Listen First, Then Lead

I have spent more than 20 years in sales and business development, working with start-ups, established brands, buyers, distributors and retailers. Early in my career, I also had the opportunity to sit on the buying side, and that experience changed the way I looked at selling. I learned that there is always another person on the other side of the pitch—and understanding what they need is often more important than what we came prepared to say.

This blog is where I will share some of the lessons I have learned along the way: building brands from the ground up, navigating long sales cycles, developing relationships, hearing ‘no’ and knowing when it might really mean ‘not now,’ making mistakes, following up, mentoring others and occasionally figuring things out the hard way.