Category: Management

Executive Director: “Put In The Work”

Rahsaan Harris went to school a biology major, but by the time he became Executive Director of Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy, he’d been to the Peace Corps, taught in New York City public schools, led a community technology center, and worked at a foundation. He says he’s not lucky; just good at being able to come off the bench and make a difference. Now he’s teaching others in the social justice and philanthropy worlds to do the same.

What is your job title and what industry do you work in? How long have you been doing this job?
I am the Executive Director of a nonprofit called Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy. It’s a lot of fancy words to say that we bring together people that work in philanthropy and provide leadership development for them so that they can have more impact through the work that they do. The organization was founded on the principle that people who work in grant-making foundations and other organized philanthropy need support, but there’s also space in our network for people who are committed to social change work and making an impact, even if they don’t currently work in a foundation.

How would you describe what you do? What does your work entail?
On the program side, I’m constantly looking for opportunities to highlight what young and emerging leaders can do and how it can transform philanthropy. So what does that look like? It’s encouraging people to become thought leaders by getting them to write blog poss and lead webinars. It’s trying to get people to act locally by organizing convenings and leading meetings of their peers to discuss issues and share best practices. It’s trying to identify common themes that could be part of a curriculum to help our leaders stretch themselves beyond where they would typically go.

On the financial side, to keep this thing going, we have to raise money. So I’m out there every day thinking about how we add value to the field of philanthropy and social change movements. I’m making the case about our value to those who would be our institutional supporters and help fund the work that we do. The reality is that without the funding, none of the other stuff would be able to happen.

I also engage our board in making sure that what we do fits our mission and tell as many people as possible about why that mission is so important.

What was your journey to doing this kind of work? How did you get here?
In school, I was a bio major, but after I graduated I decide to join the Peace Corps after graduation and do environmental education in Uruguay for my 2 years. When I got back, I became a teacher in the New York City Public Schools, inspired by my Mom’s work as an educator and the work I’d done abroad, and my mentors at the time told me that technology was going to be more and more important to being a good educator, so I looked for after-school programs that would let me use technology and started volunteering for HarlemLive.

HarlemLive at the time had a very inspirational director who was basically the soul of the organization, but he didn’t like a lot of the functional work that has to get done on the administrative side when you’re running an organization. I applied for and got a Fellowship from the Open Society Institute to become Associate Director and help him organize what he was doing – it was one of my first formal leadership positions. When my Fellowship ran out, the community technology center Playing2Win, which is where HarlemLive was located, needed an Executive Director and had seen the work I’d done with HarlemLive, so they hired me. That was the first time I got the Executive Director title.

It sounds easy, but along the way, I’d taken a lot of executive training programs and coaching programs on how to write a strategic plan and how to meet people and how to create a budget and all of that. I did all of that while I was at HarlemLive, because I was trying to educate myself on what it takes to be a leader, from how to excite people about what you’re doing to how to know when you’ve made an impact.

While I was Executive Director at the Playing2Win, I got connected to the foundation Atlantic Philanthropies through my landlord at the center, of all people. He helped me get the interview at Atlantic Philanthropies and I ended up staying there for seven and a half years. That’s when I learned about grantmaking. During that time, I did a lot of work trying to be an ambassador to the Harlem community and people of color to make grantmaking less mysterious and more accessible.

When the Executive Director position at EPIP became available, it took everything I’d done and brought it together – my Executive Director experience, my experience that building networks across the field is the way that you build power and make yourself more important than whatever your title says, and my network of different foundations and organizations that I built over my career. Now I help to build those networks for other folks.

What is your ethnicity and gender? How has it hurt or helped you?
I’m a black man who comes from a legacy of community work and activism and politics. My mom is an educator and my dad worked in politics for years on campaigns and as a public administrator. They both emphasized the importance of giving back to the community, especially the black community, because they believe we stand on other people’s shoulders who came before us and we have to honor their struggles. That always stayed with me and has helped to motivate me no matter what I’m doing.

I think that sense of community is now ingrained into who I am. A bunch of buddies and I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro last summer and we did it together and I loved having that shared group accomplishment. I remember at one point, one of my friends wasn’t feeling as well and I had the choice between going ahead with a group that was going faster or hanging behind and going with him, and I made a choice to stay with him, because it wasn’t about how fast I could go, it was about doing it together.

Do you love what you do? Do you think you’ve found the right path?
Absolutely. I love the fact that it’s entrepreneurial. It’s not guaranteed that my paycheck is going to be there every day. It’s scary, but I do like the fact that I get to put together a vision and programming that will attract funding and that it’s up to me to make sure that my paycheck will be there by doing what I need to do.

What kind of challenges do you face?
The fact that funding landscape for this kind of work is always changing means that nothing is guaranteed, even my pay. That’s especially true because we’re an intermediary organization – we’re not directly saving the whales or creating the after school program. We’re supporting the people who fund those efforts and work in those fields. Sometimes people take that for granted and that can make raising funds so much harder. Always making sure that we’re sustainable and relevant keeps me up at night.

What do you need to succeed in this field?
As far as education goes, having an undergrad and some kind of Master’s degree is what I would recommend to be able to advance and not feel like anything’s getting in your way. But once you get past a Master’s, there’s no need to get education for education’s sake. Just getting an education without worrying about what it means or how you’re going to use it isn’t going to cut it.

A lot of the experience that I got, especially with HarlemLive, was through volunteerism. I wasn’t getting paid to do that after school program but it ended up educating me in a number of different skills. I learned how to manage a board of directors, how to write grants, how to apply for a 501c3, how to do research on potential grant-making organizations. I learned by seeking opportunities and finding organizations that gave workshops on topics I needed to know more about. The first step, though, was getting involved in a community. Once I put myself out there, I could see where the opportunities were.

What is the single most important thing you have learned outside of school about the working world?
Put in the work. Volunteer and do it before you’re paid to do it. Try to lead and manage teams in your volunteer time, at your mosque or synagogue or church. If you’ve never mentored, be a Big Brother or Big Sister and try to teach a younger person something. Do things that bring you feedback – go do public speaking or have someone critique your writing. Try to raise money, whether it’s for your alma mater or your church or a Race for Kids or the New York City Marathon. Create space to do the things in your volunteer life that you might not be able to get from your work life. That way, when they come up in your work life, you’ll be ready.

No one is just going to bring you the perfect opportunity at the perfect time just because you deserve it. You have to be ready at any moment to be put into the game. It’s kind of like the backup basketball player who’s sitting on the bench – if the starting point guard twists his ankle and you get put in the game, you’ve got to be ready to go. And that moment can come at any time. So you’ve got to always be ready for it. Ambition alone does not give people opportunity.

I think that some of my colleagues at times feel like they’ve gone to a good school or gotten the right degree or found the right passion and they’re clear on what they want to do, but they’re not clear on how they’re going to continuously improve their skills and be ready for opportunities. You have to go beyond that and think about where you’re week, where you should be shoring up your skills. You’ve got to think beyond yourself. The more that you get out of our own needs and comfort zones and work on being open and available to others and to yourself, the more opportunities you’ll find.

