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Human to Human

Erika Scherman competes with larger distributors by putting relationships, service and customer knowledge first.

For MC Tool & Safety Sales owner Erika Scherman, building a successful distribution business means knowing the customer, listening to their needs, and finding the right answer—even when she doesn’t have it herself.

“I’m not afraid to say I don’t know as long as you let me find someone who does,” she says.

The statement reflects how she has guided MC Tool & Safety Sales, the Minneapolis-area construction tool and safety distributor she took over with little industry experience but a strong desire to help her father preserve the business he had built.

A decade as owner has given Erika a deeper understanding of distribution, but it has also reinforced her belief that success isn’t necessarily about being the biggest company in the market.

It’s about knowing the customer, understanding what they need, and being willing to find an answer.

That relationship-first approach has shaped how Erika runs MC Tool & Safety Sales, and provides the foundation for her broader perspective on independent distribution.

Now retired, Erika’s father, Ken Breske co-founded MC Tool & Safety Sales in 2002 with Terry McClellan. Erika joined her father in business in 2016.

AN UNCONVENTIONAL PATH

Scherman didn’t come to construction distribution through a traditional route.

She spent much of her early career in the beer and beverage industry, first as an on-premise representative and later as a marketing manager. While working in the industry, she earned a master’s degree in entrepreneurship.

Her transition to tools came when her father, Ken Breske, and Terry McClellan, who had co-founded the company in 2002, began considering what would happen to the business as they approached retirement.

“If you ever have tried to sell a distribution business, there’s not a lot to sell,” she says. “There’s some goodwill, and there’s a lot of inventory, but you’re never going to retire on that dollar amount.”

Without a succession plan, Ken and Terry weren’t prepared to put the company on the open market. Instead, they turned to family first.

Their goal was to ensure the company continued to thrive and support the local area, while Ken hoped to keep working for a few more years.

“I jumped on board and really wanted to help my dad, because I didn’t want him to settle for less if he wanted to be out there selling,” she says.

She had owned a small DJ business in college, but working alongside her father and Terry gave her an education in distribution that couldn’t have been replicated in a classroom.

“I just got to soak up all that knowledge and learn from two great people from this industry,” she says.

Her father ultimately retired in October 2025.

COMPETING ON RELATIONSHIPS

With a small staff, every member of the team at MC Tool & Safety Sales is significant to the success of the company’s delivery of tool and safety products for construction contractors. From L-R are Kirsta Polensky, Anna Kemptar and David Ulszek.

Erika’s experience in beer distribution had already taught her what it was like to work in a traditionally male-dominated industry.

She recalls hearing comments such as, “I ain’t buying beer from no skirt,” to which she would reply, “I’m wearing jeans, so I don’t know what you want from me.”

While in the liquor industry, Erika also unsuccessfully applied for management positions.

“My manager looked at me and said, ‘Erika, we really love your ideas, and we’re going to use them, but we’re not going to promote you,’” she says.

Transitioning from beer to tools, Erika found many of the same bluecollar, rough-and-tumble end users.

“Being a female in an industry that’s male-dominated is intimidating sometimes, but I have a very strong personality, so I’ve been able to manage it with the confidence that I have in the brands we represent,” she says.

Ken and Terry had already built a solid reputation for MC Tool based on their knowledge. Erika says she has built on that foundation by emphasizing listening and service.

As a small business, MC Tool doesn’t try to compete with the largest distributors by carrying everything or always chasing the lowest price. Generally, the company carries two or three lines of any specific tool.

“The reps for some of the suppliers don’t always come to my space,” she says. “I don’t do enough business to warrant it, so I understand that.”

Erika isn’t trying to compete with the big-box stores. Instead, MC Tool focuses on quality products, manufacturers that stand behind their warranties, and a service experience that keeps customers coming back.

“It helps ensure that we’re able to continue growing while managing whatever the season brings, depending on the outside economic adventures,” she says.

That approach also shapes the company’s relationship with e-commerce.

MC Tool maintains only a selective e-commerce presence, emphasizing face-to-face communication instead.

“We’re never going to beat Jeff Bezos’ prices. I’m never going to beat Grainger when they want to go head-to-head,” Erika says. “They know they’ve got the clout to do it, but our prices are fair and we’re more fun to work with than any bots and any Amazon site.”

MC Tool is doing what it can to remain relevant and innovative in e-commerce, she says, but it isn’t the company’s primary focus.

“Those e-commerce platforms they sound very easy, and if you’re selling 30 items out of your basement and you have a nice Shopify site, no problem,” she says.

