Who are the women at Vorsight?
To succeed in sales, you must be hard working, determined, and innovative. Fortunately, as exemplified by the women at Vorsight, there is room for creativity when it comes to meeting these requirements and forging the path to success. We started the Vorsight Women’s Club to lead, inspire, and mentor women to embrace their power, purpose, and value, and to take responsibility for their professional development.
So who are these Vorsight women? Consider this our introduction as well as an invitation for you to reach out and introduce yourself.
1. What is something you didn’t expect coming in to this job? What surprised you?
Katie — SDR — One thing I did not expect coming into Vorsight, was how helpful everyone is. Everyone is willing to help others.
I was surprised by a few things:
1) How encouraging and positive the leadership team is- it’s really refreshing!
2) How much strategy goes into “cold calling”
Shannon — SDR — I didn’t expect to learn this much. Just in a couple months I’ve learned so much about the business world, how people work, and even more about myself.
Snow — Director of Operations and HR — I had no idea how competitive I was, mostly with myself. I want everything I do and the organization I work for to be the best at whatever I/we do. I had no idea how much I could make an impact, or my voice could be heard at the workplace. I had always worked for large corporations where you work so hard just to have someone remember your name. It was refreshing to see my work count daily.
Rachel– Sales Development Manager — I was incredibly surprised by how much executives would open up over the phone given the right questions and the right amount of empathy. It was incredibly empowering as someone fresh out of college to speak as a peer with c-level executives and have them open up to me about their business challenges (sometimes for 15–20 minutes at a time — to someone they’ve never met!)
Jacquie — ExecVision ISR — Although I was recruited to Vorsight by a fellow sorority sister, I came into the position with very few expectations. I knew generally that the job involved researching, dialing, and scheduling, but since I’d never been in a sales role before, I had no frame of reference to predict if I could succeed or fall on my face. I was quickly surprised by how much I enjoyed the art of conversations: piecing together a dialogue with senior executives about the critical business challenges they face.
Vivian — Senior SDR — What surprised me most was how exciting and fast paced the days felt. The metrics and people here really make it feel like a game and I leave work feeling even more energized than when I arrived. I was also surprised at how relevant my athletic experience has been. There’s a clear comparison to be made between being an SDR here and being a part of a competitive athletic team.
2. What was / is your biggest fear about getting into sales? How did you / do you plan on moving past it?
Shannon — SDR — I think my biggest fear was failing. Sales was/is something I know I can be really good at, but I had often heard that sales can be cutthroat and was afraid of underperforming and getting kicked to the curb. The idea of disappointing both the company and myself and as a result potentially having to go an entirely different path is scary.
Shelby — Senior SDR — I was afraid that I just wasn’t going to be persuasive enough. I’m not a naturally talkative/salesy person and I’ve been able to move past that by fully utilizing the Vorsight method and my analytical skills to evaluate my conversations and performance.
Emma — Product Implementation Specialist — I was worried about other people’s opinions of me being in sales. The last thing I wanted people to associate me with was a used car salesman. Now looking back I realize how dumb that sounds. After being in sales I realized that literally everyone was in a sales role currently or started out in one. I learned so incredibly much from my sales role, especially when it came to how to speak and interact with people. Moral of the story: be proud of what you do because who cares what others think about your job. A paycheck is a paycheck is a paycheck.
Kristen– Director of Sales Development and Training — With every conversation (especially cold-call conversations) you enter the “unknown”. You don’t know what your prospect is going to say or how he/she is going to react to the message you’re trying to communicate. To overcome this, I try to keep the end goal in mind and remind myself that every new experience gives me the knowledge I need to handle similar situations in the future — the more experiences I have the better equipped I am to manage the “unknown”.
Rachel– Sales Development Manager — My biggest fear was failing. That’s not necessarily specific to sales, but I’ve never been someone who likes to fail. I came into Vorsight fresh out of a waitressing job where I was struggling to pay my rent was pretty unhappy. I was determined to do whatever it took to succeed; I listened to a lot (a LOT) of EV, made friends with the high performers, and stayed late until I figured out how to get meetings.
Frances — Senior SDR — My biggest fear was getting into a male-dominated industry speaking to Fortune 500 Execs (who are, sadly, still mostly men). Like many women I know, this intimidation is something that’s been ingrained in me. But I’m moving past this fear by viewing my identity as an asset — the industry doesn’t always see people like me, a Filipina woman, working in sales. I realized there’s so much I can offer like my unique perspectives and ability to empathize, which I’ve learned from my lived experiences.
3. Who / what inspires you to work hard?
Katie — SDR — Paying off student loan debt inspires me to keep at it.
Neha — Product Implementation Manager — My family — I have a lot of people — kids, parents, in-laws, sisters — relying on me to help them out. I work hard because I know I only have a set amount of time to accomplish what I need to get done. If I don’t get something done in the allotted time I set, then I may not get back to it for days.
Lauren — Client Success Intern — I’m inspired by the vision of myself in my dream career. I believe working hard gets noticed and can get me there.
Julia — Operations and Support Associate — My co-workers inspire me to work hard. Working for a successful start-up requires everyone to give 100%. Everything is so interconnected that if one department is slacking or not hitting numbers, then this affects the rest of the team. Everyone works hard in the office because they know we are doing something special.
