homebuyers, which happened five times over the last year.

I’m also proud of the company culture that has been built around TBI, and I truly love and respect the people I work with. It brings me joy to offer people amazing career growth opportunities and perks like TBI’s Financial Wellness Week.

TBI is my life’s work. It thrills me to think about how much growth we’ll experience, and how many lives will be positively impacted in just the next few years. TBI’s business and your best years as a member of the channel are still yet to come.

Geoff Shepstone