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Due to the double-whammy of midweek holidays in late 2025, the latest episode of the IBJ Podcast is an encore presentation of our interview last year with entrepreneur Cindy Schum. You might recall her as the woman with a great career in commercial lending who took a leap of faith and bought a 104-year-old small business in the less-than-glamorous janitorial-supply industry.
Cindy Schum grew up in a troubled family situation and, as she describes herself today, was terribly shy and awkward. Still, she found ways to put herself in situations that could help her be more outgoing. She was great at working with numbers, and she gravitated to a career in commercial lending that put her in front of business owners who loved to talk about how they made things work.
She picked a heck of a time to jump from banking to becoming an entrepreneur. She felt something vital was missing from her career, and her husband, Brad, persuaded her to purchase the janitorial-supply company in 2019. She knew from her experience evaluating company financials and acquisitions that the numbers looked good. And when the pandemic hit several months later, Schum found herself in a position to help customers struggling with the sudden disruption.
Still, Schum’s plans to grow A.G. Maas Supply Co. were delayed. But its headcount has swelled from two employees to 10 over the past six years, and its annual revenue has jumped 250%. Its core business is procurement—connecting customers in the utility, education, manufacturing and hospitality industries with the right suppliers of cleaning and safety products, office tools and facility furnishings. After some early trepidation, Schum learned that her career in banking perfectly prepared her for entrepreneurship. As Schum says in this week’s edition of the IBJ Podcast, whether you’re talking about banknotes or toilet paper, it all comes down to relationships.
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You can also listen to these recent episodes:
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