Denae Biscoe spent 12 years as a 2nd-3rd grade school teacher, where she honed her skills in communication, problem-solving, and leadership.
Seeking new challenges and opportunities, she decided to step outside of education and pursue a career in sales. She began as an entry-level Sales Development Representative and quickly found her footing.
After just one year, she was promoted to Business Consultant, where she leveraged my teaching experience to excel in my new role. Her efforts paid off with a record-breaking year, leading to another promotion to Senior Business Consultant.
Today we discuss her growth and how her company reacted to seeing what teachers could bring to an organization.
Find Denae on Linkedin.
Listen to the episode in the podcast player below, or find it on Apple Podcast or Spotify.
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Episode Transcript:
Elizabeth: welcome back everyone to our next episode. Today we’re very excited to have Denae Biscoe with us. Welcome, Denae.
Denae: Hey, thanks for having me.
Elizabeth: Thanks for joining us. Um, we’d love to kick this off by hearing a little bit about your education journey, um, and kind of what got you into the education space originally.
Denae: Yeah, of course. So, you know, always knew I had a natural pull towards, uh, mentoring and teaching just even as a kid. And so, uh, it really just came easy to me and it was an easy decision to, uh, go into the education space. Uh, my husband and I, We got married young and started a family really young. And so a teacher to offered, you know, not only the chance to get to spend summers with my kids, but, you know, the opportunity to, you know, just be really involved in their education.
And as they grew older, getting to come to work with me every day, um, really just was really, really important to our family.
Elizabeth: That’s so special. So did the, did your children go to the same school that you taught at?
Denae: they did. And so up from kindergarten, all the way until they phased out of that elementary age, uh, they, Every day went to school and came home with me and would help me set up the classroom and pass out papers. I definitely put them to work when they were when they were there.
Elizabeth: Oh, that’s great. what was that spot where you kind of decided that teaching in that career path was no longer working for you? Um, and what did, how did you decide what to do next?
Denae: So that’s a that’s a really great question. I don’t I would like to say that. A little bit of it, of course, was a blend of personal and professional reasons you know, like a lot of teachers, I was feeling, you know, some burnout, of course, but, you know, more importantly, I really had just reached kind of this fork in the road where I knew that, you know, Going in administrative route really wasn’t something I was interested in.
I didn’t want to go back to college. I didn’t want to pursue the counselor principalship role and I, in a way, just hit a professional ceiling where I was really yearning and eager. I still had a lot to offer and just really. Personally, just wanted to step out there and I knew I had a lot I could give and, uh, I wanted to get uncomfortable and that’ll you’ll notice that’s probably a theme through this entire conversation.
Absolutely.
Elizabeth: I’m excited to hear more about your journey, especially since you kind of spoke about hitting a professional ceiling in that growth aspect. And now, you know, you’re a senior business consultant at your current company, but you didn’t start out there. So could you kind of walk us through, you know, you started out as an SDR.
How did you kind of. Grow in this company and get promoted and, and make your way to this position.
Denae: So, you know, I had to take a. huge leap of faith. I will say, first and foremost, it took me about a year to convince myself that I could do it. Right? I think that’s what a lot of teachers deal with. You sort of feel like you’re backed in a corner. This is all I can ever do. Um, so I, I did a lot of, uh, still searching a lot of research, uh, your podcast, obviously, which is so nice being full circle coming back to this point listening to, uh, All of your podcast and, and buying into the, you know, the, the coursework and I did the work on the front end to mentally prepare myself for it.
so, and I obviously didn’t really know what avenue I was going to take, but. You know, I started at next step, which is the company I’m working with now as an entry level sales development rep. And so it was a brand new department that they were creating and I was 1 of 5 and probably the oldest in all honesty that they that they hired and they took a chance on me.
You know, I I spent a year in that role. It It was a lot of cold calling a lot of very uncomfy learning. You know, and I just, I found my process. I, you know, leaned into my transferable skills that I know teachers have. And after a year, there was an opportunity to promote to business consultant and, um, you know, through all of that, I ended up having an incredible rookie year.
And a lot of that goes to the leadership here. Uh, they really just, uh. Took my passion of learning and I just told him if you’ll pour into me, I will give you 110 and and they certainly Held up on their end of the deal for sure
Elizabeth: Oh, I’d love to hear that. And especially it’s so nice to hear these companies who are. You know, looking to hire people who are highly motivated, who can learn and grow. And I’m curious kind of what your mentality was when you got that entry level sales role. Because I know a little bit of the conversation with teachers right now is, you know, I don’t know if I want to take this assistant role because I don’t know if I want to be an assistant forever.
