Michelle Benfer, VP Sales North America, HubSpot

<p><strong>JB:</strong> How’d you get into sales?</p><p><strong>MB:</strong></p><p>I come from a sales family</p><p>Mom was in sales working from home, BDR type role at home and in-office, hyper competitive always wanted to be #1. <strong>Saw her hustle and there was always a chance for jobs working in sales</strong></p><p>Dad had analytical background from finance</p><p>Didn’t think she would get into sales, thought she would be a lawyer or politics, working for Kennedy’s in college</p><p>First job out of college- Route 1 Automile in Boston- get away from waiting tables, try that out and then got the sales bug, commission check and <strong>being $$ motivated could quickly eclipse what her peers were making</strong> as college grads</p><p>Got in Sales department at Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue and top women’s fashion magazines in NYC before transition to tech</p><p>Family had a budget, we can’t afford this or that, if you want to buy XYZ, you’ve got to get a job</p><p><strong>14 years old started working at McDonald’s</strong> & delivering the Boston Globe in her neighborhood</p><p>Had to figure out how to make $$ and<strong> be in control of her own purchasing power</strong></p><p><strong>Now $$ motivated is a lot different = sending kids to school, plan for retirement</strong></p><p><strong>JB:</strong> Realizing this need for motivation in sales and drive to get to your ultimate goals.  I’m always curious about when things don’t go your way in tough quarters, months & years.  How did you handle that early days as IC? And now leading teams?</p><p><strong>MB:</strong></p><p>Bouncing back from tough times - IC early on, see you might miss and don’t have a path- lots of pipeline from scratch or your activity isn’t working</p><p><strong>That FEELS like Crippling anxiety and at times is paralyzing </strong>- whether in personal or professional life, some sort of paralyzing anxiety.</p><p>This has happened as an IC, VP, Director</p><p><strong>         Realize it’s a problem and What is the solution?</strong></p><p><strong>