The Goats of Growth

In this episode you'll hear Brian Kirk's journey from Submarine Warfare Officer, where he was leading as many as 70 Sailors, to MIT, where he got his MBA, to entrepreneur–and all that he learned from that experience–and then into technology sales where he went from BDR to sales leadership in just 6 months! That's the journey.  Tactically, you'll hear him discuss why he's made the choices he's made...

To say Jill Rowley has vision, which, by one definition, is the ability to think about or plan the future with imagination or wisdom, is an understatement. First, early on her career, she saw sales as an avenue to control her own income and destiny. Second, she saw that Salesforce.com would be a great place to launch her sales career when it was just a little-known start-up. Third, she chose to jo...

Patrick Lynch, a technology sales leader with experience building high-performing teams, says that we have a tendency, as an industry, to overcomplicate things. At the end of the day, it's about discipline, rigor, grit, and focus.  As a leader, do you have the team that can help you get the customers you don't have. Simply put, "hire good people and get the hell out of the way".     

This episode features Paul Fifield, CEO and Co-Founder of Sales Impact Academy. You'll hear Paul talk about his own journey and the, somewhat painful, experience he had as a revenue leader scaling two previous companies that lead to SIA. You'll also hear why most companies don't make it, and how to properly instrument an organization from the beginning which includes one key hire needed IF you wan...

I spoke with the Area VP of Sales at Sky Hive, Janet Rosenthal. After taking a decade off to take care of her family, she struggled to find the perfect fit professionally until she found SkyHive where she leads a team of Enterprise Sales Reps. SkyHive's mission of upskilling talent aligns with Janet personally. Janet also discusses what to look for in hiring the right person, being coachable, and...

In this episode I speak with the VP of Business Development at Video Elephant, K.C. McLeod. K.C. discusses Vyer Films, a company he once founded,  what encouraged him to launch it, and the go-to-market strategy used to bring it to life. At Video Elephant, he started with a small team and faced high uncertainty as he took on the 1st business development position. KC discusses learning and developin...

Marci DiGaetano, Head of Global Sales Development at Cyberpion, has a unique and special way she onboards, coaches, and develops her SDR teams. Listen to the holistic approach she takes to onboarding reps, how she builds confidence in her teams, the practical approach every SDR should take if they want to get promoted, and how leading and coaching isn't just a job, but an obligation for her.

In this episode Cherilynn Castleman talks about the painful experiences she had as a business leader that inspired her to start CGI Executive Coaching, how to build high performing teams that are united around one vision, a framework for post-pandemic selling, and how a little inspiration can get people to do extraordinary things.      

Brian Cotter, SVP of Global Sales Engineering at Seismic, spoke to me about the critical role Sales Engineers play in the enterprise sales process. An Engineer, by definition, is someone who designs and builds.  Brian and his team design and build but not in the way one might assume. In this  episode you'll be captivated by what he says are the most critical elements to sell more,  more quickly, a...

This week, I was delighted to have Dwight Lawson on Over Quota to discuss some of his daily practices and his position as Head of Sales at Ethena, a startup providing compliance training for modern teams. Dwight's career journey features him within the first 100 people of most of the companies he's worked for. He goes into detail about the impact that can be made in the beginning hiring rounds of...

In this week's episode, I brought on a dynamic sales leader with an engineering past, Bershu Nkwawir. We talk about Bershu's journey from being a technical Engineer to VP of Sales and why he switched. He details the parallels that made it a natural switch while also shedding light on the difficulties he faced approaching sales like an engineer. Since he had a nontraditional path to Sales, he talks...

Today I had the opportunity to talk to Marcus Knight, a seasoned Go-to-Market Strategist and Founder of Cultured Perspective, a black-owned revenue growth consultancy. We deep dive into the reasoning why nontraditional sales candidates are being overlooked, addressing the companies' and candidates' fears. Marcus talks about his growth revenue consultancy and how they use equity strategies and a di...

