Episode 109: Brooklynn Newberry – Lights, Camera, Cold-Calling
Nailing a cold call comes down to perfecting your performance. You might not think of sales as having a creative outlet, but Brooklynn, a professional dancer, has found a lot of success by preparing for a cold call in the same way she’d prep for a recital. From creating a script much like choreographing a dance to rehearsing and perfecting her creative style, Brooklynn’s experiences as a dancer have helped her in sales more than she ever could have imagined.
In this episode of Tech Sales is for Hustlers, Brooklynn encourages creativity in sales, emphasizes the importance of performing cold calls, and explains why she favors an in-person work environment.
Guest-At-A-Glance
💡 Name: Brooklynn Newberry
💡 What she does: Brooklynn is an inside sales representative at Cobwebs Technologies.
💡 Company: Cobwebs Technologies
💡 Noteworthy: Brooklynn grew up in Littleton, Colorado, went to the University of Colorado in Boulder, where she majored in biology. However, Brooklynn ended up in sales. She first worked at memoryBlue, and then, she moved to Cobwebs Technologies, where she leads the entire sales cycle. In addition, Brooklynn started cheerleading and dancing in high school and now dances professionally for the Denver Nuggets.
💡 Where to find Brooklynn: Linkedin l Website
Key Insights
⚡Sales is a performance. Brooklynn has been dancing since high school and dances professionally for the Denver Nuggets today. Through dance, she has developed skills and qualities that helped her in sales. As she says, there are many similarities between dancing and sales, primarily because sales, like dancing, is a form of performance. “You get your script. You have certain points that you want to make sure you’re hitting or certain things that you might have to do in order to enhance the performance. And so, I’ve always thought of cold calling — you have your performance, and sometimes, there’s going to be some hiccups within that performance. I’m never going to go out and dance on the court and have a perfect performance. It’s just not going to happen. But you need to know, when those hiccups happen, how to still manipulate that situation into something that’s going to be a positive outcome. Something that’s still going to be, at the end of the day, a good performance.”
⚡ Everyone has a different creative move. For sales, primarily outbound, it’s important to be yourself, be creative, and understand clients. As in dance, there are different moves for everyone. Brooklynn explains how she attracts customers. “My creative piece was always looking at real-world situations, finding a common objection that I was hearing from all of the people that I was calling, and starting off with having that conversation about the objection. Like, ‘I know that it’s really difficult to get technology out right now because I know that there’s a chip shortage. We have this stop. What can I do to help?’ And nine times out of 10, that would, right off the bat, get me into a conversation of, ‘Let’s have a meeting; let’s talk about it.'”
⚡It’s better to be in the office than to work remotely. Healthy competition is important in sales because it motivates you to work on yourself and progress in your job. Brooklyn points out that working in an office is better than working remotely because you feel competitive and social. “Even when I have the option to be remote every other week — when DC was going back and forth — I would prefer to be in the office here in Denver most of the time because it was just so important for me to be able to build off each other. People around you can really make or break something. They can be positive and build you up, which also makes you better in your career, which makes you want to be better in your career. If you’re at home or you’re in an environment where people don’t want to thrive or they don’t want to get better, how are you going to be bettering yourself when you’re just sitting at home?”
Episode Highlights
From a Biology Degree to Sales
“I came to the conclusion that I wasn’t going to do anything with it because there are only a few different places you can go with biology. You could go into nursing, or you could go into doing some data and statistics or go to medical school, and those weren’t places that I saw myself. And so, when I was in college, I started exploring different options towards the end. What other things could I be good at? What other sort of jobs could I potentially see myself in? And that’s when I started transitioning into the thought of sales. […]
I actually got recommended to do sales from family members who knew that I was very outgoing and would like to talk to people, and they thought that that might be a good way for me to go; [I was also] very competitive with dance. So they recommended it to me, and that’s when I started getting that idea in my mind.”
memoryBlue’s Bootcamp
“Bootcamp was really fun for me. I have never been to DC before, and that was a fun trip. I got to meet a lot of the people who were in my starting class; the group was full of people who are super sociable and love people. That’s always going to be a great experience to start off with. But then, throughout Bootcamp, you start having these little mini-competitions. It’d be like, who has the best call, or you would write down intros, like who had the best intros; you would start reading them to each other, getting more comfortable with the sales position, and how you’re going to start cold calling. We would even do some practice cold calls and just start to do that kind of competitive aspect and meet people. Then that’s also when we all started to realize, ‘This is fun. Sales is a friendly competition. We’re using each other to build each other up and be a team while we work together.'”
Brooklynn’s Misconceptions About Being an SDR
“I was worried that it was just going to be a cold call; I’d be miserable making a hundred phone calls a day, getting people on the phone who were maybe rude to me. I thought that that was going to be the life that I was getting into, like, ‘Absolutely, you’re going to be making calls,’ but it wasn’t that life. I was more focused on the competitive nature and the family and team aspect of the company than I ever was on those five-second phone calls that I would have. You’d think that your whole day was going to be calling people, but really, you would call in the morning, and you would call at night, but everything else has to do with your team and the competitive nature and building each other up.”
Cobwebs Technologies
“What we do is we help solve a lot of crimes; in order to sell our product, we help solve these crimes, and maybe call up these detectives or these criminal analysts and let them know, ‘I might have a suspect for you. I have this lead for you. Let’s have a meeting. Let’s check it out.’ So, it’s great because we work with a lot of law enforcement agencies to help solve these crimes. But we also do a lot of work within security for corporate companies or law enforcement agencies to help them know that this individual is actually not the person they’re looking for, to maybe clear someone’s name. So there’s a lot we can do with our technology, which is really cool. […]
It was incredible to me that you could be in a sales position, you could have the creative puzzle aspect where we’re solving these crumbs, we’re doing these puzzles, but we’re also selling a product.”
Transcript:
[00:00:00] Brooklynn Newberry: You’re at home or you’re in an environment where people don’t want to thrive, they don’t want to get better, how are you gonna be bettering yourself when you’re just sitting at home? So, for me, it was really important for me to actually get in here and, you know, talk to people and, and be in a positive environment. That was important for me to just build my career and, and build my skills, even.
[00:00:18] Marc Gonyea: Brooklynn Newberry in the house. How are you doing?
[00:00:41] Brooklynn Newberry: I’m doing great. How are you?
[00:00:42] Marc Gonyea: I’m doing excellent. Mr. Corcoran?
[00:00:44] Chris Corcoran: Brooklynn, great see you again, thanks for joining us.
[00:00:46] Brooklynn Newberry: Yeah, thanks for having me. Happy to be here.
[00:00:49] Marc Gonyea: Okay, let’s get into it. So, you, you left in March of 2022, right? So, it hasn’t been that long, but you’ve got a great story. So, I want, we wanna share it with folks, people who work here now, who are thinking about coming to work here, but let’s get to know you a little bit
[00:01:06] ’cause even Chris and I, you know, we didn’t have the pleasure of working with you. We got to hang out when we were in the office and hang out at Tops a little bit. But tell us about you, where you’re from, growing up, that sort of thing.
