Merchants of Change

Joining us on Merchants of Change this week is Matt Barr, former Bentley basketball player and current VP of Sales & Client Success at Breezeway! 15:45 Starting at a Small or Large Company 17:27 Advice to Transitioning Athletes 27:45 Pillars to Sales Success as a BDR 35:07 What it Means to be Dialed In as a Sales Professional ------------------------- Connect with us on social @shiftathlete on...

Awesome conversation this week with Jenn Haskell, Director of Sales Enablement & Training at Nasuni and former 3 sport collegiate athlete! Jenn is our first guest who works in sales enablement and provides some great insight into the career and how she is training her reps to be successful! 9:37 The Value of Sales Enablement 20:20 The Art of Sales 28:20 Sales Enablement Playbook 40:10 Why I Lo...

We are excited to welcome Steve Travaglini to Merchants of Change this week to discuss what makes an elite sales professional! Steve is a former football player at Assumption University who transitioned to sales, quickly climbing the ranks, and is currently the Chief Sales Officer at LinkSquares!  7:57 1st Sales Job 17:48 Advice to Young Athletes 30:34 Sales Playbook 41:21 Elite Sales Skill &...

Former Boston University hockey captain, Patrick MacGregor joins us on Merchants of Change this week for an awesome conversation! JR at Pat talk about the challenges of the BDR role, what to look for in your first company, and how to translate your skills as an athlete into becoming an elite sales professional! 9:50 Transition to Sales 19:10 1st Company and Advice to Transitioning Athletes 24:25 T...

Merchants of Change is back with a brand new season, loaded with elite guests and awesome conversations! In episode 1, we welcome Charles Ruiz, a former college & professional baseball player who transitioned to sales and eventually started his own coaching company, CLR Connection. JR & Charlie talk about his transition to sales, advice for young sellers, his playbook for sales success, an...

On the last episode of Season 6 of Merchants of Change, we welcome Esther Iyamu, Founder & CEO of GrowthQ to the show! Esther is a former NFL and NBA cheerleader who successfully transitioned into a successful sales career before founding her own company, GrowthQ! A conversation filled with advice on starting your sales career, the importance of selling in entrepreneurship, getting dialed in,...

Excited to welcome another elite guest to Merchants of Change this week, Vince Nistico, former college football player and current Strategic Enterprise Account Executive at ServiceTitan! Another awesome conversation, loaded with advice for anyone looking to start a career in sales! JR & Vince talk about picking the right company, establishing your operating rhythm, and being dialed in! 9:10 Pr...

This week on Merchants of Change we welcome Dan Fantasia, President & CEO of Treeline, Inc. to the show! With over 20 years of experience in helping companies build elite sales teams, this is an episode packed full of great advice for athletes & veterans preparing to break into a career in sales! Getting prepared for your interviews takes a lot more than just showing up. There are countles...

This week on Merchants of Change, we welcome Cianna Levi, a former Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader and current Enterprise SDR at Outreach to the show! Cianna has taken the skills & characteristics that allowed her to be elite in dance and used them to transition to a successful start in sales. JR & Cianna talk about her transition, advice for telling your story in an interview, picking your fir...

This week we welcome Josh Richards, former West Point hockey player & Army Ranger to Merchants of Change to talk about his military service, transition out of the army, and much more! As a platoon leader in the Army, Josh understands what it takes to be a successful leader. The traits that served him in the military have translated directly to sales success as a Senior Sales Manager with Cherr...

Merchants of Change is back this week with Darnell Shiver, one of our first veteran placements! Darnell currently works as an SDR on the Intent team with Limble. After serving in the army he has made a successful transition to sales and is crushing it so far in his new career! Darnell & JR talk about his military service, his transition into sales, the challenges he faced and that all vets fac...

One of the most common questions we get from our candidates is "What should I look for in my first company?" For this reason we ask every one of our guests what advice they would give someone looking for their first sales job. These are some of our favorite answers over the past few season of Merchants of Change! 0:32 Marcus Taylor 4:37 Kelly Dostal 8:38 Ken Grohe 16:13 Michael Paladino 19:35 Carr...