What advice can you give those who may want to put themselves out there but are introverted or shy?
If you like your job and want to do it better, you’re going to want to get out there and see what other people are doing and learn best practices. Plus, there’s no guarantee that your organization is going to want to employ you forever, and the connections that you make may be able to help you find your next opportunity. I think it’s a mistake hiding your head in your one organization and thinking that doing a good job there is the be-all and end-all and is going to get you to the finish line. Because the moment a boss changes or funding changes, that could be all gone. If you don’t have a network to rely on, it’s a harder row to hoe.

If you could write your own ticket, what would you like to be doing in five years?
I hope to have executed a successful transition out of EPIP. I love my job, but it’s not about being the King of the castle forever. In five years, I hope to have done a great job figuring out who the next leader of EPIP is. My next focus is going to be on helping at-risk communities get the resources they need to be successful. I’m not sure exactly how or what that looks like, but I want to be able to move resources around to make lives better for the most vulnerable folks.

Diversity Career Stories Management

Tech Startup Founder: “You Just Have To Go For It”

These days, there’s an app or a website for everything. Brooke McIntyre is using the web to bring together writers looking to help each other improve their work and unleash their creativity. She may not have a tech background, but she’s using a relatively new medium to update a century’s old process.

What is your job title and what industry do you work in? How long have you been doing this job?
I am the founder and only employee of the tech startup Inked Voices. It’s a site that helps writers find, form and run writing groups online. The groups on the site work like real-world writing groups – people submit fiction pieces, get critiques from their fellow writers so they can improve their writing, and share general advice about the writing world. I’ve been working on the site full-time since October.

How would you describe what you do? What does your work entail?
There are basically three parts to my job – product development, sales, and customer service. Product development is the actual creation of the site. I’m not a web developer at all, but the site is based on my designs and my ideas. I start by sketching them out on paper and taking a picture with my phone, which I send to a designer who creates the look and feel of the site. I work closely with a backend developer, who creates the actual structure and code that makes the site work. I have to think about the features I want the site to have, both right now and in the future, and let the backend developers know so that they can build a structure that works for what the site does now and where I see it going. We work in iterations—they’re sort of like the drafts that writers use—and I make sure that the finished product matches up with my ideas and the feedback I’m getting from writers.

I was surprised to learn that a large part of my work would be in sales, even during the beta phase, when the site is open to a limited group of users. I need writers who are willing to use the site and give it a try and provide feedback. It’s been a lot harder than I expected it to be – I’ve been reaching out to any writer’s organization or group I can find. And once beta writers are using the site, I’m responsible for customer service. I answer their questions, ask them what’s working and what’s not, and help new writers find groups where they can read and critique the work of people writing in similar genres and aiming for similar goals.

What was your journey to doing this kind of work? How did you get here?
I went to business school at University of Michigan a few years back with the intention of forming a nonprofit, but on graduation, I decided to take a job working for a business-to-business company doing marketing and branding. I enjoyed my work, but when I had my second child, my work-life trade-off became more important to me. I decided that I wanted to spend time doing something that I was more passionate about, and for me that was writing. I started by taking some writing classes, focusing on children’s book writing, which is something I’d always dreamed of doing, and ended up forming a critique group with some people in my class. Our group used email and Google Drive to run our online group. While it worked OK, I immediately started seeing opportunities for improvement. Our system lacked structure and had to be constantly managed. I also wanted us to have our own private, shared space for critique and discussion. I saw an opportunity to create a place and a system for small groups like mine.

In creating Inked Voices, it was very important to me to give writers a way to find their own writing groups. I was really fortunate to form a great group through my online class, but not everyone has that opportunity. Tech tools won’t help you if you can’t find anyone to partner up with.

In some ways, it wasn’t just one thing that led me to start Inked Voices, it was everything – my business background, my experience in the critique group, my love for working in teams. I knew I wanted to do something with meaning and do something entrepreneurial, so I decided to put all that together and give it a go.

What is your ethnicity and gender? How has it hurt or helped you?
Being a woman had more of an impact before becoming an entrepreneur. I used to be 1 of only 3 women on a 10-person management team, and I often felt left out of the club when it came to networking. Today, I’m still sometimes the only woman in the co-working space I share, but it feels different. I think it’s probably because I’m working more independently now and not working for someone.

I think age has been a larger barrier for me to overcome. I’ve always looked young and it used to be hard to get people to take me seriously. In my mind, I thought I couldn’t do something meaningful with my career until I was at least 30, and it was reinforced by what was said by everyone around me. Of course, now, working in the technology space, I’m surrounded by younger people all the time. It’s kind of ironic that I waited to be older to try to make an impact and now I’m old for my field. I let people put up barriers for me, and they were mostly artificial. I definitely could have “leaned in” more and negotiated harder at times for what I wanted.

Do you love what you do? Do you think you’ve found the right path?
Yes, because I think that stories are magical and words are like music. I remember myself as a child, devouring books and getting lost in characters and learning so much by reading. And now I get to work on the other side of things with people who are creating those stories. Not everyone who uses Inked Voices is a creative writer, but a large number are. I get to help people who are telling stories and using their imagination and creating things for all of us. When I see people enjoying their writing and getting good feedback, it makes me happy. Self-expression is so important.

What do you need to succeed in this field?
You need tenacity, along with real desire and commitment to create something that’s actually going to work. For someone like me, who doesn’t have a tech background, you also have to trust people. I’ve had to find people to work with who are comfortable with someone who isn’t as tech-savvy as they are and who I believe will be able to translate my ideas into code. I’m not going to be able to sit down and code with them and we both have to be okay with that.

What is the single most important thing you have learned outside of school about the working world?
Don’t wait. If you want something, start doing it. Nobody’s going to hand it to you. Start volunteering, do a project, take on the kind of work that you want to do. Don’t hope that someone is going to a chance on you or shine a light on your talent. Shine a light on yourself and take the chance. You just have to go for it. I wish someone had said that to me when I was starting out.

What kind of challenges do you face?
This is a new space for me and it’s a steep learning curve. I’m learning about writing as an industry. I’m learning about technology and the software development process. And while some of what I do is similar to my past experience, I’m working on a service that is for consumers, which is different than working directly with businesses. So I am in constant listening and learning mode.

The hardest part is probably the selling component—I have new respect for people with careers in sales. Sometimes people are enormously helpful with their feedback, advice or time and other times the door is slammed in my face. As with any industry, there are gatekeepers. So I’ve had to be very scrappy from the very beginning.

On a personal note, there’s also a financial challenge. It’s one thing to take on the risk of starting a business when you don’t have kids or you have a partner who can pay all of the bills, but that isn’t my situation. Right now, we’re using one income and our savings to fund the site’s design and development costs and our living expenses here in New York City. My husband especially has been so supportive of me taking this leap and I don’t want to waste this opportunity. So I’m working hard and trying to either succeed or fail quickly.

