National Women’s History Month: Channel Women on 'I Wish I’d Known’
This isn’t woulda, shoulda, coulda. This is about life lessons.
![Channel Women Voices - Day 4 Channel Women Voices - Day 4](https://eu-images.contentstack.com/v3/assets/blt10e444bce2d36aa8/blt6535ab293e8fc46a/65240204a5204266dfedf7fa/Channel-Women-Voices-Day-4.jpg?width=700&auto=webp&quality=80&disable=upscale)
Meredith Caram
Chief Revenue Officer
JS Group
Don’t be ashamed to ask for help – asking for help is not a weakness. And learn to accept help when you need it. It truly is a generous gift. Sometimes we come off as strong and independent, not needing any help. But the way we build strength and knowledge is through human connection. There wasn’t a turning point for me where I suddenly was no longer ashamed to ask for help. It was a gradual process. We are all interdependent and are stronger when we unite.
Kelly Danziger
General Manager & Vice President of Channel
Informa Tech
I wish I’d known how important it was to become active in the Alliance of Channel Women (ACW). You immediately have a group of industry women and men who are willing to exchange ideas, mentor and support your journey, along with having access to ongoing industry education and training.
Hilary Gadda
Co-Founder
Alliance of Channel Women
I was so young. I wish I had known that I was as smart and talented as my male counterparts.
Cassie Jeppson
Director North America Channel Programs
Lenovo
My first tech job was selling copiers and document management software in Nashville. I had no problem smiling and dialing. After my first solo day, I realized I was in way over my head. At 23, I learned what the good-old-boy club was and that I wasn’t in it! I was called sweetheart and little lady, asked out on dates, was accused of not being smart enough to handle their complex accounts and definitely was out of my comfort zone whenever they brought up the weekend’s football games. So I traded in my business skirts for pants, started wearing my hair pulled back, wore less makeup and I even learned how to hide my Southern accent. I started reading about games, knew the scores and just enough to carry the conversation and then I started making sales! And getting great feedback from my customers. I was building relationships and considered to be someone that was credible in their circles.
After my sales kept growing, my boss started to send me into work with the challenging customers and at-risk accounts. I built great relationships with them too and turned around a lot of customers we would have lost. After a while of 130% achievement, I took maternity leave and gave birth to my twin daughters! When I went back to work after six weeks, something was different, and it wasn’t just the 50 pounds I’d lost after childbirth! Something in me was different and I wasn’t happy in my position anymore.
I had read in a Wharton article, that as soon as we limit ourselves, we may achieve success, but not fulfillment, because we aren’t living out our important truths. In other words, if you aren’t being your authentic self, you’re missing out and so is everyone else around you! I wasn’t comfortable acting like someone I wasn’t. If I was going to spend so much time away from my kids, something had to be different. I was just going through the motions and my work felt meaningless. I felt like I wasn’t being myself and needed to make some changes fast. I went back to wearing those skirts I had shoved to the back of my closet, wearing my hair down or curly and every now and then even wore a brighter shade of lip gloss. I tried connecting with my clients in different ways, asking them about photos that were in their offices, vacations they had been on and more personal things than football. I started bringing baked goods to some clients and sharing pictures of the kids. The relationships with my customers continued to grow. I learned what empathy was, how to build meaningful relationships and how to be my authentic self with customers.
I learned how to truly connect with co-workers and to acquire friends versus acquaintances. I found the person I wanted to be, the role model for my son and daughters. It was then that I made a personal vow never to hide myself again and to always bring my candid, empathetic, sarcastic, introverted and driven self to every engagement.
Sue Kozak
CEO
MNJ Technologies
Be thankful when things are good and even when they’re not good. It’s the journey that’s important and the personal growth you can achieve along the way is priceless. I’m not the same person I was 20 years ago.
MeiLee Langley
Senior Director/Head, Channel & Field Marketing
LiveVox
At the bare minimum, find yourself a mentor, a sponsor, and cohort.Your mentor is there to guide you, provide direction and feedback (sometimes even templates), and help you create a clear road ahead in your goals and career. Your sponsor is there to open doors and make connections to help you advance your career or accomplish tasks and goals. Your cohort is your judgement-free sounding board. This is the group that will help you brainstorm and problem solve, as well as give you advice and help ground you in times of high stress or frustration.
Make a list of those in your network that you feel could fill these roles in your professional development. Reach out to them to see who has the bandwidth and ability to step in. Then make it easy for them to stay in contact and support you – take on the burden of scheduling (and being flexible) and always have an agenda of topics to be discussed/what you’d like to accomplish on each call.
