Michele Sink

I'm very proud to have been the first person on either side of my family to go to university, and then my siblings followed after me. My parents didn't have the opportunity to go to university like I did, so graduating from college stands as one of my greatest accomplishments. Throughout my 15-year career in the SaaS IT and technology sector, I've worked across almost every kind of industry - financial services, banking, hospitality, healthcare, IT, manufacturing, and education. I know that sometimes moving between different industries and jobs is frowned upon, but I actually think that's what makes me more versatile. I've had this really broad spectrum of working with different kinds of people in different kinds of industries, which has given me a unique advantage in my positions. One of my most notable achievements was several years ago, when I was brought on because of dwindling sales and had a lot of turnover. They brought me on to build up the sales team and the consultancy practice and make more of a penetration into the intended new market. I really like coming into a position where I already know the problem, and then you try to figure it out. I'm very detail-oriented and competitive, so I took it on as a challenge - this is the problem I need to solve, and I'm a problem solver. It took about 10-12 months to get everything in place, build out the team, and really see penetration in the market. Towards the end of that year, we secured the three big deals that we needed to help us meet the revenue goal, and things turned back on the upside. I was very proud of that because it was very difficult and it was a challenge I'd never taken on before. I'll admit I was nervous - you don't show that, right? You're nervous on the inside, but to everybody else you look like you know what you're doing. Imposter syndrome is definitely real, and sometimes we can get intimidated by thinking someone has a better title than us or more experience. But really, if you just are observant and you're passionate about what you want to do, I believe that you can be taught anything, as long as you have the determination. For me, it's always trial by error, so the more I do it, the better I get.

One of my mentors, Wanda, told me this really cool thing one time, and it was basically, don't change your goal, but just get flexible about your method. So don't change the end result, but you've got to sometimes pivot and adapt how you were going to get there. That probably took me a little bit to learn - I didn't know that right away when I was younger, in my 20s or 30s. But that's definitely something I've learned over time, is how to pivot fast. Like, okay, this isn't working, but the end result is still the same. I still need to accomplish XYZ by Friday. So how am I going to do it? That kind of opens up your mind to be more like problem solving and think outside of the box. It doesn't have to all be done one way. There's always more than one way to get to an answer. If you're adding numbers, there's different ways to get to the same number. Having that open mentality helps really anyone in any profession. My mentors have also given me advice about patience - and I don't mean that I'm impatient in a bad way, but meaning staying the course and seeing things through even when it doesn't go the way you planned. You set out one way, it usually doesn't happen that way.

I would give the advice of Be A Sponge, and whoever you think is the smartest person in the room, or the one who is talking, stick by them, shadow them, emulate them, write down everything they say. That cuts down so much of the learning curve if you just get a good mentor, and it might not even be that they know they're your mentor. That's happened so many times, whether it's been a direct supervisor of mine, or maybe just someone who headed a different department, or even just a co-worker that's the same level as me, but they've had more years in that industry or more years' experience with that platform. People are really a wealth of knowledge, and I think that's the biggest knowledge bank out there. Don't be afraid and think that you have to know everything right off the bat, especially when you're just starting. I did not know everything when I started this career, but I was very good at paying attention and asking questions to those people who I felt like were the smartest or knew the most, because that was how I learned the fastest. Also, embrace diverse experiences. I know that sometimes moving between different industries and jobs is frowned upon, but I actually think that's what makes you more versatile. Having that broad spectrum of working with different kinds of people in different kinds of industries gives you a unique advantage.

The biggest challenge in the market and being in this industry is that it's just changing so fast overnight. There's just new apps, new platforms and new companies, and so there's a lot of competition in the IT industry, and definitely in the software and nonprofit space. I think that's always a challenge, but I guess that's good because it forces us to level up and think, okay, how can we be better than the other person? That's an ongoing challenge which is not ever going to change, really, in this industry. Working in IT means constantly navigating change and staying adaptable. New technologies, platforms, and competitors are always emerging, and with the market changing so rapidly and all the competition, it forces us to level up. I've learned that there's rarely just one right way to solve a problem - success comes from being open, adaptable, and willing to try different approaches until you find what works.

In my personal life, my passion is really around nonprofits and mission-based organizations. I've always had a heart and a soft spot for nonprofits and mission-based organizations that are literally changing the world. That's why I do a lot of volunteer activities that have nothing to do with what I do at work. I volunteer through my church in the grocery hall, which is basically like a food bank for anybody that's needing food, and I also volunteer at Safe Harbor, which focuses on helping domestic violence survivors - women and kids - and helping them transition into their new apartment, their new life, and helping them find work. I really want to help other women, especially those who are newer in this industry or role. Having 15 years in this space, I just want to really pay it forward and pass down the knowledge that I've been blessed to get. I like to see other people win and grow and be blossoming like I want for myself. That was really the main point of wanting to be featured - I just wanted to give back, and hopefully my story could inspire someone. We're really badass women doing stuff, and we need to celebrate each other. I love the whole platform of women empowerment.