ANM

My boss pulled up the numbers to prove I was doing fine. He was wrong. I'd left AWS 90 days earlier. Been doing everything the sales books tell you to do. Researching accounts. Building lists. Sending personalized emails I was sure would land. Crickets. For months. So I sat across from him and told him I was worried. He pulled up how other reps performed in year one. Tried to reassure me. Said I was doing the right things. But I wasn't. Cold outreach didn't work for me. Not even a little. Everyone says it takes two years to build a business at a reseller. I thought I'd be different. Nope. There was no lightning bolt moment. I just kept grinding at something that wasn't working, and one day I admitted it to myself. What I was doing was just as hard as trying something else. So I stopped. I went back to people who already knew what it was like to work with me. I overcommunicated with software vendors until they could see how I'd show up for their customers. Ended the year at 135% of quota. 13 new accounts. The number came in year one. The confidence took 15 months. That's the part nobody warns you about.

I spent the first week of 9th grade hiding in the bathroom at lunch. Moved to a new town. 350 kids total at my old school. 1200 at my new one. I couldn't figure out who to sit next to. So I didn't sit anywhere. I still feel it at networking events. Walking in, scanning for the one person I know. Checking my phone. Stalling in the bathroom. But LinkedIn, I can do. You've already told me what you care about. I don't have to start from nothing. I can listen. Then show up when I have something to say. Five virtual coffees on my calendar in the next 60 days. All with people I met here. Seems that kid in the bathroom would have loved LinkedIn.

People think I’m driven. The truth is, I’ve been running for years. In 6th grade, I walked in on a conversation I wasn’t supposed to hear. My grandfather sat on our orange couch, notebooks spread in front of him. He told my mom our finances were in terrible shape. That we were on a path to bankruptcy. That something had to change. I remember his tone more than anything. Disappointed. I didn’t understand everything he said. But I understood enough to be terrified. After that: I cleaned my Dad's office in grade school. Got my first W-2 at 15. Worked at a craft store through high school. Begged my parents to let me work in college. Worked two jobs when I first got married. Everyone called it work ethic. But if I’m honest, it’s that voice I’ve been running from. And I’m not sure who I am without it.

Excited for our upcoming ANM Tech Day! Please mark your calendars, I look forward to seeing you there!