From intern to president, Anne Vranicic shares what she has learned about leadership, culture and M&A on both sides of the deal

Anne Vranicic never set out to become president of Valin Corporation. She started at the company as an intern and spent more than two decades taking on whatever problem was in front of her. When she was asked to lead the company, she didn’t say yes right away. Valin had just been acquired by Graybar, and she came to see the role as a chance to serve, not a title.

In this episode of Distributors Deliver, recorded at NAW’s 2026 Innovators Summit in Nashville, NAW CEO Eric Hoplin talks with Vranicic about what she learned from her father, longtime Valin leader Joe Nettemeyer, and how Valin is using Graybar’s resources to become a better version of itself. Having been on both sides of an acquisition, Vranicic explains why cultural due diligence matters as much as the financials, and why the fastest way to build culture after a deal is to have new teams solve hard problems together.

The conversation covers Valin’s early start in e-commerce, launched back in 1999, and how leaders can get employees to adopt new technology. Anne also gives advice for women who want to lead in distribution, along with her work on responsible AI adoption through the NAW Institute.

🎧 Also available to stream on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

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If you are an NAW member, distribution leader, or part of an organization supporting wholesale distribution and you would like to be considered as a future guest, contact [email protected].

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