If you could write your own ticket, what would you like to be doing in five years?
I want to keep developing the site, and eventually I’d like to build a version of it that would work in the education sector, helping teachers form and run writing groups in their classrooms. There is a huge tie between literacy and writing, and I’d like to give educators the tools to help teach writing as a life skill.

Diversity Career Stories Management Teacher

Gym Owner: “The Risk Paid Off”

Brandy Monge loved working as a lawyer, but she loved fitness even more. She decided to follow her heart and open Crossfit Queens – a risk that paid off in a career that she loves and the ability to make a tangible difference in people’s lives.

What is your job title and what industry do you work in? How long have you been doing this job?
I own Crossfit Queens, a Crossfit gym in Astoria, Queens, and have for over five years. Crossfit is all about functional training, so it includes a little bit of everything – weightlifting, gymnastics, and cardiovascular work. Most of the classes are group classes, so you get to know everyone and work out with other people cheering you on and motivating you and a coach making sure you’re doing everything safely.

What I love about it is that anyone can do it – we have people at the gym who are grandmothers and people who were college athletes and everything in-between. I think that it’s that variety that makes Crossfit Queens such a strong community – we work out together, eat together, drink together, compete together, and generally have a great time doing it. The community is what makes Crossfit Queens not just another business.

How would you describe what you do?
I’ve done everything and anything at Crossfit Queens. As a small business owner, you have to get your hands dirty, especially in the beginning. My original business partner and I did all of the coaching, all of the billing, all of the marketing, all of the phone calls, all of the work. Now that the gym has grown, though, I have a staff, so I can focus on what I care about. These days, I coach some classes and focus on promoting the gym by creating events, hosting competitions, and building the sense of community.

What was your journey to doing this kind of work?
I was a lawyer before I was a business owner. I was studying broadcast journalism in college when I noticed my roommate’s LSAT book lying on a table and took a look and thought, I can do this, so I became a lawyer. I really enjoyed it. Office work didn’t appeal to me – I knew I didn’t want to push paper around – but the trial work and the depositions were a lot of fun.

When I moved to New York, though, I realized that everything was a lot more expensive than where I was from in Texas. I’ve always been active, and when I moved to NYC, I was spending most of my money on physical activity – I had a tennis club membership and a gym membership and a yoga studio membership and a Pilates studio membership – and I was going broke. My friends saw how much I loved spending time being active and how much money I was spending on it and suggested that I look into becoming a personal trainer as a second job to cut back on expenses.

I started out teaching group exercise classes at New York Sports Club – spin, sports conditioning, boot camps. I really loved it and wanted to keep learning and growing, so I was always looking at fitness videos or reading up on strength and conditioning. One day, I saw a video of a woman named Annie doing a pull-up while pregnant. I was immediately fascinated. I learned that she was part of something called Crossfit, a way of working out that emphasizes functional movements, non-traditional workouts, and an inclusive community. I began working out at a Crossfit gym in Brooklyn and eventually became certified as a Crossfit trainer.

At the time, I would work my legal job during the day and spend most of my free time either training or teaching classes instead of going out to eat or drink like all of my friends, but I knew I couldn’t balance both jobs forever. I was going to have to make a choice between the law and the gym. I started looking into opening my own Crossfit gym in Queens, which had no Crossfit boxes at the time, and met another member of the community who also wanted to open a gym. We became business partners and opened Crossfit Queens in 2009.

Even after the gym opened, though, I kept working as a lawyer. I knew I wanted to be a Crossfit owner full-time, but building a business takes time. I started preparing to be a full-time business owner way before I ever made my move – cutting down my personal expenses, getting roommates, and saving as much money as I could. When my original business partner moved away, I saw that as my motivation to make the switch and I left my legal job behind. Altogether, it took about 2 years for Crossfit Queens to go from an initial idea to a working self-supporting reality.

What is your ethnicity and gender? How has it hurt or helped you?
I’m a Mexican-American woman. As a woman, I’ve definitely run into some backwards attitudes. People sometimes think Oh, you’re the coach? But you’re a woman. It was the same in the law. Most people are great, but there are always those who would assume that I was the assistant or the intern. People expect a man to run a business or a man to be a senior trial attorney more than they do a woman.

As far as being a minority goes, one thing that I’ve really loved about being active and encouraging other people to be active is impacting minority communities and getting people to make exercise and healthy eating part of their lives. I was raised by my father as a single Dad, and he’d give me McDonald’s for breakfast and then I’d go have tacos for lunch. Over time, I saw the impact of those decisions – my Dad has diabetes now. Part of what I want to do with my life is encourage people to live healthier, especially those from minority communities.

Do you love what you do? Do you think you’ve found the right path?
Absolutely. I love empowering people and seeing the results and the changes that they’ve been able to make in their lives as part of this gym and this community. When I see someone with the confidence they’ve never had before or watch someone doing the thing they never thought they could do, it makes me feel great. Every time someone gets their first pull-up or gets in better shape or feels proud about what they’ve accomplished, it reminds me why I do what I do. I also love the people that I work alongside. I have an amazing support system at Crossfit Queens. My coaching staff is made up of humble and hardworking team players – having people like that around me makes all the difference.

What do you need to succeed in this field?
I got lucky, because I really didn’t have any business training. I just got caught up in the community and the passion and the ability to do what I love. The two things that I did do really well were to prepare and have a good support system. You can’t just wake up one day and decide to quit your job to do something like this – you may want to, but you have to be able to support yourself financially first. It took me two years to get to that place, but all the planning I did paid off and it worked.

I also had a good support system in place. The reality is that when you’re doing something outside of the norm, some people will try to discourage you or tell you that your path is too risky. I was lucky to have some friends and family who backed me up. They may have thought I was a little crazy, but they were willing to support me when I made a decision that wasn’t exactly the safe choice.

What is the single most important thing you have learned outside of school about the working world?
You can’t do it all. As a business owner, you may start out doing everything, but once your business grows, you can’t. So you have to figure out what you’re really good at and what you like doing. Some aspects of owning a business I never loved, like bookkeeping, and I had to recognize that and surround myself with people who were strong in the areas that I don’t like or don’t excel at. Having a partner who complements your skills and interests is key.

What kind of challenges do you face and what makes you just want to quit?
Sometimes it’s hard to balance the day-to-day work with the long-term growth of the business. Growth in general is harder than people think. As you grow and change, sometimes people aren’t happy with the changes or don’t like the way you’ve chosen to grow. It can be hard to make those decisions, especially as a Crossfit owner, because Crossfit gyms are communities. Every decision I’ve made has affected people that feel like my family. I think it’s that way for many small business owners, because you’re so close to everything that happens and everything is much more personal than it would be at a large company somewhere.

Are you paid enough and/or happy living within your means?
New York City is an expensive place, but I make enough money to live comfortably. Of course, I’m always adjusting my priorities, but that’s just part of life. Sometimes I’m focused more on resources for the business, sometimes I’m focused on money for my family, and sometimes I’m focused on myself. I think that’s true of anyone.