A must-listen episode of Merchants of Change this week, with Jon Sibley, former USC and Team USA water polo player, and founder of TrueBuilt! JR & Jon talk about foundational sales skills that every young sellers needs to develop, building an elite team, and the importance of selling in the CEO role! 5:30 Transition to Sales 11:20 Advice for New Sellers 18:45 Becoming a Founder 23:00 Building...

Former Green Beret, Matt Parrish, joins the show this week to talk about the transition out of service, what companies can do to help vets succeed, and some awesome stories from his military career! After his service, Matt transitioned to sales where he currently works as the VP of Strategy & Markets for Trifecta and serves as the Executive Director of the Task Force Dagger Special Operations...

Merchants of Change is back with former Penn State & Bentley Football coach, Bill Kavanaugh! Bill successfully made the transition from coaching to a career in sales and recently started a new role as a Senior Account Executive at Blue Mantis! Former coaches are some of our favorite guests and this conversation is no different. They bring a unique skill set to sales that most people don't have...

What makes a true sales professional? Reliabilty!  Thanks to Alexa, Sales Director at Datasite, for joining JR for an awesome conversation on athletes in sales! With a focus on the similar mindsets of an athlete and salesperson, understanding if sales is right for you, and the importance of reliability, there is insight for anyone thinking about entering a career in sales. 6:40 The transition from...

If you want to be an entrepreneur and start your own business, you have to be able to sell! Thanks to former baseball player & professional poker player Casey Cavell for joining the show for an awesome conversation on the importance of sales if you want to be an entrepreneur. Casey has helped countless entrepreneurs to help them take their small businesses to the next level, with a primary foc...

Extremely special episode this week with Eric Kapitulik, Founder and CEO of the Program, former US Marine and Naval Academy lacrosse player! The conversation focuses on being a good teammate and leader in both sports and the office which is the primary ideology of The Program.  This is another can't miss episode that will get you fired up and motivated to take your career to the next level! 14:15...

On this week's Merchants of Change, we welcome our first guest in the media sales space, Trent Staley! Trent is a former USC swimmer and is currently the President and COO of Cast Iron Media. JR and Trent talk about the world of media sales, how to get into the career and the career path, advice for young athletes, and much more! 9:40 Transition, Career Path & Importance of Networking 24:39 Wh...

Flipping the script on this week's Merchants of Change with our CEO JR Butler on the other end of the questions we usually ask our guests and a state of the union on everything Shift Group! Thanks to Tom Sullivan for hosting an awesome conversation about the trajectory of Shift Group, plans for the future, candidate success stories, what we've learned in our first 18 months, and more!

On this week's episode, we feature some of our favorite responses to what it means to be a true sales professional. We believe the best compliment you can give to a salesperson is that they are a pro, which is why we ask every guest the question. Through the first 4 seasons of the show we've gotten some awesome answers and wanted to share some of the best! 0:00 Intro / 0:33 John Kaplan / 2:36 Meli...

This week on Merchants of Change, Tyler Warden joins JR for an awesome conversation on the world of insurance sales! A former college football & basketball player who is now the Director of Sales for Kin Insurance! Tyler & JR talk about his transition to sales, what the insurance sales world looks like, building effective teams, the hallmarks of a successful insurance sales agent, and much...

Extremely excited to welcome former Navy Seal, Jeff Bull to the show this week for a great conversation on transitioning from military service to a new career in sales! Jeff and JR talk about the challenges of the transition, skills to develop for success, and advice for companies looking to hire veterans. Be sure to check out the non-profit Jeff and his wife founded to support veterans and their...

Huge shoutout to former Fordham Ram football player, Marcus Taylor, for joining the show this week for a great conversation! JR & Marcus talk about his football career, the transition to sales, his elite sales skill, and what it means to be a true sales professional! After 10+ years of sales as a Senior Director of Sales and VP of Sales with Indeed and Karat, Marcus recently founded his own ca...

We kick off Season 5 of the Merchants of Change podcast with Joelle Graham, an elite sales leader with medical device giant Stryker! Some incredible insight in this conversation on the world of med device sales, advice for getting into the field, keys to success, and much more! 20:36 Advice for Young Athletes/Sellers 30:45 Build Your Perfect Med Device BDR 38:10 Importance of Mentorship 40:50 Elit...