I don't have to go to work. I get to go to work.

Why Rundoo?

I had worked at what felt like every stage of company, from start up to fortune 50 — and had sold what felt like everything there was to sell. I thought all "corporate" sales roles were essentially the same, and then I found Rundoo.

I was working as an Account Executive at a Series D startup, and had the same pains and frustrations I'd seen in similar roles at other organizations. I didn't feel like I was having the level of impact and agency I was looking for in my personal and professional development. Once I started the interview process with Rundoo, I could immediately see something different: the genuine passion and enthusiasm the leaders of the company had when speaking about it. I'd seen this faked many, many times, but with Rundoo it was abundantly clear and tangible. Whatever it was, I knew I wanted to be involved, ASAP.

I'd worked my way from SDR to Head of Sales at previous roles, hit President's club several times, even flown to the UK to meet with board members and founders with previous companies, but it still always felt like a job — I had to go to work. With Rundoo, that tangible feeling I got during the interview process has not only persisted but increased. I don't have to go to work — I get to go to work.

I remember at the end of the interview process, I finished my two hour mock closing session with our VP of Sales, Matt, and as I left and shook his hand I told him: "regardless of the outcome I want to tell you, I learned so much from this process and it was incredibly valuable for me as a sales professional moving forward, so thank you." Thankfully, Matt ended up calling me with good news a couple days later.

What I learned as an AE at Rundoo

When I started I was admittedly nervous. I was the youngest on the AE team at 26, and the previous AE roles I'd worked were all remote — meaning I hadn't actually brought on a partner in person before, and this would be the majority of what I would be doing at Rundoo. While the initial nerves were still there, after learning more about how Rundoo genuinely made such a massive difference to the lives of our clients and their businesses, I was absolutely sure it was a mission I was behind 100%. After doing my ride along with my colleague and friend Sam Few down in Georgia, getting to go in and meet store owners, their families and staff, and learn about their businesses, I was confident I could really make an impact.

In my time covering Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana as my territory, I feel like I could write a book with all I learned and the experiences I had. From helping a store owner's mother stock shelves in Cullman, Alabama, to going out to dinner with Mark and Vicki Howard who own Howard's Paint and Decorating in Gulfport, Mississippi after we agreed to do business together — one thing stuck out as the biggest and most important difference in representing Rundoo. Every part of the process from start to finish was 100% about "how can I help improve these folks' lives and businesses." It was the first time in my career that I felt like I was really in a consultative role, and any choice or decision in the process was to put the prospective client I was working with in the best spot for success. They call it God's country down there for a reason — every single person and company I met with was genuine, polite, and made me feel at home, even though I was 1000 miles away from Chicago at times.

Transitioning to leadership

I've since had the pleasure of taking over as the head of our inside sales team as our SDR manager, and I couldn't be more grateful for every single person on my team, and to our leadership team at Rundoo for giving me the chance to have actual agency and to be able to trust my gut on a project from start to finish. I'd never known what that felt like before. Our team is full of incredible individuals personally and professionally, who hail from 4 different continents, and are some of the most personable, motivated, and passionate people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. Since I took over as the manager of the team, with the help of our amazing talent team Elena, Shannon and Amanda, we've tripled in size, and the impact is 10x.

We're improving every single day, and more importantly, we really really enjoy it. A few of the SDRs I manage will soon be making the leap to AE, which is a big jump from a career perspective, and I couldn't be more confident in their abilities or more excited for their success to continue in that role. They've been able to join Rundoo and make such a tangible and immediate impact the same way I did, and they can feel it. That matters more to me than anything.

Rundoo vs. a big-tech name

I cannot overstress the importance of having agency and ownership over your life. Without it you feel like things just happen to you — as opposed to being able to go and make things happen. I've been a cog in the wheel at Fortune 50 companies where I could see the writing on the wall: good, bad or indifferent, there was no way I could make any sort of tangible impact within the next 5 years. It wasn't set up that way — it was the opposite. The idea was to dangle the carrot, keep me showing up but not passionate, comfortable but not excited, motivated but not ambitious.

In my time at Rundoo, I've felt the impact I've made from the first day up until now, and I have no doubt that feeling will continue to increase ten fold. Our software is constantly improving to the needs of our clients — the same way our internal team is constantly improving to the need of our ability to serve those clients. I'm thrilled I get to be a part of it, and I don't know anyone at the company that would say any different.