[00:01:15] Brooklynn Newberry: Definitely. So, um, I grew up in Littleton, Colorado. I have never really left Colorado.
[00:01:21] Marc Gonyea: Where is that relative to Denver?
[00:01:23] Brooklynn Newberry: It’s about 30 minutes towards Colorado Springs. So, um, not too far away, but I never left, I grew up there and then went to college at University of Colorado Boulder.
[00:01:35] Marc Gonyea: So, siblings?
[00:01:36] Brooklynn Newberry: Yeah, I have an older sister and younger sister.
[00:01:39] Marc Gonyea: Okay. So, you’re the middle child?
[00:01:40] Brooklynn Newberry: I am the middle child, yes.
[00:01:42] Marc Gonyea: What were you like growing up? What kind of kid were you? Who, like, just tell us a little bit about Brooklynn, the child.
[00:01:50] Brooklynn Newberry: Yeah, I was always very cautious actually.
[00:01:52] Marc Gonyea: Oh, really? Okay.
[00:01:52] Brooklynn Newberry: I was the one that was, you know, always trying to take care of my older sister or my younger sister. I never really took, um, you know, leaps of faith. I was very, like, played it safe. So, that’s actually, that’s changed a lot for me getting older.
[00:02:06] Marc Gonyea: Yeah. Well, especially you’re in sales, that’s a, more of a less conservative profession.
[00:02:11] Brooklynn Newberry: Right? Exactly, I know.
[00:02:14] Marc Gonyea: For sure. Okay. What were you like in high school? I know, but for people to know, like, how do you occupy your time? Some people do competitive sports, some people have jobs, some people do, you know, thespians, like, what, what was your, what was your thing?
[00:02:28] Brooklynn Newberry: Yeah, in, in high school, I actually did a lot of sports. I did figure skating, which is, you know, definitely a different one, um, and then I did cheerleading and dance
[00:02:37] which I pursued through also college and, you know, now professionally. And then, I also did golf and a little bit of track. So, I was, I was very much the athletic type in, in high school.
[00:02:50] Marc Gonyea: That’s amazing. Tell us about this, which one of those was your favorite? Did you have a favorite? Because, so, well, tell us, you still dance now competitively? Tell us about that real quick, just so, this is a little bit fun fact, we don’t have many people like you that, that sort of, uh, claim of fame.
[00:03:08] Brooklynn Newberry: Yeah, definitely. So, um, obviously dance being my favorite, I, um, now dance professionally for the Denver Nuggets, which has been awesome. So, yeah, definitely a lot of time and, and practice and effort going into that, you know?
[00:03:20] Marc Gonyea: Yeah. Was that your favorite when you were in high school?
[00:03:22] Brooklynn Newberry: Yeah, actually, me and my dad, um, used to go to Nugget games together. And so it was kind of sentimental and important for me to start trying out for the team when I was 18 and able to try out, I actually tried out for the team five times in a row and didn’t make it.
[00:03:35] Finally, on my fifth time, my fifth season trying out, I, I finally made that team. So, um, it’s been sentimental for my dad and my family to come watch me from the same season tickets they’ve had ever since I was a little girl.
[00:03:47] Marc Gonyea: I wanna take a pissed-off on that right now.
[00:03:49] Chris Corcoran: I, it, that, that’s the definition of wearing them out.
[00:03:53] Brooklynn Newberry: Right?
[00:03:54] Chris Corcoran: I love it. So many people would, would’ve quit after, after the first time, let alone the fourth time.
[00:04:01] Brooklynn Newberry: Right? Yeah, I mean…
[00:04:02] Chris Corcoran: So, hats off to you.
[00:04:04] Brooklynn Newberry: Thank you, yeah, it, it’s definitely, it took a lot of determination, it took a lot of effort and also just a lot of, you know, hearing criticism every year, and it’d be, it’s something different every year, and just taking that and, and putting it on myself to really work and better myself and, um, I’ve really taken that skill, you know, towards the rest of my careers and the rest of my, of my journey, as I’ve been getting older, too.
[00:04:26] Marc Gonyea: Absolutely. So, talk to me about, so, how competitive dancing is. People wanna know.
[00:04:32] Brooklynn Newberry: Yeah, no, it’s, it’s really intense. There’s so many people who grew up dancing, um, and so it’s definitely very competitive sports, you know, it’s, it’s a lot of perfectionism as well. People who, who do dance, you know, criticizing yourself as well to make sure that you’re able to, you know, better yourself, but also taking criticism from coaches and staff in order to better yourself. And so, yeah, it can, it can be a lot of time, um, it’s a lot of effort, and it’s, it’s been quite the journey to get where I am today.
[00:05:01] Marc Gonyea: Yeah. Wanna talk about how some of that translates into sales ’cause, you know, you, you have to be competitive to be in sales, you have to be, right? So, some of those things translate over, and there is rejection involved in things you may or may not take personal.
[00:05:15] Things you may or may not have an opportunity to blame someone else for, maybe it’s not going exactly your way. So, but you, you kind of live that ethos based upon what you just told us, like, I didn’t know that about you. I think you maybe told me that, you being up the first time, but I didn’t know it was four times. Fifth time was the charm?
[00:05:30] Brooklynn Newberry: Fifth time was the charm.
[00:05:32] Marc Gonyea: That’s, you’re badass. So, when you were in high school, you know, playing all these sports, crushing, obviously extremely athletic, well, what did you think you wanted to do when you kind of grew up, so to speak, when you’re going in, you know, I’m in high school, what are you gonna do at post-college? What would you tell you gonna go to college for?
[00:05:47] Brooklynn Newberry: Yeah, I wasn’t really sure, um, I took a class actually in high school that I really enjoyed, you know, within biology, and so I decided to take, you know, that route when I went to college and really enjoyed it in college, but
[00:06:00] Marc Gonyea: Where’d you go to school?
[00:06:00] Brooklynn Newberry: University of Colorado Boulder.
[00:06:03] Marc Gonyea: Okay, and why’d you go there?
[00:06:04] Brooklynn Newberry: I wanted to stay close to home. I’ve always, again, been, you know, very, you know, family oriented and also, also that I think there’s that, you know, scared, uh, scarcity of taking risk also, and maybe going to a new place, making, making new friends. But you know, I, I really enjoyed my time there and, you know, studied biology, which was, which was great for me.
[00:06:24] Marc Gonyea: So, what do you think you’re gonna do with that degree when you were there? ‘Cause you’re not using that degree now, which is fine, right? But, like, you, what, what’d you, yeah, where’d you think you were gonna go with it?
[00:06:35] Brooklynn Newberry: I didn’t actually know, and for a while, I, I, I think I came to the conclusion that I, I wasn’t gonna do anything with it ’cause there’s only a few different places you can go with biology, you know, you could go into nursing, or you could go into doing, you know, some sort of data and statistics,
[00:06:51] or, you know, go to medical school, and those weren’t really places that I, I saw myself. And so, when I was in college, I started exploring different options, you know, towards the end of, “Okay, what other things could I be good at? What other sort of jobs could I potentially see myself in?” And that’s when I, you know, started transitioning into the thought of, of sales.