So what was kind of that. Trajectory, like, were you able to see further in the future or kind of live in the present?
Denae: Most definitely I think ultimately finding finding a company that you believe in their culture and you believe that they see your value Um, obviously knowing that this sdr role was a a new department I’m a senior here at the company, and you know, I’ve worked in many different roles in my career. Um, you know, working in my department in the company as well as just being, uh, You know, every one of us was brand new, you know, so they were trying to figure it out and how to make this work.
Um, but more importantly, I knew I was having to take a step back, right? And it was a little humbling right? You step back into an entry level role. but knowing that I have to learn these skills and get really good at this before I can then advance and be better. Doing a good job in the future role, so definitely knew there was a career path for me here.
If I could just nail down this entry level role and kill it and do a great job. And I knew I couldn’t do 1 without the other. So I couldn’t have skipped that step. It would have. I probably would not have had the success I did my first year had I tried to skip that initial entry level role.
Elizabeth: That makes sense. So gaining that foundation and then also finding the spot that really values the company culture and kind of speaking off that. I know you mentioned earlier they offer a lot of professional opportunities, growth. So they also like teachers and, and hiring teachers. So tell us a little bit about why teachers and what kind of things are they looking for when, when they’re looking to hire.
Denae: Yeah, of course, I don’t, I think I kind of accidentally fell into it. I’ll be honest. I don’t know if I was the first teacher ever for them to hire, but I will say, I’m proud to say that. Since hiring me and, you know, having some success, I know they’ve hired several other teachers and we’ve actually our company has put together an initiative to hire teachers.
I think they see their value. They see their not only their work ethic, but they have a go getter mindset where. We’re resourceful. We can do a lot with a little and, uh, don’t require so much handholding, but, you know, you give us the tools and the resources that we need and, and for the most part, we can, we can run with it, right?
And so, yeah, they’ve, they’ve put together a recruitment initiative to try and bring more teachers on board because they find they love us. So I’m happy for that.
Elizabeth: That is such good news. And would you be able to tell us a little bit about what your company does?
Denae: Yeah, of course. So next step is in the professional. Employer organization space and so ultimately to paint a really simple picture. We are everything that an employee or needs for their employees. So, when you think of HR, you think of medical benefits, payroll, HR, technology, all those things we are able to help them streamline and handle a lot of the heavy lifting on the administrative side of things.
So, businesses can ultimately. Continue to operate and not have to worry about all the heavy lifting of, uh, what all tasks that entails.
Elizabeth: And is your work environment remote and person or hybrid?
Denae: Yeah, so it’s a combination of a lot. I think between the service team, you know, a lot of them are in office. Luckily, my role is what I would consider to be hybrid. So I am today. I’m here at the office. I’ve been out doing meetings. I, I love to swing into the office and get to be involved with our service team and high five the, the sales, the sales development reps that are there today.
But, uh, but, yeah, so I get to have kind of the best of both worlds. I get to work from home. I get to be out in my territory, meeting new clients, meeting new prospects. And then also, whenever I need to plug in here at corporate, I can do that whenever I want. So it’s really great.
Elizabeth: And can you walk us through kind of, the day to day of what a senior business consultant does?
Denae: Yeah, of course. So, you know, ultimately, um, You know, you have to be organized, right? You have to live by your calendar. You have to have good time management. Um, but a day from day to day, I think I, you do a lot of cold calling. You’re doing a lot of targeting of prospects. Your ultimate goal is to schedule meetings to, you know, initial have those initial presentations and then you’re ultimately carrying.
Those prospects through the sales cycle, uh, you’re collaborating with them, you’re doing tech demos, you’re doing strategy calls, you’re doing leadership meetings, putting proposals together, crunching numbers, doing all that fun stuff. So, that on top of when the client comes on board, you really kind of put the project management hat on, right?
And you’re helping hold their hand and kind of helping them along the process as they onboard with our company.
Elizabeth: That’s neat. So it sounds like kind of a mix of, you know, project management, sales, you know, you use a lot of skills. And in that respect what skills would you say are the most important? And then are there any that teachers you think kind of inherently already have that would, would transfer over nicely?
Denae: I would definitely say D, all of the above. We have all the skills. Uh, you know, I think, like I had mentioned before, I really do think that, the time management piece, right? And when you’re a teacher, you’re living minute by minute in your classroom organization of your day. I think we are natural project managers.
Um, we’re also able to, to be able to take. Complex information and make it digestible for children. We’re doing that. I’m doing the same thing. Now. It’s just, you know, making it digestible for business owners to kind of understand the concept of what we do. Um, so it really is just a lot a lot of things we can juggle a lot of a lot of things.
