Brandon Roberts has worked as a teacher as well as a police officer, correctional officer, and retail manager. Today, we chat about how he chose sales as a career path, the ever-evolving career journey, and the power of relationships and networking.
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 (If you are a Teacher Career Coach Course member, you can also sign up for our one-on-one Career Clarity calls.)
Elizabeth: Welcome back to the Teacher Career Coach Podcast. Today we’re so excited to interview Brandon. Brandon worked previously as a police officer, a correctional officer, and also in retail management overseeing big box stores. He was drawn to education after that, and wanting to share his knowledge, he became a high school business teacher.
Recently, Brandon decided to explore the tech industry. After completing an aspirership course, he spent a year in tech sales, focusing on chatbots for enterprise companies. This experience opened his eyes to the evolving world of tech. Currently, cybersecurity sales in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Join us for a fun filled chat on sales, the ever evolving career journey, and the power of relationships and networking. Hope you enjoy!
Thanks for joining us.
Brandon: Yeah. Thanks so much, Elizabeth. I’m really excited to be here.
Elizabeth: So we always like to start these off by hearing a little bit about your journey in education. What got you into education in the first place?
Brandon: Yeah. Yeah. That’s a good question. Um, so I was a little bit late to the education field. I was, previously running some stores in retail, so I worked for Walmart and Lidl. And essentially my dad became a teacher when he was 40. So we went back to college and did that whole thing.
So, um, I was always kind of interested in that. I’m like, Hey, my dad really has this passion, and he changes careers in the middle of it. and I said, I wonder if that’d be something that I might want to do, one day. there was kind of this crossroads of, uh, wanting to, use my talents in that way. I was, you know, like, 30 at the time. So I left that kind of corporate world and I pivoted into teaching because I love the training and development of people. I was really looking at what are the things that bring me joy, and it was those one on one relationships. And I thought that teaching translated really well to some of those strengths.
Elizabeth: That’s so cool you got into it as a second career, like one later in life. What, what grade did you teach? What subject and for how long?
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So, um, I taught ninth through 12th graders. So I was at high school level, and I taught for about five and a half years, and the funny thing is I taught, I think over 12 different topics. So it was personal finance, accounting, marketing, international business, video production, it all kind of fell underneath that one thing. So I got to teach all of them. I actually came in in the middle of a semester. the other teacher kind of left and they brought me in as a long term sub. So I was teaching advanced accounting my first week, and I’ve never looked at accounting before it was, uh, one heck of a challenge, but you know, that’s, that was kind of part of the fun of it was, maybe I’ve never done accounting before, but I got the opportunity to, dig into a textbook and take the class, That’s really cool for students to be able to learn that finance aspect, the accounting, that’s amazing. props to this organization and school.
Brandon: I have to like give a shout out to it because, uh, personal finance is my favorite class that I taught because I still have students, even though I’m out of teaching, that’ll reach out and tell me about maybe, the loan that they got for college or they’re like, Hey, this is the one that we learned in class.
And this is the interest free one. And I got approved for it, you know, and they’ll like, keep me updated on it. Uh, it’s, uh, something that’s truly life changing when you start knowing how to live financially free, were eating it up and we’re very excited to be there.
Elizabeth: that’s amazing. And tell us a little bit about, you know, after that five, five and a half years, um, when did you start thinking about leaving and why?
Brandon: oh, that’s a tough one. Cause I love teaching. it’s one of those things that, my wife was, pregnant and, I had a mom that was able to stay home, uh, with me and I felt like it made such a big impact. And I know my, my wife kind of wanted to do that. She’s had a great career, uh, and still does. but we wanted a little bit more financial stability and the ability for her to go part time. unfortunately I couldn’t, I just couldn’t do it on a teacher’s salary unless I did that thing where you, put on a bunch of hats, like a lot of teachers do and work through the summer and then get another side gig.
you know, then you take up all your time with. Those things as well. I even tried it a little, I started my own social media company. And I’m like, this isn’t sustainable. it got to the point where I, I just said, I’m going to look for something that might be a little bit more, rewarding financially.
at this point. Uh, I need to see what else is out there so I could kind of take care of my family in a, in a different way.