What would you tell a friend considering your line of work?
You can’t be afraid to fail. When I decided to be a full-time Crossfit owner, I wasn’t sure it was going to work. A lot of my friends weren’t sure it was going to work. Many of them said I was crazy. But I didn’t want to look back and regret not trying. In my mind, the worst case scenario of failing was to go back to what I’d been doing and start practicing law again. The worst case scenario of not trying was always wondering what if I had. I decided that the risk was worth it and I’m glad I took that risk. Otherwise I would have always been dreaming about it and thinking about it and never knowing if I could have succeeded.

If you could write your own ticket, what would you like to be doing in five years?
I will always be involved with the gym and the Crossfit Queens community. I like seeing the change in people that Crossfit makes possible. I may start traveling more or spending more time with my family now that I have a staff that can handle some of the workload, but I will always be part of Crossfit Queens. I can also definitely see myself starting another business in the future – I’ve really enjoyed the whole process.

Diversity Career Stories Management Marketing

Doing Good While Doing Well

Dominic Ebanks always loved helping others. Now he runs a consulting firm that provides technology solutions for nonprofits and has built his business by helping organizations that are making a difference in the world.

What is your job title and what industry do you work in?
I am the Co-Founder and President of Acuta Digital, a full-service Information Technology firm that works primarily with nonprofit organizations and government agencies to build their brands. A brand is the way that an organization or business tells the world who they are, and we help them build that, usually starting with their website.

One thing that I love about the websites we build is that they’re functional as well as beautiful. So often, an organization will have a team build a gorgeous website that doesn’t really meet their operational needs or create a really great technical solution to a problem that doesn’t engage the audience they’re trying to reach. We make sure that we do both well.

What is your ethnicity and gender? How has it hurt or helped you?
I’m a first-generation American of Caribbean heritage. My family comes from a rural area of Jamaica. I go back to Jamaica a lot, to do volunteer work or just to visit family, and I think it gives me a much different perspective on the world. Seeing life outside of the US makes you realize how many resources and opportunities we have in America compared to other countries. There are definitely barriers here, but as long as you have two arms and two feet, why not take advantage of what’s here? The road may be difficult, but at least there’s still a road there at all.

I really try not to focus on the challenges that I’ve faced because of my culture or race, because I’d rather tackle those challenges head-on and come out on the other side. I fight back against the stereotypes about who I am or the surprise that I’m the person leading the company by doing good work and letting that speak for me. Every time I face a challenge, I get focused and try to figure out how to get past it and get to my goal.

How would you describe what you do? What does your work entail?
My job at the company as the CEO and President is to create our overall strategy and direction and make sure that all of our stakeholders are satisfied at the end of the day. That means not just our clients, but also our partners, nonprofits that we support, and the staff. It starts with building relationships – meeting people and telling them what we do, why it’s important, and how it can help them. Once we have a client, I work to make sure each project stays on track and that everyone is happy with the end result.

What was your journey to doing this kind of work? How did you get here?
I went to college as a pre-med student, but my real passion was for business, so I went to work in the corporate world as a business consultant after graduation. I was able to learn a lot of hands-on skills in the corporate world, from business development to negotiation skills to people management, but in the back of my mind, I always knew that I’d eventually want to leave.

I started preparing for my last day from the beginning – I never let myself get comfortable financially and take the exotic vacations or go to the high-end restaurants that my friends did. I invested most of the money I made into stocks and lived as simply as possible. And when I was ready to quit my job, I had enough saved up to go back to school for a master’s in business without having to work during my studies. Once I got there, I was drawn to the idea of starting my own business and I started my entrepreneurial path after I graduated in 2007. I thought it would give me more freedom and give me the opportunity to give back to people while making money.

I always say that I started a business at the best possible time – at the beginning of the recession in 2008. People questioned my timing, but when you start a company during lean times, everyone learns to live very frugally instead of just throwing money at issues. The resources were lean, so I built a slim operation, just the way I had personally when I was saving for graduate school. Now we have a presence in three cities– Pittsburgh, New York City, and Atlanta – and a core staff of nine, but we still remain nimble.

Do you love what you do? Do you think you’ve found the right path?
I love the work that I do, but more importantly, I love being able to decide who I do it for. We do a lot of work with and for small nonprofit organizations. In this new digital age, you don’t have to be a big and well-known organization to make an impact, but not everyone will give smaller nonprofits a chance. We do.

We work with smaller organizations on a sliding scale and give clients the option of picking somewhere for us to donate a percentage of the fees they’ve paid us. The money comes out of our bottom line, but it goes to other nonprofits that need a voice and resources to be able to succeed. One great thing about being the boss is that you can have a vision and build a company that reflects it. Our company culture is a reflection of who I am.

What kind of challenges do you face?
It’s a big virtual world out here. We work with clients around the world, but our competition also comes from around the world, particularly in places that have a much lower cost of living and can offer competitive pricing. On the other hand, we also compete with firms that are a lot bigger than we are. So a lot of my job is relationship building and persuading people that we’re the ones they need to work with. It’s like going on a job interview in your best suit and tie two times a week.

What is the single most important thing you have learned outside of school about the working world?
Sometimes people are too narrow in their focus and throw away experiences and relationships that don’t directly relate to their goals. But the personal relationships that you develop and the skills that you learn always make you a better person, and that makes you a better business person. The more you develop personally, the more likely it is that your career develops along with you.

If you could write your own ticket, what would you like to be doing in five years?
I love what I do, so I’m going to keep on doing it. I do think the company is going to change to try to touch more people. Right now, we provide services, but there’s a limit to how many people we can really touch doing that, because you run into issues with how much time there is in a day and what resources you have available. If we start offering products, our reach can be so much wider. I also want to get other small businesses to do the type of charitable work that we do – so many times, business owners think that all philanthropic work is powered by big foundations and corporations, but everyone can make a difference.

Diversity Career Stories Management Teacher

From Executive Director to Executive Coach

Caroline Kim Oh was a teenager when she arrived in this country with no knowledge of the language and worked her way up to a job as head of a national nonprofit organization. Now she’s using the lessons she’s learned over the years and helping others as an Executive Coach.

What is your job title and what industry do you work in? How long have you been doing this job?

I am an Executive Coach who works with clients who are (or want to be) leaders in the nonprofit sector. As a coach, it’s my job to provide time, space, and structure to help my clients set and achieve their goals. I’ve been doing this work full-time for about six months, but I’ve been an informal coach and advisor for most of my career.

How would you describe what you do? What does your work entail?

Coaching has a lot of aspects – I ask questions, I really listen, I act as a brainstorming partner, and I help my clients come up with their own answers. When requested and appropriate, I also share my experiences as a nonprofit leader and a working Mom, and I give feedback on resumes and strategic plans, but it’s important to remind my clients that I’m giving my opinions, not the answers. I help my clients sort through the clutter of their everyday lives and figure out the path that makes the most sense for them.

