How to Work Less and Sell More with Carolina Chavez | E115

Speaker A: Operating in a place of honesty and authenticity, which I think is the biggest piece too. Because I'm doing that, it makes me very excited about what I do. And even when I get a no. This might sound a little bit crazy, but I very often say, let's get to the nos, let's just get to it. Let's ask the hard questions, let's get to the no's as quickly as possible. And with these bigger, bigger deals, there's going to be pushback. So let's get to that sooner rather than later, and let's work through it.

Speaker B: Welcome to Winning Streaks. I'm your host, Tanvir Mostafa. And every week I get deep into the stories and strategies of experts, champions, business moguls and industry leaders to find out how you can win the day and win at life. If you're committed to never settling for the status quo and consistently challenging yourself to new heights, then this is the show for you. In return, I commit to bringing you insightful, practical, and no BS conversations that will help you create your next big win.

Speaker C: My guest today is a senior enterprise account executive at SAP and has been a gold member at UNTAP your sales potential for the past two years. She's also a chapter lead and co founder of Latinas in Tech Denver, a nonprofit organization with a mission to connect, support and empower Latino women aspiring to work or who are currently working in the tech space. She has closed multiple million dollar deals over the past two years, and today she's going to share some of the principles and strategies that got her there. Introducing Carolina Chavez. Carolina, welcome to the show. Welcome to Winning Streaks.

Speaker A: Thank you so much, Tanvir. I'm thrilled to have been invited to speak, so thank you so much for the invitation.

Speaker C: It's, uh, it's really cool to have you here. Um, you've had some really great wins as of late and I remember when I heard about those wins, I was just thinking back to like, our initial conversation and where you started from and how far you've come in just two years time. Um, so I'd love for you to share, you know, who is Carolina Chavez? Like, what's your background before on tap your sales potential and why did you just decide to join in the first place?

Speaker A: I'd be happy to. Uh, so, a little bit about me. I've been in the tech space for over seven years now. Uh, prior to UNTAP your sales potential, I was at Salesforce for five years and I made the switch over to the large enterprise team at SAP, which has been Just a wonderful opportunity. It's given me the opportunity to have that experience within the large enterprise space and to learn from such a vast network of solutions, partners, endorsed applications. There's, there's always something going on here. The reason that I joined Untap youp Sales Potential was because it was a very transitional period within my career where I did take that jump from what was more mid sized sales to that enterprise selling motion. And because I didn't have experience in that particular space, I really wanted to surround myself and learn from those that have done this before, that have been successful, uh, to see if that could help accelerate my own journey. And I'm happy to say that being in the program for now, two years almost, it has definitely done that so many times over.

Speaker C: I love to hear it. And um, for those that don't know, this is a full circle moment kind of for you and me because we were at Salesforce around at the same time, both SDRs and now look where we are today. So it's just really cool to see both of those journeys. Um, but reflecting back on that first call you and I had like two years ago, I remember a big part of what we were talking about was how you were working a lot, right? You were working around the clock, you were traveling a ton and it just felt like, um, you know, you had, you had a lot on your plate. Whereas now like, it's almost like a full 180 where you're taking more vacations than your peers, but you're still getting more work done. So what have been like some of the biggest transformations that you've made or the biggest things you've learned in terms of doing that complete 180, um, from a like work life, balance standpoint, I