We are very good multitaskers. So the list, in my opinion, uh, It can go on and on and on as far as what skills are and I think truly seeing the value in those skills and knowing that it really can transfer in any career you choose at the end of the day.
Elizabeth: Absolutely. And there’s so many too that I think teachers have that are just second nature that we don’t really realize until after the fact and we’ve made it to a new career and we’re like, oh wow, we can write professional emails. We can multitask, organize this. And it just, you know, you kind of, sometimes you’re so busy teaching you, it’s, it’s nice to self reflect and look at all the, the skills that you do have.
Denae: It really is, I do, I have to remind myself that every day, just about so.
Elizabeth: And then earlier you mentioned, um, um, Back when you were in education, a little bit about, you know, you not wanting to go back to school to get, you know, a administrative credential in this role. When you transitioned to an SDR, was there any other education you had to obtain or certificates before you were able to enter role?
Denae: No, not, not for this role in particular. I think, of course, I. I naturally do a lot of growth development stuff on the side anyway. Um, I’m a firm believer in that. You know, for me, I, when I took on this role and I remember telling my husband, yeah, I’m going to be making cold calls all day and and he legitimately laughed at me and thought I was crazy.
But I was like, you know, it’s gonna be hard, but I can do it. Um, I’m gonna be uncomfortable, right? And that’s what I wanted. I have to, had to keep reminding myself, that’s what I wanted. I wanted to be uncomfortable and here I am. Um, but listening to as many podcasts, I, I’m a huge podcast, huge audio book reader, so, um, I’m constantly being resourceful and trying to hone in my craft for sure.
Elizabeth: That’s great to hear. I know, you know, a lot of teachers too, what’s a struggle is if they have to go back to school you know, for a different career. And that’s really, not as appealing, you know, depending on how expensive it is and, and just those options. It’s nice to know that there’s, you know, like you said, there’s podcasts, there’s resources, if you’re resourceful, there’s things out there to upscale and learn, um, especially, you know, depending on what path you want to go on.
Denae: Exactly, and it’s free, right? I mean, we have so much free resources at our disposal. I mean, at the end of the day, we’d be crazy not to take advantage of that. Right?
Elizabeth: And then I’m curious to know, is there travel involved in your position? What does that look like?
Denae: So, travel would for me involve, you know, we have territories that are dedicated to traveling. Like me in particular. And so, the travel is pretty local, so I’m not having to fly or go, go any crazy distance. But, you know, I would say within a 30 minute radius, I typically can be at any 1 of my prospects or clients.
Elizabeth: Oh, that’s great that it’s local and regional.
Denae: Absolutely,
Elizabeth: And then what are some of the challenges associated with this job?
Denae: you know, I think for me 1 of the challenges, um, I would say is, you know, going from, you know, You know, being a teacher where you’re warm and fuzzy and, you know, you’re just trying to, you know, you want your kids, the kids to like you and, you know, receive what you’re trying to get across. I would say a challenge for me is, is going from that to now I’m talking to CEOs and business owners and, you know, people that are, you know, you know, just in higher roles and just knowing that.
You know, keep maintaining that confidence of, hey, I can be here and I can have these conversations and but it’s definitely a 1 extreme to the other. I guess I’d say. And I like how you mentioned earlier, you know, getting familiar with being uncomfortable and knowing that you can do that and just out and doing it. So it’s a nice mindset to know, like, was there a point where You had some fear and you were able to kind of get to the other side and think, you know what?
Elizabeth: I, I got this.
Denae: I think I think 1 thing too is. Maintaining that positive mindset. I mean, we all know a job in sales, no matter what it is that you’re sailing. Sailing is a roller coaster ride, right? And it’s a, it’s a lot of nose and the yeses are wonderful celebrations, but probably more nose than yeses. So, just being able to, I always say, celebrate the small wins, you know, you got to celebrate the good, the small things with the big things and just really maintaining a positive mindset.
But I kind of live. By the adage of, you know, if you’re not uncomfortable, you’re not growing. And so I, again, remind myself that on a weekly basis, more, more every day. And so, um, you know, again, I think just being uncomfortable is the hardest part, but it is necessary in order to grow professionally or personally.
Elizabeth: That makes sense. And can you talk us through what your work life balance looks like now? Um, if it’s any different from being in the classroom or how that has changed.
Denae: of course. So, you know, my work last. Balance, I would say, definitely has improved, um, definitely no more bringing home papers and working on lesson plans and creating all of the, um, all of the things that go along with, uh, teaching in elementary. But, you know, sales can still be demanding, of course, but I think just, it’s been really important for me to set those boundaries and making sure that I’m.
