Wendi: [00:00:00] Hello and welcome to episode 241. So today I have a special guest where we are going to be talking all about sales, but before we do all of that, I want to thank you. If you stumbled upon this podcast for joining me today, I hope that you are excited about the upcoming topic that I have today about sales.

And if you’re been joining me for quite a while, I want to thank you for joining me again and. Hope that you’re sharing this episode. And if you haven’t already, I would love to ask you for a favor. And that is to leave me a review. All you have to do is scroll down to the podcast platform that you’re listening on, scroll to the very bottom and rate, and also leave me a comment.

This is not only helpful for me as it encourages me to continue to publish more episodes, but also it helps reach more women that are interested in learning more about their careers, about life in general, and just a meaning Of life outside of the military. All right. And with that I want to introduce to you today Trish [00:01:00] Smith Thank you so much for joining me.

Trish Smith: Absolutely. I’m so happy to

Wendi: Yeah, and so a little background of how Trish and I Interacted we actually have known each other for quite a while now kind of indirectly I want to say but She was actually a part of one of the conferences that I was a part of And at that time I was actually a recruiter and this was for an Alliance Careers Conference in Dallas, Texas.

And she stopped by just to say hello because she was so gracious to share her time with us and really just see how all the candidates were doing and how the conference was going, being that she was also an alumni of the Alliance Careers Program. And Trish and I connected on LinkedIn. Again, you all the power of LinkedIn.

And I. Love LinkedIn so much as a tool for you to get resources to help you with your military transition, but also to help you with networking. And so Trish reached out and said, Hey, Wendi, I have my own story to share with [00:02:00] other women that are transitioning out of the military, but also to encourage more women to pursue sales opportunities.

And so I also want to say that this episode is not being sponsored. I want to share my journey, but also Trish’s journey and really highlight her sales opportunity and how, , Alliance careers really did help me with my transition and really understanding what opportunities were out there.

And so Trish, can you introduce yourself before we get started?

Trish Smith: Absolutely. So, , I was, year group 2010. I commissioned as a military police officer in 2010. , spent a wonderful, , wonderful five and a half years or so at Fort Bragg, now Fort Liberty. And when I got out, I was just like, They had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up, so to speak. , so I, I went to, , through the Alliance careers program, and I’m sure we’ll talk more about that, , shortly here, but I ended up finding, , , a role I fell in love with cardiac med device sales. We’ll talk more about it. Spent [00:03:00] nearly a decade in this industry, in this space, , loving every bit of it.

And then just recently, I like to say I replaced patients with transitioning service members. , So I’m back. I work with Alliance Careers now on the candidate team. , and so just recently stepped in that role 

Wendi: I love that. And for those of you that do not know 

Alliance careers, they specialize in placing junior military officers. And so Trish actually graduated from West Point. And one of the things that I love about Trish’s journey, but also about the company is that they focus, they have a niche on focusing on junior military officers.

But here’s the thing, even if you’re not an officer, if you’re still thinking about the transition and you’re a woman specifically, you want to hear about Trish’s journey and the tools that she used. To help her understand how her military police experience and skills helped her to excel in those opportunities.

I know that [00:04:00] some of you are possibly Field Artillery, , Logistics, , maybe in a field that you don’t want to pursue in this sector and it’s completely okay. You don’t have to be , an expert in sales or an expert in marketing. You can start right where you are. And so if you’re listening and you’re like, okay, well, I still have a year out.

I still have six months. 

This is a great opportunity for you to learn because like Trish said, and , I was laughing as you were saying that Trish, cause I think we all have the same feeling, right? We’re like. Uncertain. We have no idea what we’re going to do when we get out. It’s like 

starting a new life because we are starting a new identity.

And so, yeah. 

Can you tell us a little bit, a bit more about how you landed in this role specifically?

Trish Smith: Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. So like I said, I was, you know, evaluating my options,, in the military, you’re thrown into so many types of different jobs, you know, you wear a lot of hats as they like to say, you’ve probably got a ton of operations experience I loved being an S4, so I was saying, [00:05:00] would I like supply chain management?

I don’t know, you know, but you’re used to being adaptable. You’re used to learning things quickly. So. I felt like I was a jack of all trades, master of none. And I really wanted to learn a little bit more about what that other side would be. You know, sometimes we joke it, it almost feels like, It’s a black box.