Speaker A: think that the biggest change for me was investing in that one to one coaching because I had reached uh, a high point of burnout. And then I also at sometimes would kind of manage it, go down and then be very close to burning out again. So it was incredibly stressful. Uh, there is still work to be done, right? But now I'm much better and much more intentional about how I execute and get that work done. And I even remember when I signed up for the program thinking, oh my goodness, we only, I only get 12 sessions with Ian. Is that even going to like crack the surface? Am I going to get anything done? And time and time again I have to tell them I need to stop being surprised, right? Because there are times where, there are times where I come into a session and I'll think Oh, this problem is going to take us uh, the full hour to solve. Right. Because it's just so big and I've been dealing with it for weeks or for months and then we talk about it and in the first 15 minutes we have a game plan. Right. So, so that feedback and also that coachability to think in a different way because the way that I came in, uh, at first thinking was more of that mid size deal mindset because that was my background. I was running a lot of volume like deals. I was running a lot of create and close in quarter deals. I wasn't running these multimillion dollar deals which are pivotal for my space. That's how I hit my number. I have to have these keystone deals. And so with working with Ian, that helped me think in a way to where I knew how to run these deals. And because of that I was also more intentional of how I plan out my time. Right. So travel is still a big part of the job, but I'm able to manage it and do it in a way to where it makes sense. Right. And I know that it's just so, so worth it based off of the relationships that I've built with our customers for the past two and a half years.

Speaker D: Mhm.

Speaker C: There's like two different sides of your transformation. There's like the sales side which is like selling bigger deals, selling larger deals, selling more deals. And then there's the time management and how you've just optimized the way you work on a day to day basis. And I want to start with that because that really is something that a lot of sales reps struggle with because they feel so overwhelmed all the time. They have so much on their plate. There's so many things they could be doing, focusing on, et cetera, et cetera and. And then all of a sudden the day's over and you have no idea what happened. Um, and I remember this was the case for you when we, when we first started chatting. So what were some of the biggest changes you made personally to address some of those initial challenges you had around managing your time and um, sort of like going about your day to day.

Speaker A: Well in the program, as you know, we work with the 12 week year, so that helped with a uh, framework for success and then breaking that down week by week and also day by day. So coming in with a plan. So at the end of my week, either on Friday or if I for some reason can't make it work time wise on Friday, then I make sure it's on Sunday right before My week, I'll take some time to look at my schedule and make sure that I'm aware of, okay, how many customer meetings I have, how many internal meetings do I have? Are there any other meetings that I have to put on the calendar to be more successful this week and what are my big goals for that week? Right. What am I trying to accomplish? What do I need to make sure gets done? So having that kind of check in with myself and that accountability helps so much. And because I do that and it's such a normal part of my routine, I'm very often able to get done what I need to well before the week's end. So I'm working ahead of the curve. And for me, I try to do the things that I know I don't want to do the most upfront because it makes everything else easier when you get that big hurdle out of the way. Uh, so just living by my calendar really, and making sure I have that check in time while at the same time applying that to my personal life too. Right. So making sure that I'm not burning out by making sure I have my workouts already booked on my calendar. Right. And I know I'm going to be accountable because if I cancel late, they're going to charge me and I don't want that to happen. Uh, so just little things like that have helped.

Speaker D: Mhm.

Speaker C: Well, I love to hear it. And you know, when you're selling strategically or when you're selling strategic deals, again, there could be like dozens of things that you could be choosing to do at any given time. So like the prioritization is, is a huge piece of that. But you specifically, I remember even one of your initial concerns when you were potentially joining the program was you travel a lot. Right. And you travel a lot. So you're not gonna, you're not, you weren't sure if you were gonna be able to make time, um, for learning and development or coaching or whatever it may be. How did you, um, not necessarily the program, but how did you fit all of these priorities and this time management around your travel schedule to really make the most of it? Like what do you, what did you do? Start doing differently to ensure that you could still travel, but also get the things that you needed to get done, um, on time.

Speaker A: It's really just making it a priority. Right. Because I know what time every week the class is for on top your sales potential. I know when I have my sessions with Ian on the calendar, I've only had to reschedule like once or twice. And that's because I've had, uh, urgent meetings, come up for deals, and he's been flexible with that. But making sure that I am consistent and disciplined and committed is the way that I've gotten value out of this program. And also reminding myself, too, that I'm operating in that mindset where I'm training, I'm getting training, getting education, and this is going to make me better. And it's already proven that from the beginning. Right. But at the beginning, I wasn't always in that mindset. I had to take that first step and kind of go with it and trust the process. Right. But now that I've seen the results that it's given me, I've seen the success that I've had since joining the program and just the confidence that I can do the job, which was a huge hurdle for me at first. So it's just really planning around it too, making sure it's a priority just like anything else.