Are there any misconceptions about your job?

I’ve heard Executive Coaching described as a cross between therapy and consulting, but that’s not quite it. I’m not there to help my clients heal or resolve their past issues, or give advice. I’m there to be a partner and make it easier for my clients to use the resources that they already have. It’s not my job to come up with the answers – they do that on their own – but I help to make it possible.

What is your ethnicity and gender? How has it hurt or helped you?

I’m an Asian woman and an immigrant. When I was younger, that made me very self-conscious – I wasn’t confident about my writing or my ability to speak like a native English speaker. I was definitely jealous of people who grew up here or moved to the States earlier and didn’t have the difficulties I had. As I’ve gotten older, though, I’ve realized that nobody cares if I have an accent. I no longer feel like I have to prove anything to anyone.

Being a woman has its own challenges. In the work world, I felt people often didn’t take me as seriously as I wanted because I’m a woman and I’m small and I don’t look like I’m going to be the person that has command of the room. Also, while I believe that I was born to be a Mom, I somewhat resented having to “clip my wings” to have kids. I love being a Mom more than anything else in the world, but I also love my career, and it’s impossible to balance both and feel completely satisfied in both aspects of your life, all the time. Luckily, all those experiences inform and enrich my coaching.

What was your journey to doing this kind of work? How did you get here?

I came to this country from South Korea when I was in middle school, not speaking English at all. It was hard – my parents were very supportive, but they worked long hours and didn’t know how things worked in the United States, so I had to figure a lot out on my own. I was very lucky to have older cousins help me with my college applications or even take me into the city to see a movie.

While I was in college, my brother was injured, and it really made me think about the importance of having a job that makes a difference. I just couldn’t figure out how. I thought about medical school, but I hadn’t ever taken a science class, and I thought about being a public interest lawyer, but I hadn’t really prepared to go to law school, so I took a job at a nonprofit for a year. I immediately fell in love with the work and the people who do it, went back to graduate school for a degree in nonprofit management, and then landed at iMentor, where I worked for 12 years.

iMentor was perfect for me – the organization pairs working adults with young people from low-income communities to help them the way that my cousins and friends helped me when I was younger. I’d also noticed in college that a lot of other kids had opportunities I didn’t – I’d spend the summer working at my parent’s store, while they were visiting Europe or Asia or doing nice internships. iMentor helps kids like me access caring adult mentors connect them to more opportunities, skills and knowledge. I loved that.

At iMentor, I went from Program Director to Executive Director to President in a rapidly expanding organization, got married, had kids, and somehow found myself as an accidental advisor to nonprofits and nonprofit leaders. I had people calling me all the time, asking about staff development or fundraising or board development or work-life balance. Becoming an executive coach felt like a great way to focus on that part of my work and make a living doing it.

Do you love what you do? Do you think you’ve found the right path?

I absolutely love what I do. I love the sessions – meeting with my clients and really listening to them and working with them. I love the process of developing the coaching relationship and getting to know my clients deeply. My clients have made life-altering decisions in their sessions with me and even I’m amazed at times by what we’ve been able to accomplish together.

What is the single most important thing you have learned outside of school about the working world?

I often find that my clients underestimate their own strengths. They gloss over all the things that they’re good at and focus in on their weaknesses, because that’s where they want to improve. That’s important, but it’s as important to acknowledge and celebrate the areas where you are strong.

What kind of challenges do you face and what makes you just want to quit?

I consider myself a 40-year-old intern right now, because I’m learning by doing, and my rate reflects that. The money that I make as a coach is nowhere near the salary that I made – or could make – as an executive director. In exchange, I am able to control my work schedule, and work only 2-3 days a week, which allows me to focus on other aspects of my life, including caring for my young kids. I’m lucky to have a dual-income household so that my income can be a supplement instead of the primary income, but the pay differential is a major consideration for someone entering this field. My income will steadily increase over the next couple of years, but it would be hard to support your family on just this.

What’s a rough salary range for the position you hold?

Coaches’ pay varies. I’ve heard of coaches who only charge $50 a session and others who charge as much as $500 a session. It sounds like a lot, but that pay covers not only the work I do during the sessions, but any research that I do or time that I’m available over the phone and email between sessions. Coaches also spend a lot of unpaid time on business development: networking, speaking, writing, and meeting with potential clients. Many people end up supplementing this money with consulting work or freelance work.

If you could write your own ticket, what would you like to be doing in five years?

Right now, I’m finding that I really love the work and I’m getting better and better at it – I’d love to become one of the best in the field , but I don’t feel a need to become a big corporation and have other coaches working for me. I’d rather use talks and articles to reach those people who I can’t coach and share the lessons I’ve learned. In all honesty, though, I have no idea where I’ll be in five years. It’s enough for me that I’m enjoying the work that I do now and that I’d like to keep doing it.

Learn more about Caroline Kim Oh on her blog, LinkedIn page, or Twitter account.

Diversity Career Stories Management

Property Manager Creates His Own Path

Sean Hill had it made – a top-tier liberal arts education, a legal job with all the perks, and a law school education around the corner. It just didn’t feel right. So he went his own way, leaving corporate America behind to start a property management business and finally get the freedom he’d always been looking for in an unconventional career.

What is your job title and what industry do you work in? How long have you been doing this job?

I’m Sean Hill and I’m an entrepreneur. I currently own a property management business, which I founded about a year ago, but I’ve been entrepreneurial all my life and I’ve started other businesses in the past, doing everything from connecting black singles to cleaning crabs.

What is your ethnicity and gender? How has it hurt or helped you?

I’m a black man and I didn’t grow up well off, so I saw a lot of black men like me not given the opportunity to reach their dreams. Those who did have the opportunity to succeed most often went to college and then got a job in the corporate world or became a doctor or a lawyer.

While that’s a valid choice, I think a lot of the time we demonize those people who want to go another way and start their own businesses by calling them hustlers instead of looking at them as entrepreneurs. I think that we would be better off as a people if we focused a lot more on teaching people how to make a product or offer a service and then get others to pay for that product or service.

Not everyone fits into the corporate world – I know I didn’t – and without another option black men may think of ourselves as failures instead of looking for success that’s legal and upstanding but falls outside of the traditional business world. I really struggled with that and I don’t want other people to have those same struggles.

How would you describe what you do? What does your work entail?

In my area, most of the rental properties are owned by businesses, not individuals. Simply put, my job as a property manager is to make sure that when a tenant pulls up to one of those properties, it looks good and functions well. I help make sure that the parking lot is shoveled, that the trash is picked up properly, that the grass is trimmed and the outside of the property looks good.

On top of that, my job as a business owner is to make sales calls to potential new clients, which can involve everything from giving an estimate to touring an apartment complex, and to manage my staff and resources so that I can properly service all the existing properties that I work with.

What was your journey to doing this kind of work? How did you get here?