It’s almost like people, like you die cause you, you don’t, you just kind of like disappear

into sunset, you know? So for me, what I knew I needed to do, and I think this is important for anybody transitioning is a little bit of introspection. So one of the things that really helped me and that was something I did in parallel with the Alliance Careers Program is, is trying to understand what it was that, Program. That I was most passionate about in my, my military service. , and so I kept myself industry open. I kept myself open to many different function areas, of the corporate world or corporate America. I took a bunch of the self paced classes that we offer through our [00:06:00] program. And I found myself. Well, I guess two things. One, people might not believe it, but military police officers do enjoy helping people. So I, I had the opportunity to open a school for female military police officers in Kandahar city. And when I looked at my military, career, that was one of the most rewarding parts of my experience. When I was a part of a transformation for somebody. When I was helping somebody, that is when I came alive., and then this, the second element of that was, you know, I was a competitive athlete growing up. I love to win in the military. You know, I, I never saw myself as somebody who would be, I didn’t ever see myself as a salesperson, but I knew I liked achieving results.

And I knew I liked to you know, outcomes based. per pay and performance based pay. And so I had a competitive drive that I saw myself as we got closer to the hiring conference, I was gravitating more towards those sales classes, and I was [00:07:00] beginning to enjoy those classes more. So that’s kind of why I was even open to considering a sales opportunity, just because of that very organic process of looking in, Seeing what I was enjoying, and then having an opportunity to gauge my own level of enjoyment 

Wendi: no, I love that. And one thing that stood out to me that you said was you didn’t see yourself as a salesperson. Can you elaborate more on? First, what that meant for 

you before learning about the sales 

Trish Smith: Mm hmm. Totally. 

So, your eyes and imagine, envision, if you think of somebody who’s selling something, what are you seeing? And do you see yourself in that position? So, you know, I saw that as, you know, A wheeling and dealing kind of person. I saw that transparently. I saw that as probably a guy, you know, I didn’t, it’s not necessarily fair to say that, but when you think about some of those selling stereotypes and I, and I love that you mentioned this in your LinkedIn article [00:08:00] recently, you know, it’s, it wasn’t something that I really envisioned for myself.

What helped me was, you know, I kept my options open, which I would encourage I would encourage people to do, and I learned about this industry that, that I previously had no idea even existed. You know, you know, the cardiac medical device industry, there’s feeder programs, there’s all these things that I had no idea existed.

I knew people had pacemakers or defibrillators, and I knew, I knew about the heart in the most vaguest sense, you know, I was sociology major and environmental engineering. I was not somebody who, Who grew up a biomedical engineer. I was not somebody who saw that, but what I loved and what kind of changed my mind was the purpose that was behind that. That was, that was, I was part of somebody’s scariest day and I was providing a solution for them and their family and the hospital and the doctor. And, and I could tell you stories [00:09:00] for for days about the powerful impact that a successful and empathetic and knowledgeable sales rep had in my field.

And when I saw that opportunity on my list of different things, I just knew it was the right fit.

 For the space that I ended up in, it was not important for me to have had a pure scientific background, but what it did do is it made the learning curve. I started out as a clinical. You had to prove yourself before you were given a sales territory. So I knew my learning curve would be steep. And so being competitive, I was the only person in this class of, biomedical engineer interns. I was older, I had a lot to prove, but I knew I could do it. And so right away you’re competitive, someone gave me this chance in this new industry. I’m ready to prove them right. I want to get to this place, for us, we had to pass a series of tests and this is unique probably to the space, but we had [00:10:00] to pass some clinical tests in order to be, considered at a certain level. So that was, that was unique to that space, but that right at the gate, that competitive drive allowed me to make up any ground that, the people around me may have had a small advantage on. After that, when it came time to having my own territory, I loved the autonomy. I got to make the rules. I got to set up my priorities. I got to, to basically Approach it the way I wanted it to and my competitive nature I got to be creative to achieve the goals that I needed to achieve and that I wanted to achieve. And that I was proud to be the outsider kind of coming in and showing up and kicking, kicking butt. I’m not alone in this, but you know, as a woman showing up to PT and maybe somebody is a little bit mouthy and beating them on a run or beating them at other things, there is, there is a level of satisfaction that you get. Anyways, it’s, it’s just, it’s a lot of fun. So it’s a competition. You always, [00:11:00] you have these numbers that you’re trying to hit, these goals you’re trying to hit. And for some people that’s, that can be enough of a purpose. That could be your whole driver. You could do that and you make more money for your family. Success creates options. You create more options and opportunities for you and your family and then, it’s fun to achieve. And in my space, it meant more people got our technology, which I truly believed in.