In this episode I interviewed Brent Keltner, Founder and President of Winalytics, a consultancy which helps clients achieve top growth potential by consistently positioning and qualifying buyers at each phase of their journey.  Brent emphasizes the importance of playbooks, practice, and team-based learning, which, he says, are the 3 pillars needed for growth acceleration. Listen to the full episod...

In this episode, Jon Hawkins, CRO of Augmedix, shares the lessons he learned from a company he once Co-Founded, and then eventually sold, how he takes a data-driven approach to sales, how data can help build certainty and confidence throughout his team, and why he doesn't think hiring salespeople with industry expertise is  the best approach. To connect with Jon, you can email him at jon@augmedix....

Today, I had the pleasure of speaking with Scott Sambucci to discover the key components of his success as a sales coach, public speaker, best-selling author, and endurance athlete. Having raced in three Ironman Marathons among other events, Scott has adopted a disciplined and regimented lifestyle that he applies to his work mindset, enabling everyday to be well structured with "no wasted miles"....

For today's episode I invited Deric Peterson, Vice President of Commercial Line Sales at Verisk, whose strong character and willingness to learn helped build a foundation for success, personally and as a sales leader. His advice begins with a look inward, as he promotes what he learned from a mentor who said the best way to reach your full potential is by betting on yourself. Not only does this su...

Culture is a major component in differentiating your company -- what better way to support culture than employee perks? My guest today, Amy Spurling, talks with me about the challenges companies face trying to satisfy employees with unpersonalized benefits and offers a solution for HR and sales teams alike. As Co-Founder and CEO of Compt, Amy is determined to alleviate the pain HR experiences and...

My guest for today's episode, Mandy Cole, Founder of Rise Accelerator, answers the valuable questions about evolving companies and constructing the right teams for every step. When to hire is as vital as who to hire for start-ups working to actively avoid risks and bring in the team members with skill sets and experiences that best align with the company's needs. Is there enough market opportunity...

My guest today is Meghann Misiak, founder of The Path to President's Club, a company built for people like herself who constantly seek the best approach to sales. With an emphasis on mindset, Meghann shares her experience  through the difficulties and achievements that lead her to found her company and embrace mindfulness. Whether it be strengthening self-awareness, overcoming insecurities, or pur...

In the words of my guest today, longevity and success in sales is rooted in your passion for the product, the issues it resolves, and the group it helps. Trina Hymes, Global Vice President of Sales at Talenya, embodies what it means to be a successful sales professional, rooting for her company and believing in its solutions. Profoundly organized and motivated by relationships with people, Trina e...

My guest for today's episode, Simon Tecle, has an insight into sales at companies both small and large, with experience ranging from Telemarketer to VP of Sales and all the roles in between. In any position he's holding, one priority remains the same for Simon: company culture. Whether you're looking for a job or hiring new members for your team, compatibility and strong work relationships are vit...

I estimate that I've conducted  12,000 to 13,000 candidate interviews in my career, and I have a very strong  opinion as to why so many people struggle with basic first round interviews. That's what this episode is about. No guest. Just me and my thoughts.    And I'd like to give a big thanks to Allego for sponsoring this episode. Interested in recording your best content and organizing it in one...

Occasionally, I'll interview someone and I'll feel like I didn't quite do as full of an interview as I could have. That's how I felt after my first interview with DeJuan Brown. (EP: 62).  As luck would have it, DeJuan felt the same way, so we agreed to do a second interview. This episode is less about sales tactics, strategy, and execution much more about DeJuan's life experiences and what our sha...

His mom once told him, "you can say anything in the world to me as long as you frame it properly". Since then, DeJuan Brown has crafted that wisdom into his greatest tool in navigating challenge, community, and leadership. Now, as the Senior Director of Global Sales at Seismic and an active member of Sales for the Culture, DeJuan strives to empower others with the skills to communicate the attribu...

CEO, sales expert, and LinkedIn thought leader, Jake Dunlap, Founder & CEO of Skaled Consulting joins me for today's episode to talk about a wide range of topics, including how sales leaders and reps can reduce stress. His advice is to "eat the frog", which means to tackle the biggest and toughest challenges in chunks.  Seeing that his stress used to come from chaos, Jake became a master of planni...