2013 Forty Under 40: Jamar Cobb-Dennard

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“My pipedream is becoming mayor of Indianapolis, but in the next 10 years I can see myself serving as a City-County councilor, at least a state rep and moving up from there. I’d love to serve in an executive capacity in Indianapolis at some point in my career.”

Age: 31

Owner, Outsourced Sales Force

Ask Jamar Cobb-Dennard who he is and he answers, “I am a businessman, community leader and future politician, speaker/author and single father.”

His business is Outsourced Sales Force, which he started a year-and-a-half ago to help companies build their first sales team. Most of Outsourced’s clients are in areas such as technology marketing and entertainment, have five to 15 employees and $500,000 to $3 million in annual sales.

The impetus for starting Outsourced was this: “I heard over and over from small-business owners, ‘I want a salesperson, but I don’t know how to train them, I can’t afford them, I don’t have the expertise, I don’t want to sell.’”

Cobb-Dennard, on the other hand, likes selling. The Kalamazoo, Mich., native learned sales when he sold Cutco cutlery while a student at Western Michigan University.

Cobb-Dennard said 100 percent of Outsourced’s business comes from referrals. He meets many of his clients through networking—he’s been active in Rainmakers, where he was named Rookie of the Year in 2009—and speaking engagements. In a typical week, he said, you’ll find him out talking to associations of business owners, meeting potential clients and recruiting salesmen for his clients.

He’s also active with Little Red Door Cancer Agency, where he’s on the board of directors and helped boost the visibility of its annual Big Red Bash fundraiser. His uncle died of lung cancer the year he moved to Indianapolis, and his grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer the year after he moved here.

“Winning the battle against cancer and for wellness is really close to my heart,” he said.

Whatever he does, Cobb-Dennard usually is with his 1½-year-old daughter. “Where daddy goes, she goes. When I’m not at work, it’s the two of us hanging out and me dealing with tantrums.”•

 

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