Celebrating Women in Sales Month by thanking my mentors

I've always felt proud to share I'm in sales. To me, sales has been opportunity to lean into my core strengths and make an uncapped amount of money doing it. However, I don't think I would have felt the same level of pride and confidence had I not been guided by the leaders that I had early on in my sales career.

I graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a degree in media studies. It was my goal to become a news anchor (which is likely why I still love presenting in front of large audiences). I was fortunate enough to join NH's top news station, WMUR, as an associate producer. In that role I learned the in's and out's of the newsroom. I also realized it's really hard to get an anchor role. I was informed I'd need to get my start as a reporter in a remote area before even being considered by the NH station. I felt defeated at the time, but it helped me understand that becoming an anchor wasn't the only way I could connect with people. After a year at the station (while living at home) my best friend informed me she was moving to Boston and I was going with her. My best friend is hard to argue with, so I agreed. I knew I needed to find a new job.

Back in 2010 when you were looking for a job, you started with craigslist.com. I found an opportunity that spoke to me, Marketing Manager for Margaritas Mexican Restaurants. This job would help the Massachusetts locations with events, new menu launches and philanthropic efforts. It sounded fun and certainly catered to my love of people.

Insert my first sales mentors : Brisbane, Jill, Mike, Patrick, Dan & Shane . This group of seasoned professionals helped give me the confidence to soar.

They never said no to any idea I had and often bent over backwards to support me.

Early on I had a wild idea, they of course heard me out. I informed them that I thought the Massachusetts based locations were missing out on a huge opportunity to capitalize on catering and private event sales. All of the locations were located near large business parks and sure they got some money from them, but it could be so much more if we just put in a little more effort. Without blinking, they brought my idea to the President of the company and I was given the green light to go.

Let me paint the picture here, I was 23 years old and had never technically sold anything other than lemonade. I was given the chance to build a catering and events sales program from the ground up.

I dove in head first and loved every minute of it. I started with a lead generation plan, which consisted of driving around from office park to office park taking pictures of all of the businesses in each. I would then go back to my office and call each of them asking for the office manager. From there, I set up a time to drop off a free order of chicken baby chimichangas for the office to try. If they liked them, 15% off of their first office catering order or event booked at the restaurant. I nurtured each account with custom email messages and phone calls and sent feedback surveys after each booking so we could improve. After each sale, I'd ask when they'd like to book again.

The orders started rolling in. The persistence, ease and attention to detail worked. The program was so successful we expanded it to all of the NH locations and I hired two catering and event sales managers under me. I learned so much from that job. I was the lead generation machine, I took every deal from discovery to close and I executed the events and turned did my best to turn every order into a repeat customer.

It was really hard work, but it taught me grit, hustle and patience.

I truly felt empowered to fail and to learn from those failures because of the leadership that I had. Without the support of Brisbane, Jill, Mike, Patrick, Dan & Shane. I would have never been able to accomplish what I did at such a young age. The skills I gained by building a program of this magnitude from the ground up gave me the confidence to start my own business. When I reflect back on my 13 year sales career I am eternally grateful for these leaders. They put the wind in my sales and told me anything was possible.

They showed me what true leadership looked like, which empowered me to never tolerate anything less.

To celebrate women in sales month, I want to celebrate them. I'm not sure they realize what an impact each one of them has had on me, my career and life. As a woman in a male dominated industry, it's so important to surround yourself by people that believe in you. I'm grateful this was my experience and I only hope sharing my story inspires other women in sales to build their own personal believe team.