Elizabeth: Can you talk to us a bit about how you picked sales, and then a little bit about the job searching journey?
Brandon: the funny thing is like, I don’t know if I picked sales or I picked technology. being in business classrooms, I loved leveraging, technology in the class to make it more efficient. And I was teaching over COVID. So there’s all these different technologies that were kind of coming in place. as I was exploring these things, I’m like, wow, I just really love technology. What could I do in that space?
I found Aspireship actually. and I’m like, Oh, there’s a course to learn about tech sales, you know, or pivoting out of this, like, this is amazing. I think I might’ve taken PTO actually, and just treated it like a job and completed the course like pretty quickly. because I was just sucked into it I loved the customer journey that you were, you were taking customers on and truly like, I always kind of thought of sales as, all right, that’s a used car salesman.
You got to manipulate them a little bit. Like, uh, it sounds sleazy, but, the way that it was really framed was more so. How do you solve customer problems? And I loved that because that was part of that thing that drew me to teaching actually, is like that one on one interaction. How can you improve someone’s life?
How can you educate them? And really sales was about that. It was educating the customer on maybe a problem that they haven’t identified yet. We’re helping them solve a problem that they did identify. Um, and then that mix with technology. Uh, I’m like, Oh, you can sell it. Chatbots and large language models and all these crazy, different things. Uh, it just was like a really great,synergy between the two, and the competitive nature. I will admit that I missed the competitive nature from teaching. you know, I was used to trying to hit certain sales metrics, even in my past jobs or manage a P and L. And there wasn’t a whole lot of that in teaching.
It’s like, get your numbers up. We did it. Cool. Uh, but there, there wasn’t like that. All right. What’s next? What’s next? What’s next? so sales kind of scratched that itch for me. and the technology was just like a cherry on top.
Elizabeth: That’s awesome. I’m, I’m curious, you mentioned when you were upskilling, you took some PTO while you were searching for your new position, were you still employed? Right.
Brandon: yes, but not when I was working. Like not, not during my
school day. Of course. Yeah.
Elizabeth: how did you manage your time while you were doing that? Because it’s like two full time jobs.
Brandon: Yeah, yeah, it is, and looking for a job is a full time job, and, I did apply to some other jobs, like, kind of tech related, inside, I’m like, I know I can do this job, but my resume just didn’t show it, I know I can do this job, why aren’t they giving me the chance, that was really draining almost to the point of like, uh, I don’t know if I’m going to do this.
Like teaching is good enough.
Brandon: what I really appreciated was, Aspireship was placing, like, was helping you connect with those companies. And that was the big difference maker between like, yeah, I’m going to upskill and just take this course. It was like a real partnership aspect to it and someone kind of leading you that made it a lot, a lot easier. when you’re upskilling and going through these courses, I mean, they’re, like, they were asking for a lot and the final assessment wasn’t like, check these boxes and be done with it, you know, uh, which is great because it’s actually preparing you. like I took PTO, like I, I couldn’t handle two jobs at once, even it was, it was tough.
I think that was a great investment Like a couple of vacation days that are just treated like classroom days, uh, essentially upskilling, like really paid off in the long run.
and then my experience searching for a job was completely different when I was going through Aspireship I had two companies that I was interested in at the time. like my number one choice was who I was paired with, uh, right away. I’m very blessed, very lucky. and I was, I think in an interview a couple of weeks later. so there was no more filling out my resume and hitting submit and, trying to connect with the HR manager on LinkedIn and try every method. I could, Aspireship really set me up for success with that.
Elizabeth: That’s so good to hear. Can you tell us a bit about the interview process in the sales role, what’s it like? that process.
Brandon: Okay. Yeah. Sorry. I’m laughing because my, my experience was, was good. It was just so unexpected. Um, you know, I, I taught interview skills and resume writing in the classroom. So I’m thinking I’m pretty prepared for this, but like a sales, a sales one is different. Right? So, I obviously took like additional courses with Aspireship or like the additional, Hey, What are you going to do for a sales interview? I watched YouTube videos, did all that fun stuff.