Speaker D: This episode of winning streaks is brought to you by Untap youp Sales Potential. Two years ago, I was blindly navigating

Speaker C: my role as an account executive at, uh, Salesforce.

Speaker D: I didn't have any structure or any organization in my approach, and if you would have asked me what my strategy

Speaker C: was, I would have told you that

Speaker D: I was just throwing as much at the wall as possible and seeing what sticks. This led me to extreme burnout, high levels of anxiety, and frankly, a complete

Speaker C: lack of fulfillment from my role as a sales professional.

Speaker D: It honestly made me even wonder if

Speaker C: I was even cut out to be in sales.

Speaker D: That's when I found the Untap your Sales Potential coaching program. Founded by Ian Cognac. Untap youp Sales Potential is a sales coaching program that teaches the exact frameworks, processes and strategies that have helped Ian close over a hundred million dollars in sales across industry giants such as Ricoh and Salesforce. With multiple number one finishes and seven figure years, Ian's expertise is unparalleled. This program will help you access the mindset, habits and selling skills of the top 1% of tech sales professionals. After I started working with Ian, I ended up finishing number one on my team two years in a row, closed over $3.6 million in sales, and earned my spot at Presidents Club. Most importantly, it helped me rediscover my purpose and experience true fulfillment. But don't just take my word for it. We've had over 150 students go through this coaching program, with many of them shattering income records, exceeding their quotas, and achieving levels of Success they never thought possible. So if you're ready to level up and untap your sales potential, visit untapyoursalespotential.com and book a free strategy call with me where we'll talk through where you're struggling, where you'd like to improve, and

Speaker C: how we can help.

Speaker D: Again, that's untapyoursalespotential.com to book your free strategy call today. Now, let's get back to the show.

Speaker C: That's the word confidence is. I like that you mentioned that because that's one major change that I've seen in you. Like now you walk around, you carry this energy of, like, being able to close these big deals. What got you there, like, what has impacted your confidence, whether it's like, strategies, whether it's techniques, like, why do you think you're way more confident now than you used to be back then?

Speaker A: I think it's a number of things. So I worked with this a lot in one on one sessions with Ian, and he really challenged these limiting beliefs that I had around kind of these caps that I saw for my success. Which now that I'm saying it out loud, it sounds, uh, ridiculous. Right? But that's, that was the, the way that I was thinking, um, when I first started. So he challenged these limiting beliefs and some of them were along the lines of, oh, Ian, I am not as experienced as some of. At most of the buyers that I am selling to. They've been working in their specific industry longer than I've been selling. They have more experience within their industry. Why would they listen to me about these key changes? Right. And that showed me a few things. It showed me one, the confidence piece did need to be worked on in tandem with the value piece. Right. And pairing that with value selling so that I have that passion and that energy when I'm coming to customers. And I genuinely am happy and excited when we're talking about these transformative deals. Uh, I was able to partner with one of my customers this year. They just signed on for a cloud transformation. It's going to be such a huge and pivotal step for them. And I was able to do that a lot, in part because of what I learned throughout this program and also because I believed that I could. Right. So everything else came easier because when you're operating out of panic and anxiety, you're going to have this desperate energy. Whereas if you're operating from a place of gratitude, of just general, general curiosity for your buyers and that interest and care, you're going to execute your sales cycle a Whole lot differently.

Speaker D: Mhm.

Speaker C: Belief is the foundation of it all. I think it's actually half the battle. Like you have to just believe you can and then now you're a lot more likely to take the actions necessary in order to get there. But when you don't have that belief, it's hard to take the actions because you don't have fuel behind the things that you're doing on a day to day basis. Um, but you really like you took it up multiple levels. Like you're, when we say committed, like you are committed and you went from selling, you know, smaller, you know, couple hundred K, um, mid market deals to really million dollar deals. And I know there's a couple of key things that you've executed in order to get there. One um, of them being, you know, kind of managing your team, another one being uh, leaning more into like Challenger.