[00:07:14] Marc Gonyea: Yeah. And then, and then what exposed you to that? Like, did you have friends and family in sales? Like, here you’re a biology major, most biology majors aren’t thinking about getting into sales, maybe pharmaceutical sales, I would guess, I’m not sure. So, how, where did sales pop, pop up?
[00:07:29] Brooklynn Newberry: I actually got recommended to do sales from a family member who, you know, knew that I was very outgoing and would like to talk to people and thought that that might be a good way for me to go, right, exactly, very competitive with dance. So, they, you know, actually recommended it to me, and that’s when I started, you know, kind of getting that idea in my mind, but it wasn’t until Andrew Plax, he reached out to me.
[00:07:54] Marc Gonyea: Oh, thank you. That’s my sign, Chris.
[00:07:57] Brooklynn Newberry: Yep. Head to your Plax, he reach out to me.
[00:07:58] Marc Gonyea: Thank you, on top of it, alright.
[00:07:59] Brooklynn Newberry: Yeah, he, he reached out to me over LinkedIn, and that’s when I seriously started to consider, you know, sales was, you know, talking to the memoryBlue reps and, you know, actually feeling like I could start fitting in, so.
[00:08:12] Marc Gonyea: When did he reach out to you? Were you still in school, or were you out, out?
[00:08:16] Brooklynn Newberry: It was towards the end, so I was, it was maybe, like, a week before I graduated at the end of the summer. And so, and then I, you know, graduated and then ended up, you know, coming here in September, but yeah, he, he reached out to me, and we had a lot of conversations based off of, you know, what my goals were and my different personality types.
[00:08:35] And I started, you know, kind of putting the puzzle pieces together in my head, you know, like, that this was actually something that would really fit my personality and my, my dreams and goals and aspirations.
[00:08:45] Marc Gonyea: Yeah. And then, I remember, well, from, you know, your, your, our pre-show notes, you kind of equated sales to dance from a performance art. Go, go, go in, and you like people, but go in, go elaborate on that further because I had someone who I interviewed who’s a dancer in college now,
[00:09:04] she accepted, she put it on LinkedIn, and I remember, and I talked to you, I talk about you to her, but not about this piece, but I talk about the competitive piece of it, but talk about this piece ’cause I think for people who look to perform, it’s good for them to hear from you about the, the similarities in sales.
[00:09:18] Brooklynn Newberry: Yeah, definitely. Well, so I always think, and I’ve always thought, you know, sales is kind of a, a performance, you know, you get your script, you have certain points that you wanna make sure you’re hitting, certain things that you might have to do in order to enhance the performance.
[00:09:33] And so, I’ve always thought of, you know, colds calling, you have your performance, um, sometimes there’s gonna be some hiccups within that performance, you know, I’m never gonna go out and dance on the court and have a, a perfect performance, it’s just not gonna happen, it does, it just doesn’t happen.
[00:09:46] But, um, you need to know when those hiccups happen, you know, how to still manipulate that situation into something that’s gonna be a positive outcome, something that’s still gonna be, at the end of the day, a good performance.
[00:09:58] And I think that a lot of people maybe in dance or maybe people who are also, maybe actors or, you know, in, um, the theatrical world, I think that you could definitely all relate, you know, to the same situation ’cause no one ever has a perfect performance, but it’s all about manipulating it enough to have a good performance, a good outcome.
[00:10:18] Marc Gonyea: Chris, those are some good takes right there.
[00:10:23] Chris Corcoran: No, Definitely.
[00:10:24] Marc Gonyea: So, as Plax was kind of talking you through it, what attracted you to it during the interview process?
[00:10:32] Brooklynn Newberry: Yeah. It was actually really just, just talking about the different qualities that make up a good salesperson, you know, being personable, you know, being sociable, it’s all, so, I always described it when I was talking to him, um, you know, during these prep interview calls as a puzzle,
[00:10:47] you know, sometimes there’s certain things in the world that are going on, um, you know, maybe right now it’s a recession. So, there’s a lot of people who are, you know, trying to make do with the money that they have. So, how are you gonna sell a product now based off of the money that they do have to fit their needs based off the real-world problems?
[00:11:07] I started having conversations with, like, that, with Plax where, you know, it started to really click in my minds like, “Hey, I could do this, these are some good points I’m making.” And, you know, it was more of a conversation prep for these interviews than it really was, you know, him trying to persuade me to go into sales.
[00:11:23] Marc Gonyea: Yeah. And then, who else did you interview with from here?
[00:11:27] Brooklynn Newberry: I interviewed with Steve Manolakis.
[00:11:29] Marc Gonyea: Okay, got it. Oh, well, thank you, man, you actually could listen to you.
[00:11:33] Brooklynn Newberry: And, uh, Julia Fitzgerald, I believe her last name is.
[00:11:38] Marc Gonyea: You got it.
[00:11:38] Brooklynn Newberry: So, I interviewed with them two, that’s also when I think I really decided that I, that I wanted to go into sales, especially when I was talking with Steve Manolakis, who had, you know, then become my DM and my manager and my, you know, my mentor, someone I really looked up to, you know, he also believed in a lot of the things that I was saying.
[00:11:56] And when I actually came here and, you know, started doing these calls, and he was a manager that would allow us to put our own creative spin on things. And he would encourage those creative spins in order to sell your product or, you know, make something into a better performance or a better situation.
[00:12:16] And I think that having that conversation right off the bat, really made me wanna do this job as well because I really wanted to be able to put my creative spin into a job.
[00:12:26] Marc Gonyea: Yeah. That’s critically important. I think some people kind of question themselves and learn how to do the outbound piece, especially the way we train you, we want you to run our own little offense. But you’re right, you have to put your own, once you kind of figure out the material, or the moves, right, ’cause they’re moves, not dance moves, but they’re moves, and once you put the, put your personal take or spin on it, it can be more effective, but you gotta get comfortable with it.
[00:12:54] Brooklynn Newberry: Yeah ’cause everyone has their own different creative take, I mean, there are stories that I heard from, you know, some people pretending to be the CEO of the company to make them seem, you know, super big and high and mighty. Like, you know, they’re, they’re taking their time out of their day to talk to you,
[00:13:10] Marc Gonyea: Oh, geez, yeah.
[00:13:11] Brooklynn Newberry: you know, so, there’s, there’s stories like that that are, you know, that’s their creative piece, you know, my creative piece was always looking at real world situations, finding a common objection that I was hearing between all of the people that I was calling and starting off with having that conversation about the objection.
[00:13:29] Like, “Hey, I know that it’s really difficult to get technology out right now because I know that there’s a chip shortage. We have this stop, we have this, like, what can I do to help?” And, you know, 9 times outta 10, that would just right off the bat, get me into a conversation of, “Let’s have a meeting, let’s talk about it.”
[00:13:45] Marc Gonyea: Yeah, ’cause you’re kind of hitting the, uh, objection head-on.
[00:13:49] Brooklynn Newberry: Right, exactly, and I’ve definitely taken that over into even the position that I have today.
