Melanie Kaplan

I've been in sales for just under 5 years in the tech industry. What drew me to tech was the pioneering change, especially when it comes to frontier technology and all of the great things that it's doing for optimizing workplaces. The culture associated with tech companies seemed pretty Grade A, so I wanted to be involved in that as well. I'm very integrity-driven - that is my North Star as a person. I always try to conduct myself in a highly professional manner, and I always try to have a growth mindset with everything that I do. I've jumped into fields without having any prior experience, and just tried to be like a sponge, absorbing all of the material and trying to learn and grow. I take every experience as a learning opportunity, and I try not to let things hold me back. In sales, it's a highly competitive field, and you do face a lot of rejection. For every yes that you get, every deal that you get, you'll typically have 5 rejections or 5 deals that don't go through, so it's being able to persevere through all of the rejection. You also have to be okay with having your success attributed to a number - in sales, your success in role is determined by your revenue attainment. Boiling down your success to a number is quite challenging as well, but being able to succeed in role is just really focusing on what's important and making sure that you execute well.