When you hear the words Strike King you automatically put a couple faces to it. Kevin Vandam and Denny Brauer. They are two of the most well known professional bass fishermen of the sport. They are also on the Strike King Elite Pro Team along with twelve other of some of the biggest names in the bass fishing industry. Strike King has one of the best Elite teams in the fishing business. This elite team of fifteen pros helps design and test all of the Strike King products. And yes, they all get paid to fish. But in the shadows of these high profile fishermen sits a man behind a desk at his computer everyday making sure those fifteen pros, along with seventy regional pros, forty five sales reps, and twenty five guides gets what they need. He also does a list a mile long to make sure that Strike King stays on top of the lure industry. His name is Chris Brown. Never heard of him? Everyone on the Strike King team knows him real well. Yes, he is their boss and a good one at that. Chris is the marketing and consumer relations manager of Strike King. I sat down with Chris at a writer’s conference one day and asked him, “ has anyone ever done a story on you?” He looked at me kind of funny. “Nope.” He smiled. “Well, it is about time someone did.” I said. So I asked him to go through a normal day at the office. “There is no normal day at the office. Every day is different. 99% of the time it is ‘wide open’ here.” He says. His day starts early checking around 250 emails and answering 60 to 70 phone calls. He monitors tournament results of the Strike King pros, checks on praises or complaints from consumers, gets updates from the pros, puts in orders for all of them, updates the SK blogs, and posts things on the SK Facebook page.. His day is just getting started. No he is not done there. Chris does all of the packaging design for the SK baits, print ads, and product photos. Oh did I mention he is a photographer. Yes, a lot of the photos you see in magazines or ads with the SK pros, he took them. It is a passion of his in which he has become very talented in doing. He is not done there. Chris sets up interviews for writers, gives them quotes they need and photos for any story they are wanting to write. He also monitors sales and tries to prioritize his day accordingly to help generate more. Along with keeping all of the SK pros happy he is now involved with the PAA Affinity program and has six college teams that he sponsors. I guess he just needed something else to do. Chris is one of the hardest working men I have ever seen. He is always going above and beyond to make everyone happy. Being on the National pro staff myself, I have had the good fortune of working for Chris. Just some examples include getting me a picture for a story or if I need a certain bait, he never hesitates to do it in an unusually fast and timely matter. The best part about it is he is happy to help. So at the end of the day how does Chris Brown look at all what he does for SK. “ I like being the guy behind the scenes. I know I will get paid whether I catch a fish or not.” There is a lot to be said for that. So the next time you pick up a Strike King bait or see a print ad with your favorite Strike King fisherman on it. Remember Chris Brown made it all possible. My hats off to you CB.
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