Our History

J. Gardner & Associates, L.L.C. was actually started as Gardner & Associates, by my Father Jack Gardner, Sr.

I am not quite sure exactly when though.

My Father was a school teacher who also sold Advertising Specialties for extra income to support his family of five. Now I do remember him giving me sample pens and pencils to give to my teacher as far back as the 3rd grade (which I won’t tell you what year that was).

My brother and sister and I grew up

• Stuffing envelopes
• Helping him blow up orange balloons that he sold to a bank who donated them to the County of Orange for the local Halloween parade
• Folding a ton of t-shirts that were folded wrong
• Repackaging things that he felt weren’t packaged correctly.

My dad always did what ever it took to keep his customers happy.

We were his crew, his helpers and his assembly line, but he always made it fun for us and he would always bribe us with ice cream and a movie. Dad finally quit teaching after he started to make more money selling Ad Specialties. He built up his clientele to approximately 300 small, medium and large businesses around Southern California.

In 1982 he asked my brother and I to join him. My brother a graphic artist and me, well I have the gift of gab… So he held our hands and showed us the true art of selling: “Jack Gardner Style!”

We kept very busy servicing the accounts he had generated over the years.

We had the best of times, some hard times and then some sad times. After about ten years things began to change. Companies started to get “bids” and the personal service we so prided ourselves in became unimportant. Then Ad Specialty distributors started to pop up everywhere,
and the bid wars began and that really started to hurt us and the industry.

Dad was forever trying mailings to different industries, (hence the stuffing of envelopes) looking for a niche, and then in 1991 he finally hit it….

Law Enforcement Agencies! They were in need of generating good-will with the children in their communities, and my Dad found an inexpensive item for them to hand out to children:

The Stick-On Jr. Police Badges. He offered these with a hand written letter and a hand written envelope, then he would follow up with a personal phone call. All of this contained his wit and charm that I know started this ball rolling. He knew where I got my gift of gab from, and it wasn’t my mother, so he brought me along once again.

Dad nurtured his project until it became all we did and now all I do.

In 1998 Dad passed away but did live long enough to see his project grow into that Niche he searched for his entire life. I am so glad he got to see it grow. It has grown to Fire Educators, Sheriff Departments, University Police and Rail Road Police, just to name a few.

We recently incorporated and had to change the company name, so I chose “J. Gardner & Associates, L.L.C.” in honor of my Father Jack….
The best business partner, the best salesmen and the best Dad ever.

I want to carry on in his program with all of his determination to do what ever it takes to keep his/my customers happy.

Sarah J. Gardner – McArthur
President

Me with my Dad at a clients event.
1982