“You’ll Never Be A Good Account Executive.

“You’ll never be a good Account Executive.”

Ouch.

The words hit me like a freight train. I’d just been fired. And my daughter was due in exactly ten days. Talk about stressful.

Let’s back up a bit. I never expected much of myself growing up. I graduated high school with a 1.9 GPA and, although I got my act together in college, I still had zero plan on what to do with my life.

I was working for a friend’s start-up, when I was randomly offered a job by a guy that I used to chat with at the gym. He chased me into the parking lot on my way out one day and asked me what I was doing with my life and whether I’d be interested in selling steel. Of course I said yes!

I guess I kind of expected I’d end up in sales. I mean, I had no other skills except for people skills, or so I’d thought.

I ended up working at Jade Sterling Steel for five years. It was a de-facto Masters Degree in Sales. I learned the steel industry but I also learned phone skills, email etiquette, Sandler Sales Training, how to travel and ask questions and listen.

After some time I jumped ship and went to sell propane door-to-door. Which is where our story began. After nine months, I was let go and told I’d never be a good Account Executive.

And while I knew that deep down this wasn’t true, I definitely had less confidence in myself and in that belief.

Enter UTees and the promotional products industry. UTees hired me as an AE (even though I applied to be an AM) because they saw in me what I had maybe forgotten about myself. That I was a sales professional through and through. I was all-in. I had a daughter to provide for now. I went in early and locked myself in call rooms and didn’t come out until I’d hit my prospecting number. I opened accounts, I traveled, I set records. And wow, did it feel good.

After a while I was promoted and then promoted again. Fast-forward almost eight years and now I have the honor of serving as the lead on the B2B Team and on our Leadership Team. I’m doing work I love. With people I love. In an industry I love. I often think back on what the whole experience taught me and I always come back to this, UTees and the promo industry empowered me to have a voice and to use it. To be myself. To not hide who I am or my personality. And now, here I am, hoping to learn and maybe give back via the Promo Kitchen community. Jay said that I hit the Jackpot with Jo as my mentor. I hope that someone else says the same about me when I get a chance to be a mentor to a young professional in this great and welcoming industry.