In this episode of the Teacher Career Coach podcast, Elizabeth chats with Catherine, a former English literature teacher who transitioned into a sales career.
Catherine shares her journey from teaching AP literature to becoming a senior manager of business development. She discusses her experiences with burnout, the challenges of classroom management, and the emotional toll of teaching.
Catherine highlights the importance of work-life balance, the support she received in her new role, and overcoming imposter syndrome. She offers actionable advice for teachers considering a career change, emphasizing the value of their transferable skills in the business world.
Listen to the episode in the podcast player below, or find it on Apple Podcast or Spotify.
Mentioned in the episode:
- Use code “TCC” to get 50% off of everything at Aspireship
- Our career path quiz at www.teachercareercoach.com/quiz
- Explore the course that has helped thousands of teachers successfully transition out of the classroom and into new careers: The Teacher Career Coach Course
Elizabeth Suto: Hi, and welcome back to the next episode. Today, we have the pleasure of speaking with Catherine, and Catherine taught English Lit for eight years, and her specialty was teaching AP Lit and Composition, with an emphasis on poetry. In 2022, she transitioned out of education, Into a sales role. She’s currently a senior manager of business development.
Today we dissect what quotas are, OTE, meeting your goals as a sales professional, and more. So join us today for this great episode. I hope you enjoy it. Welcome back to the Teacher Career Coach Podcast. I’m your host, Elizabeth, and today we’re very excited to have Catherine with us. Welcome, Catherine.
Catherine Vandenberg: Hey, thank you so much for having me. I’m honored to have been invited.
Elizabeth Suto: Oh, I’m so excited that you’re here today and excited for everyone to learn about your career journey. And we’d love to hear a bit about what got you into education in the first place.
Catherine Vandenberg: Yeah. So, you know, I think that my degrees in undergrad were English literature and classical history. And I did those two subject areas just out of pure passion, but I never thought I wanted to actually be like a high school English teacher. And so after I graduated, I kind of bounced around in a couple different jobs.
Like I worked at an independent bookstore and a bakery, and I did the restaurant thing. And then. I moved to Washington DC and I was managing a real estate office, which is really random, right? Like not related to anything I was. trained to do. And in my free time, I was teaching like illiterate adults with a nonprofit called Literacy Volunteers and Advocates.
So taking like a personal inventory, realizing that I was spending my free time teaching Kind of impelled me to just go ahead and go back and do it as a job, as a career. So that’s when I came back to UGA while I also had gotten married to my husband. And we were kind of doing the long distance thing.
He was in Athens and I was in DC. So we got married. I came back to. Athens enrolled at UGA and then that was it. I sort of just was like, well, I feel like there’s obviously a passion here. There’s obviously a desire. And so I just went for it. Yeah.
Elizabeth Suto: so cool that you found it by exploring all those, careers. And I can totally see you working in the bookshop because I see all your your bookshelves behind you.
Catherine Vandenberg: We have nice rival bookshelves. Yeah
Elizabeth Suto: what did you end up teaching? how long? Was it public or private?
Catherine Vandenberg: sure. My master’s was in secondary English education. So very specific. I knew I wanted to teach literature because that’s, that’s my jam. Yeah. And so I did that program. It was two years. I did the student teaching thing. And then, um, The first job I got out of graduate school was at a private independent school in Athens.
It was a STEAM school, so very, it was kind of a startup school. It was really interesting, a little chaotic but ultimately like I was one of like two or three teachers. There were 40 kids in the school and it was just kind of an experimental independent school. So, The whole goal was to teach like integrated thematic curriculums.
So for instance, if we were studying in science class, studying like the oceans, we would do something related to that in literature, do art projects related, and it was all very exciting and cool and creative and engaging for students. But, there were just some like. Misalignments there at the end of the day.
So after two years teaching there, I switched over to public school and that’s when I just, did the ninth grade to 12th grade literature. I got certified to do honors. I got certified to teach AP literature, which was just like the best class ever. That was my favorite. So I did that for four or five years.
I think like all told, including grad school, I was in it for like, A decade, maybe a little bit less, but I did it for about 10 years, which is a long run, it was kind of crazy to close that chapter just because it felt like I had invested so much time, cause I had yeah,
Elizabeth Suto: And what was the point where you decided that it was time to close the chapter?