Speaker D: Right.

Speaker C: And being a challenger to your customers. Um, talk to me about a little bit about those transformations. Like what, what did you notice were the biggest differences between how you were selling on a, on a strategic level before versus how you, you're, you're selling more recently.

Speaker A: So I'll talk about the team part first and then I'll get into Challenger a bit too because team is, is a huge part. At SAP we have so many solutions and products which means we have a very extensive selling team. So, so partnering with that team is what's helped make me successful and just having a better understanding of what their personal goals are, what they're trying to accomplish for that year and also pairing that with what I've learned right when I'm on the floor at these customer on sites, shaking hands, meeting these executives, to be able to go back to them and share, hey, this is why this is a good opportunity for you. This is the high level perspective that I have. We need to talk about strategy on X, Y and Z for your particular solution set because I want to make sure that you're involved with this. Right. So that's a part of what I do too. Because we sell so many different products and solutions, we have a lot of experts in that space. So making sure that I have a balance of managing and co working with my internal team and a lot of that is just having those strategy calls which funny enough, when I started the program I was again operating in that mid sized deal mindset where my head was at. Uh, oh, we need to just be on customer calls all the time or I need to be doing this or doing that. And with these larger deals it is so important to make sure that you have these internal conversations, even though it might seem like a lot at times, because it is, because it all ties into these multi million dollar deals. So that's something that I've gotten much better at is having those bi weekly or even weekly syncs with my internal team to talk about. Okay, these are my accounts. These are why you should prioritize these accounts. Because they're selling into a much larger territory than I am. I have four customers. They might have, you know, so many more than that. 60, 100, who knows? Uh, so that's been a huge focus for me this year and that's what's helped drive a lot of deals to a quicker, quick, close time, which has been great. And then from the Challenger perspective, because I worked on the confidence piece and the value selling with Ian, that helped me be more comfortable challenging my customers because I do understand what the value is for them. If it's in terms to supply chain with SAP, if it's in terms to customer experience with us, if it's in terms to cloud ERP for their specific space. And I've seen the success stories that we have. Right. I see the problems that they have because I'm on the ground, I'm meeting with their teams, I'm um, building out that high level ROI case. So I feel very comfortable pushing it back on them and essentially saying, you're telling me that this isn't important. But if I've spoken with members of your team who say there's 100 full time employees that are just doing this job that are only focused on this product problem, it does sound like it's important then. And if there's a solution that could help take most of that time and give it back to them. Are you really telling me that that's not important to you? And why is it not? And then you get a lot of pauses. Right. So there's a lot of times you're on calls and it's quiet silence. Silence is very powerful and it's really helped turn around some of these conversations and also it helps them trust me more because I've been willing to be candid and just be honest.

Speaker D: Mhm.

Speaker C: I think a lot of people respect that too. Like I was on another podcast the other day and we were talking about Challenger Sale and I think Challenger Sale negatively, um, impacted a lot of people because they just started calling people's babies ugly. Like they were just like, you're not doing this right. Like this isn't, this isn't the way to go. About it, please. But if you're going to challenge people, you have to have a basis for the challenge, you have to have evidence, you have to have something to back it up. And that seems like what you've done, you've really networked internally, you've gotten, built a business case, you've built a ton of value upfront so that when there is a little bit of pushback, as there always is, you've got the receipts, you know, to show that, okay, this is worth your time and worth your investment. Um, on the other side of things with the, with the uh, like internal team management, I tell people all the time, like half the battle in strategic sales, half of it is the selling itself. Half, half the battle is selling internally, like selling to your own teams, to your own executives, to your managers, to your VPs, et cetera. And I like how you brought up mid market or mid level mindset because even when I was selling into GRB and mid market level accounts, because I had like an enterprise selling mindset, it allowed me to grow my deals, it allowed me to grow the size of it. So I think the principles that you're talking about apply it not just the enterprise level, but many different levels. Because it is in large part like a lot of the things that you're just talking about is a mindset.

Speaker A: Right?

