Key Account Executive - Wholesale (w/ a sense of humor)

The ideal candidate is a natural hunter who thrives on opening new doors, building trusted relationships with buyers, and turning that trust into ongoing account growth.
About Shinesty
Shinesty makes dangerously comfortable apparel for people who refuse to take themselves too seriously. We're best known for Ball Hammock® pouch underwear, bold prints, and an irreverent brand voice, with an assortment spanning underwear, socks, swim, loungewear, apparel, and accessories. Our products sell through Shinesty.com, Amazon, and roughly 800 wholesale doors across specialty, farm-and-ranch, gifting, and other retail channels. Wholesale is one of our largest growth opportunities, and we're building the sales team to open new doors and turn them into large, durable partnerships.
The Role
You will find, open, and grow Shinesty's wholesale accounts. This is a full-cycle, outbound sales role: you'll prospect and pursue new retail partners, build the buyer relationships that get Shinesty on the shelf, and then stay in the account to expand it — more doors, more departments, bigger reorders.
The ideal candidate combines the drive and resilience of a hunter with the relationship-building and account-management skills to keep growing what they open.
Requirements
Particularly Relevant Backgrounds
We're especially interested in candidates with a track record in outbound sales — people who are used to prospecting and closing new retail accounts, not just servicing an existing list. Category experience in men's apparel, underwear, socks, accessories, outdoor, gifting, or seasonal is a plus.
What You'll Own
New Account Development (Hunting)
Build and manage a pipeline of target retail accounts across specialty, gifting, outdoor, resort, sporting goods and other relevant channels. You will be assigned verticals based on your background. Right now the only verticals we have assigned to existing reps are farm and ranch and adult.
Prospect and cold-outreach to buyers and merchants; secure first meetings
Lead initial sell-in presentations and pitch the Shinesty brand, product, and economics
Negotiate and close the first commercial commitment — assortment, pricing, terms, and initial order
Relationship Development
Build trusted, long-term relationships with buyers, merchants, planners, and allocators at each account
Develop a detailed understanding of each retailer's customer, assortment strategy, calendar, and internal decision-making
Lead recurring business reviews, line reviews, and sell-through conversations on a consistent cadence
Present performance and opportunities in a way that helps buyers advocate for Shinesty internally
Account Growth & Expansion
Turn the initial placement into a substantial, durable partnership: grow reorders, expand assortments, add new categories, and win additional doors
Build annual and seasonal account plans covering revenue, assortment, doors, departments, and promotions
Identify underperforming stores, products, or programs and build clear plans to fix them
Map buying departments and decision-makers across each retail organization to find new categories or buying teams to sell into
Merchandising & Forecasting Support
Use account-, SKU-, and door-level data to recommend the right products, quantities, pricing, and promotions
Partner with design, product, and merchandising to build retailer-specific assortments
Monitor sell-through and inventory to spot reorder opportunities and flag replenishment risks
Forecast accounts by analyzing account metrics
Keep account plans, pipelines, and next actions current in the CRM
What Success Looks Like in 12 Months
$1M in closed business in fiscal 2027 (Feb 2027-Jan 2028).
A qualified pipeline of new target accounts, and door/category expansion plans (which will generate a lot of the 2028 growth for you) that will generate $3-4M in revenue in fiscal 2028
New key accounts opened and ramping, with account plans and a business-review cadence in place
Net revenue retention above 130% on accounts you've opened and grown — accounts grow, they don't leak
Measurably improved reorder rates, assortment depth, and units per door per week across your accounts
More than 60% of prebooks placed before the season deadline
What We're Looking For
Proven track record in outbound / new-business sales — prospecting, cold-calling, and closing new accounts
Comfort selling to retail buyers and asking for the business, repeatedly
Experience owning a territory, book of business, or major account relationship, ideally in wholesale, retail, or distributor sales
Strong retail math: sales, margin, inventory, turns, weeks of supply, units per door per week
Proven ability to turn analysis into a clear commercial recommendation and present it to buyers or senior retail stakeholders
Excellent communication, relationship-building, and negotiation skills; able to influence without formal authority
High ownership, urgency, and follow-through; comfortable in an entrepreneurial company without big-company support structure
Willingness to travel for prospecting trips, retailer meetings, line reviews, store visits, and trade shows
You May Not Be the Right Fit If
You'd rather manage an existing book than build a new one
You're uncomfortable with rejection, cold outreach, or asking a buyer for the business
You wait for leads or accounts to be assigned rather than actively prospecting
You rely on relationships without supporting recommendations with data — or you're highly analytical but don't enjoy selling and presenting
You're uncomfortable representing a bold, irreverent consumer brand
Why Shinesty
This is a chance to help build a national wholesale business, not inherit a mature account list. You'll have direct access to company leadership, real influence over which retailers and categories we pursue, and the ability to see your own prospecting work turn into doors, categories, and revenue.
Benefits
Work from home optional (please note travel is expected :40%)
Laptop + whatever other equipment you need
Access to any AI platform that will make you better at your job
Medical, dental, vision insurance
Dog-friendly office
Flexible PTO, no need to accrue time take as much as you'd like
Flexible working hours, get your work done and generate results
Discounted and free products
Work every day with an incredibly smart, fun, and creative team

Work arrangement
No