[00:13:54] Marc Gonyea: Yeah, it’s what we’re gonna get to. So, so, you’re thinking about the gig, but you’re also dancing for, for the Nuggets full time, right? And you gotta take on this job. Did you kind of know what you’re getting yourself into?
[00:14:06] Brooklynn Newberry: Kind of, it’s always really difficult to, you know, know exactly what you’re getting into, but I knew it was gonna be a lot of work. And so, when I, you know, originally got into it and, you know, started doing my sales job and doing dance, I just had to take a, a day at a time, honestly,
[00:14:23] um, ’cause, you know, I’d have practice after work and then, you know, sometimes games where I have to be at the court at, you know, 4:00 PM, or 3:00 PM, or, you know, and I think the most important thing for that was just always being so open and communicative with my manager and the people around me, on my team
[00:14:41] to make sure that they knew, you know, that they could still rely on me and depend on me to get my job done and do what I needed to do. I think that that became, became really important, in order to balance both.
[00:14:51] Marc Gonyea: Yeah. And how did we do that? So, you worked, your client, what was, so, so let’s walk through when you started, right? You went to, with the Bootcamp, remember the academy? What was that experience like for, you know, people who wanna know what that, what that experience is like?
[00:15:05]
[00:16:07] Brooklynn Newberry: Yeah, Bootcamp was actually really fun for me, I have never been to DC before, and so that was kind of a fun trip, I got to meet a lot of the people who were in my starting class, again, for the group full of people who are super sociable and love people, you know, that’s, that’s always gonna be, you know, a great experience just to start off with. But then, throughout Bootcamp, you know, you start having these little mini-competitions, or, um, you know,
[00:16:31] Marc Gonyea: How’s about those?
[00:16:32] Brooklynn Newberry: Yeah, so, it’d be, like, you know, who has the best, you know, call or, um, you would write down, like, in intros, like, who had the best intros, you would start reading them to each other, like, getting more comfortable with, you know, the sales position and how you’re gonna start cold calling, we would even do some practice cold calls.
[00:16:49] And just starting to do that kind of competitive aspect and meeting people, then that’s also when, you know, we all started to realize, okay, this is fun, like, you know, sales is, is this competition that, you know, it is a friendly competition, we’re, we’re kind of using each other to build each other up, you know, and be a team while we work together.
[00:17:09] So, you know, I think that that, that also made me realize how much sales was a good fit for me, and I think a lot of the other people in my training camp also felt the same way.
[00:17:19] Marc Gonyea: You have some pretty good takes on these things. Like, did you, where did that come from? Just thinking this through? Having conversations with people about it?
[00:17:31] Brooklynn Newberry: Yeah. I think every day, well, every day with dance, I’m out in the community, I’m having conversations with, you know, people who are really high up in the NBA, I’m having conversations with sometimes celebrities, I’m having conversations with, you know, people who are, like, really high up in law enforcement agencies, you know,
[00:17:50] Marc Gonyea: Your job now?
[00:17:51] Brooklynn Newberry: Yeah, which is my, which is my job now. And so, you know, I think it just practice performance, you know, talking is a performance for me, and I think that’s, you know, same with actors, same with dancers, you know, talking becomes your performance. Which is kind of fun.
[00:18:06] Marc Gonyea: So, when you came back from Bootcamp, and you got assigned to your client, just walk us through that, what that transition was like. So, your first sales job, right? And you got this client, and you’re working, we, we worked it out when you were manager on the East Coast, and you were here, right? And that worked out great, obviously. Talk us about the transition from, like, going, doing the job.
[00:18:28] Brooklynn Newberry: Yeah. I think, well, personally, I thought that the training in Bootcamp, over in DC, really helped me prepare, you know, for the actual job that it was, you know, you, you get your client, and you just start writing your script, you know, that’s the first thing you do,
[00:18:45] you work on your scripts, I mean, a lot of people, when you first start your SDR job, and you’re at a Bootcamp, you work on your script and you, you start practicing for, sometimes up to a week, to make sure that you are ready for this performance.
[00:18:56] Just kind of, like, how you would, with my dance practices, you know, I start practicing, and then you lead up to that one performance. And so, it was a nice transition to, you know, “Alright, let’s start writing out my script, let’s start practicing, let’s start having practice phone calls and, um, with your manager.”
[00:19:11] And then, when it came to the performance, I really did feel prepared to start calling on for my client, CounterTrade, at the time. And right off the bat, you know, practice makes perfect, right, you know, so as much practice you get is however much you put in is what you’re gonna get out.
[00:19:26] So, you know, took the time into practicing and, you know, started seeing outcomes, you know, right, right away, which was great.
[00:19:33] Marc Gonyea: Chris, we need more dancers to work here, right? I mean, it’s so, I’ve never thought about it before, but just, like, you’re so, I mean, you’re, you’re, you’re, you’re completely hitting the nail on the head.
[00:19:44] Brooklynn Newberry: Yeah. Thank you.
[00:19:48] Marc Gonyea: Tell, tell us about your client, your first client.
[00:19:50] Brooklynn Newberry: Yeah. So, CounterTrade, we sold a lot of hardware. So, like, Dell computers, Cisco computers, the Lenovo computers. I sold to a lot of different classrooms, universities, and during the time we are still on lockdown, this is still Covid, people are working from home.
[00:20:08] So, definitely saw an increase for the need for a lot of computers because a lot of also companies needed to give out, you know, company laptops, or things would break and they wouldn’t know how to fix it because they wouldn’t have maybe an IT that would be able to be on-site to help them and, and fix it.
[00:20:26] So, what this company would do is, you know, we would give them the computers, but we would also have that amazing customer service for people who are working from home, to be able to access us to be like, “Hey, you know, I, I need a new computer because this one shut down on me.” And, you know, we would be able to send that out right away, you know, rather than waiting for your company to go through the IT and for them to get back.
[00:20:48] So, this was really important for, you know, the time being. Also, there was the chip shortage, so a lot of people couldn’t get a lot of the computers out. And so, for selling my, um, the product at the time and, and calling these companies, I think that, you know, starting off with the problem, “Hey, like, I’m calling from CounterTrade.
[00:21:08] I know that there is a chip shortage, I know that it’s been really difficult to get computers out right now. How are you dealing with that? What computers do you need?” You know? “What’s on back order? Let me see how I can help.” And usually right then and there they’d, they’d be like, “All right, I’m actually, I need this many Lenovos, and I need this many Dells, and I need this many servers.”
[00:21:28] And then, you know, I’d be like, “All right, let’s have this meeting, let’s talk about it.” And then right then and there, you know, my AE is writing down all the things they need and, you know, there we go, bought a big, bought a boom, we got, we got a client.
[00:21:40] Marc Gonyea: Tell the listeners and Chris that the, one of your experiences here with your client when you worked at memoryBlue, this is, this is just a tremendous story.
[00:21:48] Brooklynn Newberry: Yeah. So, um,
[00:21:50] Marc Gonyea: Talk, talk about performance, right?