Catherine Vandenberg: yeah. I mean, actually there was a few moments I was just feeling really burnt out around like my third year in public school and I taught at a title one. Institution, and I loved my students, but just the general dynamics of education, which I think a lot of teachers can relate to, were really frustrating, and it was sort of exhausting, and so I actually, like, declined to renew my contract that February.
I had, I was in New York with some family, and I was like, I think I’m going to quit teaching. I don’t really know what I’m going to do yet, but I have all this time to figure it out, like, I have months. Cause I would get paid through August and I’m just going to like, hold myself accountable by not being able to fall back into this role.
I’m just going to just decline. And then two weeks later, the entire world shut down with COVID. And I was like, Oh my God, what have I done? It was like, I wouldn’t just be unemployed, like no one’s hiring. And so honestly, my principal contacted me and was like, would you consider renewing and just coming back?
And I was like, sure. You know, for continuity’s sake, for this. But it was really like just so lucky because I was sweating. I was like, I don’t know how to switch careers when there’s so much global chaos. So I ended up staying on for two more years. Like I did the COVID teaching, which was. Mayhem, like we did, half the students were at home, half were in person.
It was just, and, uh, then I had, I got pregnant and I had a baby. And so I, I taught another year with Magnolia and she was. the light of my life, and I was not seeing her enough, like I was leaving before she woke up in the morning, so that ultimately was like the push I think having children just makes you rethink every single aspect of your life, and I was like, I’m just gonna have to do this now because I want my life to look really different.
For my family. So that’s when I kind of just started doing research. I found Aspireship, which I think probably your audience knows about. If they don’t, I can kind of recap it. But yeah, I found Aspireship on this podcast as I was driving to another school to interview. Cause I was like, well, you know, if I have to teach another year, what if I’m not successful?
And transitioning, I’ll just go to a school that’s closer to my house. I was driving to this interview, which ultimately I nailed, like it was awesome. And they offered me the job, which I accepted, but then I completed a spireship and was doing those interviews and landed a position. So ultimately I had to tell them.
In early, early summer that I wasn’t going to be working there and that I was going to transition out.
Elizabeth Suto: Wow. That’s the timing of that. Like right when you were thinking about leaving in February, then COVID hitting and then, you know, teaching longer to, you know, stay employed. And then I just love hearing too, about the family aspect. And, you know, once you have. family, it really shifted gears for you. And I’m curious to know, so you were listening to the podcast and you found Aspireship, so what made you think sales like with the different courses, how did you narrow it down to sales? Because you initially went into a BDR business development role, and we’ll get into the nitty gritty of that. of all that in a bit, but curious about your journey, how you narrowed it down.
Catherine Vandenberg: yeah, that’s a really great question. And, you know, honestly, it’s kind of hard to say how exactly I narrowed it down. Other than, you know, my degree was so specific and I was like, I can’t go back and get another degree in something else, and I just want to do something that will use my skills, like I’m so extroverted, I’m really organized.
I’m a people person. And I need to be in sort of like, a client facing role. And to me, that just was like, it sounds like that’s what sales is. And I was like, I bet I could be good at that. And so I kind of just tried it. And I said to myself, you know, like, I’m not really losing any money on this.
Like I’m not. I’m investing my time, but ultimately, if I don’t like sales, I don’t have to do it forever. Like you just don’t have to do anything forever. But whatever this path is, it’ll be a stepping stone to whatever I do long, long term, so I really had that mindset of like, I’m just going to see if I like this because I definitely will like it more than teaching.
Like it’s going to change my life in the way I need it to change. In terms of just like work life balance, in terms of like salary, all the things. And regardless, I’m going to learn so much and I’m going to meet so many people. So if ultimately I don’t want to be in a sales role, I can always figure out what, what would be next, you know, which is great. I still feel I might not be in sales forever. But I’m enjoying it now and I’m really loving meeting people and like having teams that are supportive and just, I don’t know, it’s been a dream, honestly, not perfect by any means, like, you know, the economy is still really hard.
