About HOBB
House of Beloved Brands (HOBB™) is building the operating system for one of the fastest-growing segments in U.S. retail: multicultural food commerce.
We transform fragmented diaspora demand into:
• Measurable transaction data
• Reliable distribution infrastructure
• Scalable growth capital for global food brands
Our platform supports emerging and established food & beverage brands from Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia entering and scaling in the U.S. market.
The role
This is a streets-up sales role. You will be the face of HOBB to store owners — visiting shops, building trust, explaining the model, and signing retailers onto the platform. You are not selling software. You are selling relief from a freight cost that has been eating these stores alive for years.
You will own the full retailer relationship from first knock on the door through onboarding and ongoing account health. The retailers you sign in year one become the foundation of HOBB's network. That makes this role foundational to everything else the company builds.
This is not a desk job. You will be in stores, at markets, at community events, and at importer warehouses. You need to love that.
What you will own
Retailer acquisition
- Identify and map independent ethnic grocery stores across target corridors — Flatbush, Jackson Heights, Flushing, Mattapan, Roxbury, Chelsea (MA), and beyond
- Cold outreach and warm introductions to store owners and buyers
- Present the HOBB value proposition clearly and honestly — freight savings, ordering simplicity, reliability
- Negotiate and close retailer agreements and onboarding commitments
- Hit retailer sign-up targets month over month in both markets
Retailer onboarding & retention
- Guide new retailers through the HOBB ordering platform and co-op schedule
- Be the first call when something goes wrong — a late shipment, a wrong SKU, a pricing question
- Build long-term relationships that make retailers advocates, not just customers
- Identify churn risk early and address it proactively
Market intelligence
- Feed product and pricing insights from retailers back to the sourcing and logistics team
- Identify which SKUs retailers want that HOBB does not yet carry
- Report on competitor activity — who else is calling on these stores and what they are offering
- Surface community events, trade associations, and networks HOBB should be part of
Importer & supplier relationships
- Build relationships with importers and wholesale distributors serving your target communities
- Identify sourcing gaps — products retailers want that no one is reliably supplying
- Support the Head of Logistics with retailer demand data for freight planning
What we are looking for
Must-have
- Deep personal or professional ties to one or more of the ethnic communities HOBB serves — South Asian, Caribbean, West African, Latin American, or other diaspora grocery markets
- Experience in retail sales, field sales, account management, or community business development — you have closed deals in person
- Comfort walking into a store cold, building rapport quickly, and earning trust with a business owner who has heard a hundred pitches
- Hustle — this role rewards people who make ten calls when five would do
- Based in NYC or Boston, with a car or willingness to travel regularly between both
Strongly preferred
- Fluency or working proficiency in one or more languages spoken by target retail communities — Creole, Spanish, Hindi, Urdu, Twi, Yoruba, Amharic, Bengali, or others
- Existing relationships with ethnic grocery store owners in NYC or Boston
- Prior experience in food distribution, specialty grocery, ethnic wholesale, or CPG sales
- Familiarity with how small grocery stores buy — buying cycles, invoice terms, cash flow constraints
Who you are
- You can translate a complex logistics value proposition into a single sentence a store owner cares about
- You are organized enough to manage a pipeline of 50+ accounts across two cities
- You take rejection as data, not as defeat
- You want to work at a company where what you sell actually makes someone's business better
Commission structure
Base salary of $70,000 – $90,000 plus a commission tied to retailer sign-ups and gross freight volume managed. Commission is uncapped. A strong performer in year one should expect total compensation of $95,000 – $120,000. We will share the full commission model in the first interview.
What we offer
- Founding team equity at 0.5–1%, vesting over 4 years with a 1-year cliff
- Base salary of $70,000 – $90,000 plus uncapped commission
- Direct access to the founding team — your retailer insights will shape the product
- Travel and expense coverage for in-market store visits and retailer events
- The chance to build the commercial foundation of a company serving communities that have been systematically underserved by American supply chain infrastructure