[00:21:52] Brooklynn Newberry: Yeah, exactly, yeah, a great example of, of the performance aspect, you know, my manager at the time, Steve Manolakis, he came down to the Denver office and was visiting. So, my client wanted to come in, CounterTrade, they wanted to, um, have a tour of the office.
[00:22:08] Originally, we just thought it was gonna be, you know, the director of sales, you know, maybe his counterpart, but he decided to bring all of the AEs. So, there’s, like, 15 people walking around the memoryBlue office just for me, I was there only SDR,
[00:22:23] Marc Gonyea: Only SDR of the campaign.
[00:22:25] Brooklynn Newberry: But they had all of these people walking around and touring the office, and at the time, I was down in the, um, in the third level.
[00:22:33] Marc Gonyea: The swing space?
[00:22:33] Brooklynn Newberry: Yeah, the swing space, and we had both the, both the offices. And so, we had 15 people in the conference room and Steve goes, “You know what we should do? We should have a live blitz.” And I’m looking at Steve, like, “We didn’t talk about this.”
[00:22:49] Marc Gonyea: Thanks, I guess.
[00:22:50] Brooklynn Newberry: Yeah, I’m like, “Thanks for the heads up.” We didn’t, you know, I was like, “Yeah, totally. We should totally have a live blitz.” You know? So, we set everything up, we’re in a huge conference room, I bring my laptop, I have my headset, and I’ve just got a crowd of people sitting around me as I’m calling, you know, I’m not getting much luck, no one’s really answering the phone,
[00:23:12] Marc Gonyea: Yeah, but you’re, let’s just take that for a second, you’re doing something extremely difficult in front of 15 people. And what, you’re going outbound, which is them listening, and they can hear both sides of the conversation, and you’re calling through the lists.
[00:23:27] Brooklynn Newberry: Yeah. And I’m just thinking to myself, oh, someone better answer, and I better book something just to make, you know, I’ve got, I’ve gotta do this. So, finally, you know, it’s, it’s been some time, finally someone answers.
[00:23:39] Marc Gonyea: It probably wasn’t that long, but it probably felt a lot longer.
[00:23:41] Brooklynn Newberry: Oh, I’m sure. But, you know, they finally get someone on the phone, and they’re in a horrible mood, and they’re just giving me every single objection, “I don’t have time.” You know? “I’m not the person.” “We have no budget.” Like, “Who, who are you, what are you talking about?” Like, just horrible mood, just giving me, like, 15 objections.
[00:24:03] And I went through my script, I went everything, you know, played everything kind of by the book, and, um, you know, everything that I learned from training camp I just, all of a sudden, just hit it, like, it just hit every, everything on the dot and turned it around to the point where they were actually were telling me their pain point and they were actually excited to be on the next meeting,
[00:24:24] and, you know, after that, I hung up the phone and turned around, and all of the AE’s and everyone in the room just jaw was dropped, just staring at me, no one said anything for probably, felt like five minutes before they were just like, “How did you do that?” It was, it was seriously so wild, and even Steve was like, “Yeah, wait, how did you do that?” um, which was, which was funny, but
[00:24:53] Marc Gonyea: That, that’s amazing. That’s, no, it’s about.
[00:24:57] Chris Corcoran: Hey, Brooklynn, Brooklynn, do you have the, uh, that call recorded?
[00:25:01] Brooklynn Newberry: It was recorded, and I’m pretty sure, I forget who, I think someone saved it, I had to have given it to someone, but it’s definitely somewhere, I think either I saved it on my computer or Steve saved it. It’s somewhere.
[00:25:16] Chris Corcoran: You’ve gotta get your hands on that.
[00:25:17] Marc Gonyea: You’ve gotta get hands on that. That’s your peace state resistance.
[00:25:22] Brooklynn Newberry: I know, right? It, it’s, it’s crazy. It was a crazy call.
[00:25:27] Marc Gonyea: When you were here, who else was good that you were learning from, like on the floor?
[00:25:32] Brooklynn Newberry: Yeah. So, in Denver, I had a mentor, and in DC I had a mentor. So, in Denver, Gia De Choudens.
[00:25:39] Marc Gonyea: Gia. She’s great.
[00:25:40] Brooklynn Newberry: Yeah. Gia’s awesome. So, I was learning from her, which, you know, obviously, it’s funny because we were in the swing space at the time, and G and I were, you know, we would go head to head, I mean, no,
[00:25:51] Marc Gonyea: Okay, her whole shoot, I would love to ringside scene for that.
[00:25:54] Brooklynn Newberry: It was this really fun, you know, kind of like head-to-head against mentor-mentee that we had going on of who could book the most in a day. And they had, it was Caroline, um, it was Team Caroline, she had a whiteboard, and she would write everyone’s names, and even though I wasn’t on Caroline’s team, I wrote my name at the bottom.
[00:26:14] Marc Gonyea: You just wanna be part of that team, right? Yeah, yeah.
[00:26:16] Brooklynn Newberry: And I would start, like, racking up the numbers, and Gia would get, like, you know, when I stood up to go change my number to, like, however many you booked, or however many occurred, you would see Gia’s face,
[00:26:26] like, “Oh, I have to get another one.” And so, it was actually kind of, it was really fun for me to have that, um, you know, kind of competitiveness with my mentor because it just made that working environment so much more fun, um, to have the person, um, who’s also training you have this, like, little competition going with you.
[00:26:46] And then we would, you know, go out and get lunch for the winner, you know, do something fun. So, we had, we had a blast doing that.
[00:26:53] Marc Gonyea: Excellent. And you, anyone else? Anyone else in that game?
[00:26:57] Brooklynn Newberry: Yes. Well, not, not in that game, but then I had another mentor that was also in DC, Erin.
[00:27:03] Marc Gonyea: Okay. Erin.
[00:27:04] Brooklynn Newberry: Oh gosh, I’m forgetting
[00:27:05] Chris Corcoran: Miller, Erin Miller.
[00:27:06] Brooklynn Newberry: Miller, thank you.
[00:27:07] Marc Gonyea: No. Oh, Erin Miller, yes.
[00:27:08] Brooklynn Newberry: I blanked on her name.
[00:27:09] Marc Gonyea: Yeah, she’s strong. She works with Steve now.
[00:27:11] Brooklynn Newberry: Yeah, yeah, she does, she works with Steve now.
[00:27:12] Marc Gonyea: Oh, that was weak, let’s do it again. Oh, better, better.
[00:27:14] Brooklynn Newberry: There you go.
[00:27:15] Marc Gonyea: Slightly better.
[00:27:16] Chris Corcoran: Miller Time.
[00:27:17] Marc Gonyea: Miller time, yeah, she’s a beast.
[00:27:19] Brooklynn Newberry: Yeah, she’s awesome. So, you know, we didn’t have, like, that competition, but she was definitely the mentor that was so wise, just, like, I would have, like, a little problem, and she’s like, “How did, why didn’t you try it like this?”
[00:27:32] You know? Or, “Why don’t you do this?” And it was just crazy because it worked so well. And so, we, me and her, you know, had a really good friendship and we, we became friends over the years. I still talk to her to this day. She wants to come out and visit in Colorado.