I was impacted by layoffs, which was sad and just sad. It was just upsetting, you know, but there’s always other opportunities because if you’re like, A smart, nice person. People want you to work for their companies. Like they do so.
Elizabeth Suto: That is such an important mindset. I think knowing that if you get into something, you don’t have to do it forever. And then just also looking at it as a stepping stone, any, you’re getting your foot in the door. Also, learning so many valuable skills during this time. Being in a sales role, if you ever were to pivot again, you have such a strong foundation, like every company has sales departments.
And so you’re really
Catherine Vandenberg: exact and like, it’s so versatile because I ended up in the market research industry, which also is quite random. I didn’t know anything about it, but come to find out, it’s really interesting. So when I got laid off from that company, I was like, well, I know I want to be in market research, but what if I didn’t like market research?
I could go into any other industry and use the exact same skillset. So it just felt really versatile, and that’s, that was a huge comfort for me. Like, I did the opposite of what I did with graduate school, where I did something that was so niche and specific and I can’t use that degree necessarily, but the skills are, the skills of sales are all the same.
And you know, honestly, the skills of being a teacher are a lot, like, Being in sales. So maybe I wasn’t as pigeonholed as I thought I was, but when I was teaching, I certainly felt like, God, I have this degree and what am I going to do? Like, it’s overwhelming to have every option imaginable. And not know what you’re. Well, you’re truly cut out for, so
Elizabeth Suto: And so you landed initially in a business development role And then you went into an account executive role and now you’re senior manager of business development. So we’d love before we kind of get into where you are now for our audience, who’s curious about sales, there are some differences between a BDR does, what an account executive does.
Could you kind of break down the differences? And I know it looks different from company to company, but in your experience, what were some of the differences between those two sales roles?
Catherine Vandenberg: yeah, sure. So like EDR is basically are just, I mean, at my company, we were really just tasked with prospecting out to new for new clients. And so that was booking meetings. It was managing marketing, qualified leads, maybe doing some like light discovery calls, but really you’re partnered with an account executive and so your support, like, you know, say I was, One of the account executives I was partnered with focused on like software and advertising and marketing as industries.
So I would do all my prospecting in those industries. I would manage all the MQLs, the marketing qualified leads that would come in for him and just kind of be scheduling meetings like crazy. And that’s like what my commission was based on. Like I had goals of booking 10 meetings per week, which, You know, that happened a lot of the time and sometimes it didn’t happen.
But as long as you’re doing everything you can to be trying to hit that goal, people are pretty happy with you. Yeah. And then, so when you move into an AE position, you still have to do outreach. Like you have to prospect regardless of the role you’re in, you just have a whole lot more to manage. So you’re doing discovery calls.
You’re. Presenting proposals. You’re basically seeing deals from beginning to end and then transitioning them to wherever they need to go. for instance, at my company, it’s market research. So we sell a service. We sell market research as a service. So once you sell a project, you kind of kick that over to the delivery team.
You have to work very cross functionally with everyone. At the company I was at originally when I became an account executive. We basically would win a project and then kick the account over to a development team. So it was very much like new local acquisition. Whereas the company I’m at now, I’m still, bringing on new clients, but I also get to manage those accounts through like the second or third project we run.
So that could be like, You know, 12 to 24 months, which is nice because for me, like I’m such a relationship person and it means a lot to me and my job satisfaction to like be developing relationships with these people before I just hand them over to the development side. So, but I know that looks really different at a lot of different companies.
Some account executives, they do a lot more account management. Some is just new logo acquisitions. So it really like read those. job descriptions, because like when I read the job description for the role I’m in now, I was like, wow, this sounds like exactly at my alley. I have all the experience necessary to do this, but I also get to grow my own skillset of management, which is like what I really wanted to do.
So, you know, having that kind of like insight into the roles. I think that helped me really nail the interviews too, because I really did know what I was talking about in terms of like bringing in new clients, but then my eagerness to kind of better myself in terms of account management, I think they really liked that.
So yeah.
Elizabeth Suto: Oh, how cool. Well, in terms of prospecting for those who are new to sales, you know, you mentioned kind of whatever role you’re in, that’s going to be involved in some level. So what does it look like for those who are totally new to prospecting? How do you even know where to start and find your target audience and market?
