I have more than 13 years of experience within sales and sales leadership, and spent eight years at one of the largest financial software companies in the world, Finastra, backed by Vista Equity Partners. There, I built and led the Inside Sales team and Sales Academy, successfully scaling a global team from three to 50, whilst creating a revenue generating engine of £3million annually.
Combining this experience within the FinTech industry and my passion for the ever-evolving sales landscape, I created SalesWorks in 2018. In 2020, SalesWorks was acquired by Blarney Ventures (BV), a Boston-based investment holding company focused on business outsourcing that has helped fuel the business to its next stage of growth.
Yes and no! Upon finishing university, I decided I wanted to work within the financial world in some capacity and figured that a role within sales would be a good place to lay my foundations and begin building a skillset. Sometimes not having a plan is exactly what is needed to propel you forwards. It was in 2018 that I posted on LinkedIn about my decision to leave my leadership role at a huge tech company entirely without a plan or goal. Whilst it was a huge risk at the time, it taught me that such decisions are never about the risk themselves but more about having the confidence to follow it through and leaving the planning to afterwards. It’s so important to me to keep an open mind, and continue to learn and develop as well as push the boundaries. A career that is learning-focused rather than title-focused underpins everything I have achieved to date, as it has allowed me to identify opportunities for huge impact that I might have otherwise missed.
Definitely a few!
What a lot of people wouldn’t see from looking at my LinkedIn is that my career at Finastra was not my first taste in sales! During the summer between my second and third year of university, I went over to Arizona in the States and did a summer of door-to-door selling, which I can honestly say has been one of my toughest sales jobs to date. Selling educational books in 45-degree heat during summer in a foreign country was a far cry from my first SDR role, but it certainly taught me a lot of transferable skills that I continue to practise today.
One of the hardest skills I had to learn on the job was how to hone inner resilience. Having doors slammed in my face, much like having the phone put down on you as an SDR in today’s sales space, I had to find a way to deal with that pretty sharpish! Challenging, but invaluable for success.
At the age of 22, I was promoted to a managerial role and consequently faced a lot of questions asking: ‘how can someone in their early 20s be an effective leader?’. I had to work through those workplace barriers – often working above and beyond my male peers – in order to prove a point. That determination landed me another promotion and a relocation to a new region of the business after only nine months.
In the last three years, I’ve continued to hone that same resilience and determination by challenging myself to step outside of my comfort zone, from flying to Chicago to take part in a panel talk and speak in front of 1,200 people to managing the acquisition of SalesWorks with BV remotely. It was one of my mentors that once told me that you learn more from failures than you do successes, so whilst these weren’t failures, they were challenges that have taught me so much more.
For me, one of my biggest achievements has been building a company that works with some of the biggest names in tech and leaders in their industry. Nurturing my company from a plan on paper to one that attracted the attention of investors after only 16 months, going through an acquisition as well as doubling revenue and team size over the last 12 months; I can’t help but sit back and feel proud.
I’m so proud of the growth that the company and I have seen over the last three years – from launching the SalesWorks Academy to working with companies who are the leaders in their field. It goes without saying that the acquisition of SalesWorks by Blarney Ventures in 2018 was also a huge achievement for me, as it marked a pivotal point of evolution and growth for SalesWorks as a company as well as allowing us to provide a more meaningful service for our clients.
Ultimately for me, when I first entered the working world, it was always about finding a job and a career that I loved and was passionate about; something that really interested me. I love what I do, and I know that the day I don’t feel that same drive and passion is the day I need to move onto something new. I always tell my employees that if you don’t care passionately about the work that you do and the products or services you offer, then why should anyone else?
I firmly believe that success can only be driven by passion. Having a subject matter you’re an expert in that creates a brand and industry reputation brings with it the trust and credibility to succeed.
I am fortunate enough to have had many greatly influential mentors throughout my career who have influenced me to be confident, hard-working and supportive of others, and who have ultimately shown me what good leadership is. When I first sought my own role models and mentors, I was always on the lookout for a female role model that I identified with. Whilst I think it’s important to have a level of understanding with those who mentor you, I now feel that it is more important to seek those and take advice from people who are unlike you. Diversity of thought and opinion is undoubtedly the catalyst for inspiration when it comes to learning. Whilst there is still a lot for me to learn, I recognise that young people, women specifically who are starting out in sales and tech, need guidance and advice. I try to pay that forward as much as I can and I currently mentor two brilliant individuals by helping them face the barriers of work and life and help offer some perspective in any way I can.
A big driver of mine when it comes to gender equality in the workplace is erasing the notion that women and girls should avoid risk and chance in the quest for perfection. Growing up, whilst it wasn’t openly said, it was thought that women should avoid failure and risk – avoid practising bravery in my eyes – so that the status quo wasn’t disturbed and instead, strive to be pretty, to be the perfect wife, mother etc. Men, on the other hand, were encouraged to be big, brave risk takers and would ultimately be rewarded for it. I am very fortunate that my partner sees me as an equal and it is this level of respect, understanding and partnership in my personal life that drives my determination to see it in the broader workplace.
The portrayal of women has vastly improved over the years but one thing that still needs work is the media’s painting of female success. “What is it like to be a female CEO?” is possibly one of the most irritating questions I often get asked. Why does my gender have to influence the answer to that question?
I would advise myself to play to my strengths, build upon them and let someone else handle your weaknesses. Throughout my 20s, I was so focused on trying to excel at everything I did and master such a wild array of different skills simultaneously. I now recognise that I am far more productive when I focus on doing only three things brilliantly compared to the 10 things I could only do somewhat well. When you focus on quality over quantity, you achieve better results for yourself. Focusing on the substance and depth of your skills, rather than the number of skills as a whole, is how you live a far more fulfilled and accomplished life.
My most immediate goal includes focusing on the growth and expansion of SalesWorks as a global company and really owning the space of sales training, development and enablement solutions. We are unique in our ability to enhance performance by reinventing the legacy approach to training, and I only hope to continue moving the needle and introduce new modes of thinking to businesses. I feel it is so important these days to ensure that all companies, regardless of size and what stage individuals are at in their sales career, have access to best-in-class training.
