WISE Member of the Month: April 2022

Each month, WISE selects a member of the community to share their sales knowledge and story. We are excited to announce Lea Williams as our April 2022 Member of the Month!

Lea is currently a Sales Leader - Emerging Markets at Okta and joined the WISE community in 2021.

What advice would you give to a woman starting her sales career?

Sales is such a broad career, I really encourage those starting out to take into consideration WHAT you're selling and WHO you're selling it to. What do you get excited to talk about and learn about all day until you become an expert? Who do you enjoy helping to find solutions? I studied digital marketing in college and then got my first BDR role at a marketing agency. I loved that I needed to be a marketing expert, but noticed that turn over in services was high. I grew that experience into a MarTech role and found success because I understood my buyer's pains, knew enough about their field to act as a strategic advisor, and knew the technology inside and out. Helping my buyers to use technology that proved their value was such a rewarding experience and I spent 8 years in the space continually learning and growing. Find that for yourself and you'll find sales success!

How has your WISE membership supplemented your career and professional development?

When I moved into management there were very few women in sales in my org and no female sales leaders. I was hungry to learn more but had no female mentors in sight. In just two meetings with a WISE mentor, I walked away with the actionable operational guidance I needed to better run my team and business consistently. When looking for new roles, it was great to be able to connect with women farther along in their careers for advice and the larger WISE community exposed me to some great opportunities.

What is your proudest accomplishment?

In leadership, there are a lot of little moments that all make the role rewarding, but there are a few opportunities that really stand out. When building my first team, I had the opportunity to bring onboard a brand new AE who had been overlooked while working at a competitor. I could see the hustle and drive to succeed were there if given the opportunity. We spent several months together going through the basics of value-based selling and they went on to totally crush their Q4 number that year. Getting those calls and texts about the deal wins and quota attainment they were having was probably one of my proudest moments.

Join Lea and the WISE Community to utilize all the WISE membership benefits to push your career to the next level by applying here.