I loved everything you just said, Trish, and that’s exactly what I envisioned when I was going through the program was a car salesman. And for me it was just this idea of Not knowing how to do it or be that individual. And so when it was first offered to me, I was like, absolutely not. I do not want to be a car salesman.

But as you mentioned, it’s more than that. It’s more than just selling something. It’s actually putting something out there, that is valuable for people. Right. [00:12:00] And thinking about it in that way of how can I offer someone something of value that they could use possibly. Now or even later and so I think that it’s very important for us to understand and recognize that to begin with and another thing that you mentioned That I think is really something that we need to consider As we’re getting out.

So if you’re transitioning out, I want you to really Understand what drives you right just how Trish was talking about what drives her and it’s it’s Taking care of people. It’s helping people. , just like you mentioned when you started the school and so a school for women. And so again, it really just begins with what is going to motivate us to continue to keep going., and it could not, or it doesn’t need to be necessarily a specific item, right? It could just be a simple service. And so for those of you that love to serve [00:13:00] people that are motivated. And have the drive to do something more for others. And, you know, let that be your purpose. And maybe this is something that you want to consider, right?

Sales. It’s just, it’s more than a serve. It’s more than the actual item or the product, right? It’s about serving others. And so Trish, can you tell us a little bit more about your specific sales opportunity? 

Trish Smith: that’s a great question, Wendi. If there is a specific space that you are interested in entering, well, I guess first of all, I would wrap your head around the, the possibility that you could excel in sales. Just start to consider it. And the world is so vast with resources. You can listen to podcasts, read, begin to read books. There are ways, if you begin to open your mind to this, you know, I’m particularly passionate about medtech and meddevice and people, it’s a people job. So. learning [00:14:00] more about people, learning more about bringing solutions to people. If you have a subspecialty you’re interested in, start connecting with the people that have the job you want or something that sounds interesting.

Like you said, LinkedIn is so powerful. So I would just begin to first, Consider it. Be open to it. There, there is a ton of opportunity. Second, begin to find the resources, and three, you know, begin to network, and people can help you find these opportunities that transform your life, I was given the chance by, this was the first time this particular company had come to one of our conferences and, The person who gave me the opportunity was a former military officer and he knew , so many times we get people who say, I’ve applied. 60 plus jobs on LinkedIn. Nobody is getting back to me. I just need someone to give me a chance., so that’s where that network becomes powerful because you know, you are welcome to use one of our transition services. We bring people, we like to [00:15:00] say, we, you don’t start at first base with us.

You start at home plate or third base you start closer, you get to talk to the decision makers, but even if this is not a route that you would want to take and it’s not right for you. Connecting with someone who can give you that chance because you’ve done incredible things in the military. We know you can do it It’s just someone taking a chance on you.

Wendi: Yes. And you mentioned fun and competitive, and that’s definitely going to help anyone to stay encouraged because it’s, again, more than job, more than a career, you found your purpose in serving others through a service or a product for you. It was more of the devices, right? The med tech devices that you were able to offer. 

And so. Thank you so much. Trish for sharing all the great information, your gems or experience, it really means a lot to have you here on this podcast to share with other women on the possibilities of sales and also their next career journey. 

Trish Smith: Yeah, absolutely. Thank you. You are welcome. Please do reach [00:16:00] out to me on LinkedIn, my email and our website is also going to be located in the show notes so please take a look at that. feel free to reach out to us. I’m always happy to answer your questions. We do have two branches of our program, the Alliance JMO program, the Longview program for those who may not be in that category. But, but we’re always happy to talk. We’re a team that’s passionate about the transition process. All of us have gone through that process as well. So we just want to be there and serve as a resource for anybody who needs it, wants to hear it, needs somebody to talk to, please do reach out. Thanks, Wendi.

Wendi: Happy to have you Trish, and you all, by the way, there is a conference coming up on October 27th through the 30th. So if you’re someone that’s transitioning out or possibly have no idea where to begin with opportunities and if you’re a junior military officer highly recommend that you attend these conferences. Again, the link and all the information is in the show notes. 

All right. I hope you all have an amazing, beautiful rest of your week. [00:17:00] Bye.