Elegance (Elly) Hartwick

I contribute my success to my willingness and openness to being vulnerable in an aggressive sales industry that seems to shy away from that authenticity. I've connected with my customers through being that breath of fresh air. I've always been told by clients, like, wow, we're so sick of the guys in suits coming in here, you're just like a real person, like that's so nice. Throughout my career, every promotion I've got, it's like what's Ellie's secret sauce? On paper, she has no education, she's not, she ain't anything special, you know? How does Ellie make the deals? And it's just I'm willing to be myself, authentically. I have been able to mix silliness and having fun with high-level business, and that has worked well for me.

In late 2021, I got turned down for a promotion, and it was my first time being told no at that company. I had been with my original company for 8 years and had 6 promotions in that window. So when I got my first no, the VP of Sales was giving me feedback, and I was getting upset because I could tell he was about to say I didn't get the position. He said, Ellie, if you're gonna grow in your career, you have to be willing to accept feedback, not just compliments. That advice really stuck with me. If you want to grow in your career, you have to be willing to hear all feedback, not just compliments.

I would say that although it may seem competitive, the true competition lies within yourself, and you have it within you to succeed, no matter what success looks like in everyone else's role. I never thought I could get here because I didn't have the degree, I didn't have the looks, I didn't have money to get my hair done all the time. Sales at this level, it's typical pay-to-play, and I just never thought I could look the part, be the part, you know, speak the way that these businesswomen do, but somehow I'm here.

One of my main challenges is in a sales position fueled through the advertising market, it's hard to maintain a sales quota when there's things out of my control. Tariffs are a huge factor. If a company is gonna cut back, the first thing they're gonna do is reduce their marketing collateral. That's an easy cut - they might spend a million a year on marketing and drop it down to a quarter million. So maintaining my sales goals when there are a lot of economical factors out of my control is difficult, and that's where it gets hard because I do try to lead honestly. When I know things are out of the budget, I do not try to force people or coerce them into spending more than they're comfortable with. I work with them to find a project that will meet their budget. A pen is the cheapest way to put your logo on something, and an expensive backpack is not. If you can only afford a pen, let's get you the best damn pen you've ever seen. But if you can afford a waterproof speaker, I'd love to sell you that too. I meet people where they're at. My sales quota is $1.3 million a month in sales, and I don't get paid until I hit that quota. I have my base pay, but I do not make any commission until I've sold a minimum of $1.3 million a month. When I'm at a point in the middle of the month and I see I gotta sell 700 more thousand dollars this month, that's when someone could start aggressively targeting their sales to make that number happen. When your livelihood relies on those sales, that is where it can be a moral conflict on how hard you push, because we're all trying to feed our families.

What is most important to me is having genuine relationships and being honest. I lead everything intentionally with my heart. It's very important to me to not compromise any level of integrity for a sale.