I went to a great liberal arts college, and when I graduated, I thought I was going to become a lawyer. I got a job at the Department of Justice, got into top law schools, and was on my way. But I have always been someone who questions rules and regulations and that started causing problems. Every time someone said do a, b, c, and d, I would think why not do d, a, b, and then jump to k.

In the world of corporate law, that’s a problem. People don’t want to hear about k when you’re supposed to be on b. I also wasn’t able to dedicate enough of my time to business ideas that I had on the side, because I had to dedicate all my time to this job. Eventually I checked out and ended up on the wrong side of the “up and out” policy – either they promote you or they get rid of you, and for me it was the latter.

So suddenly I’m unemployed and trying to figure out how to support myself after coming from a pretty good high-end lifestyle – I had the luxury studio, the new car, the platinum cards, the works. And it felt pretty bad to lose that, so I made myself feel better the only way I knew how, by working. I put myself out there and I started getting calls to help out with properties – I’ll pay you to fix my leaky basement or trim my overgrown grass or deal with a yard full of beer bottles. I started with just the most rudimentary tools and just myself and I’ve built up the business now to the point that I have staff and better infrastructure and real resources. It’s just grown exponentially.

Do you love what you do? Do you think you’ve found the right path?

What I love about being a business owner is the freedom to make my own decisions and the ability to be constantly learning and growing. Recently, for example, I thought about putting more money into marketing my business, until I realized that every dollar that I invest in staff and infrastructure is coming back to me tenfold. So I switched my plan. But I didn’t have to get sign-off from the boss or get approvals from a ton of people – I made the decision and then I acted on it. That freedom is priceless.

What education and skills do you need to get hired and succeed in this field?

I don’t think you need any specific education, but you do need to have a certain mindset. Some people are planners – they decide where they want to be in x years and then they work backwards from there and figure out their steps. But I think it takes more flexible thinking to be an entrepreneur. You don’t know what’s going to happen next so you have think while you’re running downhill – you have to be able to go with what the moment brings you and take advantage of any and all opportunities in front of you.

What is the single most important thing you have learned outside of school about the working world?

It’s not so much about how you get the job done as it is that you get the job done, no matter what’s going on around you. And if you’re consistently having trouble getting the job done, it may just be that you’re not in the right kind of job.

What kind of challenges do you face and what makes you just want to quit?

Business ownership is tough – it isn’t just fun and free-wheeling all the time. And I’ve definitely chosen a different and possibly more difficult path than many people, but I think that I’m doing the right thing for who I am and how I function. As circumstances change, being a business owner allows me to change with them, so even if things are falling apart around me or something happens that I can’t predict, I know that I will be able to make a decision quickly, adapt to the circumstances, and move forward.

What’s a rough salary range for the position you hold? Are you paid enough and/or happy living within your means?

What’s great about my business is that it’s growing. When I started out, people were paying me $40 or $50 to do a small job here and there. Now the business is bringing in $800 or $900 a day. To be honest, I didn’t even know that you could make that kind of money, especially outside of corporate America. I can’t wait to see how much I can grow the business in the future.

How much vacation do you take? Is it enough?

One of the other great things about being a business owner is that you control your own vacation. If I want to drive down to the beach for the day because I want to get away, I don’t need to clear it with anyone but myself. So I get the time off that I need. Plus I’m more energized with my work now so I don’t need as many breaks.

What would you tell a friend considering your line of work?

As far as entrepreneurship goes, I would say do it. Figure out what it is that you can manufacture or offer and then figure out who is willing to give you money to buy that product or get that service. It doesn’t have to be the world’s biggest idea – not everyone is Mark Zuckerberg, but we don’t all have to be. Some of us can own a plumbing business or a property management business and make good money and enjoy our lives.

If you could write your own ticket, what would you like to be doing in five years?

In many ways, I feel I have written my own ticket. And I’m still writing it. So I have no idea where I’ll be in five years exactly, but I know who I’ll be – I’ll be someone who is authentically living their life and owning their choices and doing what they love. And that’s more important to me than a title and a corner office will ever be.

Diversity Career Stories Management Translation

President and CEO

For 20 years, Martha Galindo’s translation company, Galindo Publicidad, Inc., has offered specialized multilingual foreign language expertise to clients who want to grow their markets. If you’ve ever thought about starting your own company or what it might be like to run the show, this will be a good read for you.

What is your job title? How many years of experience do you have in that field?
President and CEO, 20 years.

How would you describe yourself using three adjectives only?
Able, willing and ready. Sounds funny but I guess it is true. That probably translates into entrepreneurial, resourceful and independent.

What is your ethnicity?
I’m Mexican.

How did you get started in this line of work?
It will be 20 years this June… the business need was there. It was a niche not being served in Pennsylvania. I was already working and driving the marketing for two years of a language services company. My focus there was dealing with ad agencies, marketing departments, market research firms, training organizations and some administration work. I had worked in a management position in a very large insurance organization in the area and I had learned about the corporate culture in the US.

I wanted and needed the independence and the freedom since the family responsibilities were growing as well. So I set up a different entity with a focus on advertising accounts. The business was profitable from the start and put the bread on the table. It was never a hobby. It slowly grew.

Where you work, how well does your company do ‘equal opportunity’?
We are a US based small global company utilizing the services of translators and editors around the world. Their gender and race are absolutely irrelevant to the functions and services required. All translators are treated the same way. We communicate through the Internet. A few are local and attend events where we learn and mingle. Depending on where they are located and their country regulations they may be paid through different methods. But all receive assignments based on the match of their skills and the needs of the clients.

On a scale of 1 to 10 how would you rate your job satisfaction? What would it take to increase that rating?
I created my job and I switch gears when I want to or need to. More sales with more happy clients would make me happier.

Is there anything unique about your situation that readers should know when considering your experiences or accomplishments?
Well, we can educate and educate the market and make them aware of how many differences are out there in our industry. If you need to market to the US Hispanic market, you don’t need to reinvent the wheel. I think I have the ability to connect the dots and we are always learning something new.

Why do you get up and go to work each day?
Truly believing that clients rely on my expertise and the skills of my teams to get the job done is a very important reason. To keep their trust and loyalty is an honor and a privilege. I feel grateful because hopefully, it is also a positive example for my children.

What did you learn the hard way in this job and what happened specifically that led up to this lesson?
Credit policies changed. We must have a deposit or full payment before we assign a project since the professional translation service cannot be sold to someone else once it is complete.

How stressful is your job?
Unreasonable deadlines are stressful. But we can control that. We know when to say NO to a client even if that means losing the sale. We know what it takes to deliver certain volumes at the right quality. No compromises with such matter. We cannot deliver half a document. That pretty much takes care of the stressful issue. Family health matters are more challenging sometimes. The treadmill helps to clean my mind and stay relatively fit.

What’s a rough salary range for the position you hold?
I don’t have a salary. Depending on the gross sales and the expenses to be covered I then use money that I need or access the credit that I require. It has fluctuated very much depending on the economy. You learn to live with more or less.

