Announcing the 2025 Phenom Award Winner: Michael Naccarella
We are proud to recognize Michael Naccarella, Regional Sales Manager at Anvilogic, as the 2025 memoryBlue Phenom Award Winner.
Michael stood out for his exceptional results, dedication to growth, and the positive influence he continues to have on the people around him. He consistently delivers high performance in a competitive market and has played a meaningful role in helping others advance both personally and professionally.
Since leaving memoryBlue, Michael has:
- Achieved outstanding sales results, including rapid promotion to Regional Sales Manager in less than one year
- Helped build and mentor the talent pipeline within his organization
- Led fundraising efforts for the American Cancer Society which resulted in more than $20,000 in donations
- Continued to refer, support, and advocate for fellow alumni looking to build careers in tech sales
The Phenom Award recognizes alumni who exemplify the values of growth, grit, and giving back. Michael has shown all three through his performance, leadership, and ongoing support of the memoryBlue community.
As this year’s winner, Michael will receive a $2,500 vacation prize, and will be featured in an upcoming Fireside Chat in 2026.
2025 Phenom Award Finalists
We are excited to announce the three outstanding finalists for the 2025 memoryBlue Phenom Award. These alumni have achieved remarkable results in a short time and continue to raise the bar for what it means to launch a successful career from the memoryBlue platform.
Each finalist was selected based on measurable performance, professional growth, and the positive impact they have made in their organizations and communities since leaving the firm.
They will now have their accomplishments reviewed by a panel of former Alumni of the Year and Phenom Award winners, and received votes in our People’s Choice poll to determine this year’s winner.
Meet the 2025 Finalists
Lauren McAnally
Sales Development Executive
SAP
Office: Virginia
Olivia Funes
Global Director, Business Development
CoreView
Office: Austin
Michael Naccarella
Regional Sales Manager, Mid-Market
Anvilogic
Office: Virginia
Each finalist has demonstrated excellence through performance, leadership, and meaningful contribution to their teams and the broader community.
What is the Phenom Award?
Getting off to a fast start is nothing new to memoryBlue employees. We continuously hire future sales stars who aren’t interested in waiting around for success – they go out and make it happen now!
As these pros elevate their careers and ascend into our alumni ranks, the relentless drive to succeed only increases. Even better, most of these dedicated pros make a major difference in their new roles right away.
How It Works
- For the 2025 program, only memoryBlue alumni in good standing who departed the firm on or after 7/1/2023 were eligible to apply.
- The winner, Michael Naccarella , now receives a $2,500 paid vacation, a fireside chat spotlight, and a place of permanent honor within the memoryBlue halls.
- This competition is always settled by votes from a combination of former Alumni of the Year and Phenom winners, as well as an open People’s Choice poll.
Racing Ahead
While the overall Alumni of the Year competition annually recognizes the alum who puts together an unmatched year in professional sales, the Phenom Award honors the individual who is off to the hottest career start.
History is filled with the names of professional athletes who took their respective sports by storm early on. Future NFL Hall of Fame players like Marcus Allen and Barry Sanders, MLB greats like Cal Ripken Jr. and Derek Jeter, or NBA legends such as Michael Jordan and Larry Bird each jumped out to sensational career starts and never looked back.
The memoryBlue Phenom Award is our nod to the recent former elephants who are thundering to the head of the pack quickly!
Phenom Award History
2024 Phenom Winner – Justin Primm
Justin Primm
Business Development Associate
Kastle Systems
memoryBlue Exit Year: 2024
Office: HQ
2023 Phenom Winner – Craig Allen
Craig Allen
Enterprise Customer Success Manager
Darktrace
memoryBlue Exit Year: 2021
Office: HQ
Catherine Seaman
Sales Manager, Eastern Region
Infinite Blue
memoryBlue Exit Year: 2021
Office: HQ
Caroline Sullivan
Mid-Market Account Executive
Rubrik
memoryBlue Exit Year: 2020
Office: HQ
Kellen Robideau
Account Executive
QTS Data Centers
memoryBlue Exit Year: 2020
Office: HQ
2019 Phenom Winner (Inaugural Year) – Aaron Bravo
Aaron Bravo: Field Software Sales Specialist, Motorola Solutions (WINNER)
memoryBlue Exit Year: 2017
Office: Austin
Finalist Packet: Aaron Bravo
Aaron has been promoted two times in two years since leaving memoryBlue and has grown from an inside sales rep to a field rep with a larger territory base than anyone in the software enterprise of Motorola. He now oversees a team of five people, two of which are doing a lead generation role similar to the SDR role at MemoryBlue. Aaron was poached from his prior inside sales role at Motorola directly by the VP of Software Enterprise to become a solution field specialist, a role where he is the youngest individual on the team by 20 years.