The Family Business CEOs to Watch Class of 2024 comprises 20 exceptional business leaders who are charting the course for long-term success of their enterprises. They include members of the second through fifth generations of family ownership as well as non-family leaders.
Kathryn Poehling Seymour
CEO & President | Fifth generation | First Supply, Madison, Wis.
Katie Poehling Seymour was named CEO and president of First Supply in 2020, succeeding her father, Joe Poehling. The company, founded in 1897 as a plumbing supplier, now is a wholesaler serving numerous channels, including plumbing, HVAC, PVF, industrial, waterworks, and kitchen, bath and lighting. It has 53 facilities in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas and Michigan.
Poehling Seymour, the company’s first female CEO, has a background in accounting and a J.D. from Notre Dame Law School. Prior to her roles at First Supply, Poehling Seymour was a tax consultant at Deloitte. At First Supply she began in sales and then became chief operating officer of the kitchen and bath stores division.
Among other industry leadership roles, Poehling Seymour was the 2023 president of the American Supply Association and is currently the 2024 chairperson. She is a board member of the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors.
“Since taking over, she has grown sales and revenue within the company, created policies to benefit our employees, took the lead on our company’s biggest project to date and has had a huge impact on company culture,” says Jessica Lawrence, executive assistant at First Supply. “She has prioritized policies that improve our work environments for all employees, with a main focus on mothers in the workplace, changing outdated policies to make First Supply a comfortable place to work. Katie’s involvement with our employees allows her to make changes that are crucial for not only our team but our customers and vendors.”
The company was recently was honored as a Top Workplace in the distribution industry by Energage, based on employee feedback by the company culture.
First Supply is embarking on a major project: building a new distribution center that will improve processes for employees and customers. “Katie has demonstrated her strong leadership capabilities through her consistent communication, innovative ideas and eager demeanor to ensure its success and impact,” Lawrence says.
“Some of the largest, most successful businesses in the world are family-owned. I believe that is not a coincidence,” Poehling Seymour says. “The magic of the passion for something at the onset, an entrepreneurial trait that never quite diminishes with the passing of generations, an ingrained knowledge for an industry, and a culture that is inherently familial comes together for companies and families that can harness it in ways that can’t be replicated otherwise.
“I truly believe I am a steward charged with the care of the asset and legacy that has been entrusted to me in the form of this business. It is an honor to stand on the shoulders of those that came before me to build something that will benefit a future I cannot yet see ahead of me.”