[00:27:46] Marc Gonyea: That’s great.
[00:27:46] Brooklynn Newberry: Um, but yeah, she was awesome, and great mentor that I had, hung out with her on Tops too, we had a great time, but yeah, some really great people I, I’ve worked with here.
[00:27:57] Marc Gonyea: Yeah, yeah. You were flashing your athletic ability there, I can’t do flips either. I can’t dance, I can’t do flips, I’m not that good on the phone anymore.
[00:28:05] When you’re, so as you’re working here, right, so you’re learning the game, I mean, you’re obviously applying your past success in life to this position, qualify for Tops, which is an incentive trip for top performers. Steve obviously had a really strong team, but not only that, like, I think what says a lot about you is sometimes people who, if their team is back east and they were here, like, you were ingratiating yourself with the people
[00:28:32] around in this office too, for some people, like, “I don’t wanna work with anybody here, I can go, maybe I can work from my house.” I don’t, why was that important to you? Like, the office culture, in that, that part of your career?
[00:28:42] Brooklynn Newberry: Yeah. I think that just, again, comes from, like, being sociable. I, I also wanted to feel that competitiveness and I would feel that competitiveness, obviously, with being on, you know, team Manolakis.
[00:28:54] um, where, you know, we were usually, you know, at the top of the scoreboard for lots of things, and we were trying to make sure that we stayed there, but I also wanted to feel the competitive nature in Denver, too. So, it was really important for me to, at least, you know, like, play some games, like, with my mentor,
[00:29:10] or, you know, kind of, you know, you know, pick on, you know, Caroline’s team a little bit, like, you know, by being, by being competitive, like, oh, like, “Hey, Luke, I see that you haven’t gotten a book today.” You know, you know, just kind of, you know, picking on them, you know, obviously as, as friends, but, um, that was just important for me.
[00:29:29] It was important for me to feel competitive and, and feel sociable and, and also make those friends, you know, it’s hard to be sometimes in office if you are working from home ’cause you don’t have people to go to lunch with, or, you know, hang out with. So, for me, also being in the office space was really important for me to have some friends and be able to get some lunch and create that competitive and, you know, happy culture within the office too.
[00:29:52] Marc Gonyea: Would you recommend that culture to someone who’s looking to get started as an SDR?
[00:29:56] Brooklynn Newberry: Absolutely, yeah. And even if you’re thinking about, you know, being remote or, you know, being in an office culture that has a good culture, it is really important, even when I have the option to, you know, be remote every other week when, you know, DC was going back and forth,
[00:30:11] I would prefer to be in the office here in Denver most of the time because it was just so important for me to be able to build off each other and, um, you know, people around you can really, you know, make or break something, you know, because, you know, they can be positive and be building you up, which also makes you better in your career.
[00:30:29] Which makes you want to be better in your career. If you’re at home or you’re in an environment where people don’t want to thrive, they don’t want to get better, how are you gonna be bettering yourself when you’re just sitting at home? So, for me, it was really important for me to actually get in here and, you know, talk to people and, and be in a positive environment. That was important for me to just build my career and, and build my skills, even.
[00:30:49] Marc Gonyea: Corcoran, and she’s gotten some, meanwhile, she’s working with the Nuggets, doing her dance thing. If anybody would have an excuse to try and work from home, it would be you.
[00:31:00] Brooklynn Newberry: Right. And I know a lot of, of teammates that, that do try to work from home just because of that.
[00:31:05] But then, they get to practice, and they’re like, “Well, I feel like I didn’t do anything today because I just sat at home, and then I came to practice. Even though they were doing their job, it almost feels like they become more lazy or they, you know, they, they have not, not as much motivation. And so, I think it just helps to be in the office for just your mental state, too.
[00:31:24] Marc Gonyea: Yeah, you’re
[00:31:25] Chris Corcoran: Hundred percent.
[00:31:26] Marc Gonyea: A hundred percent, right.
[00:31:27] Chris Corcoran: Hey, Brooklynn, Brooklynn, what, uh, what was the biggest misconception you had about being an SDR?
[00:31:35] Brooklynn Newberry: I was worried that, you know, it was just gonna be like cold call, like, I’d being miserable, like, just making a hundred phone calls a day, like, you know, getting people on the phone who were maybe rude to me. I, I thought that that was gonna be the life that I was getting into and, like, absolutely you’re gonna be making calls, but it wasn’t that life for me.
[00:31:58] I was more focused on the competitive nature and the, um, you know, the family and team aspects of the company than I ever was for those five-second phone calls that I would have. You know, you’d think that your whole day was gonna be, like calling people, but really, yeah, like, you would call in the morning and you would call at night, but everything else has to do with your team and the competitive nature and building each other up,
[00:32:22] and, um, you know, these little in between of, you know, trying to find, be creative and, and trying to find different ways that would work as sales tactics. Like, maybe there’s something on LinkedIn that you’re doing or maybe you’re researching a problem that’s happening within the worlds that could really benefit, you know, a, a tactic that could really benefit the people that you’re gonna call.
[00:32:42] And so, it was so much more than that, and, you know, I, I think that for anyone who is, you know, maybe scared to be in the SDR position, you know, that, that calling aspect is a small portion. It is an important portion, but it, it’s not the whole thing, there’s such more of a creative platform, you know, that you’ll need, a more of a performance ath, like, platform that you’ll need in order to be successful.
[00:33:06] Marc Gonyea: That’s a great question, Chris, and that’s a great answer, Brooklynn.
[00:33:09] Brooklynn Newberry: Thank you.
[00:33:09] Marc Gonyea: You’re welcome. Why do more people have that perspective, right? Because some people will get all tied up in those things that, you’re right, there are a portion of it, but why doesn’t everyone kind of see it more that way? Not gonna see it exactly your way, but that’s like the challenge we have.
[00:33:26] Brooklynn Newberry: Yeah, you know, I
[00:33:27] Marc Gonyea: Not with everyone, but
[00:33:29] Brooklynn Newberry: It’s, we can think about this in another way, you know, why do we hear more negative news than positive news, right? Um, people like to complain, you know, or, you know, maybe they had a bad experience in something.
[00:33:41] People are going to always say something, you know, that’s negative, and that might stick out to you more than someone who’s having a positive experience. You know, the news never talks about, you know, the great things that are happening in someone’s life, you know, I think it’s just important to talk to the both sides,
[00:33:57] maybe talk to someone who had, like, not a great experience, but also take into consideration talking to someone who had a great experience and seeing actually where, what your opinion is and where, where your opinion lies, you know, rather than just looking at one side or the other, you know, you actually have to make that, you know, that prediction by yourself.
[00:34:17] Marc Gonyea: Well said.
[00:34:17] Chris Corcoran: Yeah, I don’t, I don’t, I don’t remember seeing the news story about the, the young woman from Littleton, a hometown hero, tried out for the Nuggets four years in a row, on the fifth year she finally made the team. I don’t remember seeing that on the news, they’d rather talk about something bad, right? Something negative.
[00:34:31] Brooklynn Newberry: Oh, absolutely.