But my first phone interview was very, I didn’t end up working with this person, but it was very direct. And it was different than the teaching world because teaching world is like soft and fluffy. I’ll be honest. Everybody’s so friendly. They were used to working with kiddos. So it’s, you know, it’s like, let’s all be friends. And the first sales interview was, Hey, why do you think you can do this job? What’s something that you’ve done? I could tell they were on a Uh, and I’m like, Oh, there’s a sense of urgency here. Like, uh, you know, and, that first phone screening was, was a little bit different, in the way that the, it wasn’t like, get to know you Kumbaya.
It was, Hey, you’re coming into this business. You’re going to add immediate value. Want to make sure that you’re somebody that can do that. after that, I actually got more laid back after the initial phone screening. The project that we did was creating a customer profile, uh, for a current customer and then, uh, determining who to reach out to at this company, uh, that fits that customer profile.
What’s your messaging going to look like? who these people specifically are by using LinkedIn or LinkedIn sales navigator. So essentially showing, Hey, can you do this job before you get hired? for this job. That was one big aspect of it. The other one was normal questions. I’d say, you know, those normal questions, but then there was a cold call role play, which I was like, definitely, I was prepared more prepared than I should have been with Aspireship, but still they were throwing curveballs at me that I’m like, Ooh, yeah, cold calling, like this, I’m going to have to work on this. Uh, so I was humbled a little bit in, in that, um, definitely practice your cold calling before a sales interview because they put me on the spot and I’m like, uh, this I am not used to.
So,
Elizabeth: That’s uh very helpful, especially
So you went from and, correct me if I’m wrong, a BDR, kind of like a more entry level. And now you’re a manager. Tell us a little bit about that, uh, career advancement and how that worked in your experience.
Brandon: yeah, yeah. So I think it’s, I don’t know if I’d like say it’s a career advancement, like full transparency is probably more of a pivot. tech sales is a, like, it’s a beast. Let’s be honest. Like you can see the layoffs that are happening in certain places or then the big hiring spurts and companies kind of jump up.
You’re Full on startup environment. Uh, and it’s, it’s great. It really is. Like I enjoyed my time there. Um, but when it came to working with the company that I was at, uh, we were a startup that was, um, Owned by a very large parent company. And I think the product market fit just wasn’t 100 percent there. so I could kind of see that writing on the wall. Uh, and I actually was trying to protect myself and started looking at other roles when I’m in a role. I think that’s kind of a healthy thing to do personally at anybody in any role. kind of always keep the feelers out there. Uh, you know, when, when, uh, I was looking. I was looking to go into maybe another kind of tech fully remote position, cause I enjoyed that. there was a local position. Um, and I had some connections in the community with people that worked at this company and they’re like, Hey, we’ve been trying to find somebody to really build this technology, um, it and cybersecurity business, but we haven’t found the right person. Would you come in and interview for it? it was one of those things that, I was like, Oh, do I really want to give up fully remote work? Do I really, you know, I like these zoom meetings and, you know, like kind of not going into the office. Uh, but I, I made that pivot because, um, there’s a couple of different things. I really liked the culture that was there.
And, It was another challenge. It was kind of like tech sales working in that startup space. I think as a teacher, there’s like that constant need to want to try to improve things and go back to the drawing board and revamp it. Like building a business from the ground up seemed like such an awesome challenge where you would have to continually pivot and try new things and be flexible. uh, I kind of was like, all right, I’ll try local. Let’s see what happens. Uh, just up for another challenge. there’s so then I’m the regional sales lead here, but. If you’ve ever worked in a startup, uh, you know that like you’re doing marketing, you’re doing operations, uh, you know, you’re networking and part of all the, community events now, so it’s a completely different challenge, but it is one that is a lot of fun.
