No one teaches you how to run a distribution business. There’s no playbook for navigating shifting markets, growing sales, or making the right bets on technology. The best distributors figure it out by talking to the right people and learning from experience.
That’s what In the Mind of a Distributor is all about. Each month, Benj Cohen—founder of Proton, the CRM built for distributors—sits down with industry leaders, from owners to operators to sales pros, to break down what’s working, what’s not, and where the industry is headed.
If all goes well, listeners will leave each episode a little sharper, a little more informed, and a step ahead of the competition.
AI pays off when you redesign how the work gets done | Benj Cohen of Proton.ai
In this special episode, the tables are turned: Benj Cohen, founder and CEO of Proton.ai, is interviewed by VP of marketing Dasha Shakov about growing up in his family’s dental distribution business and how that experience led him to build an AI platform for distributors. Benj explains why many are missing the larger opportunity with AI. The payoff comes when you redesign a complete workflow, give agents access to the right data, and keep a person in control of the result. They discuss: The f...
27 Jul 2026
Testing your way to better CAC, conversion, and industry turns | Kevin Weadick of TricorBraun
In this episode, Benj sits down with Kevin Weadick, CEO and President at TricorBraun, whose career runs through Grainger, Zoro, FleetPride, and more. Kevin shares how he settled the oldest argument in distribution marketing: does any of it actually help the branches and the reps? At FleetPride he ran geo-paired market tests, shutting marketing off in one market and leaving it on in a matched one, then watched what happened to local sales. What he found gave the team the confidence to spend a ...
22 Jun 2026
Running a master distributor | Kevin Short of ORS Nasco
In this episode, Benj sits down with Kevin Short, CEO of ORS Nasco, to talk about life as a master distributor, their four acquisitions in the last two years, and what 30+ years in chemicals, plastics, and industrial distribution have taught him about running a resilient business. Kevin makes the case for rethinking how distributors and manufacturers allocate capital. He argues the old advice to "spend your last dollar on inventory" no longer holds, and explains why he's on a mission to unblu...
27 May 2026
Using data as your next competitive edge | Erik Gershwind
In this episode, Benj sits down with Erik Gershwind, Vice Chair of the Board at MSC Industrial, to unpack 30 years at one of the largest industrial distributors in the U.S. and the strategic shifts that defined his 13 years as CEO. Erik walks through repositioning MSC from a "spot buy" supplier known for its catalog and next-day delivery into a mission-critical partner on the plant floor of North American manufacturing. He also explains how MSC leaned into technical product lines, digital, an...
26 Mar 2026
Future-proofing a 100-year old distribution business | Chuck Cohen
Chuck Cohen is back on In the Mind of a Distributor. This time, he's pulling back the curtain on the biggest structural bet in Benco Dental's nearly 100-year history: reorganizing the entire company into three distinct divisions under a new holding company. Chuck breaks down why they made the move, how it's designed to unlock faster growth and higher margins, and what it took to get there, including the lessons learned from years of early experiments in services before solutions became a core...
22 Jan 2026
Growing a family-owned distributor to 250+ locations | Doug & Jack York
In this episode, Benj talks with Doug and Jack York of Ewing Outdoor Supply about what it really takes to run a successful family-owned distribution business across generations.
Doug shares how he scaled Ewing to 250+ locations by betting big on growth while staying true to the company’s roots. Jack brings a next-gen perspective: showing how they’re layering in data, financial discipline, and tech to stay competitive without losing what makes the business special.
They get real about succession planning, balancing family dynamics, and making sure future leaders earn their seat. If you’re part of a family-run distributor (or thinking about how to build one that lasts) this is a must-listen.
16 Dec 2025
Winning rural markets by going multi-vertical | Paul Kennedy
In this episode, Benj talks with Paul Kennedy, CEO of DSG, about cracking the code on multi-vertical distribution. Paul reveals how DSG profitably serves towns of 10,000 people by selling electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and waterworks all under one roof—a model that lets them win in markets where focused competitors simply can't make the math work.