[00:34:34] Marc Gonyea: It’s unfortunate because the way you, I haven’t heard someone, I don’t think we’ve had anyone chub up the job that way, Chris. We’ve had people, we’ve had really good takes on it, like yours, but that is one that, it requires some perspective, I think. And it’s, it’s hard for people to get past the rejection, I think, right?
[00:34:56] Brooklynn Newberry: Right. Definitely.
[00:34:57] Marc Gonyea: There’s a lot of rejection in the gig, and you can normalize it certain ways and rationalize it, which is great and everyone digests that, but then sometimes people can’t get past it, they, uh, they end up blaming everything else, right, and every, everyone but themself. When they control the perspective of, of where they’re, they’re coming from.
[00:35:15] Brooklynn Newberry: Right. Because I think if you actually talk to someone, you know, maybe someone who didn’t get the job, who’s like, “Oh, I would never do that because it’s, you know.” And then, they say all the negative things rather than someone who has been in the job, who’s, you know, been doing really well and thriving. I mean, it’s a completely different perspective, you know, so.
[00:35:30] Marc Gonyea: Yeah. It’s fascinating. So, you’re doing the job. Where’d you think you wanted to go? What, what, what you wanted to do?
[00:35:38] Brooklynn Newberry: Well, so,
[00:35:39] Marc Gonyea: ‘Cause you’re seeing people leave, you’re seeing people stay, Gia, delivery manager here, you got a couple people here on the sales team who are here when you were here. So, you got people who get converted by their clients, people going out rising stars, or what did you think? Okay, what was opening up in your mind?
[00:35:55] Brooklynn Newberry: Well, originally, you know, I was like, I’m never leaving, like,
[00:36:00] Marc Gonyea: Oh, come on. Gosh, darn it. Seriously?
[00:36:04] Brooklynn Newberry: Oh, yeah. No, I was talking to, I was talking to Libby, you know, and I was like, I’m gonna, I’m gonna do, like, recruiting.
[00:36:12] Marc Gonyea: Oh, come on.
[00:36:14] Brooklynn Newberry: Or, like, DM or something. But it wasn’t until I got the client that I have, you know, or, you know, the place I work now was a client, and that’s when, you know, my, you know, kind of idea started to kind of shift because they’re such a cool company and
[00:36:32] Marc Gonyea: Which is great, by the way. It’s the model.
[00:36:34] Brooklynn Newberry: They’re, they’re such a cool company, and they really make such a difference in the worlds that, you know
[00:36:38] Marc Gonyea: Tell us about it.
[00:36:39] Brooklynn Newberry: Yeah. So, the company I work for, so they’re criminal investigation technology, and they, we, what we do is we help solve a lot of crimes, and in order to sell our product, we help solve these crimes and, you know, maybe call up these detectives,
[00:36:53] or, um, these criminal analysts and, you know, let them know, “Hey, like, I might have a suspect for you, I have this lead for you, let’s have a meeting, let’s check it out.” So, it’s great because we work with a lot of law enforcement agencies to help solve these crimes, but we also do a lot of work within security for, like, corporate companies as well, or, you know, law enforcement agencies to make, you know, to help them know that this individual is actually not the person they’re looking for to maybe clear someone’s name. So, there’s a lot we can do with our, our technology, which is, which is really cool.
[00:37:25] Marc Gonyea: And what opened up your mind to go work there?
[00:37:29] Brooklynn Newberry: Yeah, so they were my second client here at memoryBlue, and, um, you know, I was having conversations with a lot of the people on the team now are law enforcement, or ex-law enforcement, or a lot of them, you know, agencies that they’ve worked for. And they were just talking about some of the differences that they’ve made, you know, some of the people that they’ve gotten off the streets, you know, fighting crime, you know, fight, like, solving serial killer crimes,
[00:37:54] you know, and, and that was just incredible to me that you could be in a sales position, you could have that, you know, the creative puzzle aspect where, okay, we’re solving these crimes, we’re doing these puzzles, but we’re also selling a product. So, it was just, a really interesting and, and cool worlds that, you know, I just wanted to be a part of. I thought it was amazing.
[00:38:16] Marc Gonyea: And then, how did it go down? Like, you were doing your thing, and then did they bring it up to you? Had you thought about it, and they had brought it up before? Talk, walk us through that ’cause people always tell you how you get hired by a client? Some, it, this happens sometimes.
[00:38:33] Brooklynn Newberry: So, you know, I was just booking a lot of meetings for them and, um, booking a lot of meetings that stuck, you know, with people who would continue to have conversations or, you know, decide to buy, you know, helping them make a lot of revenue, and they were just, you know, and amazed by that, you know, especially compared to, you know, some of the other, you know, salespeople on their team that might have different techniques,
[00:38:57] but, you know, I have a completely different perspective, and I’m, I’m helping and making all this revenue, and, and that’s when they were like, “Okay, like, we, we need to have you full time, like, we can’t risk losings you.” You know, and then, and then they go ahead and they, they offer you, um, you know, a position for, for you to start there.
[00:39:13] Marc Gonyea: And what are you doing for ’em? Like, what’s your role? And what’s your day, talk, walk us through your kind of day-to-day.
[00:39:19] Brooklynn Newberry: Yeah, so I’m an inside sales rep. And so, I’m actually doing right now the entire sales cycle, from prospecting, from the beginning, you know, I could be doing some cold calls, majority of the time, you know, I, we either get inbound leads or, um, we actually find prospects out at, like, conferences or conventions. So, you know, I’ll prospect,
[00:39:39] Marc Gonyea: So, you, you’ll go to convention, okay.
[00:39:41] Brooklynn Newberry: Yeah, it’s kind of fun. We just got back from Tampa. I was, you know, prospecting in Disney World, that was super fun, um, you know, obviously you’re about to go on Star Wars ride, and you’re, you know, “Hey, so, what are you doing with, uh, your criminal analyst?”
[00:39:55] Marc Gonyea: Yeah, there you go.
[00:39:56] Brooklynn Newberry: So, it’s, it’s kinda fun. So, we, you know, we prospect, and then I start writing up contracts or quotes for them, um, you know, I help them even, even through maybe getting grants or trying to find the funding. And then, from there, you know, writing up their official contracts and then I even do training for them.
[00:40:13] So, we do training in person, and we also do it online. So, I could be flying to a police department, you know, just to get everyone onboarded, um, you know, or I could do that online, but yeah, there’s definitely a lot of different bits and pieces that come, that come to my role.
[00:40:29] Marc Gonyea: What, like, muscles have you had to develop as you transition to a closing role that you didn’t have coming out memoryBlue as an SDR?
[00:40:37] Brooklynn Newberry: Yeah. It’s very different, and it’s actually been taking a lot of time to, you know, get used to, and even still get used to because it’s a lot of follow-up, you know, it starts, you know, with memoryBlue, it’s, it’s just getting them hooked, getting them interested, and then you have to make sure that you’re following up.
