Allison Buchanan started Buchanan Group in 1991 after a very successful 10 year career in sales, marketing and product development that had taken her from Dallas and Houston with Pillsbury; to Denver, CO and Great Barrington, MA with Berkshire Corporation; and, to St. Paul, MN with Ecolab Inc.

Her goal, after having worked for these great companies, was to create a company that could provide all of the services that an in-house marketing department could provide to any client that might need those services. With a college degree from the University of Mississippi in Journalism and Art, a knack for sales and a natural ability in marketing, it all came together in the form of a company that has been providing those services for over 18 years.

At Ecolab, as a Product Line Manager, she provided overall leadership for the Specialty Products line for the Institutional Division—a 60 product, $68-million business—for this leading global provider of cleaning and sanitizing products and services to the hospitality industry (a Fortune 500 company).  She oversaw business plan development/execution, P&L, and product development and launch to a 1,300-member sales force; managed all related issues and opportunities and was tasked with transforming the housekeeping and specialty/restaurant product areas, increasing sales and profitability. She developed the highly successful Oasis line of specialty cleaning products and dilution system from the ground up. She launched that line over a series of national launch meetings, and the line has since had over $1 billion in sales.

While at Berkshire Corporation, she served as Director of Sales and Marketing, National Sales and Marketing Manager, Director of Marketing Communications and Regional Sales Representative. During her time at Berkshire, she Increased total sales 50% as National Sales and Marketing Manager; spearheaded a $1-million distributor private label program, recruited and trained a major regional distributor with 15 stocking locations, and grew a territory 62% in a single year. She boosted Midwest sales 71% while serving simultaneously as Director of Marketing Communications and Regional Sales Representative.  She also developed new account profile and call systems; authored and designed five full-color brochures; and restructured the Sample Department from inquiry processing to packaging.