Master Brilliance with Resilience: Recent Episodes
Sales Psyche
Our greatest asset, but also our biggest threat is our mindset & mental health.
We all have mental health, yet it’s not spoken about enough, particularly in the world of sales.
Master Brilliance with Resilience by Sales Psyche is here to change this.
This podcast brings mental health to the forefront of conversations.
We speak to sales reps & leaders about their own personal stories, challenges & success around their mental health & sales.
If you want a podcast that helps you understand more about your mindset, resilience, and ignite your brilliance, then this is for you!
In this episode, I'm joined by Michelle Carvill, Director @Carvill Creative, Strategic Marketer and Author of Sustainable Marketing. Michelle will be sharing her own personal story of what led her down the route of being so passionate and such a big advocate about changing the way we support individuals mental health. She also shares on the episode more about a service she has setup, the PHS (Preventative Health Service) and why it's looking to provide an alternative way to supporting individuals mental health.
On this episode I'm joined by Parnell Foster Nash, Director Business Development at Seismic. Parnell shares the impact that a lack of self-awareness and self-care was having on his wellbeing and mindset, plus the journey he went on to change this, that includes the discovery and impact of breathwork.
In this week's episode I'm joined by Jason Lalk, VP of sales at Closer IQ. Jason will be sharing his perspective on how companies can create psychological safe cultures for their team's to work in and how he practises what he preaches at Closer IQ.
It's so easy in sales to lose sight of the bigger picture, to withdraw thinking you just want to stay focused and avoid taking time off in the hunt for excellence. All of these things can severely impact your mental wellbeing. So how do you manage your mental wellbeing and mindset, whilst still striving to develop and succeed in a sales role?
To discuss how they're doing it, I'm joined this week by Holly Allen and Sean Colfer; both BDR's at G2. They share more about their own personal story managing their mental health, what has helped them along the way and the value of community with it.
It's not just selling that has evolved along with the buyers world; so has the way we want to be led, supported and managed. Managers of today's world need to be even more self-aware of their approach and also how they truly support, empathise and create a psychologically safe environment to work in.
To discuss some of the things that are needed for this, I'm joined by Macey McGovern, Manager of Senior Account Development at Highspot.
The best sales leaders are very rarely naturally gifted with their approach, style and ingredients that contribute to their success. The common thread with them all is having a growth mindset; a willingness to learn, evolve and adapt. Leaders like this can continue to adapt to the needs of their teams, business and how society is evolving.
To discuss this, along with how to focus on creating a healthy and high performing sales culture, I'm joined by Glen Foster, Sales Director for UK & EMEA for Xero.
There's some days where you probably feel like you're stuck, nothing can go right and you can't see how things can improve. Then other days where it's the complete opposite. The reason we can become extremely overwhelmed is when we lack the perspective to realise what is happening may be a small thing in comparison. But how do you address that and shift your mindset?
To discuss this, I'm joined on this episode by Lauren Langstaff-Roberts aka Curly Headed Recruiter, Senior Consultant @ Wiser Elite. Along with this topic Lauren shares some of the challenges that she has overcome, why it's OK to react to tough times, the power of a fake commute and what kind of culture is needed to support a team's mental wellbeing.
When you have an idea, that you turn into a business, that then grows to 300+ people, how do you grow as the business does. Does culture come into the thoughts from the off? What mistakes are critical to avoid and what are some of the best initial decisions?
All of this is discussed this week with my guest, Chief Partnerships Officer and Co-Founder of Sendoso, Braydan Young. Braydan is talking about the journey of building Sendoso, what they focused on from the off and also advice for reps on something to try, keep doing and throw away for this year.
You hear more about creating a great customer experience, but what does that really mean from a practical perspective and what does the end goal look like? Plus what can you utilise along the way to get you there?
To discuss this, along with how video can serve you internally and externally with the customer experience, I'm joined by Ethan Beute; Chief Evangelist at BombBomb, host of the Customer Experience Podcast and Co-Author of Rehumanise Your Business
In sales, you're 3x more likely to struggle with your mental health, which isn't surprising given the ups and downs, and uncontrollable. So how do you ensure you're taking care of yourself and your team, creating a healthy culture, whilst still looking to increase revenue and drive performance.
How does placing more emphasis on wellbeing organically drive performance?
To discuss this topic again, I'm joined by Callum Henderson & Jack Cawley from EngageTech. They'll be sharing their own personal experiences of balancing these 2 areas and why you don't have to sacrifice one to achieve the other.
