UPDATE: In October, I will be moving to Atlanta Tech Village to take on a new position of Managing Director. Read more here.
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When I began creating this site and I sat down to get the obligatory "About Me" section underway, I ran into a roadblock. Nearly every line looped back to the same place — when trying to write about myself, I kept writing about my job!
I know that's going to sound weird. It's going to sound like I work too much (I probably do) and that I value my job over my personal relationships (I definitely don't). But the truth here is that Salesloft is a huge part of my life, and it took me a long time to find it.
Before I even knew Salesloft existed, I knew exactly what type of company I was looking for: a tech startup with a passionate, fun-loving, team-oriented culture that was more like a family than a firm. And I told everyone who would listen, in the hopes that they knew of such a company and could point me in that direction. (Sorry, friends and family, but thanks for bearing with me!)
Two things helped bring Salesloft into my life: I love networking, and I do a lot of research. While looking at (everysingleoneofthe) startup events in ATL, I found the Atlanta Tech Village. It was exactly the atmosphere I was going for — the slogan there is "Be Nice and Dream Big" — and completely full of people who were excited about their companies and their teams. I would go to event after event, and yearn to be part of the entrepreneurial ecosystem there. I was determined to make that happen, so I began to haunt the tech-related networking events and activities in ATL (and there are a lot). I asked panelists questions during and after presentations. I sent LinkedIn invites to hundreds of people. I posted comments back on tech blogs. And I went to events at the ATV all the time.
Basically, I kept showing up there until someone gave me a job.
(That's only partly hyperbole. The less exaggerated way to say it is that I was lucky enough to make a good impression on Salesloft CEO Kyle Porter the 80,000 times I ran into him at events, and eventually he thought of me when a job opening came up.)
Salesloft is everything I was looking for, and more. The culture here is amazing — with core values of Positive, Supportive, Self-Starting, Results and Customers, it's hard not to be — and the people motivate me to bring my "A game" every minute of the day. I look forward to coming to work, and my days fly by with our intense application of "work hard, play hard."
But what's even more important to me is that my role at Salesloft touches on all of my passions. First as Support and a Client Services Manager, then as a Product Manager, then as Chief of Staff, and now as Head of Community, I spend all day working with and helping people, both clients and teammates. And while I do answer questions and aid in developing solutions, I also learn so much from everyone else. There's something new to do or see every day, and I love getting to communicate this to our clients as we deliver products that solve their daily challenges. What I do makes a difference for people. Maybe it's not a dramatic difference like bringing medication or food to third-world countries, but it's a small difference that adds up in people's daily lives.
Plus, I get to work with really smart people, from brilliant engineers to mesmerizing sales execs to tenacious SDRs to innovative marketers to responsive and caring client success managers. The department heads are visionaries who inspire every one of us each day. They believe in our products, and they believe in us.
These people are not just my colleagues; they're also my family. And that's why it was hard for me to separate Salesloft from who I am. No matter where I go from here, Salesloft will always be a part of me.