WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO FOCUS ON THE BEER SPACE? WE NOTICED YOU’RE VEERING TOWARDS SPIRITS NOW AND WONDERED WHY?
Oh well, I’ve spent the last eight years in beer and when I was thinking about next steps and where I wanted to go with my career, it made a lot of sense to evolve into spirits. Spirits always come after beer right? But seriously, I wanted to become a more well-rounded sales professional – that was the motivation.
WHAT YOU WILL YOU TAKE FROM YOUR EXPERIENCE INTO YOUR NEW ROLE?
I knew I didn’t have the spirits experience from working in beer, but at the end of the day, if you’re an effective sales professional, no matter what you’re selling you can apply the same principles. There’s going to be a lot of parallels between the two.
YES, WE CAN DEFINITELY SEE THAT.
SO, IN GENERAL, WHAT WAS YOUR EXPERIENCE WITH THE GANG HERE AT PROTIS?
I’ve talked to a few recruiters prior to working with Protis and I just wasn’t very impressed with what they were bringing to the table and the way they presented themselves. At Protis, it was like dating. We got to know each other. I felt like I was being courted, and who doesn’t like that.
HAHA, WE DO LIKE TO FALL IN LOVE.
Honestly, it felt like that. Anthony Corsaro and Frank Judd worked to understand what was important to me and what my motives were – from title and role all the way through to a company’s culture. They listened. They were out there working hard to find something that satisfied multiple aspects. The attention to me was amazing – I couldn’t have had a better experience.
ANYTHING THE GUYS COULD HAVE DONE BETTER?
I was very specific, to the point where there were five companies I was interested in. I don’t know if that was realistic and it’s important to set expectations. Anthony Corsaro warned me that these companies often have in-house HR teams so they often don’t take advantage of other resources. That was a little discouraging and we did run into those walls.
ANY LESSONS YOU’VE LEARNED ALONG THE WAY?
That you need to keep an open mind. I think we put ourselves into these silos and we have ideas about what the next step should look like. I wish I’d said to Anthony “bring me anything that you think may be a good fit” and not limited myself.
WOULD THAT BE THE ADVICE FOR OTHER PEOPLE WHO ARE IN THE SAME POSITION?
Yes definitely: go in with an open mind. Look at any opportunities that could be advantageous to your career or personal growth. That and put the faith into this process and the people – this is what they do. You being happy in a role is just as important to them as it is to you.
ANY TIPS FOR THE ACTUAL INTERVIEWS?
Really trust what the people at Protis are saying. They had some really great insight into who these people are and of course, they know them better than you do. They’re the ones who have been working with them.
SO, HAVING NOT WORKED WITH RECRUITERS BEFORE, DID PROTIS MEET YOUR EXPECTATIONS?
You exceeded. So much of this business is referrals and I’ve really been raving about you. I may send over some colleagues your way for your talent pool.
DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE MANTRAS OR QUOTES THAT HELPS YOU KEEP MOVING TOWARDS YOUR GOALS?
What you don’t know, you don’t know. In professional settings there’s a lot of self-discovery and it’s important to figure things out on your own. But if someone just tells you, you can grow and advance much quicker rather than trying to spin your wheels. Sometimes you just have to ask someone to show you instead of trying to figure it out alone. You’re only new once, so you should leverage that and ask every question you can.
And with that bit of advice we finished up what was a lovely chat with Sarah. She’s quite an exceptional individual and we enjoyed working with her. Part of our mantra at Protis Global has always been “Building Companies + Changing Lives”, and we really live, breathe and eat that. We’ve been around for over 23 years, and that has built us such a beautiful network of humans, both on the candidate and client side of our business. We naturally dig deep, trying to truly understand the elements that matter to each individual and in the end making a partnership that will work in the long haul. Due to the way we engage we build relationships which last years on end, and we are certain this will be the case with Sarah. We can’t wait to see her exceling and growing at her new organization. These are the days we live for around here.]]>