Managing my time effectively, you know, next steps just has a very supportive culture and they value professional success But they also value personal well being and so they really pride themselves on having the culture of a healthy work life balance You know, so now I have the flexibility to Prioritize, you know again Family and work which is really really important to me.
Elizabeth: That’s wonderful to hear. And also wonderful. I was going to ask kind of about the company culture, but it sounds like they put that first and foremost, making sure that people have time to spend with their family professional growth. Are there anything, anything else that you would want to add to their kind of.
Denae: I would just say that, you know, they are You know, they are just really good about providing the tools that you need. Um, I would say they’re very collaborative. They really, you know, we’re very collaborative, which again, I love that piece of it. But even though we have consultants that are all over the United States, but I know that I can reach out to 1, you know, I, hey, I have this complicated task.
Like, you know, we’re a team, even though we’re not all in the office together all the time. So it’s just a very, um. I don’t know, just a very collaborative, positive culture and we support each other. We celebrate each other. and everybody will do bend over backwards to help, which I, I think is so important.
Elizabeth: That is so important and just so nice to hear. And since your company does have this initiative to recruit teachers you don’t have to go into specifics, but can you kind of walk us through the different departments? So those who are listening, if they’re interested, can maybe do more of a deep dive on on LinkedIn or the website.
Denae: Absolutely. Yeah, definitely. Give us a follow on LinkedIn for sure. And, but, yeah, so we, I’m trying to think so on the sales side, obviously, we are, we are in a growth. We’re in growth mode right now, and so, um, business consultants is again, what what I kind of my 2nd, my 2nd journey here. And so that’s more of like, what you would consider to be an outside sales role.
I know that we are expanding. So look on our career page. There’s definitely a lot of opportunities there, especially in new markets that we’re opening. But then here in Oklahoma, where our, um. Headquarters is then, of course, you think we have an entire service team. So anything ranging from payroll specialist to client success, you know, anything in HR.
I mean, really just the whole the whole package deal of HR is kind of what we do. So benefits specialist, those are the things that come to mind off the top of my head, but, um, but, yeah,
Elizabeth: There’s so many opportunities, I think, to, you know, when you were talking earlier about education, and there is kind of like a linear career path teacher, you know, maybe a specialist, a counselor, administrator, but you get into some of these companies, there really is a whole new world of. Just different learning opportunities and some of the careers, you know, when I transitioned out of the classroom, I hadn’t even heard of.
And I was like, wow, this is, is pretty neat that the company has this here.
Denae: oh, I couldn’t agree more. It’s like, there’s so many job out jobs out there. We don’t even know exist. Right? And again, part of what I love about next step 2 is, you know, we’re a privately held company and have this trajectory of growth, but, you know, they are. They are constantly innovating and constantly creating roles as we are continuing to grow and needs are, you know, needing to be met.
So, they’re not afraid, you know, to, hey, let’s start this new department. Let’s let’s take off running with it. And and I just love that.
Elizabeth: And what’s your favorite part about your role now?
Denae: So, I would say my favorite part about my role now is I get to meet with. All types of people. And so again, I’m never meeting really in any same industry. So I’m not just stuck in. I’m only talking to this types of businesses. I get to talk to many different business owners that wear a lot of different hats, but across many different industries.
So I have learned. So much when it comes to just various industries, but then also, you know, not having been from a payroll benefit, you know, that kind of background again. I’ve just personally learned a lot because that’s what I’m selling. Ultimately just my wealth of knowledge of things that I’ve never knew a whole lot about.
So that part’s really exciting too.
Elizabeth: That is neat. And like you mentioned the relationships that you build that who knows if you would have met them otherwise, that’s pretty neat.
Denae: I can assure you, I probably wouldn’t know if that’s for sure.
Elizabeth: We love to kind of wrap these up by hearing about what you’ve learned about yourself through this process.
Denae: Yeah, I mean, honestly, throughout the process, I just learned I am more adaptable and resilient than I probably gave myself credit for you know, transitioning from teaching to sales was. A significant change, but, you know, it again back to the comfort zone. It really just showed me that I can thrive outside of my comfort zone.
And, you know, when making a decision, like, changing a career path, you just have to be uncomfortable with being uncomfortable and just otherwise you’re just not growing.
Elizabeth: That’s, that makes sense being comfortable with the uncomfortable.
Denae: That is it.
Elizabeth: thank you so much for joining us today. I can’t wait for everyone to listen and we so appreciate your time. Thank
Denae: Absolutely. Thank you.