How do you react to situations and conversations that throw you off track? The ones that come out of nowhere and hit you like a train? Whether it's a prospect call, deal not coming in or news in your personal life. Building resilience with these situations is key to ensuring you create a healthy mental wellbeing and can continue when things occur. So how can you do that, particularly in a year full of so many challenges?
I'm joined by Matt Scheitle, Senior Revenue Enablement Specialist at Hudl. Matt will be sharing the challenges he's faced over the last year and how he's worked on becoming more self-aware and resilient of how he manages his mindset and mental wellbeing.
Ever had one of those nights where you feel super motivated for the next day, week, or month. You go to bed and when you wake up, it's gone. Where did it go? Motivation is an inside job, it's not always going to be there when you need it, so how can you become clearer on what levers to pull to motivate yourself consistently and what are some of the myths of motivation?
To discuss this, I'm joined on this episode by Susanne Jacobs, Founder & MD of The Seven. Susanne is a Global Thought Leader & Expert on Trust, Psychological Safety and Intrinsic Motivation.
If you imagine all the levers you have to pull as a sales leader to influence your team's performance, wellbeing and mindset, the most influential one is coaching; yet it's one of the most underutilized levers of them all.
But with a more remote team to manage how do you effectively coach and develop them, ensuring they feel supported and creating an environment for them to succeed and grow in? And on the other side, what are some of the bad habits that can slip in with this new way of working from a coaching point of view?
To discuss this, I'm joined on this episode by Richard Smith, Co-Founder & VP Sales at Refract.
Sales teams mental wellbeing has never been more important to support than now, but there is this idea that by doing that you somehow have to sacrifice performance. Not true; not if it's done in the right way that is. Support can still feel supported and held accountable at the same time. How do you find that balance, whilst striving to achieve your quotas and revenue targets? Plus, how do you build open communication to ensure everyone feels supported and can be open and honest about what's going on?
To discuss this, along with much more around nurturing ambition in sales teams, I'm joined on this episode by 3 influential and thought-provoking individuals from Reward Gateway. Louis Kwakye, Sales Director, Toni Heavey, Head of Sales Development & Dominic Taylor, Head of Enterprise Sales.
A great roundtable episode here with plenty of debates along the way.
I don't know about you, but it seems like everyone's calendar has got even more packed since we shifted to a more remote world. Back to back to back meetings and zoom calls. What if by changing your approach in 1 simple way you could cut down those meetings or better yet, remove them altogether. What would you say to that?
To find out how, tune into this episode where I'm joined by CRO of Vidyard, Dan Wardle, to talk about this very topic! Dan will also be sharing how Vidyard has adapted and still supported their workforce in a remote world.
Typical routines and habits have been thrown out the window recently, with a whole new set of them needed to adapt to how we operate now. Whilst routines can provide a consistent foundation for us to build on, they can cause complacency and impact us without realising. So how do you develop effective ones and spot the ineffective ones dragging you down?
To discuss this, I'm joined on this episode by James Isilay, CEO at Cognism. James will also be sharing how he's adapted his routine during the growth of Cognism and how companies should truly approach low performers.
Often our first experience of leadership is when we're promoted and flung into the role as a Team Lead or stand-in. This can be extremely tough and overwhelming. All the great leaders look from the off, even when they weren't in an official leadership role, to lead from within. So how can you do this effectively, even if you're brand new into sales?
To talk about her experience of this and the process, I'm joined by Kayleen Duffy, Enterprise AE at Braze.
When things are going well, we can all feel totally composed and ready for anything. But the moment pressure creeps up, especially unexpectedly, we can crumble and feel like we want the ground to swallow us up.
So how do you become more equipped to deal with pressure and maintain clear thinking during it, whether it's dealing with a prospect, your team or an everyday life situation?
To discuss this, I'm joined by Vernon Bubb, MD of Clari.
"I felt like and thought, am I having a heart attack here?" - That was this week's guest, Dan Dackombe first thought when he had his first panic attack. At the time he was running a successful sales team, but neglecting his own mental and physical health. So how did he turn it around and at the same time develop himself into a leader who puts his team's wellbeing at the forefront of what he does?
Find out in this episode, where Dan Dackombe, Global Head of Corporate Sales, at Unity Technologies, shares his story. Along with this, we'll be talking about the importance of holding space for your team and being comfortable with not always taking the lead.
Being on the frontline of sales this year has never been tougher for some. Adapting to working from home, how to prospect, working for companies you've never met anyone from in person. So how do you embrace and adapt to that change to ensure you are able to succeed and stay the course. A big part is about resilience, but what does that really mean?
To discuss this, I'm joined on this episode by Ben Smith & Catherine Gardner. Ben is the Team Lead for BD at Reachdesk and Catherine is a BDM at Cognism.