Catherine Vandenberg: Yeah. Like most companies, The marketing team, your sales leader, they’ll give you a lot of guidance. And I certainly had a lot of guidance and training. Like I could never have just walked into that role and known like how companies in manufacturing versus software versus advertising and marketing utilize market research.
And how I could compel them to like take a meeting to explore us as a partner. Cause that’s ultimately what we do. It’s like, Hey, if you don’t have your own research department, like how are you getting insights to figure out your go to market strategy or all sorts of things. So yeah, it really was just like doing a lot of research based on recommendations that like my leadership team may made and figuring out like, do I understand our company’s value proposition.
Yes. And now how can I connect that value proposition to what I know this company would need? And, you know, that’s the whole thing. You have to compel them to take a meeting with you, which is really hard, you know? So like when I was having success writing, like hyper targeted, like I’d find a person at a company and be like, you are the person who is a decision maker.
I identify that you need our services. Like, what am I going to say to this person To get them to take a meeting, and this is like emailing them, calling them, reaching out to them on LinkedIn, it’s like a variety of touch points, and when we would have these successes, people would freak out, it’s like, wow, you did it, because it’s hard, but a lot of it also is like, People will come to us like we’ll have marketing qualified leads that will come to us and so like just being on top of responding to those people within like an hour just being super attentive, connecting them with the right people and then listening really well if they do speak with you, listening well to make sure you understand what their needs are.
And just providing a good client experience in that regard, because that’s what’s ultimately going to convince them to work with you. So, yeah. Yeah,
Elizabeth Suto: That’s a good challenge right there. Wow.
Catherine Vandenberg: for sure. I mean, I thought, you know, sometimes like, you know, the BDR role, I think it can be a little bit grindy. I think there’s not a person on the planet who would tell you that it’s not grindy. But if you do that for a couple of months, then you can move up. And so that’s what I did.
It was like, I know I’m not going to do this forever. I think, like, after five months. I was approached about. Moving into an AE role. And I was like, great, I’m ready. Sounds wonderful.
Elizabeth Suto: there’s opportunities for growth. like you mentioned, because you’re already in a manager role all within a couple of years.
Catherine Vandenberg: Yeah, exactly. And like companies want to invest in the people they hire. So if you’re starting out as a BDR, which, you know, you’re like, Oh, entry level I’m in my thirties. I was kind of like, what am I doing? But you know, I just, you kind of have to have the confidence that like they’re hiring you and paying you a salary, hoping that like, you’re going to continue to add value.
For a long time beyond that and companies, I mean, if companies don’t want to promote from within, like definitely ask those questions in interviews, you know, like, what are the growth opportunities if it sounds like there aren’t, then like, don’t go there, just don’t go there. The companies that I worked for, luckily, like I also had a, amazing mentors like Kelly Siddiqui and Jody Gilman Jones, like just amazing leadership that I could not have done it without them.
Elizabeth Suto: That’s so good to hear. And then tell us a little bit about what it looks like because when people apply, let’s say for a customer service job or human resources on the job description, it usually shows a base pay at the bottom or, you know, yearly salary. So for sales, we often see base pay and OTE. What does that look like?
And I know you, you touched on it earlier about what your goal was when you were at BDR with. Booking 10 meetings a week. So that’s very interesting. We’d just love to hear a bit more about that. What is meeting your goal quota look like if you could expand?
Catherine Vandenberg: yeah, sure. So like, yeah, like I said, in the BDR role, the way it was structured at my company was basically like, here’s your base salary. And then like, here’s how you would earn commission. Like, here’s the goal of number of meetings booked and how much do we get paid per meeting? And like that gets paid out, like the second paycheck of every month or something like that.
And then for account executives, it just is like a higher base pay cause it’s a more senior role. And then commission, think that it would just vary company to company completely. Like the first company I was at, you know, it was a percentage of the sale, but also like the percentage varied.
Based on like, what kind of like where you were in hitting your quota for the quarter. So if you had, if you were hitting like 90 percent of your quota, you would get a higher percentage, which for me, who’s a lit person, I was like the math. I don’t even understand. Like, what are you talking about? Um, like at the company I’m at now, it’s really not based on these different bands of like hitting different percentages of your quota.
