Where did it all start for you?

Personally, I’ve had a pretty crazy career to get where I’m at now.


But, I somehow deep down knew I’d be a sales person when I was the kid who sold the most candy bars in school. I won that limo trip with the principal to McDonald’s AND the talking globe.


When did you realize you were supposed to be in sales? Alternatively, do you think you belong in sales now?

🐱 Off-Topic
🏰 War Stories
5
mrworldwide
Good Citizen
2
AE
after graduating top of my class in financial economics and being rejected 100 times in the industry I was 'destined for', I got a job at a tech sales recruitment firm to cover rent temporarily till I got a job in my field. Long story short, fell in love with tech sales after speaking with Sales Directors/sales candidates and within 4 months I was in my first SDR role. Super happy how life turned out and how quickly I discovered my career path
Moneymachine
Politicker
1
Account Executive
First sales job when I was 18 years old, door to door, commission only.

Realized being good at something and putting effort in can pay much better than the 10 Bucks/Hour I was used from before. I was hooked.

Decided to double down on saas sales when I found out it has a much better earning/hour ratio than the consultant/investment banking route some peers were going.

In STEM I was never interested, so sales was really the only path which made sense for me. 
fuzzy
Notable Contributor
2
CMO (Chief Meme Officer)
knives?
Dollar
Executive
1
Enterprise AE
I was 11 when my dad started taking me to these interior design trade shows where we'd setup our booth. Rich people loved buying expensive shit from an 11-year old. 
fuzzy
Notable Contributor
2
CMO (Chief Meme Officer)
Kids are the best salespeople. 

Also, I'm very intrigued..kinda want to go to an ID trade show.
Accidental_Sales_Guy
Politicker
1
Account Executive
My dad was an software engineer, and always told me to get into sales (I resisted this for a long time). He's never been able to move up as he and his small cohort got continually acquired by big corporations like DirectTV, Cisco, etc. He's has earned close to his starting salary his whole career.

However, his sales reps, while they lacked the 'job security' of niche technical knowledge, they controlled their destiny and became the leaders of engineering teams filled with people like my Dad--- and got paid a whole lot more in the end.
CadenceCombat
Tycoon
0
Account Executive
I said this in another post but my first sales job was retail, first selling shoes and then selling electronics.
TheDragon
Good Citizen
0
CVO
TLDR; I was a short fat kid with a speech impediment who liked girls. I had to learn how to “sell” them on the thought of hanging out with me. 

As cliche as it is to say “you aren’t selling a product, you’re selling yourself”, I can connect with that on a personal level.
Cleopatra
Opinionated
0
Regional Sales Executive
As a bartender for me!
DentalSales
Good Citizen
0
Managing Director
My first sales role was as a University Painters franchise owner. I quickly learned I liked the selling aspect of the job, painting houses not so much. 
overheard_sales
Politicker
0
CEO - Overheard_Sales
Garage sales
2

Working at a Start Up

Question
11
7

Where to start

Question
17
22
Members only

Start your own company?

Question
28
Do you plan to start your own company at some point?
33% I will start a company
21% I will never start a company
22% I would only do it if everything lined up perfectly
24% I'd like to try at some point, but I'm not set on it
184 people voted