Shani Mahler
Director, Product Management
Barracuda
When I was young, I had visions of myself with an important job, dressed like a business
professional every day with a briefcase to boot. If there was something I could tell my younger self it would be that a successful career is not represented by how you dress. Instead, it is represented by what you deliver and how you make people feel.
Sarah Marsh
Director, Partner Channels
Workday
Your opinions matter and should be heard. Don’t feel like you need to agree with everyone in the room. It’s ok to challenge the status quo and ask why; that’s what sparks change!
Jasmina Muller
Vice President, Global Channel Sales
ScienceLogic
I wish I had started in the channel first. It’s such a different world. I’m not saying that working as a direct rep and moving up to different leadership roles was bad. In fact, it helped me prepare for what I jumped into.
Working with many types of partners’ businesses and understanding their initiatives, their competition and the types of customers and verticals they work with, is fascinating. It’s not just a sales opportunity you’re working with, it’s an entire business conversation. You get to work with executives and learn about the business, what drives them and how they started. You also learn about them on a personal level and really be an extension of their business, build a true partnership and understanding of how to work together to reach the common goal.
I have so many relationships with partners that have formed into lifelong friendships and built a trust amongst the community. I know their families. their kids — it’s just a different way of doing business, and I wouldn’t change any part of it.
Darcee Nelan
CEO
IQ Wired
I wish that there had been more female role models when I first got into the channel. Unfortunately, historically there haven’t been that many women in the technology space. I’m seeing more and more women rise to top positions in the channel which will hopefully provide more mentorship for the next generation of women in the channel. There are also organizations like Women of the Channel or the Alliance of Channel Women that help women collaborate and share experiences with other women. These types of organizations can be a huge asset for new women entering the channel.
Mayka Rosales-Peterson
Senior Manager, Partner Marketing
Intelisys
That I would rarely see women or people of color in places and positions where I’ve envisioned myself in one day. And also, that there has to be tremendous advocacy to make change as some people are stuck in old ways.
Janet Schijns
CEO
JS Group
I wish I had known how helpful many of our male colleagues can be when it comes
to stamping out discrimination against women in the channel if you just are honest and ask for their help when you are struggling.
When I first entered the channel I turned to the women I knew for help, but because there were so few of them it wasn’t enough for some situations. But once I realized that I was missing asking the guys for help, my career really took off! I have worked with so many amazing men who have always had my back. When I have asked them for help have come running to help – regardless of the situation. Folks like Sammy Kinlaw, Jim Glackin, George Fischer, Chris Jones, Carey Tengler, Todd Thibodeaux, John Delozier, Philip DeSouza, Hans Mize, Francisco Criado, Craig Patterson, Shane Stark and countless others have helped me at every turn to succeed and make the most of my career.
The key, though, is you have to be willing to be transparent, authentic and ask for help. Don’t expect people to just magically know your struggles. Be bold enough to share your burden and the burden will immediately be lightened by those you ask for help in the channel – it’s an amazing family in that way!
Heather Tenuto
Chief Revenue Officer
Zift Solutions
Trust and partnerships go hand in hand. Two people in my work life took the time to point out to me that I had to lean into the channel network and be more trusting of the people around me. They told me that investment here would surely be returned, and they were right. Once I let my guard down, I started to see success. Now I know that putting others’ needs on the top of my priority list creates good outcomes for myself as well as those around me.
Heather Tenuto
Chief Revenue Officer
Zift Solutions
Trust and partnerships go hand in hand. Two people in my work life took the time to point out to me that I had to lean into the channel network and be more trusting of the people around me. They told me that investment here would surely be returned, and they were right. Once I let my guard down, I started to see success. Now I know that putting others’ needs on the top of my priority list creates good outcomes for myself as well as those around me.
Everyone has at one time or another said “I wish I’d known” earlier about something in their life.
For channel women, such a wish usually pertains to confidence, capability and role models. None of our respondents expressed regret in any way or wished for a second chance. For them, it’s not about do-overs, it’s about do-betters.
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Authenticity and relationships ranked high among our respondents. Somewhere along their career paths, they shed their protective coloring and began speaking their minds. They quit selling or promoting and began focusing on problem-solving. And then they began mapping their own career paths instead of following someone else’s.
Sure, it might have helped to know a few things earlier. But then again, in the words of author Alex Elle, “I am thankful for my struggle because, without it, I wouldn’t have stumbled across my strength.”
Scroll through the slideshow above to find out how channel women responded when we asked them, “What do you know now that you wish you’d known when you started out in the channel?”
Did you miss an installment in this series? Click on the link below to catch up.
Want to contact the author directly about this story? Have ideas for a follow-up article? Email Buffy Naylor or connect with her on LinkedIn. |
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