What kind of challenges do you face and what makes you just want to quit?
The changes in corporate policies of clients affect their accounts payable cycles. I need to keep a healthy balance of accounts where lack of predictability is a factor.

What education and skills do you need to get hired and succeed in this field?
No less than a college degree. Graduate degree preferred. International living exposure. Sensitivity and passion for language, places, and other cultures, besides other technical skills.

What would you tell a friend considering your line of work?
Find a niche. This is pretty crowded and does not give away your knowledge.

How much vacation do you take? Is it enough?
Very little. No, it is not. I try to combine work and new places when I can.

If you could write your own ticket, what would you like to be doing in five years?
Restoring colonial properties in LATAM like Mexican Haciendas and putting them back in the communities with a different attractive and sustainable land use. Kind of a dream. I need partners. I can see a ton of possible uses for those restored beauties. Want to help?

Business and Sales Diversity Career Stories Management

Business development director earns promotion during recession

This dedicated business development director shares how he worked his way up from a sales job by volunteering to demonstrate his business development skills for a whole year.

What is your job title? How many years of experience do you have in that field?
Director of Business Development for an online media company. I have been directing business development operations for 2 years, and was previously in business to business sales for 5 years.

Would you describe the things you do on a typical day?
I start my day checking emails and tackling any pressing issues. Then, I run reports on performance of my company’s web properties and report any issues with my tech team, check site traffic and search rankings, look at ways to increase performance of automated sales through our sites, and connect with clients and partners. Recently I’ve spent more time on SEO practices and other ways to boost site traffic through linking, partnerships, affiliate programs, and increasing sales along with that. My day sometimes has a couple conference calls here and there with management or client/partnerships negotiations, and that’s a typical day.

On a scale of 1 to 10 how would you rate your job satisfaction? What would it take to increase that rating?
8.5. The positives are I’m in an ever-evolving role in an exciting industry, I’m compensated well, my boss has fostered a strong sense of job security, and I find a great deal of satisfaction in working from a home office. The negative is that part of my comp package is based on sales commissions, and sales have been down of late.

What did you learn the hard way in this job and how did that happen?
I’ve had to do a great deal of learning on my own by asking questions, reading blogs, articles, and books on internet business, technology, web development, SEO strategies, etc. I use that sort of knowledge everyday, but had no formal education on anything related to this job. Even business courses in college didn’t touch online business and the internet – much less sales – so learning in my role has been trial by fire.

How did you get started in this line of work? If you could go back and do it differently, what would you change?
I got started in Business Development by working my way through the ranks of B2B sales. I was very successful in sales, and caught the attention of previous and current bosses because my ability to positively lead others, to quickly learn new concepts, and to take on additional business critical projects. I wouldn’t change the way I moved up, but I would certainly have benefited from more computer and tech-centric education along the way. One of my main struggles early on in business development was my disconnect between the business and tech sides to our company. I studied business in college, but I’ve had to learn a whole new language to succeed in communicating with the tech side.

What’s the strangest thing that ever happened to you in this job?
I was promoted during the worst stretch of the economic meltdown 2 years ago, while everyone else in the company had a pay cut. I feel very blessed, because I know that doesn’t happen often.

On a good day when things are going well, can you give an example of something that really makes you feel good?
I feel good when I see site traffic, sales, and interest from clients and partners all trending upward.

When nothing seems to go right, what kind of snafus do you handle and what do you dislike the most? The worst-case scenario is when we have a dramatic drop in site traffic, which leads to a chain reaction of not delivering positive results to clients and partners, lowered revenue streams, and growth projects are put on hold while fires are put out. It’s my job to communicate with clients and partners to report on progress with issues and to manage expectations; but some panic and decide to take their business elsewhere, at least in the short-term.

What I dislike the most is that there are many factors that can positively or negatively affect site traffic, and there are many unknowns, so expectations are difficult to manage at times.

How stressful is your job? Are you able to maintain a comfortable or healthy work-life balance? My job is stressful in that I have my hands in many projects and I have a lot of responsibility to make sure the company exceeds daily, monthly, and quarterly goals we set; but I have great sense of job security, and I manage daily tasks well to make sure I’m always on the right track.

Since I work from a home office, it was difficult early on to leave work “at the office”, and I found myself working late into the evening. But I have now developed a healthy balance where I am more efficient and come into the office early to complete what I need to in order to spend time with my family in the evening.

What’s a rough salary range for the position you hold? Are you paid enough considering your responsibilities? A rough salary range is probably $60k-$90k depending on market and number of people managed. I feel I’m well-paid for my responsibility and for the market in which I live.

What’s the most rewarding moment you’ve experienced in this position? Of all the things you’ve done at work, what are you most proud of?
I started with my current company in strictly a sales role, but I was looking for a different challenge and more responsibility. We didn’t have a Business Development role at that time, but I felt strongly about the benefit that the position could bring to our company, and that I had the experience and skill set for the position. I volunteered for almost a year to prove what I could do for the company if the business development role was created, and then I was formally promoted to the new role after a successful volunteer stint. It is very rewarding to win that sort of trust and approval from our CEO.

On more of a concrete note, I am proud to have increased cost-per-click sales on two of our websites by over 300% in seven months after taking over business development responsibilities.

What’s the most challenging moment you’ve experienced? What would you prefer to forget?
The learning curve was very sharp in my first several months on the job, and because of my lack of knowledge and experience with certain partner programs and on the tech side of our business, I made several mistakes that tied up our programming team and cost our company time and money. I’d prefer to have skipped that, but I did learn a great deal from the trial and error.

What education and skills do you need to get hired and succeed in this field?
There are probably a lot of degree paths one could take with bachelor’s degree being a requirement, but experience and skill-set is probably more important to an employer than level of education. A background in sales or marketing is likely preferred.

For this role, one would need an insatiable drive to succeed, the ability to multi-task effectively in stressful environments and under tight deadlines, communicate well with many different types of people and personalities, the ability to work well independently and with a group, critical thinking and creative problem-solving, excellent written and oral communication skills, the ability to sell products and ideas, high level of honesty and integrity, strong attention to detail, and sound knowledge of the internet, computer/web programming terminology, and SEO practices.

What would you tell a friend considering your line of work?
It’s an exciting environment, can be very rewarding personally and professionally, can be lucrative, and there is great opportunity to move up within a company.

How much vacation do you take? Is it enough?
I usually take 10 days or so throughout the year so that I have a week or so off in the summer, and a couple days here and there for holidays. Every couple years I need to take a longer vacation to get away for 2 weeks, but I don’t feel like I need more vacation time.

Are there any common misunderstandings you want to correct about what you do?
There is a very negative connotation in work-from-home positions, because there are a lot of scams where “Mom makes $20,000 a month – From Home!”. I think even early on my parents-in-law thought I held a sketchy job with a shady employer. My job is the same whether I work at the corporate headquarters or from my home office. It’s an old-fashioned idea that legitimate jobs are only located in urban areas and office buildings; the internet changed all that.

