Influential Woman · Sales
Alicia McWilliams
Business Development Manager, Model UN
Houston, TX
Her Story
About Alicia
Alicia McWilliams serves as Business Development Manager for a Model UN company based in Houston. With three years in sales, she began her career as a marketing intern at a music studio before taking an office assistant role and advancing to sales campaign assistant. In her current position, McWilliams focuses on partnership management, relationship management, and account management while continuing freelance writing for revolving clients, handling tasks such as project management, spreadsheets, and copywriting. She earned her journalism degree with a global engagement and research minor from the University of Houston after participating in a dual credit program in high school and completing a study abroad semester in Japan. McWilliams attributes her professional success to grit and the ability to turn rejections into opportunities, drawing on advice from a mentor that all skill-building experiences count as professional development. She values ethical conduct, treating others with respect, and remaining open-minded, which has enabled her to connect with leaders from the United Nations, Consul Generals, and university presidents while navigating challenges in leadership conflicts and prioritizing people over revenue.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Alicia
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to having grit. In life, you're going to hear a lot of no's, and it is up to you to figure out how to turn those nos into yeses. Pushing through those no's and realizing that every experience that we've worked towards and everything that you've accomplished has definitely helped me turn some of those nos into a few yeses.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
One of the best career advice I have ever received was from one of my old mentors. She told me that everything that you do is professional experience, right? Even if it's not necessarily specifically on the job, anything that you are using skills for and just developing skills for counts as professional experience, and it can help you a long way. From that moment on, I started using all of my freelance experience and putting it on my resume and that did open a lot of doors for me.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Be prepared for people to assume that you're not capable. It is definitely a lot of proving yourself, specifically in the sales, marketing industry, especially as a field that can be more male-dominated. Just be prepared to prove that you're capable, even though you already know it yourself.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
The current challenges are conflicts within leadership and being able to stick to my morals, especially in a space where revenue can sometimes feel more important than the people. But it's opened up great opportunities like speaking with chair people from the United Nations, Consul Generals, presidents of universities, and hosting leadership programs where students can travel to China and Brazil free of charge.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Being ethical, treating people how you would want to be treated, and also being open-minded to anything, whether that is someone else's lived experience or trying out new things. If you have those two things, life will be simple but also more fulfilling.
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