You just get a percentage of the sales. So like the bigger the sale, like the higher the commission, basically. So yeah, that’s kind of how that works. I don’t think I’ve ever so far hit 100%. Quota, like every single time, you know, that’s really hard to do. Um, I think some people are like wizards and they can do that, but I think that also, you know, if you’re doing everything activity wise, if you’re doing all the things you can to demonstrate.
That you’re trying to hit these goals. People aren’t going to be like, well, you’re doing nothing. Like you’re, you know, people, there are, people are aware and there’s a lot of visibility in terms of, and it’s a remote job. So it’s like good to know that like people are aware of what you’re doing, even if you’re not sitting in an office, you know, does that answer the question? I feel like that maybe answered the question.
Elizabeth Suto: It did. And I was going to ask as well, like, is it based your commissions? Are they quarterly? And then as well, how do you wrap your mind around it? Do you like having that kind of added goal to where you’re, or is it stressful? What, what’s it like just having that, you know, out there.
Catherine Vandenberg: Stressful for sure. I, so it’s at the companies I’ve been at and where I am currently, it’s not quarterly, it’s basically monthly. But also like when a project is finished and invoiced, then that will be paid. So I guess in that way, it sort of depends on the scope of the project. Some projects are going to take two weeks and some bigger trackers are going to be months.
So I think there in market research, I think there’s probably a lot of variability there, but Yeah, it’s commission. It’s like, Ooh, like it’s so vague, you know, I definitely base my life and budget around my. base salary, because it just feels like too, it feels too crazy to be like, well, I can project that I’m going to make this.
So therefore I can spend this. It’s like, actually, that’s not a good idea. I would, I mean, some people, people will do what they want to do, but I’m like, okay, here’s my, if I, if I get any commission, then that’s just extra. And it honestly goes in my savings account. I just like kind of put it away and then think about, well, you know, what am I going to invest this in down the line?
Like, you know, maybe it’s. Um, tuition for my daughter, you know, or a vacation or whatever. So that’s kind of how I think about it. I was saying, I’m not sure sales is a forever career for me. I think that at a certain point I’m not going to want like the burden of a quota. I just might not want a quota bearing job, but there are a lot of other things you can do within an organization.
And if you’re. I think that if you’re honest about these things with your leadership, they will keep you in mind for opportunities that you think you would be a really good fit for that aren’t necessarily like quote bearing. So yeah, I don’t know how other people feel. I think some people are super motivated if you’re like super competitive, which I am like, I’m one of five, I’m highly competitive, you know, I like to be really good at my job, And it’s so different to carrying a quota opposed to like public school teaching salaries, you know, you’re going from this band to this band based on your years of experience. And so it will change as well.
No, I mean, and that’s the thing that’s also really funny. And I was just like, cause I have a master’s degree and even going into an entry level BDR role, I was still making more money baseline than what I made with a master’s degree. And I was just like, man. This is why there’s an exodus. It’s hard to argue.
I had a lot of guilt leaving teaching. I had a lot of, like, I, I just had a lot of ambivalence. I was so relieved to get this job and kind of be doing this new thing. It was so exciting, but I also cried when I got this job because I felt like I was, Abandoning ship. Like people like me who are good teachers, who have like such depth of knowledge in their content area should be teaching.
Like, I feel like I should be teaching to this day, but I’m like, God, I can’t physically do it anymore. I can’t do it emotionally. Like it just, and that’s the thing I think that I don’t, I, I wish people would talk about that and it’s like, it’s a relief that it’s also such a grief.
Elizabeth Suto: Thank you for sharing that. And I think that’s so important. As reasons why, you know, financially, it’s not sustainable physically, you know, when you, when you have 34 plus kids in a class or, I don’t, I know every district’s different with how many kids you have in a class, but it’s very exhausting.
So they, would be great if there were things. They were doing to keep the teachers because,
Catherine Vandenberg: I remember we got a small raise and they were like, here’s 2000 more dollars or something. Like I was like, what? Like, get away from me with this, like, raise, you know, it just, I,
Elizabeth Suto: and yeah, could never have known. Like I could never have known. I’m glad I did it. Like I think that like teaching has shaped who I am and like It has shaped me ethically, like it’s shaped me in so many ways.