[00:40:53] You send them a quote, “All right, hey, like, how’s it going, coming, coming to, you know, finding a grant, you know, how, how’s the approval process coming?” I mean, there’s, there’s so much more following up ’cause you have to make sure that they’re not forgetting about you, or if a grant does come through that they’re, you have to make sure that they are gonna spend that money
[00:41:09] on your product and, you know, they’re not just gonna spend it on something else. So, um, you know, it’s a lot more following up, it’s a lot more checking in, it’s also a lot more relationship building, you know, you talk to those people, you know, a lot more than you would just in an SDR role. And so, they gotta become your buddies, you know?
[00:41:28] You gotta be able to call ’em up, “Hey, like, how’s your, how’s your kids?” You know, just having fun conversations with them, you know, ’cause you want them to be your friends, you want them to be able to trust you. So, it’s a lot of relationship-building, too.
[00:41:40] Marc Gonyea: What, uh, what do you like the most about closing?
[00:41:43] Brooklynn Newberry: Well, I would be lying if I didn’t say it was commission.
[00:41:48] Chris Corcoran: Hmm.
[00:41:49] Marc Gonyea: That’s important, yeah.
[00:41:51] Brooklynn Newberry: But also I, again, I think majority, also is creating those relationships. Those relationships are so important, and that’s why I started doing this in the first place, doing, you know, sales is having those relationships, being able to talk to people, maybe even being able to travel and, and, and see these people in person.
[00:42:09] Building those relationships, not just over the phone, but, you know, face to face, getting dinner or, you know, going to these conferences and, and, and talking about the problems that are in the world and how we can fix them. I think those, those are, you know, some really important aspects.
[00:42:24] Marc Gonyea: Excellent, excellent. Chris, you got anything? You good?
[00:42:29] Chris Corcoran: I wouldn’t, Brooklynn, so, looking back before you started, uh, your career as a sales development rep, what advice would you give yourself now, now that you know where all the pitfalls are, and the booby traps are, what advice would you give yourself?
[00:42:43] Brooklynn Newberry: I would tell myself to not be afraid, kind of like I was talking about when I was growing up, I was, I’ve always been very afraid of taking chances. And so, leaving, you know, a biology degree to come and try out this, you know, sales, you know, gig. There was a lot of, you know, scarcity, like, I was, I was really scared to come into this, um, position and try something new.
[00:43:10] And I did have to spend, like, you know, some time, like, really making sure, like, this was the path that I wanted to do in my brain, I was kind of having a battle with myself. I think I would just tell myself to not be afraid, stop having that battle with yourself, sometimes your gut knows better than your brain,
[00:43:26] you know, you’re, you’re stressing yourself out, just do it, go follow your gut, um, you’re gonna be great at it, you know, don’t listen to these negative comments that are coming up, you need, you need to experience it for yourself, you know, follow your gut, that’s what I would say.
[00:43:43] Marc Gonyea: What about, and you could maybe relate this to women in sales. So, we have clients who ask us a lot, “Hey, you know, do you guys have more women? Why don’t more women work for you guys?” Or can we have we, and then, you know, people ask me that and then, you know, we go to these recruiting events, it, it seems to be a challenge for us to get more women in the, the tech sales world.
[00:44:05] And you’re kind of a good example, that you’re a biology major, that’s not an easy major, but at a, at a good school and we, thank you Andrew Plax, right? All, all of us, a toast, but he was able to kinda get you in the mix. That doesn’t always work either, is it, why do you think that is? And I don’t know, anything we can do or, or
[00:44:25] Brooklynn Newberry: Yeah. I think it’s, it’s difficult because same as me, I think there’s just a lot of people who are scared, a lot of women who are scared to get into this industry, you know, because usually it’s, it’s, it’s always been male dominant. So, you know, sometimes you feel like, all right, well maybe I’m not gonna be good at that,
[00:44:44] or, um, you know, maybe, maybe I’m not gonna have a lot of respect there, you know, sometimes I don’t want people to feel like, you know, when I talk to them over the phone, like, I don’t know what I’m talking about, or, you know, I’m, you know, you know, stupid, I’m just a, a little blonde girl that doesn’t know what she’s talking about.
[00:45:01] And I think that can be, you know, come from some, from a lot of fear from a lot of other women, too. And I think just, you know, taking that, again, what the advice that I gave myself, you know, you have to take that advice, you have to know everything’s gonna be okay, you need to trust your gut.
[00:45:18] Stop listening to what other people are saying, um, you know, stop thinking about the worst possible outcome, it’s not that way in the real world, you know, you know, you’re, you’re stressing yourself out, just go with your gut, you have to go with your gut and, you know, we need to convince more women out there that,
[00:45:36] go with your gut, you don’t need to, you know, go and be in a woman dominant job, you know, you sometimes you need to take the leap of faith to actually find what you’re good at and what, what job you’re happy in, um, you know, don’t follow the social norm, don’t follow the social standard, you know, go with your gut.
[00:45:52] Marc Gonyea: That’s great. That’s great advice. And, you know, we can kind of end on this, where do you see yourself going? Like, so, now you’re closing, do you wanna keep doing that for a little while? Have you thought about what you might wanna do down the road?
[00:46:03] Brooklynn Newberry: Yeah, I, I definitely see myself in this position for, for a while. I do like closing, I love sales, I’m not really sure if I see myself, you know, going out of sales, um, I think I’ve really found where I belong,
[00:46:17] Marc Gonyea: Sounds like it.
[00:46:18] Brooklynn Newberry: as, yeah, as far as that goes, I, I’ve really enjoyed my time and, you know, if anything, I would at least like to, you know, maybe at one day in my company that, you know, be a mentor to somebody, you know, also, you know, recreate that, you know, competitive feeling, you know, hopefully, will gain people, get more people on my team so I can be competitive with them.
[00:46:37] But also, you know, just, just maybe being able to be a manager one day to, you know, talk about my experience and, and help other people who are starting off in the experience through their struggles and through, you know, maybe their problems, maybe if they’re scared or maybe if they have, you know, need advice, you know, I think that that’s where I would see myself.
[00:46:58] Marc Gonyea: Well, that’s great. I don’t have any doubt that you’re probably gonna get there if that’s what you wanna do.
[00:47:03] Chris Corcoran: Sky’s the limit.
[00:47:04] Brooklynn Newberry: Yes, absolutely.
[00:47:06] Marc Gonyea: Brooklynn, thanks for doing this.
[00:47:08] Brooklynn Newberry: Yeah, absolutely. Thanks for having me, it’s been a blast.
[00:47:10] Marc Gonyea: It’s great to see you.
[00:47:11] Brooklynn Newberry: Yeah, you guys too.
[00:47:12] Marc Gonyea: You’re doing so well, wow.
[00:47:14] Brooklynn Newberry: Thank you.
[00:47:14] Marc Gonyea: You know what? I love hearing these stories. I don’t even know about it, half what’s going on with people, I see you on LinkedIn, but that was, that was, that was very insightful, and Chris and I appreciate your time.
[00:47:25] Brooklynn Newberry: Yeah, thank you so much. I really appreciate it, Chris, too.
[00:47:27] Chris Corcoran: Yep. Thanks, Brooklynn.
[00:47:30] Brooklynn Newberry: Hey, thanks so much.