Her Story
About Abby
I've been in my field for 14 years, starting with Deco Tool Supply in customer service. That company was bought out by MSC Industrial Tool Supply, where I worked until January. I just started at Acme Tool, where I've been in outside sales for about 7 years total. Before entering this industry, I joined the Army National Guard in high school and served for 8 years, including a tour overseas in Iraq. After finishing my military service, I took CAD mechanical engineering drafting programs, and starting with Deco was like opening the door into the field I was going to school for. I quickly got into inventory management and then moved to outside sales. I was always a little nervous about being in the outside sales role because I never thought of myself as a salesperson. However, finding that niche of developing relationships and using problem solving to become trusted within my customers, building that trust and relationship, really brought me to love the job. My key responsibilities include developing relationships with customers, partnering with them, learning their operations and what they need to do the job with the right tools and the right fit for them. I do walkthroughs, inspections, and give detailed recommendations on how to improve either the tool itself, different types of tooling, or their inventory management. In my current role, I also do quoting and order entry, and I like being able to see every order from start to finish. It's not really about pushing products, it's about understanding their operations and becoming a trusted problem solver for them.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Abby
01What do you attribute your success to?
I would say my children. I'm a single mom of two kids, so I fully support them, and I have to be able to make a well income to do everything that we want to do. That's my driving force and my passion. It's really just helping people and being able to partner with my customers and problem-solve with them, bringing something to the table. I like helping people, and I really feel like I can achieve that when we have that strong partnership together, where we're bouncing ideas off of each other and what I can bring to the table with just my knowledge.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
My old manager used to always like to say, fake it until you make it. I kind of take that to heart a little bit. Being prepared is the number one thing, so as long as you show up every day to work and be prepared, and you're willing to learn, you can find success in almost anything. It's like a breath of fresh air to see other women starting to come into this field as well, because we kind of have that kinship. When I meet other women in this field, we can sit down and chat and discuss different scenarios that we've been in, and how we've handled different situations, and bounce ideas off of each other.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would say to not be intimidated by industrials. Even though it seems technical or traditionally a male-dominated role, being curious and prepared, and being able to build relationships, really goes a long way. If you're willing to learn and bring value to your customers, there are tremendous opportunities that can lead to success in different ways.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
Being a female in this field is a challenge because it's really a male-dominated field, but I have found just having expertise in the tooling and in inventory management, and just being prepared, really is what drives me to have good success with my customers. Time management is really the hardest, to fit everything in that I do on a daily basis is one of the challenges I face, and then just staying up to date with the new upcoming stuff that's coming out.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
My main values are honesty and trust. I believe that those, in personal and in work environments, hold a key. Being really transparent with that trust builds that trust. You really have to be honest about, you know, if something's not going to be delivered on time, or if you're going to have stock outs, bringing that up front, or if there was a mistake that was made, just bringing that all up front and being honest about it instead of trying to cover anything up. That's going to give you more success because we're all human, we're all going to make mistakes. Trying to cover it up is going to dig you deeper in that hole and can lead to relationships being severed.
Keep Exploring
More Influential Women · Iowa
Join Influential Women and start making an impact. Register now.