And, the more I’m in this space, the more, um. I kind of wonder why more people aren’t looking locally a little bit at companies for sales because there’s a good amount of roles open. Uh, and I kind of contrast that to LinkedIn where some places are like shutting, you know, like shutting their doors to hiring. A lot of local companies in these areas are, have a lot to offer. and like a great work life balance still. so that’s, that’s kind of how I made that pivot. and I just, a new challenge. So.
Elizabeth: What would you say is the best way to kind of get into your local market where you, you know, driving around knocking on doors, or calling places? what’s kind of, you know, cause I know a lot of teachers are searching on LinkedIn on Indeed, these different platforms, but tell us locally, what are some of the tips and tricks?
Brandon: go out into your community and talk to people. That’s the biggest thing that I can say, like, there is so many things with local chamber of commerces that are going on nonstop and you just got to go and have coffee and shake hands and be curious. Like that’s it. Um, even if it doesn’t seem like it’ll be a fit somewhere, or they’re like, I don’t know if I want to do that. Hey, can I buy you coffee and talk to you about your business and your role for 30 minutes? And you would be surprised the doors that, that open up from that, really makes a big difference. The other thing, don’t stray away from LinkedIn, even if you’re local. Um, you know, there’s local communities and local places to follow, um, whether that’s chamber of commerces, whether that’s the cities, or, you know, villages or townships, whatever that is, follow it and don’t stop creating content to show your value to other people. Because LinkedIn is like a live resume where people get to know you, and being someone that’s going from teaching into sales or anywhere, people are skeptical who they hire. And if you can just put a reel of all the things that you’re doing all the time, uh, it’s gonna set you apart from other people. I kind of see this a lot.
I see like I’m open to work. Uh, but that’s the first time they posted in eight months. Don’t do that. You know, like when I got into sales, I was reading books and after every week I use these little post it notes here that are still sitting by my desk. Cause I still do this and I, I find all the things that were takeaways. And then I would record videos and I’d break them down and be like, Hey, here’s the things that I learned today about gap selling from Keenan or, you know, never split the difference. I know I’m like name dropping some of these books. but those are the ones that people are like, Hey, what, what should I read when I want to get into sales? and then people like, see that you’re willing to do the work on your own and you’re not being forced to, because no one wants to babysit their next hire. They want someone that can come in and add value right away.
Elizabeth: It sounds like the two main things from what I heard were build those relationships, make those connections, and then also create relevant content. That way you’re showing your, your knowledge, your, what you’ve learned through upskilling. Those are two really great tips. Thank you for sharing those.
Brandon: Yeah, absolutely.
Elizabeth: And, and you mentioned a little bit previously about this, uh, in the tech space, just the nature of, hiring, firing layoffs, and just kind of like a dynamic environment, a dynamic market.
And when you look at teachers, sometimes it can be a bit more stable, you know, you can get tenure in the, in the public school system. You know, they’re looking to leave, but they know they might be leaving some of this job security behind any, tips for those kind of on the edge there.
Brandon: well that’s interesting because, uh, you know, I don’t want to have anybody be irresponsible, right? Uh, it’d be like, Hey, just go, just go do it. I’m a firm believer in never leaving something until you have, uh, something else lined up. I know it’s tough to do both things. And I know as a teacher, there were times where I was so frustrated that I’m like, maybe I just leave and I’ll figure it out after.
Like try not to work from a point of desperation, um, or like needed urgency when you’re applying for jobs. Cause I think that can kind of come off sometimes. So if you have a job right now, I would highly recommend you keep it, uh, in teaching and use strategic time to upskill, to then reach out and go do those other things. I don’t know, you got kids, like I got kids. I know it gets busy, but. If it’s summer, if it’s taking 45 minutes during your prep period, even though, you know, I’m sure a kid’s knocking on the door and wanting to talk to you, like whatever that is, dedicate that time and really block it off.
And I would suggest doing that before you take the jump because it’s, It is less stable, I would say with that being said, there’s a lot more monetary benefits and a lot more things that you can build in for like, even in sales, you have a potential to earn a lot more. don’t start increasing your lifestyle or doing all this stuff because you got into sales. I think some of the things that like be in the position to be able to walk away from a toxic work environment or go and search for a new job later, sales comes with some other benefits. Build up a little nest egg to go, Hey, if something bad were to happen, can I live off this for the next six to 12 months? Like put yourself in a position to really succeed. And sales allows you to do that. It’s just kind of managing, managing that.