Along with this, we'll be discussing why confidence is often misunderstood in sales and how to support people from a more remote world.
Sales is a rollercoaster of emotions each and every day. It's full of stress and pressure with numbers to constantly hit and regular moments of self-doubt. So how do you manage all of that whilst taking care of your mental wellbeing and mindset? What are some of the impacts and signs if you don't?
To share her own experiences on both sides of this, I'm joined for this episode by Charlotte Johnson, SDR at SalesLoft.
Charlotte will be sharing the impact this pressure and unhealthy mindset of fixating on a number had on her mental health. Plus what has really helped her in finding her authentic voice in sharing content through LinkedIn.
What is the most important skill for a Sales Manager to have in this modern day of selling? Coaching, the answer is coaching. Why is that and what can be gained from utilising a coaching mindset in every situation with your team?
To discuss this very topic, I'm joined by Aaron Evans, Director of Sales Enablement at GlobalData.
Aaron and I are discussing what coaching is and what it isn't, how questions can enable and develop your team far quicker, than always giving them the answer. We're also going to be discussing what you can take from your coaching sessions and apply to your prospecting.
In this week's episode, I talk with the CEO & Founder of Venatrix, Elaine Tyler on her journey of building a business from scratch and the challenges it presents, in particular focusing on mental wellbeing. We also talk about how she's admired by her team as someone who delivers honest but effective feedback consistently, plus how she tackled the imposter syndrome that arose at the early part of her journey.
Your mindset and self-talk set the tone for everything you do and look to achieve in your sales role. If it's not something you take care of or focus on, then you can find yourself in lengthy slumps or limiting beliefs about your ability to succeed.
To discuss this, along with so much more, I'm joined on this episode by Kayla Cytron Thaler and Sarah Drake. Kayla is an Enterprise Business Developer at Domino Datalab and Sarah is an SDR at Slack.
Along with the above, they'll be talking about empowerment and the mindset needed to prospect.
Confidence is talked out a lot in sales but is still very misunderstood. We can become so dependent on confidence, that when we lose that feeling, we really struggle. So how can you reframe the way you look at confidence and begin to build yourself back up when you've lost it?
To talk about this and her own recent experience of this journey, I'm joined by Brahm Jagpal, Business Development Manager @ Cognism.
Brahm shares her story of struggling with confidence and how it impacted her mental wellbeing. She's also sharing her advice on how to effectively manage relationships with prospects, whilst adapting to a more remote way of doing so.
Communication has never been more important than it is now in this remote world. How we communicate with one another will determine the success we can achieve. Communication about our mental health is also key to ensuring we support one another and avoid suffering in silence. A big part of communication is feedback, it's what we use to grow, develop and learn from our challenges. But we've all been on the end of feedback that caused us to shut ourselves off. So how do you deliver feedback that really resonates and causes an impact?
To discuss this, I'm joined this week by Chris Duddridge, Area VP and MD of Uk & Ireland for UiPath. Recently Chris was recognised as one of the 100 People Transforming Business in Europe and UiPath are ranked 3rd in The Cloud 100 list.
Alongside this topic of feedback, Chris will be talking about investing in the happiness of your people and why it pays to do so.
Why does the best-laid plan fail, no matter how much you want to achieve it? Often it's down to the routine and habits you have, or in this case, haven't created. Habits and routines help build consistency and have a big part to play in your mental wellbeing, so how do you create effective ones.
To share his take on this, I'm joined on this episode by Niall Simpson, Senior Consultant @ Wiser.
Us sales folk always want to see the sunny side to an opportunity when it comes up, it's how we get paid most of the time so we want to qualify it and see how we can make it work. However, the downside of that is we end up spending time in the wrong places, end up with customers who won't be happy in the long run and uncertainty of what we should focus on. Disqualifying holds as much, if not more value, when going through the sales process. Why?
Well to answer that, this week I'm joined by Tom Williams, CEO & Co-Founder of Dealpoint.io.
Along with this, Tom will be sharing what he believes it really means to be customer-centric and how he takes care of his and his team's mental wellbeing, whilst striving for success.
Sales is a rollercoaster of emotions, I'm sure we can all relate to that, even life feels like that at the moment. So how do you handle the highs and lows along the way? One way to do this is to adopt the mindset of an athlete; why? Well, tune in to this episode to find out.
In this episode, I'm joined by Misha Jessel Kenyon, Enterprise AE @ SalesLoft. Misha will be sharing more about the mindset of an athlete in sales, along with how you can find the optimum culture to support your own growth and progression.
