It all started on a warm September day in 1999. Fresh out of college, a fellow alum of mine was a technical recruiter at CDI for IBM. My job was to dial up customers who were expecting a technician to come and fix their beloved computer. It didn't take long to become great, at what I did. Within 90 days, I was the top performer on my team, within another 90 days, I was team lead, and by the end of the year, I was project manager. I was on time, never missed work, a team player, and people trusted me.

After I had been given the responsibility of managing three contracts at IBM, there was no more room for me to grow in that vertical. Another alum of mine rang me up to tell me Earthlink was hiring for inside sales positions. I took to the position, like a fish to water. I loved people. I loved telling. I loved selling. What more could I want? After finishing in the top 5% of solution consultants, and pulling down an Employee of the Month Award, I looked for greener pastures in outbound sales for high speed customers. My understanding of the customer was growing. My understanding of the client was growing. My understanding of corporate America was growing.

After the infamous Earthlink layoff of March 2004, nine months of personal development landed me a lucrative position, afforded me by my Earthlink sales supervisor, at Secureworks. Although my stay was only five months, I learned more at this position, than in my 5 total years in corporate America. Cold calling C-level, VP-level, and Director level clients from day one, over 4 separate verticals (banks, credit unions, utilities, and hospitals), was the final piece to my corporate perspective. This was the fast track on how to relate to decision makers from all walks of life.

That's been my path to my dream profession!