Nothing’s harder. Things aren’t that much harder than teaching. Okay. I’ll just say that like you can do it. Don’t be afraid that you’re not going to be able to succeed. Um, there’s a way to succeed. There’s a lot of jobs out there. and just because you land that first one, it doesn’t even mean it’s going to be the right thing.
So.
Elizabeth: I hear this connection and I think it’s really fun because it’s, it’s taking me back to your teaching days with when you taught accounting and finance management and, you know. That’s like your mindset now.
Brandon: yeah. And I mean, teachers are good at stretching that stuff. Sometimes, you know, some people only get paid through the school year and then they, you know, like, try to make it last over the summer. I can never do that. I get anxiety. I’m like, just make it go all the way through. But, you know, they’ve, they’re, they’re used to doing this already.
It’s just, Leaving teaching can be emotional because it is such a hard job and you go, Oh, there’s gotta be something like something a little bit more maybe rewarding and getting paid what I’m worth, uh, and different. but try to remove the emotion when you’re making those decisions, and just put yourself in a position to succeed.
Elizabeth: I’m kind of curious if you would kind of walk us through a day in the life of a regional sales manager?
Brandon: Right now my day is crazy because, uh, we are revamping our pricing, which we just ended up rolling out. you know, we’re also implementing some project management stuff. So I’m kind of spearheading that. So, and we have an intern, a brand new, uh, Uh, a former student, believe it or not, uh, from my teaching days came in.
We still had that connection. So right now we’re learning how to, write some emails and then he’s also learning about his cybersecurity on the side, but, typically, What I’m doing is I’m prospecting. So I’m looking at the verticals, that we are really interested in, uh, and I’m to technology.
So, for us, that’s, um, manufacturing, that’s dental, that’s financial institutions, I’m looking at who those people are. I’m researching their company. I’m looking for triggers for when they might want to switch IT providers, or when they might grow into the position that they need an IT provider, uh, or somebody to help them with their cybersecurity. So then I’m living in LinkedIn a lot of the time and Apollo, taking a look at, uh, who those decision makers are, and I’m essentially putting them into sequences, I’m calling them, I’m emailing them, I could be stopping by their office, uh, I’m trying to connect with them in other ways. They got a fundraiser going on for lunch today. All right, cool. Let’s go support them. Let’s go buy some sandwiches and hang out and make those connections. and then when I’m not on prospecting, I’m probably doing solution design, which is essentially, when a company has said, yes, we are interested in working with you.
Then looking at their network and everything else and working with my network engineers to build out solutions for them. And, uh, what I’m doing as a sales, uh, as a regional sales lead is doing full cycle sales. So that means that we’re looking at the solution design, we’re proposing pricing. We’re negotiating pricing.
We’re closing deals. We’re looking at onboarding schedules and then also customer success after that. So how are we doing? How can we measure that? So it’s a full cycle. And that’s usually how my day is kind of pieced out is I’m, I’m usually blocking time to go. Here’s my three hours of prospecting. I got to go record a podcast right now for marketing and stuff. And then I need a little operational and then I’m going to end it with some more sales outreach. Uh, or I’m going to a local chamber, to get a coffee and breakfast and meet some new business owners. right now it’s a little all over, but in a, in a nutshell, that’s kind of what we’re doing.
Elizabeth: Thank you for breaking it down. It was nice to hear a little bit about prospecting, what that means at your company, some of the different softwares you use like Apollo, and then, full cycle and what that means at your company. uh, do you have designated customer success people after, or were you saying it’s wearing different hats.
And
Brandon: Yeah. It’s just me right now. We’re in full on startup mode. I love it. I mean, we have, uh, over a hundred customers and this business that I work at has grown organically for five years with just some amazing network engineers. Um, And our parent company is just super supportive. but over the last year, the goal has been to, really move the needle on those processes and all those different things that, you know, customer success was one of those first things that we did it, but we didn’t have a process behind it.