Speaker C: The confidence, the challenger, like the um, the, the ability to stand behind what you say. That's what it sounds like to me.

Speaker A: Yeah, you're completely right. It's operating in a place of honesty and authenticity, which I think is the biggest piece too. And because I'm doing that, it makes me very excited about what I do. And even when I get a no, this might sound a little bit crazy, but I very often say, let's get to the nose, let's just get to it. Let's ask the hard questions, let's get to the nose as quickly as possible. And sometimes people around me seem a bit confused when I say that, but uh, with these bigger, bigger deals, there's going to be pushback. So let's get to that sooner rather than later and let's work through it together.

Speaker D: Mhm.

Speaker C: When you run into that resistance, right, you're challenging, but how is that executed? Like, how do you actually do that to ultimately sell that? You know, you sold a $3.2 million deal recently, you sold a $1 million deal. Like, how do you go about just positioning that correctly so as not to like turn off the client or the customer, but to instead like get them

Speaker A: to lean in it depends on the specific scenario. So there's a few different scenarios that you might run into with these larger deals. One of them might be that you might not be in front of the right person. Even if they're a person that has power, there are times where you might challenge them and you have a legitimate case. But they're either not telling you the full truth, they're not telling you the full why around, why they're saying no, or they have their own uh, ulterior motive as to why they wouldn't want to push that specific technology. Right. That they're just not partnering with you or they're not working with you on. So in those cases there's only so much that you can do. And uh, that's why it's so important to have relationships outside of just traditional it. Right. Having relationships with the business too to build out that value case. And then even when you do have a strong relationship with it, because sometimes they are an advocate for change, but they might not necessarily be the final one to make that decision. And we've been seeing that to time and time and again. I know repview has a number of comments and posts about how there's more buyers than ever and CFOs are more engaged than they ever have been. So building out those executive to executive relationships is huge. Jamal Ramer was at one of the masterminds this year in Untap your sales potential. He talked about um, operating his multimillion dollar deals. I think he had a 10 million dollar ACV deal, which is insane. Right. Uh, for uh, me I haven't closed that yet, but I will get there.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker A: And one of the biggest things that he talked about was getting executive alignment early and often. Right. So that's what I really prioritized this year is how can I build out relationships not only with our CFOs that maybe we don't have a relationship with yet, or we have some relationship, but not the level we want. How can I build out relationships with their operations leaders? How can I build out relationships within their C suite or those that directly report there? And uh, that's been a huge part of these larger deals because you might think when you're running into it, oh, we've worked with them before, we, this is the process, this is the way that things go. But as uh, the bill of materials gets larger and larger and larger, obviously there's going to be many more people that have to say yes to this. Right. So it makes a lot more sense to do that up front. And do your due diligence up front. Even though it might take some time, right, to build those connections, to come up with a point of view. But that's going to save you a lot of time when you get into the contracting piece. That's what's going to drive for a much quicker signature. Because you built those connections.

Speaker C: You're right. You've built. You've built those connections and you mitigated the risk. Because the worst thing you want to happen is you get to the, um, end of the finish line or get close to the finish line, then all of a sudden there', uh, a. There's another party involved that is like vetoing the deal. Right? And so I'm telling people, a lot of people right now, it's like, if you want to get your deals through it, start the work starts at the beginning. The work starts getting executive sponsorship early and often. And if it's a, if it's a strategic deal, if it's a larger deal, getting multiple execs right on board. So, um, yo, yo selling approach, right? Getting. Going up top, getting sponsorship, getting permission to go to the rest of the org and collect data, that's got to happen or else, at least in today's selling environment, it's really tough to persevere without some of that. So dare to get to executives. Dare to make that ask, um, which I love that you've done. Another thing I love, um, about you specifically, Carolina, is just how passionate you are about supporting minority groups in tech specifically. Obviously, you're a, um, chapter lead for, uh, Latinas in tech Denver. Where's that passion coming, uh, from? Why are you so passionate about that topic? And why do you think it's so important, um, especially in sales?

