Nate Searles envisioned a long career in sports management.
But his first paying job in the field ended when the tennis facility he was managing shut down, in 2001.
Searles, now 35, then ended up as a fundraiser at a nonprofit, before landing a sales job at Akron’s Main Street Gourmet, a wholesaler of frozen muffins and other baked goods for restaurants and groceries.
Searles had met Main Street CEO Steve Marks through volunteering with the Akron Marathon, which Marks helped to found.
Marks knew Searles was looking for a new career and suggested Searles think about working at Main Street. “I said, ‘Why would you want me? I don’t have any sales experience.’ ’’
Marks, Searles said, “made me realize I was already a sales person,” soliciting donations as development director for the nonprofit Boys and Girls Clubs of Summit County.
Searles recalled that the Main Street CEO told him: “You’re selling a good feeling [one gets by donating to the nonprofit]. At Main Street Gourmet, we sell a tangible product.”
Searles was persuaded, and he joined Main Street Gourmet in 2005 as a sales associate.
He moved up to director of national accounts and in March was named director of sales, overseeing four salespeople who sell to food service distributors, restaurant chains, mom-and-pop eateries and supermarkets.
Searles said he likes working for a company that is a medium-size player in the industry and one that specializes in custom orders, tailoring recipes to customer specifications.
“The cool thing about Main Street is customers can come here and meet the CEOs,” Searles said, referring to Marks and Harvey Nelson.
“We’re not huge. We invite [customers] to come to our plant, take them out,” Searles said.
Main Street began in 1987 as a small muffin shop in downtown Akron and now has roughly 100 employees. Its plant and offices are on Muffin Lane in the Ascot Industrial Park in northern-most Akron.
Searles said he enjoys the relationships that Main Street employees build with customers.
“It’s a very long sales process,” he said. “When a restaurant chain makes a change to its menu,” adding an item, “there’s a ton of development and testing.
“We are kind of product specialists, we meet with the customers, ask them, ‘What problems do you have? What items do you want?’ ’’
His favorite Main Street Gourmet treat? “One of my favorites is our peanut butter bar. I can’t tell you who we make it for. It tastes like the Buckeye candy.”
Katie Byard can be reached at 330-996-3781 or kbyard@thebeaconjournal.com.