So our network engineers would do customer success. Hey, how’s it going? We wouldn’t really measure anything. But we would always be touching base and being very personal and like, we’re doing it, but we don’t have a process and we’re not measuring. uh, yeah, right now, there isn’t, it’s just, it’s just me and, uh, we’re building that up, but, uh, we’re constantly adding team members as we find that need.
Elizabeth: that’s so fun. I love this startup mentality. a startup as well. And there’s just always, always things moving and grooving. So
Brandon: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I never thought I’d learn project management software. Like, out of all the things I’ve done, I’m like, we’re using, uh, monday. com now. And I’m like, this is amazing. Why haven’t I been using this for, you know, forever? once again, it’s like that technology thing where you just get to keep on.
Learning new things and that’s what I loved about teaching is, okay. I’m teaching coding. What’s C sharp? Let’s learn it. Uh, and it’s the same thing in sales. If you’re with the right company and they really give you some autonomy. and I think that that’s the biggest difference with the previous position as a BDR. As a BDR, get ready to make a lot of calls and make a lot of emails. what I like about the startup environment at maybe a little bit local is it might lean on you for some different things. and you really get to stretch yourself and, and, do different tasks, operationally, marketing, whatever that looks like.
Elizabeth: and that’s so helpful to hear, you know, every company will look different. You know, every position will look different at various companies. So what would you tell a teacher right now if she was looking to leave teaching to get into tech sales?
Brandon: Well, first I’d say take the Aspireship course. Okay. Because, uh, like it was, I would not have gotten into sales if it wasn’t for that course. It’s like a cheat code, a little bit. I always say, I kind of slide into all my jobs like I’m not supposed to be there. I have a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice
and I ran big box retail stores.
Somebody like let me in and I got to run with it. And then when I was a teacher, uh, I did a special little like certification and they let me slide in for five and a half years. I got super lucky, uh, and Aspireship allowed me to kind of like slide into sales without getting a business degree. so I’ve just been super lucky in that aspect and Aspireship is the thing that allowed me to do that. There’s not a lot of, risk when it comes to just exploring these things. go take the Aspireship course and then figure out, like, is this actually interesting to me? Does this feel like work right now? If it does, maybe it’s not the right role for you. go read books that are related to sales. Um, I could throw out a lot of different ones, but I would say, reach out to salespeople, you know, and ask them specifically for the books that helped them. And if you’re falling asleep, reading them over and over, maybe sales isn’t for you. Like you should have some passion and some fire looking in there.
So make sure That is something that is interesting to you and then start building your network and start being a content creator. I would say that is the thing that will separate you and don’t worry about not knowing what you don’t know. People expect you not to know things when you’re first starting out. So take advantage of that and document your journey as you grow, because people will want to see you go on that journey. it is a fun thing to witness and it shows your ability to learn. And that’s what sales is all about. So just. start digging in and dedicating that time to it. if you don’t, I mean, and you’re just like, yeah, sales must be better. you could switch careers and then be looking to switch again. Right. So, uh, I know there’s like that urgency, I gotta get out, but make sure you’re really Want it and make sure that you’re okay with a competitive environment, because, in teaching, I don’t think that’s always there. We can get a little bit, like, I know I can get comfortable, uh, in that realm, but sales is like, you’re on a team, but you’re also being measured around other people.
So get ready to like, kind of grind and get in that environment a little, I hope I’m not scaring people from sales. I just think like you should, you should know that it’s tough in a different way, but it’s super rewarding.
Elizabeth: Absolutely. I mean, those are great, actionable next steps.
What’s your work life balance? Is it different than teaching? Tell us a little bit about how that has changed, if it has changed.
Brandon: Yeah. My work life balance is totally different. I would say as a teacher, my work life balance was very, very bad. Someone would hand me a textbook and be like, this is what you teach the kids. It’s like, okay, there was no lesson plans, anything like that when I, when I walked in.