I would never trade that experience, but I’m really relieved like to not be doing it anymore, you know?
Elizabeth Suto: can you talk to us a bit about cause it kind of just flows into this, your work life balance now that post teaching,
Catherine Vandenberg: Yeah. You know, I mean, I basically have a nine to five job and there are definitely some days where I have to work later. Like if I’m trying to get like a proposal out or like I need to meet with someone. I just have a ton of flexibility though. Like the first time I, when I started my new job and the first time my daughter like got sick, like I was loading current to the car to take her to daycare.
She goes to a daycare, like down the road from us and she barfed all over the car. And I was like, Oh my gosh, like I have a team meeting like now. And I texted my manager and he was like, Oh, we’ll just record it. You like take care of your child. And I was like, Oh my God. Like, this is. Like as a teacher, I could never just be like, Oh, I have to leave all of a sudden, like, you’re putting such a burden on your department, or like just whoever in the school can kind of fill it in sub, like, you can’t just leave and like, deal with your life.
It’s just crazy. It’s amazing to have. Just actual like support. Like if I need to go to an open house or I need to go to a doctor or record a podcast, I’m just like, yeah, I’m going to do this for 45 minutes. I’ll be back. They’re like, great. Because people understand that you’ll just get your work done, and there’s a lot of trust, and that feels great, and, I just, I’m home with my child reading at 8 o’clock in the morning instead of starting a class, and you can’t really, like, overstate how valuable that is, like, I’m just getting so much more time, so definitely feels more balanced,
Elizabeth Suto: Oh, that’s amazing. The flexibility, the trust, and just. this time that you’ll, it’s invaluable. So.
Catherine Vandenberg: valuable. And it’s like, she’s only this little potato like once and like every day she’s just bigger and bigger. So I feel like, I, like it was hard to do that when her, in her first year, my husband has a very flexible job. He’s a recording engineer. So he basically doesn’t start work till like 11 a.
m. You know, he’ll work later, but he spent all mornings with her. So it was lucky that we had that dynamic, but now it’s like, Oh, we can all just get up as a family and have breakfast and smoosh and read. And sometimes we go together to drop her off and get a coffee or a beignet and. It’s just nice.
It’s just, yeah, I love it.
Elizabeth Suto: Oh, I’m so happy for you. That sounds lovely. And before we let you go, I did want to kind of get into now you’re in a senior manager role. So how does that look different from the AE role that you were in and what kind of things are you doing in it?
Catherine Vandenberg: Yeah, I mean, it’s really just a lot of, it’s a very similar role to the AE role. I think it’s just like, I’m not actually managing a team of people. This is just like, I think the management component of that title comes from like the account management component of it. So that’s something I’m doing that’s really different than my old company.
Like I won a project last week, so I got to manage this company and like continue to like Meet with them, bid on projects for them, and then after we win the third project, then I’ll move them over to our development team. But that’s just the main thing, like, I’m just doing a lot more, like, relationship management, which I think, like, that’s such a strong suit for me, so I’m just so excited to be doing that.
Because it can be hard just being like, okay, back to square one, like, let’s find new logos and bring them in, and then you immediately, they go off, and you’re like, oh. That took, it was so hard to do, like, let me hold on to them for a bit. So, that’s the big difference. Yeah, I feel very lucky, like, I Never thought like I’d be applying to roles that were senior so soon.
But that’s the other thing. Like, you know, I met a ton of people when I was working at my first company. And so I had met like the CEO of the company I met currently. When I got laid off, I had reached out to her and was like, yeah, I’m no longer with X, Y, Z. I’d love to join your team. And she was like, we’d love to have you if we have an opening.
And then they did. And so just like being able to network and get into positions that are more senior than you think you’re qualified for, like, that to me is amazing. And then it’s like you, I think like everyone has imposter syndrome. I hope I’m not the only one. But you just kind of have to remind yourself like these people put you through four rounds of interviews.
And they chose you, so you can do this, and you deserve to be here, you know? I think that’s a hard thing to wrap your head around, cause I feel I’m still so new, but I’m like, wait a minute! I know what I’m doing. I got this.