He breaks down the strategy behind spreading costs across verticals, then dives into the real operational challenges: structuring sales teams for focus without sacrificing breadth, leveraging back-of-house efficiency that most distributors overlook, and deciding when to go local versus regional with your resources.
Paul also tackles the digital side: why contractors care more about knowing what's in stock than finding the lowest price, how e-commerce fits into a broader digital ecosystem, and the one thing that makes or breaks technology adoption (hint: it's not the technology itself).
13 Nov 2025
Scaling an inside sales team from 0 to 90 reps | Ali Hasham
In this episode, Benj talks with Ali Hasham, CEO and Founder of Revenue Optics, about what it takes to build high-performing inside sales teams in distribution. With nearly 25 years in the industry, Ali shares how he built inside sales organizations from scratch three separate times, scaling teams from a single person to as many as 90 reps. Ali breaks down the playbook he's refined across electrical, automotive, and industrial distribution: from identifying the right talent and proving the mo...
29 Oct 2025
Creating a winning growth culture | Gary Corless
In this episode of In the Mind of a Distributor, Benj sits down with Gary Corless, former CEO of PSS World Medical (now McKesson Medical-Surgical), to unpack how the company scaled from a $15M startup pulling orders in shopping carts to a $2B industry leader. The key to that growth was a rich company-wide culture where everyone (not just sales) owned the number. Gary walks through how PSS built a true growth culture that aligned teams from the warehouse to the C-suite, turning everyday roles ...
7 Oct 2025
Merchandising massive product catalogs | Brian Walker
In this episode, Benj sits down with Brian Walker, Chief Product Officer at Grainger, to unpack how one of the largest distributors in the world approaches merchandising at scale. With over 2 million SKUs in their core business and an endless assortment model through Zoro, Grainger’s merchandising strategy is anything but simple. Brian explains how they decide which products to carry, how they use customer context to guide those decisions, and what it takes to make the right products easy to ...
2 Sept 2025
Navigating private equity partnerships | Larry Stoddard
In this episode, Benj talks with Larry Stoddard, a distribution industry veteran who's led companies through massive growth phases at Ferguson, Bradco, and RelaDyne. Larry pulls back the curtain on what private equity partnerships actually look like in distribution: from why PE firms are drawn to distributors, to the real operational challenges of integrating multiple company cultures. He also debunks the biggest myth about private equity (spoiler: they don't come in swinging axes...
31 Jul 2025
Building a value‑added services strategy that works | Matt Cohen
In this episode, Benj talks with Matt Cohen, President of Replenex, about joining his family business and leading a shift towards a model built around offerings that truly matter to customers and the business. In the first half, Matt shares what it took to align the team around value-added services. The second half gets tactical, covering: what most distributors get wrong about value-added serviceswhy customers often underestimate the real cost of these offeringsthe changing economics and pri...
27 Jun 2025
Building a growth engine through M&A | Jeff McLendon
Jeff McLendon, CEO and President of Specialty Building Products, discusses scaling a company through strategic mergers and acquisitions combined with organic growth strategies in an interview with Benj.
23 May 2025
Selling to enterprise customers with Joyce Lansdale
In this episode, Joyce Lansdale—Vallen's VP of Enterprise Business Development and Chairman of the Industrial Supply Association Board—shares her deep insights on selling to enterprise customers. With over 30 years in distribution, she explains exactly what these big clients are looking for, which internal and customer teams have to collaborate in order to have a successful partnership, and the impressive logistics behind delivering unpredictable spot buys—like sourcing a firetruck.&nbs...
30 Apr 2025
Building a Billion Dollar Distribution Business | Chuck Cohen
In this episode, Benj talks with Chuck Cohen, Managing Director of Benco Dental, about what it really takes to build and sustain a growing distribution business over the long haul. Chuck shares the story of growing Benco from $85 million to over $1 billion in revenue. Along the way, he reflects on the decisions that made that growth possible: from how the company thinks about long-term investments, to evolving the company’s sales structure and embracing new technology and service offerings. T...
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
7 ratings
Spotify
4.8 / 5
17 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 15 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
17
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
32
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