And if I did, they were from 1995 and they were the most boring thing in the world. And I was like, I’m, I would fall, I’m going to fall asleep teaching it. I know the kids are going to fall asleep teaching it. So for that period of time, I was nonstop creating course content. that would keep me up till eight o’clock at night all the time. Um, and, classroom management issues. I was pretty good at it, but like when something bad happened, it doesn’t matter, like how thick your skin is. It could just stick with me all day and it would affect my home life. I worked harder as a teacher than I think I did any other job that I’ve ever had because I had to. Because the next day, You knew that you were standing in front of students, and if you didn’t have it prepared, uh, for me, that made me very uncomfortable.
And if you’re just like gonna go, I, I couldn’t just say, hey, go read this chapter and do these vocab words. So my personality did not match very well. With the, the teaching aspect of like, just go out of a textbook. I was constantly changing things. and then summer, I know it’s a vacation, there you go.
I’m in camera here. Uh, but the entire time during summer, I would think about doing lesson plans for next year, and then I would end up, you know, like dedicating half my summer to it anyways. I had a lot of trouble with work life balance as a teacher. When it comes to, sales, my work life balance is just so much better because I don’t have to take things home with me Uh, I still work, you know, that same amount of hours and I, I get a flexible work schedule, but you know, if I’m working from seven to four, I kind of like getting up in the morning and spending time with my daughter and getting that breakfast time and stuff. And then, I can go into the office, whether it’s seven, seven 30 or eight, like we have flexible times, and if something’s pulling me away at night, I make sure it’s a priority and it’s usually a customer issue. And in all honesty, I’m so excited about it. Usually it’s like, Oh my gosh, this email came through. We’re moving this deal along. This is awesome. And when I have to answer an email at seven o’clock at night, not because I have to, but because I want to, and I care about urgency with customers, like I’m excited about it. and it’s made it, So my, when I’m with my daughter and my family, I can be really intentional on what, where I’m focusing my energy. so even if I had more time as a teacher, I’d say like during the summer, my brain wasn’t always on
the family. it was on, Oh man, I feel kind of guilty. I’m getting to go to the zoo today, but advanced marketing doesn’t have any video lessons recorded for, you know, like I’m only on week eight to 12 for this class. Like I had to get back there. yeah, sales has been, like a real big blessing for our family when it comes to that work life balance.
Elizabeth: Oh, I’m so happy to hear that. And I think that can be true, you know, with your brain is still on, even if you’re on a break or over summer, your brain is thinking, well, what’s next or what new curriculum do we need? Or how are we going to manage this behavior?
before we wrap up, we like to ask you this one last question. You know, what have you learned about yourself during this process transitioning from education and into sales
Brandon: Yeah. I think I’ve realized that I need something competitive in my life. Um, teaching was rewarding, but rewarding in a different way and sales as I get older and I’m not engaging as many, physical activities or like, you know, playing in rec leagues and things, cause time and everything like.
Yeah. I need to be involved in something that’s competitive and engaging and sales has been that thing for me where I can go for eight, eight and a half hours and just engage in a, in a competition. And there’s nobody else on my sales team. Okay. So I’m engaging in a competition, but it’s with myself and it’s like for the business. Uh, and I really, really like that. and I, I couldn’t get it anywhere else. Uh, and the other thing is. most jobs, seem intimidating on the outside, but when you get into it, like people can do, people can learn and people can do any job other than, you know, don’t let me do brain surgery or anything like that.
But, but don’t sell yourself short just because you have a teaching degree or something like that doesn’t mean you can’t. Be a customer success manager or, pivot into project management or any of these other things, jobs, aren’t that hard. It’s about efforts and it’s about being able to learn. for me, I really enjoy learning. So it’s just made it so my journey from, police officer to, uh, retail management to sales, uh, has been an enjoyable one and not a frustrating one, if that makes sense.
Elizabeth: It does. And it was so nice to have you on today, Brandon, looking forward to sharing with the community. And we hope you have a great rest of your day.
Brandon: Yeah. Thanks so much for having me. Appreciate it.
