Melika Edalati

I've been working as a Senior Account Executive at Spectrum Charter Communications for about 4 years, and it's been an incredible journey of discovery. I came to the United States from Iran less than 6 years ago, where I had worked as a network engineer with a master's degree in network engineering. When I first arrived, I never imagined I would end up in sales - I had a technical background and thought I would continue in that field. But life had other plans for me. I started working as a Lancome counter manager at Macy's, and that's when I discovered something surprising about myself: I was really good at sales. My numbers were very high, and I realized I loved communicating with people and helping them get what they truly needed. I've always felt that people are hesitant about salespeople because they think we're trying to lie to them, and I wanted to change that perception. I wanted to be the honest person who helps customers genuinely. That's when I decided to combine my two strengths - sales and technical knowledge. I joined Spectrum in outdoor sales, even though I had never done outside sales before in my whole life. On my interview day, my current manager asked me why she should hire me when other candidates had 5 or 6 years of outside sales experience. I told her I was passionate enough to make things happen, and as an immigrant woman, I'd been through a lot to make this life work. My technical background became a huge advantage because while technicians handle installations, customers have to set up their cell phones on their own, and I could help them with that. I identified cell phones as a major growth opportunity for Spectrum and gave presentations to leadership about the market capacity compared to our internet and landline services. I didn't even realize how many cell phones I was selling - I was just doing the right thing and helping people in the right way. That dedication led to me becoming one of the top performers in the company and earning a spot in the President's Circle. Now, people higher up in the company ask me to train others and want to shadow me in the field to see how I interact with customers. While working full-time, I also pursued my education part-time at USC, where I just graduated with an MBA degree and a marketing certificate. I wanted to level up because I know I'm going to go higher, and I wanted to understand how money systems work, how different companies' business models operate, and how marketing works in an academic way. These are the tools I'll need when I'm helping companies grow in the future.