Mizuno has spent 120 years building equipment worthy of athletes who refuse to compromise. I've spent 4½ years building relationships in this territory that share that same premise. This is a case for why that matters.
"Yes is the answer. What is the question?"
— The operating philosophy I bring to every account visit
Green grass shops and off-course specialty retailers survive because they offer something chains can't: expertise, trust, and fit. I've spent four decades learning what that relationship actually requires — not what it looks like in a deck, but what it feels like at the counter on a Tuesday in March.
Mizuno Golf doesn't win on price. It wins on feel, forgiveness, and forty years of fitting data. Selling that requires a rep who believes it — one who can hold the conversation at the highest technical level with a Master Fitter and then walk that same floor with a first-time buyer.
The Minnesota and North Dakota golf market doesn't behave like a sunbelt territory. The season is compressed — 20 weeks at most. That means account relationships carry weight that no promotional calendar can replace. Buyers here remember who showed up in October, not just April.
My current role has covered MN, ND, and WI — overlapping geography with the Mizuno posting — managing a $25M territory with approximately 150 independent accounts. The rhythm of this work, the winter sell-in cadence, the green grass account structure, the relationship currency that accumulates between demo days — I know this terrain.
I've built a brand ambassador framework in my current role that maps influential voices in each market to account penetration strategy. That's not a new concept for me — it's the job. For Mizuno Golf, whose PGA Pro ambassador program is central to the go-to-market, this is exactly the mechanism I'd bring experience operating.
The Mizuno posting asks for 80% travel, 50–60 nights annually. I've been doing that for four and a half years. I know what it costs, what it builds, and how to make it efficient enough to sustain.
My background in specialty retail began long before territory sales. Seven years at Trader Joe's — advancing to Store Manager in New York — followed by a decade in the bike trade at the general manager and territory level. Every chapter was the same exercise: understand what makes a specialty retailer work, and become indispensable to that.
Golf is a different product category. But the account structure — the independent specialty shop, the owner-operator, the fitting culture — those are familiar shapes. And the selling motion Mizuno needs — education, demo days, fitting events, brand ambassador development — maps directly to how I've operated.
Seven years at Trader Joe's through Store Manager. GM across seven Penn Cycle locations. Flagship store manager at Freewheel Bike. Each role required running an independent retail environment at a high level, the same environment Mizuno accounts operate in.
Four and a half years developing MN/ND/WI independents. Three Territory Manager of the Year awards in that span. The recognition reflects what account partners actually said when asked, consistent follow-through, product knowledge, and presence when it counts.
Weekly sales reports, expense management, territory scheduling across multi-state geographies, these are table stakes I've operated at consistently. I built AI-powered field note systems inside my current company's M365 environment to improve reporting quality and account intelligence.
Product education, at a floor level, clinic level, and fitting level, is where specialty retail gains ground. My instinct is always to lead with knowledge and let the product earn the close. That maps directly to Mizuno's approach and to what green grass accounts need from a brand partner.
Founded the Almanzo 100 gravel race in 2007, grew it to 1,400 participants before retiring the event in 2019. Building community around a shared athletic pursuit is a skill, not a credential. Mizuno's ambassador program runs on exactly this muscle.
Rihachi Mizuno's founding vision was one hundred years long. My approach to account relationships runs on the same math: the conversations that matter most are the ones that build over time, not the ones that close a quarter. I've operated that way for 30 years across five retail verticals.
The role requires executing Regional Manager programs across all store locations. My current role has operated this exact pattern, translating national strategy into account-level activation across 150 independents in three states.
Developing territory budgets, distribution plans, and category targets in collaboration with sales management is a process I've run for four consecutive annual cycles. I know where the data lives and how to defend a number.
Scheduling, managing, and staffing demo days is a primary driver of sell-through in specialty golf. I've run event-driven account development across my entire territory tenure. The format is different; the discipline is identical.
Building a network of influential pros to carry the brand through a market is the same mechanism I've used in specialty retail. The relationships require cultivation, follow-through, and genuine respect for the pro's standing in their community.
On-course versus off-course account balance is a strategic question, not just a distribution question. I understand how channel decisions affect brand perception and long-term sell-through, and I've managed similar channel tensions in specialty bike retail.
Weekly activity reports and expense vouchers are part of the discipline of this work. I've built tools inside M365 to make this faster and more useful, turning field notes into account intelligence, not just compliance paperwork.
Mizuno's posting uses the phrase "Top of the Pyramid" to describe the account base it serves. That's not an accident. This is a brand that has chosen to grow by going deeper into the right accounts rather than wider into every account. That takes a rep who can hold the line on that strategy even when a marginal distribution opportunity presents itself.
I've operated in specialty retail my entire career specifically because the relationship between brand and retailer matters to me. Mizuno Golf belongs in accounts that can do it justice, accounts run by people who understand fitting, who can talk about forged irons without reading off a spec sheet, who have earned their green grass designation.
My first 90 days in this territory would look like this: re-qualify the account list against Mizuno's channel strategy, identify the five to eight accounts with the highest ambassador potential, build a demo day calendar anchored to the Upper Midwest season, and establish a rhythm with the Regional Manager that surfaces territory intelligence before it becomes a problem.
The compressed golf season in Minnesota is not a disadvantage, it's a clarifying constraint. Every conversation has to count because you don't get as many of them. That requires the kind of account discipline I've built over four and a half years in this exact geography.
Mizuno has been making golf equipment since 1933. The Grand Monarch entered the American Golf Hall of Fame in 1977. That's not heritage, that's proof of concept, extended. The brand deserves a territory manager who understands what it means to be in this for the long cycle. That's what I'm offering.
I'm based in Minneapolis, ready for the travel this role requires, and genuinely motivated by what Mizuno Golf represents in the market.