Does this job move your heart? If not, what does?
Yes, there are aspects of the job that move me and motivate me to jump out of bed in the morning, but I also enjoy that this job allows me the freedom to explore other passions in my free time – spending time with family, playing golf, hiking, photography, and taking on constructive projects to improve my home.

If you could write your own ticket, what would you like to be doing in five years?
I would like the business development projects I now work on to be so successful in 5 years that it would justify the expansion of new sales and marketing roles. At that time, I would like to be head of the business development department where I would teach the processes that I now use, and manage a successful team of professionals performing my current job.

Business and Sales Diversity Career Stories Management

Vice President of Sales learns to adapt in tough economic times

This vice president of sales for a small family owned company shares how he went from a career in scientific research, to excelling in management and sales roles in a completely different industry.

What is your job title? How many years of experience do you have in that field?
My title is Vice President of Sales. I work for a small internet company and report to the CEO. I’ve been with this company for 8 years and in a sales role for around 15 years.

Would you describe the things you do on a typical day?
Working for a small company, I wear many hats with both sales and other responsibilities. A large portion of my time is spent strategizing with the sales team about current accounts and new potential accounts, creating solutions to set our company apart from the competition and winning their business. I am also involved with recruiting new sales people, marketing our products, giving interviews and product development. I’m involved with most things except for IT.

On a scale of 1 to 10 how would you rate your job satisfaction? What would it take to increase that rating?
I am very satisfied with my job, right at the top of the scale. I have flexible hours, I work in a nice office, I have great coworkers, I have job security, I am involved with the direction and business decisions of the company. I wish our office was closer to my home as I am much more productive at the office, though I do have the ability to work from home from time to time.

What did you learn the hard way in this job and how did that happen?
Firing and laying off people is difficult. That might seem like an obvious statement, but as I mentioned above, I like and have enjoyed working with practically ever single person that ever worked here. With the economic downturn a few years ago, our company needed to let go of a dozen employees, and it was not all in one sweep; rather, it happened on a painful one-at-a-time course. Being in a leadership role, I have been involved in more of those conversations than I’d like to remember. It gives me no satisfaction to call someone into my office and let them know they are being let go, answering the bewildered questions while remaining firm. Even with the few rare times we actually fired people in a contentious way, those were not easy situations.

What don’t they teach in school that would’ve been helpful to you?
I have a science degree. I even had a science career post graduation before jumping into a sales role. Personally, I wish I’d have been pushed into a business role and steered away from science. I don’t know who should have done that, certainly not my chemistry professors, but business classes more easily translate to the real world than science classes.

How did you get started in this line of work? If you could go back and do it differently, what would you change?
I guess I partially answered that question already. I’d have switched my educational path. I am very proud of my academic achievements, but post graduation, I ended up in a research job where I would not have the opportunity to advance without more education. I wish post graduation, I’d have taken some more entrepreneurial chances in a sales or marketing role, while I was still single and had no kids. Sales is more financially rewarding than any science role I could have attained, and it’s more people oriented and non-repetitive. I’ve found what I’m interested in doing in sales.

What’s the strangest thing that ever happened to you in this job?
I’ve needed to call the paramedics to our office for a sick coworker. I’ve needed to call the police to our office for a burglary. I’ve needed to call the security alarm company multiple times to stop them from sending the police. It’s not dull.

On a good day when things are going well, can you give an example of something that really makes you feel good?
I feel good when someone on my sales team wins a difficult contract that we worked on together. We met the client’s needs creatively and cost effectively and everybody wins.

When nothing seems to go right, what kind of snafus do you handle and what do you dislike the most?
Months when sales are not so great, when companies push their decisions back, trying to get by to try to make a month satisfactory. Those months seem to attract unsatisfied customers too that want to chat with me.

How stressful is your job? Are you able to maintain a comfortable or healthy work-life balance?
My job is not stressful overall, though it has its moments. I do have a healthy work-life balance. I can work at home if necessary, I can take my kid to his orthodontist appointment without being worried that I’ll be punished. However, with that balance comes the responsibility of answering the 10pm sales person’s important call or figuring something out on a Saturday afternoon.

What’s a rough salary range for the position you hold? Are you paid enough considering your responsibilities?
Salary is only part of a sales professional’s compensation. Performance based commissions are an important piece of the puzzle. I’ve worked in sales jobs that are 100% commission based and been highly successful. Those are usually a bit more stressful but more financially rewarding, even topping $100K. I started with this company in a sales role and moved to management. A sales person here can earn between 50K and 100K, perhaps even more, depending on experience, skill, position, and all are greatly affected by the general economic environment of the country.

What’s the most rewarding moment you’ve experienced in this position? Of all the things you’ve done at work, what are you most proud of?
I’m proud of the growth the company had the first several years I was in a management role. But I’m also proud of the accomplishments and achievements that happened as our revenues were cut in half in the economic downturn. Creating a successful new event series, diversifying our business line, and forward thinking to where the industry would be years down the line.

What’s the most challenging moment you’ve experienced? What would you prefer to forget?
The most challenging was cutting costs as business slowed a few years ago. I think everyone including myself in this company was in denial a little too long, was a little too optimistic about a quick rebound, dragged feet on cutting expenses that were deemed necessary. Hindsight is nice. I’d prefer to forget being involved with laying off the people we did in order to cut payroll costs, as I’ve already mentioned.

What education and skills do you need to get hired and succeed in this field?
I believe a college degree is a huge plus, though it’s entirely possible to hold this position based solely job experience. Companies need to take note that awesome sales people are often terrible Sales Managers, and that transition is often impossible. Patience, reliability, fairness, firmness, excellent product knowledge are key. Being able to handle strong personalities and reward success and encourage improvement are also important. Strong computer and research skills and industry business knowledge are musts. Excellent writing and speaking and phone skills are necessary as well.

What would you tell a friend considering your line of work?
It is not day-to-day. Your paycheck will go up and down like a see saw. But it can be rewarding. Pick an industry that interests them as every company sells. You need to be passionate and believe in the product and industry.

How much vacation do you take? Is it enough?
I have plenty of days to take. I should take more advantage of them.

Are there any common misunderstandings you want to correct about what you do?
Respected sales people are consultants for their clients and that’s the kind of team I strive to have. No one wants to be the sales person that is known as a nag or fits the stereotypes that “sales” sometimes has.

Does this job move your heart? If not, what does?
I am passionate about the job and love the combination of speed from both advertising sales and being online! I am passionate about other things too, but they are centered around family. I am very involved with my two boys’ little league baseball teams.

If you could write your own ticket, what would you like to be doing in five years?
Since my work location is flexible, I’d like to take this job to a more rural location, one that isn’t hot and isn’t cold. One where there’s no traffic and I can go fishing at lunch time.

Is there anything unique about your situation that readers should know when considering your experiences or accomplishments?
Though I am a sales manager, I almost never see any of my sales team. I’m not sure that’s unique, but many people may not realize that is the way technology has changed this type of position.