"It would have seemed greedy to even hope to have all of that 9 years later..." -Mayor Pete.😭❤️ If you swap the 9 for a 5, that is my exact sentiment about #samsales.
Five years ago, I stepped away from LinkedIn and corporate America, took a deep breath, launched #samsales alone, and hoped to work part-time and make half the money I made in SaaS.
But, at 38 years of age, I should have known myself better than to know that that would ever fly with Sam.😉
I could tell you 100 things I'm proud of as we hit our five year anniversary, but first a breath for how we, especially as women, often shrug off or "oh, it was nothing" the impact we have. I had a moment last night where I told myself that I need to admit (?) a few things to be true, without question.
Three things that I hold as my proudest achievements here:
1. Impact.
I don't share it often but we are FLOODED with messages, DMs, notes years later, and posts about the impact we make. I know we're changing lives. It's not an assumption, people tell us so an average of every single day.
To hear that we were the method that worked, that saved a job, that convinced a woman she could succeed in sales, that people are angry they didn't find us sooner. Man...💓
2. Company Culture.
I don't use "I" often for our achievements, but I'll do it this once. I created a company and a culture, being meticulous about who we hired, that our people will tell you is exceptional.
I valued heart, character, values, intelligence, and resourcefulness over experience in the specific thing we needed. Hard to teach the first, easy to teach the second.
I built a company with what mattered to me: leaders who are empathetic, time off to live your bloody life outside of work, and an endless pursuit of making our teams feel seen, delighted, surprised, loved, and supported.
3. My world.
I built something that lets me live a life I always dreamed of. Following in the footsteps of my entrepreneur parents, who I'd kill to have here to see what we've built and offer advice (or inappropriate jokes at just the right time).
Wondering if you'll see the same financial success you did in corporate, and then blowing those numbers out 2, 3, 10 fold.
And while the financial reward is a delight, it's not even that.
It's getting to do things my way, to build a company my way, to do meaningful work, to test all the theories I had before and see them convert for us and clients, to REALLY make a stamp on this world.
Crushing my quota and leading national teams was one thing, but building my own company and carrying this legacy forward is in a league of its own.
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All this to say: what a privilege. There's no other word for it.
If you told me, five years ago, that I could see the success we've had while doing work that I'm wildly passionate about and that changes lives...it would have felt greedy to even hope to have all of this...
#samsales