Speaker A: I think that it's important in sales for us to have groups like this. And not just in sales, but in the tech space in general. Because when you walk into a room and you see the teams in front of you, a lot of times, uh, for Hispanic and Latina women, they might be the only one that's there right on that team or in the entire west, east, wherever you may be. A lot of times you might be the only one or you might be one of two or three. And it feels like the higher and higher you go up, the less and less of, uh, that group there are. Which can be really intimidating, especially when you have a group of such talented women. And I'm just thinking about the group, uh, locally in Denver, in Latinos, in tech, where I see that passion and that drive and that readiness. But sometimes there are hurdles to one even starting within the tech space. Right. Because you don't know this language, the secret code and this language of how to sell yourself internally, how to advocate for yourself internally. Right. So it's helping that others in that group get there, get the job first. And then when you have that job, there's also another challenge that a lot of minority groups face, which is having this mindset of keep your head down, do the right thing, and the right thing will happen to you. Which is not always the case. I wish I could say that it was always the case, but it's not. You have to be comfortable having these uncomfortable conversations. You have to be comfortable advocating for yourself in the workplace. I know I personally had to learn the hard way in certain situations. And after one experience I made sure in every single role I was writing down all of my wins, I was documenting everything so that I had the ability to challenge. If someone said no to me for a promotion or for a raise, I would essentially have that ready to go and say, can you explain to me why, based off of what you see here, you are saying no to this? And I've been able to turn that around because of what I've learned through being, through this group of women. Right. Because they're the ones that tell me, think bigger than what you're currently thinking today. Mhm.

Speaker C: Sounds like a lot of the, uh, like big leaps. Elise Archer talks about quantum leaps, right? One of the big quantum leaps you've made, or each time you've made a quantum leap, it's because you've surrounded yourself by a group of people who are moving in the, in the same direction as you. Um, and you've been, you know, a critical piece of the untap, your sales potential, community even just like you, helping other people on calls and supporting them and uh, just being helpful. Where do you see the power of community fit into your, into your career? Um, and how have you seen it been impactful? Forget the coaching, right? That's Ian, that's like, uh, us. But what about community in and of itself? Whether it's your Latinas and tech community, on top of your sales potential, etc.

Speaker D: Etc.

Speaker A: That is such a great question. I think that the community aspect is one of the strongest pieces, I would say, of my career. Because there's going to be times where from a professional standpoint, you might feel like you've hit a wall, whether that be you're stuck on something, you don't know what to do. Maybe there's an outcome that happened that really just destroyed you, and you need help and you need individuals that you can confide in and talk to and get that kind of coaching or sometimes just that support, that shoulder to have to lean on. Right. And I've been able to make that through the community groups that I've built within my company, outside of my company, and beyond that. Right. Beyond just the constraints of Colorado. Right. I have people from all over the US and the world through, on top your sales potential and through other groups that I can lean on to that have been through what I've been through before. So it helps in that aspect and also from a professional development standpoint of just moving up the ladder. Right. I was able to get the job that I'm in right now through a referral, through a community group that I was in, in college. And that's been, you know, such a long time from then. Right. So staying in touch with those genuine connections that you make is so important. That individual was my first ever mentor, really. One of my first ever mentors. That was, uh, actually the person who convinced me to go into sales, funny enough. So it's just. It's been such a great journey and experience, and that was because I took the first step to joining a group that I wasn't always comfortable with. Right. Because it could be uncomfortable being in a new setting, but surrounding myself with others that I feel like are on the same journey or even way past where I'm. I am right now, has helped me so much from a level of just feeling that stability and that confidence and also knowing that if I don't feel that way, if something goes wrong, if I just need to brainstorm, I know I have a long list of people that I can reach out to that'll be there to support. Mm, mhm. Mm mhm.

