Distribution & Warehouse Leadership Speaker

Your supervisors were promoted for doing the work. I teach them how to lead it.

Will Quinn, The Distribution Guy, helps distributors and associations build front-line leaders who hire well, train well, and hold the standard on every shift. Marine Corps leadership, tested over 25 years on distribution floors. Booking 2026 and 2027.

The hardest job in distribution is the one nobody trains for.

Most front-line supervisors got the job because they were the best picker, driver, or counter person. Then they're handed a team, a schedule, and a set of numbers and told to figure it out. It shows up as new hires gone in the first few weeks, shifts that run differently depending on who's in charge, and good people leaving good jobs.

Three ways to bring Will in.

Pick the format that fits your event. Every program is built from work Will has actually delivered, and every one ends with a plan your leaders will run on Monday.

Keynote

Steel-Toed Leadership

What the Marine Corps teaches every leader that business school never will

The 15 leadership traits and 11 principles from Will's book, learned in 12 years in the Corps and tested on distribution floors, told through the wins and the mistakes. For conferences, leadership days, and company all-hands.

What standard to hold, and how to hold it when it costs you something
Making the call at 70% information instead of waiting for 100%
Building a bench that runs the building when you're not in it

45–60 min · In person or virtual · Add a copy of Steel-Toed Leadership for every attendee

Workshop

Recruit. Onboard. Develop.

Practical frameworks for building and keeping front-line talent

Four frameworks attendees apply in their own operation, with a take-home packet: key takeaways, a self-assessment, an action plan, a 30-day onboarding roadmap, an onboarding checklist, and a scenario exercise. For council meetings, chapter events, and management teams.

Hiring and recruiting: stop reacting, build a pipeline
Onboarding: the first 30 days decide the first 3 years
Training and metrics: teach the why, coach with the data

90 min · Optional peer follow-up 6–8 weeks later: "What did you actually do?"

Four-Session Program

Critical Skills for Front-Line Leaders in Distribution

Develop supervisors at scale, live or on demand

For associations and multi-site distributors. Includes session materials, an implementation guide for your member companies or sites, a staff orientation, and 30 days of follow-up support. Recordings can be licensed for on-demand use.

01 Operational Knowledge
02 Team Building and Management
03 Data and Performance Metrics
04 Crisis and Pressure Management

4 × 90 min · Virtual, in person, or licensed on demand

Will can also build these into any program: AI in the warehouse (what's real and what's sold) · the forgotten art of walking the floor · leading change on a floor that's seen it before · from forklifts to forecasting.

He decided at seven. He found the framework at eighteen.

When Will Quinn was seven years old, he decided he was going to be a United States Marine. He was watching a man hurt his mother, and he needed to become someone strong enough to protect her. At eighteen he stood on the yellow footprints at boot camp, and what he found there was not a set of techniques. It was a framework for leading people.

Most front-line supervisors never get one. They were good at the work, so they got promoted, and then found themselves responsible for other people's results with nothing to go on. In his words from Steel-Toed Leadership: "This book is the framework they should have been given. I found mine on the yellow footprints, in the dark, at eighteen."

Will served 12 years in the United States Marine Corps, then spent 25 years running distribution operations for Coca-Cola, WEG Electric, MSC Industrial Supply, Cintas, Capstone Logistics, Grainger, and HD Supply. He holds an MS in Supply Chain Management from Elmhurst University, where he now teaches in the graduate program, and is the author of Steel-Toed Leadership and Modern Warehouse Management.

Before you book.

What does Will Quinn speak about?

Will Quinn helps distributors and associations develop front-line leaders. He offers three programs: the Steel-Toed Leadership keynote, the Recruit. Onboard. Develop. workshop, and the four-session Critical Skills for Front-Line Leaders in Distribution program.

What session formats are available?

A 45 to 60-minute keynote, a 90-minute workshop with an optional peer follow-up session 6 to 8 weeks later, and a four-session program of 90 minutes each that can be delivered live or licensed for on-demand use.

Can Will Quinn present virtually?

Yes. All six sessions Will delivered for the Foodservice Equipment Distributors Association (FEDA) in 2026 were virtual, and the Critical Skills program can be licensed for on-demand use.

Who are the typical audiences?

Wholesale distributors, industry associations, and operations teams. Past events include FEDA, NAW, the Industrial Supply Association (ISA), NAED, MDM Shift, and Stratosphere 2025 by Third Stage Consulting.

How do I book Will Quinn to speak?

Use the contact page and choose the program you're interested in. Include the organization, date, city, format, and who will be in the room. Will answers within two business days and is booking 2026 and 2027 engagements.