Elizabeth Suto: And it just kind of goes back to what you were saying about the power of relationships, you know, get your foot in the door, you know, people, if they like working with you, you’re a hard worker, they will notice that, you know, make note of that. So when there are these opportunities for growth, you’re, you are there and ready to advocate.
Catherine Vandenberg: Exactly. Yeah. So it’s been a wild ride. I hope to be with this company for the foreseeable future. Like I’m really loving it. My manager is hilarious and smart and great. I’m just like enjoying the ride.
Elizabeth Suto: What tips would you give to teachers who are looking to get into sales, any actionable next steps point them in the right direction?
Catherine Vandenberg: Yeah, I mean, I feel like a Aspireship like, I could never have done it without them. And, you know, I remember when I was, when I was doing Aspireship, my husband was like, seems kind of fake. Like, what are you talking about? And I was like, I don’t know. Like, I’m, this is not fake, like that their business model is so cool.
And they really are like, their whole ethos is just like, we, people are smart, If you upskill them, they can do these jobs and we’re going to train you and help you. And like that, I would, I recommended Aspireship to countless people and, you don’t even have to do just sales. They’ve opened it up to like revenue operations.
I think there’s like a coding, like you can go on their website and just see so many different courses you can take. Cause not everyone wants to do sales. You can do customer success. Like I learned so much. It gave me a language with which to interview. Like I could never, I feel maybe I could have, but I certainly wouldn’t have felt confident if I hadn’t taken those courses and just like learned about the basics and foundations of sales it just changed everything for me.
Like before I was like, well, I guess we’ll just apply for jobs and like shoot. resumes off into the ether. It’s like, that’s a really hard way of going about it. So I think if you can find the thing, find a company like Aspireship, that’s going to help facilitate that, for sure.
Elizabeth Suto: Thank you for sharing that and for saying those kind words. before we wrap up, we love to kind of end with this question. What did you learn about yourself during this career journey and transition?
Catherine Vandenberg: God, I, I used to think that I was a super confident person. And even like, You know, my parents were like, yeah, I, they’re always like, you went to Immaculate Heart High School and you came out of there so confident, sort of liberal, but like so confident. They really like credit like the high school I went to as giving me this gift of confidence.
And I am in so many ways, but then I learned like, I’m actually sort of insecure, and that’s not a bad thing to realize about yourself. I think like, you know, I’ve had to kind of do a lot of like. Personal work and like, you know, I talked to a therapist and like I have, I like, I realized that I am not like The strong pillar all the time, but I need support and I know how to ask for it And i’m just not afraid to ask for help which I feel like before I kind of was I think that’s the main thing also that like if I Don’t know how to do something and just try really hard to do it anyway Like I can probably figure it out Which is all like I and that crosses over to other areas of your life like the other day I was like looking at this crochet kit that I was given as a gift It was like a new pattern and I was like, I don’t know how to do this Like God like so frustrating and I nearly put it down and then I was like, wait a minute I’m just gonna watch a YouTube video And learn how to do this.
And then I made a shawl and I was like, great. Like I can make a shawl. I can switch careers. I can do anything like it sounds kind of silly, but you know, I just feel like, yeah, it’s, that’s the way it is with me, I guess.
Elizabeth Suto: Oh, that’s so good to hear. And that having that positive self talk that, yeah, that’s, I need to have more of that, like when I’m doing household projects, you know, and she’d watch a YouTube video and be able to follow through because you’re right. Like we’re strong people. We can do it.
Catherine Vandenberg: Yeah. And you know what? Like I had a, my third interview for the role that I’m in now, I spoke with the co founder of the company for an hour and he was amazing and he had done some teaching. early In his career, teach for America after getting a degree in biology. I was like, tell me everything about your life.
Like how are you in market research right now? But he was like, you know what? Like teachers can do anything. And I was like, yes we can. It’s like people know that teachers are so valuable, so like don’t be afraid to just like, go for it.
Elizabeth Suto: Well, thank you for sharing your journey with us today and your story, Catherine. I loved learning from you and I’mA really excited for this episode to come out and we appreciate you and can’t wait to follow your career journey and see what’s next for you.
Catherine Vandenberg: You. Yeah. Thank you so much for having me. It was a treat.