Snow — Director of Operations and HR — Not trying to sound sad here, but here it is. My father raised me as a single parent. My mother has never been a part of my life. Unfortunately, my father passed away in my early 20’s. As an only child, I knew at that point I just had to get it done. I have aunts and uncles but at the end of the day it was up to me. My father worked very hard, long days, evenings, and sometimes weekends. My father helped anyone and everyone from animals to humans, he was always willing to lend a helping hand or say a kind word. He even moved an abused woman in to our house, she was a waitress from one of our favorite restaurants, he gave her a fresh start on life, and I still know her and she is great today. He taught me to work hard, unconditional love, and empathy. So there it is. I know my dad loved me more than anything on earth, so I guess I always feel like he is watching me and I want to show him that I am ok, that he taught me well, that I am strong, and yes, I can do anything!
BC — Director of Talent Acquisition — My daughter. She’s going to grow up to be a member of 2 disenfranchised groups so I want to set an example for her. I want her to know that she holds the power to her future. Even when someone tells you no, you can make your own way.
Rachel– Sales Development Manager -“Freely you have received, freely give”; I’m inspired to give all I have to the people around me, as I was given an abundance of grace without doing anything to deserve it. I’m inspired to extend that compassion, empathy, and love to anyone I can in any environment I can.
Frances — Senior SDR — My mom, who’s a nurse assistant, inspires me to work hard. While I get some angry hang-ups and “do not call” rants from cold-calling executives, she deals with her patients who don’t always treat her well (think racial slurs…) 10 hours a day. But she still does a fantastic job and gets Employee of the Year. As a woman “passionate about the causes”, I easily get caught up in my anger about things that are unfair. My mom teaches me that I simply can’t let stupid people detract from letting myself excel. We got a ceiling we need to break here!
4. What are your professional goals?
Julia — Operations and Support Associate — I have short-term (yearly) and long-term goals. My long-term goal is to work for a sports organization/company i.e. Nationals, Under Armour, etc. To reach that long-term goal requires short-term goals that will help me stand out in the interview process. My short-term goal this year is to learn basic coding like HTML and CSS. Knowing how to code will separate me from the rest of the pack.
Shannon — SDR — My professional goals are to run the show someday. I want to be in an executive position where I can not only have a lot of influence on a company, but people and an entire industry on the whole.
Shelby — Senior SDR — My professional goals are still in flux at the moment, but I know that at this point I really enjoy learning new skills that push me out of my comfort zone and then applying them to various situations.
Rachel– Sales Development Manager — I’d ultimately like to work in developing parts of French-speaking Africa. Haven’t figured out if that means a non-profit, NGO, or from a position of policy influence. Currently fine tuning my business acumen until then.
Vivian — Senior SDR — Goals are a huge part of the culture here. I like to break my goals down to tiny actionable steps. For example, by the end of the year I’d like to be an Account Manager, which means getting to Senior SDR by March, which means achieving my meeting goal every week, which means achieving my dial goal every day.
5. What’s the coolest thing about being a woman in business?
Lauren — Client Success Intern — I think just by being a woman in business, you are making the field a more hospitable place for women. So whenever a woman becomes a CEO, it’s everyone’s victory!
Julia — Operations and Support Associate — I love seeing first-hand the growth in gender equality. I have worked for Vorsight for a year now and since starting, I have seen more leadership positions filled up with women than ever before. We still have a long way to go but it is still inspiring to see how much as a company we have progressed within the last year.
Emma — Customer Success Manager— That there are so many other kick a$$ women in this world that are willing to help me out and mentor me. Women are doing amazing things every single day and it’s incredibly inspiring to see. It makes me want to work harder so that I can one day inspire other women.
Frances — Senior SDR — The coolest thing is proving myself wrong. I never saw myself being in business, but it’s awesome and affirming to know I’m good at it. I also see it as a middle-finger to people who doubted what I could do 😊
6. What’s one piece of advice you’d give to your 18 year old self?
Neha — Product Implementation Manager — Don’t listen to what the world tells you about being a woman. Women are constantly being told how they should act, behave, and perform. You don’t have to go to college, or get married, or have kids, or take care of your elderly parents, or find “women’s” jobs. You can do and be whatever you want, if you’re willing to work hard for it.
BC — Director of Talent Acquisition — I’ve read the end of the book, you make it.
Emma — Customer Success Manager — I would for sure tell myself to take at least one finance class. I had no idea how to budget money, do taxes, invest money or what a 401k was. Trying to learn everything after you’ve already started working is a lot more difficult.
Kristen– Director of Sales Development and Training — Find successful people and build relationships with them in order to learn what they do differently than everyone else. No one person has all of the answers or skills so don’t be afraid to ask for advice from a broad range of individuals.
Jacquie — ExecVision ISR — I’d tell myself that it’s okay to say “No.” I have a tendency to overschedule myself and end up flaking on friends or exhausting myself because I forget to leave time for myself to recharge. I’m still learning to balance my time between work, relationships, and self-care, and saying “no” is a big part of that.
Vivian — Senior SDR — Don’t count yourself out. Just because something is hard and other people have failed at it doesn’t mean you can’t be the exception.