Speaker C: And I think one of the most important pieces to mention here, especially, you know, we're both minorities and we faced a lot of it in the past, which is like this level of imposter syndrome, where when you don't look like the majority of the people that you're working with or, you know, working alongside, sometimes you and you come from a different cultural upbringing. You know, um, you can feel a little bit different and you can. You can wonder if you belong in the room. Um, and I think you've gone through some of that as well. Can you speak to that a little bit like your, your experience with imposter syndrome and, you know, have you how you've gone about dealing with it?

Speaker A: Yeah, I. I Did feel that a couple of different points throughout my career in wondering if I deserve to be there, if, if I am just not going to make it because I'm not good enough to accomplish these goals or to, to do what's in front of me. And thinking about that now, it's. It's just so crazy how different I am now, uh, from then. Because I think something that we need to remind ourselves of when we get this opportunity is because we've earned them, right? Because we've done the work, we do deserve the position, and we've really pushed really hard to get to where we are, which was the case for me in every role that I've had. Right. I had the numbers to back it up. I had the determination, uh, I was working a lot of times as the hardest on the respective team that I was on, and I was doing other things outside of that. And sometimes I still kind of felt like I didn't fit in that box. Right. But I think pairing this with what you commented on, community, right, because I've joined these different groups like Latinas and tech, where I'm able to be around people that look like me, that come from a similar background, that also have risen up the ranks or are starting their journey to within tech, that does help in those settings, right. Because that's not always what you might see in front of you. And it's also helped me be a lot more comfortable with being a challenger because it wasn't like that at the beginning of my career because I felt that imposter syndrome, I wasn't comfortable pushing back when I was overlooked maybe for a promotion or overlooked for a raise that I should have gotten. And by going through that and going through those experiences and then pairing that with a strong community and people that lift me up, I'm in a way different place now. And I know that I deserve, uh, where I am. And I know that I'm only going to keep going up and having a great time.

Speaker C: Yeah, it's, um, it's so interesting. Like, I think as I progress in my career and uh, as I look to a lot of folks that I see as successful or have done really well in similar roles or inspired look up to. In a lot of cases, when I get into the rooms, into the same rooms, I realize it's not because they're smarter than I am, it's not because they're more talented than I am. It's just. Just because they were brave enough to go after what they're trying to go after, you know, they take the steps they like, they feel like they deserve it, and they'll go after it. Despite talent, intelligence, you know, et cetera, all of those things. Sometimes it just takes the bravery. It just takes, like, I. I can do this mindset and mentality to really get on. On the other side, to level up. Um, and I think what's cool to witness with you is you continue to do that. You even renewed with on tap your sales potential for. For a second year, which was awesome to see. Um, what got you to do that? I mean, you could have, you know, gotten everything that you needed in the first year.

Speaker D: What got.

Speaker C: Brought you back for a second year, um, to continue coaching with us?

Speaker A: I think for me, it was very clear that I wanted to continue with the program because we did do a tremendous amount of work the first year, don't get me wrong. And there was so much growth. Right. I think you mentioned even my energy is very different from the first time we spoke. Right. With the program to now. Uh, I was in a very different space when I first started, but doing that work made me even more excited about the things to come. Right? So even though I was able to hit certain benchmarks, there were still others that I really wanted to hit. And I saw the value already through the program because I committed. I was on the calls, I was doing the coaching calls. Now we have the deal rooms, right, which are great. All these other things, I make sure that I'm prioritizing that time throughout the week so that I'm getting that value. And I also made the. Made the amount back much more. Right. So it might be intimidating to invest around 20k in yourself. Right? But first of all, when you make that decision, you're now a person that invests 20k in yourself. And how cool is that? How exciting is that, that you've made that decision, that you're worth that investment, first of all. And then after that, right, because you've done that, you make sure that you're taking the steps to accelerating your growth and your development, and you're making sure you're taking the steps to just blow your number out. Right? So I made all of that back many times over, right. That. That seems like nothing now. And so when the time came to renew, it was just. It was such an obvious decision for me because I had such a great year last year. And I said, hey, let's do that all over again, but make it even better, and let's work on some of the things that are a lot harder for me now, which are not always sales things. I think Ian is also like a part time mindfulness coach too, right. And works on other kinds of limiting beliefs. So, so it was, it was very straightforward for me. I wanted to continue.