MC Tool tracks about 14,000 items and stocks roughly 3,500 of them. Its e-commerce platform isn’t connected to the company’s inventory system, meaning everything is entered manually.

Upgrading to a connected system could be a $30,000 to $100,000 investment. Erika would rather hire more people. “Our business is built on relationships,” she says.

Having a range of duties creates a knowledgeable and energetic staff at MC Tool & Safety Sales, including Erika’s son Liam Scherman.

KNOWING WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW

A relationship-first approach has helped Erika navigate one of the biggest challenges of taking over an established distribution business.

When she took over MC Tool, she wasn’t bothered by not knowing some of the products, but she recognized that it could be a hurdle.

“I think there were people that probably chose to go somewhere else because somebody had been in the industry longer with a competing company,” Erika says. “I don’t doubt we lost some business from that, but I know I retain the people that mattered because our business is just human to human.”

Even after a decade as owner, she readily acknowledges that there are products she doesn’t know as well as someone who has spent a career in the industry.

Though the labels “owner” and “president” appear on her business card, Erika says she still must find another member of her staff when someone asks about abrasives.

“I can laugh at myself though,” she says. “I should probably know the answer to that off the top of my head, but I have used exactly three different grinding wheels and one cutoff wheel in my whole life.”

She doesn’t see that lack of knowledge as a weakness. Instead, she relies on her staff and MC Tool’s supplier and manufacturer relationships to fill those gaps, and then ensures the customer gets the information.

“I think the ability for me to say I don’t know, but I can find out, and people trusting that, and then making sure that follow-up is there, just builds on the trust that they have with MC Tool & Safety,” Erika says.

That trust is particularly significant in MC Tool’s primary area of sale: safety equipment.

“There is an innate unfamiliarity with the items we’re selling,” she says, noting that safety equipment can be frightening.

“If I’m selling fall protection and that’s supposed to save someone’s life, what if I sell them the wrong thing?” Erika says. “It’s not really my job to make sure that the contractors got the right thing; it’s technically their safety person’s job, but whatever I know has some bearing on that.”

Her sales team members go to fall protection training so they can better assist customers in making the right selection and know how to use the equipment properly.

“You have to know your customer and what their priorities are,” Scherman says. “If their priority is to have everybody get quality items, so they take care of it, they’ll buy an $8 or $9 pair of safety glasses. At the same time, there are customers on the other end that have workers who will wear the glasses but will dispose of them at the end of the week, so they’ll buy the $2 to $3 pairs.”

The objective is to ensure customers have equipment their workers will use.

“It’s more important for my customers that their team buys in and wants to wear their PPE,” she says. “I’m seeing more of a shift with the contractors just wanting to buy what their people will wear.”

“It’s the right tool at the right time, so you don’t cut your finger off,” Erika says. “You retain your employees more when they feel comfortable and feel safe.”

FINDING THE RIGHT CUSTOMERS

Erika’s customer philosophy is similarly selective.

Her father used to tell her that MC Tool would “fire” customers it didn’t like. In practice, that meant focusing more time and resources on customers who value the company’s service and approach.

“I have to go find the people that are a good fit,” Erika says.

As a small business, she says it is the distributor’s role to ensure customers get what they need to be successful.

“Sometimes when they tell you what they need, it’s not the right thing, and that only comes with experience,” she says. “How do I know that they’re getting the right thing, and that their business is going to be better because of it?”

Erika’s dog, Sage, appears on many of the company’s flyers, while the company’s forklift, Wheezy, has also become a social media personality.

Erika says distributors must consider those questions, as well as what service level they need to be successful and which customers are invested in their success.

For her, those relationships go both ways and must extend beyond the perception that value is based on price.

She says neither distributors nor their customers should assume that a national supplier can provide better value simply because it can offer a lower price.

Erika recalls a larger contractor she had done business with for years. When a new buyer came in, he said, “We’re national, so we’re going to get better pricing from Grainger.”

She responded that MC Tool could deliver to all 48 contiguous states. She also questioned whether it would actually be a better price if Grainger could handle the order volume, and whether the company would really offer better service.

“It can’t just be the lowest price, because there’s so much more to my business than that,” Erika says. “How can we be fair, keep the lights on, not gouge the customer, but also not put ourselves in a predicament?”

BUILDING THE BUSINESS

Erika also recognizes that building MC Tool’s future requires reaching customers and employees differently.

“My dad always jokingly said, ‘We’re really good at stealth-marketing, nobody knows who we are or what we do,’” she recalls. “My team has been changing that because the buyers have changed and the customer base needs to continue to grow.”

MC Tool has expanded its presence on Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok, with younger employees helping develop content. The goal is to be more visible while keeping the company’s personality intact.

