Jackie Steinberg

The best career advice I've ever received came from one of my three mentors that I still talk to. When I was considering moving from channel manager at NITEL to partner development manager at AT&T, I was super scared. I was going to take a huge pay cut because when you're a top salesperson making a ton of commissions, it's really hard to walk away from. But my mentors told me, yes, you can do the job. Even if you feel like you might be an imposter going for a job that you might not feel ready for, have confidence in yourself and don't be afraid to try it. I was literally crying when I was leaving because I didn't know if it was going to be a good decision. It was very nerve-wracking. But in the end, it was absolutely worth it. If I didn't walk away, I wouldn't have had a leadership role. Eight years later, I'm making way more money than I was as a channel manager, and I'm now able to think about retiring in less than 4 years, which never would have happened if I didn't leave that job.

Don't be afraid to ask for more money, the raise that you think you deserve, or don't be afraid when interviewing. If you don't ask, you don't get. The fact that I think I'm retiring in 4 years is because I asked. I asked for equity, I asked for benefits, I asked for a percentage of the profits that the company makes. I've only been in my current role since January, and I was consulting for the company for 6 months before that. When they wanted me on board full-time, I was super scared to ask for things because I wanted to take this job. I was hesitating to ask, but I just went for it, and I got everything I asked for. Honestly, I was like, I should have asked for more! But the point is, do not be scared. You're not going to not get the position because you asked for more money. They're gonna offer you the position. It might be less money, but at least you asked. It's a negotiation. I know a lot of people, especially in the younger generation, who are afraid. I recently talked to a woman who lost her job and was interviewing, and she said at this point she just wanted a paycheck and didn't care what they paid her. I told her, you know what you're worth. It's okay to ask. Don't take less than what you're worth. If you're absolutely desperate and they offer you something less and that's all they're going to offer you, at least you tried.

I think integrity is probably the biggest value in the channel. These channel partners feel like my family to me. You cannot say something and not mean it. You have to tell the truth. You're always gonna run into the same people. We might be wearing different logos, might be competitors one day, and then you might be reporting to them the next job, or they might be reporting to me. So just be true to yourself and have integrity, because it will catch up. I've had my fair share of bad leadership, and eventually karma catches up to them. They lose their job and are nowhere to be found in the channel. So have integrity and be truthful always, and respectful of people. I want to sleep at night. I'm also part of the ACW mentoring circle, and these are things we talk about constantly, especially with the new breed of women coming in. We even have male members now. For the new ones coming in, these seem like such obvious things to us, but until you're going through it, you might not understand. But honesty is always the best path, because it will catch up.