Speaker C: Yeah, it's, um, we've, we love. And I think the, the most important thing is we love your commitment. You've said commitment many times throughout the call today. And that's the thing is like, you can join, uh, a coaching program, whether it's ours or others out there, but the biggest thing is the individual signing up with the individual, you know, putting themselves in that position to commit, to be all in. We talk about all in all the time. And it's like, okay, you're facing all these challenges now it's time to commit to solving them, committing to making a change. So if somebody is on the fence, right, somebody's listening to this and they're thinking, I don't know, about untap your sales potential. I'm not sure what, what advice would you give them? What would you tell them, um, to tell them on their journey?

Speaker A: I would say that the first step is normally sometimes the hardest step, right. Which is the belief. And I think that's why a lot of people might struggle with taking that first step, because they're wondering, oh, my goodness, this is a, uh, lot of money, right? It's a big purchase. Am I going to get the value from it? And to that there's so many testimonials, right, that Ian has on his page. There's you and your role, right, and talking through them and connecting them to people that have done this before. And I knew that it was going to be right for me after speaking to different people and anyone that I messaged on LinkedIn, because I did know some from past companies, right, That I saw and I just messaged them, hey, would you recommend this program? Every single person that I reach out to had rave reviews and said that it was the best decision that they had made in a long time. And I had so many people say that that at that point I just would have felt, you know, like, what am I doing if I don't invest in myself? I know that I need help. I know that I need this leap that I haven't been able to take yet on my own. And also just acknowledging and not being too much in my ego and thinking, oh, I can do this all by myself, right? Because learning from the experience that Ian and now Mike, who's on a team have is just so transformational for someone like myself, right, that has a Few years of enterprise selling under my belt, it's really helped me accelerate my success. Mhm.

Speaker C: You're so right about that first step because for somebody who hasn't made that investment before, it's a big deal. Like you and I had three or four calls before we made it happen. But it's like I realize the weight and gravity of spending money on yourself. But the other thing that we both know and we both realize is that at the end of the day, especially if you're in a skill like sales, there's never going to be any better return than investing in yourself. Had you invested that money in the s and P500, had you invested that money in real estate investing, maybe bitcoin would have gotten you return, a higher return, who knows? Um, but skills pay the bills. And again, your level of commitment has been nothing short of absolutely phenomenal. Carolina. So congratulations on all of your success. Uh, we're not allowed to have favorites in the program, but uh, you're awesome.

Speaker A: Thank you.

Speaker C: So if folks listening to this want to learn more about you, want to message you, want to ask you about, about the program, uh, where can they contact you, get in touch.

Speaker A: I think LinkedIn would be the best. So I'd be happy to share that so that we can have it linked. And I, I'm always happy to chat. Right. I do have individuals reach out for different reasons if they want to break into tech and they're not in tech, if they're interested more in the nonprofit side. Right. With Latinas in tech, or if they just want to chat. So I've uh, made a lot of really great connections through LinkedIn, so please don't be a stranger.

Speaker C: Awesome. I will link, uh, Carolina's details in the show notes. And before we end today's show, Carolina, if there's one piece of advice you could give to my listeners to help them achieve their next big win, what would it be?

Speaker A: Their next big win. I think what we talked about, right. With that coaching piece, the biggest thing would be stop thinking about the change and just do it. Enact it. Right. Stop getting caught up in this overthinking and wondering if I should ask for help, if I should invest in coaching, if I should do whatever it is and just do it. Because I have m talked to a lot of sellers that are trying to operate and do things on their own and I think it's a really dangerous road to go down. So if you are in that space, maybe just take that leap, get uncomfortable, call up a coach, call up an internal person, take that first step and just make the change. Because investing in yourself and opening yourself up to receive that feedback is going to be the best decision that you make.

Speaker C: This was awesome. I always love catching up with you. Carolina, thank you for coming onto winning streaks.

Speaker A: Thank you so much. Tenveer. Take care.