“We’re going to be in front of everybody as much as we can,” Erika says.

The company’s social media content goes beyond product promotions to include information such as toolbox talks.

The tone is intentionally informal. Erika’s dog, Sage, appears on many of the company’s flyers, while the company’s forklift, Wheezy, has also become a social media personality.

“We’re not taking ourselves too seriously; we’re just engaging with the next generation and being open to that back-and-forth banter on social media, laughing a little and having fun,” she says. “I don’t work 40 hours a week to be so serious all the time. When I must be, I can be.”

Staff shirts and company vehicles carry a new company mantra: “I work with a bunch of tools.”

Erika’s efforts to build the business also extend to attracting young people to the construction trades.

“Not everybody’s going to want to do it, but electrical work, plumbing, or welding is very creative and rewarding,” she says, noting that the construction industry needs to make a greater effort at engaging with high school students.

Many school districts don’t have the funds to equip students with PPE that fits, she says, creating a need for more donations.

“We all need to find a way to market to those Millennials and those Gen Zs and Gen Alphas because they need to make sure that they know it’s a viable option,” Scherman says.

Two of her current warehouse employees are pursuing careers in the trades, one in welding and one in electrical.

Participation in the Association of Women Contractors has been key in development of Erika’s business sense. From L-R, an AWC gathering with Charlotte Nisleit, Caroline Goodman, Karen Aho, Erika, Jane Metzger, and Erica and Trip Haataja.

HUMAN TO HUMAN

For Scherman, building a business also means building relationships.

Her participation in the Association of Women Contractors, NetPlus and STAFDA has given her opportunities she wouldn’t have had and introduced her to other business owners outside her market.

She recalls her first AWC educational event, when a contractor grabbed her and said, “You’re new, let’s go meet everybody,” before introducing her to a buyer and other business owners.

The contractor wasn’t an AWC board member, just a member trying to help a newcomer.

“The members of that group support each other,” Erika says. “I think the best thing about AWC is that it’s an action group, not just a status group.”

The experiences with AWC, STAFDA and NetPlus have reinforced her belief that business relationships don’t have to begin with a sales call.

That philosophy is evident throughout MC Tool, in the way Erika approaches customers, the way she relies on her employees and suppliers, and the way she competes with larger distributors.

It also explains why she is comfortable acknowledging what she doesn’t know.

The goal isn’t to have every answer. It’s to know how to find the answer and make sure the customer gets it. That approach allows MC Tool to compete without trying to become something it isn’t. And it reflects the philosophy Scherman has developed over a decade in distribution: know your customer, listen to what they need, and make sure you’re providing something of value.

“I’m unapologetically me,” she says.

MC TOOL & SAFETY SALES AT A GLANCE

FOUNDED: 2002

OWNERSHIP: Privately held

HEADQUARTERS: Blaine, Minnesota

FACILITY: 5,000 square feet

STAFF: 6

MARKETS: Construction

SERVICES: Competent Person and Fall Protection Training, Delivery, Gas Monitor Calibration, Rental, Respirator Fit Testing, Stock and Custom Signage, VMI, Warranty and Repair, Workplace Audits

LINE CARD: 3M, Allegro Industries, Ames

LINE CARD ADVERTISERS IN THIS ISSUE: Locate these advertisers using the advertiser index on page 8.

HULTAFORS, JOHNSON LEVEL, METABO, MILWAUKEE TOOL

True Temper, Apex, Bon Tool, Bosch, BW Technologies, CRC, Crescent Tool, DeWalt, Diamond Products, Diteq, Duo-Fast, Eagle Industries, Ergodyne, FallTech, Gas Clip, Global Glove, Honeywell, Hultafors, Irwin, ITW Buildex/Red Head, Jackson, JET, Johnson Level, Justrite/Eagle, Klein Tools, Krylon, Lenox, Lufkin, Magnolia, Marshalltown, Mayhew, Metabo, Milwaukee Tool, MK Morse, MSA, Peerless, PIP, PortWest, Radians, Razor- Back, Red Devil, Reed Manufacturing, RIDGID, Safewaze, Stanley Black & Decker, L.S. Starrett, Surface Shields, Union Tools, URREA, Utility Pro, Wel-Co, Western Enterprises, Wheeler Rex, Williams, Wilton

AFFILIATIONS: STAFDA, NetPlus Alliance, American Public Works Association, Association of Women Contractors, Minnesota Utility Contractors Association

WEBSITE: www.mcsales.com

This article originally appeared in the October/November 2026 issue of Contractor Supply magazine. Copyright, 2026 Direct Business Media.