Looks like remote working is here to stay, well at least the element of being more accepted and common, even when we do surpass this current situation. So what are some of the key aspects to be mindful of to maintain the momentum and culture created in an office environment?
To discuss this, I'm joined in this episode by Oliver Squires, Director of Business Development & Strategies Alliances at EBSTA.
He'll be sharing his biggest learnings from this year, why "the journey" should play a key part in this environment.
This week I'm joined by VP of Inside Sales @ Sendoso, Joe Venuti.
We're talking all about sales culture and the key ingredients for it. Joe will be sharing the challenges Sendoso have faced, what he has done to adapt to the changing environment and how to build strong communication and trust with your sales teams, to ensure they feel supported.
How do you truly bring the values of a company to life? You see them on the website, here about them in meetings, but how do you ensure they're lived and part of the culture of the company?
That's one of the very things we're looking at on this week's episode, where I'm joined by the Founder and CEO of Postal.io Erik Kostelnik, who will be sharing why your values should be driven by your customers.
Alongside this, Erik will be sharing how the changing environment has led to different ways to support reps and managers' mental health, alongside advice for other founders on the earlier part of their journey.
One of the biggest challenges of progression in sales is taking your first step into management from an IC role. Particularly if you have more of than lone wolf mentality when selling; how do you evolve that, look at the bigger picture, avoid becoming the advice monster, rather than developing that team around you?
To talk about this, I'm joined in this episode by Frances Arville, Team Lead EMEA at G2.
Frances will also be sharing how she's built resilience along the way of her sales career so far and why perspective is so important to hang onto when selling.
With this new way of living, there is so much noise out there of advice, tips, guidance and so on.
I mean how many more webinars do we need on working from home or Zoom quizzes. Where do you start and how do you sift through the noise.
To discuss this, I'm joined by two people from Nudge, Lucy Carter (Customer Success Manager) and Nathan Wilde (Training and Community Enablement Manager).
Along with this, Lucy and Nathan will be sharing their own personal stories of managing their mental health, how you can take more self-care towards it and also from Lucy, who is MHFA trained, what routes you should take to look to speak up about this.
How many times have we read and heard about needing a positive mindset, particularly in this climate? Quite often; but it's something that has become a bit of a throwaway comment. It's not always as easy as flicking a switch, so how do you develop one and utilise it?
To discuss this, I'm joined on this episode by Ellie Twigger, Commercial SDR at SalesLoft.
Along with this, Ellie will be sharing her own experiences in the world of sales so far, from being questioned on her role and approach, because of her being a woman, to some times in her life, that have shaped who she is today.
Never before has it been so noisy and crowded in the online prospecting space. With more people working remotely, reps are having to get even more creative with how they break through the noise and get through to the right people.
Along with this, brings another challenge of maintaining healthy mental wellbeing, which can be hugely swayed either way, by the leaders around you.
Join me and Sophie Allen, Business Development Director of Venatrix, for one of the first new episodes as we discuss all of this. Sophie will be sharing some great tips for standing out from the crowd, along with advice for leaders looking to build strong and transparent communication amongst their team.
Being open and sharing your story of how your mental health is impacting you, can be a scary thought and process. Those fears still exist due to the stigma around mental health, particularly from a leadership perspective. But on the other side of talking about it, comes so many avenues to find a path to help you overcome them.
This is exactly what we're talking about in this episode, where I'm joined by Stephanie Middaugh, Head of Sales Enablement at Diivy.
Stephanie will be talking about her story of mental health, the thought process and fears of sharing it on LinkedIn and why it can be a fearful thought for sales leaders. Along with this, we'll be talking about how sales enablement can better support sales reps in this ever-changing environment and how to start and manage conversations about your team's and colleagues' mental health.
Our prospects buying behavior is constantly evolving, which means the way we sell needs to not only keep up but stay ahead of the game. The first part of that process is prospecting, it doesn't matter what your sales process looks like after that, nail the prospecting first.
To talk about how this is evolving and what you should be doubling down on right now is Chief Prospecting Officer of Blissful Prospecting, Jason Bay.
Along with this great insight into the world of prospecting, Jason will also be sharing his story around managing his mental health, along with therapy and how it changed his perspective completely.
"As a leader, you can't show vulnerability, you have to be an example for your team"... How many times have you heard this?
To challenge this statement, I'm joined by James Lewandon, Head of Sales at Unibuddy, for one of the first new episodes of the podcast.
James and I will be talking about why leaders shouldn't be afraid to be vulnerable with their teams, now more than ever, and how they can really support their team's mental wellbeing.
James will also be leading by example and sharing his own personal story of how his mental health has been impacted in the past and what solutions and help he sought to improve it.