Sara McDermott profile on Influential Women

Influential Woman · Staffing

Sara McDermott

North East, MD

Certifications · Degrees · Memberships

Cert Sandler certified

Her Story

About Sara

Sara McDermott brings 14 years of sales experience to her role in staffing and business development. She began her career selling at mall kiosks and later worked at Lowe's as an interior design, paint, windows, and wall decor sales specialist for three and a half years. Sara then spent three years in the car industry, advancing to internet sales manager and business development manager overseeing six sales representatives, before moving into commercial sales with multiple territories. For the past six months, she has been building a new branch of EmployeeBridge Pro Logistics in Elkton, Maryland, from the ground up, focusing on distribution, warehouse, and logistics staffing solutions. Sara is Sandler certified after a year and a half of training and holds no college degree, having advanced through on-the-job experience and trial and error. She values transparency, honesty, quality, equality, and genuineness in her work and personal life, and she is motivated by her ambition and role as a single mother.

Her Interview

Ten minutes with Sara

01What do you attribute your success to?

I've always been very ambitious. I have big things I'm going towards, and it's just me, right? It's just, I've always been this way. Obviously, I probably wouldn't want to include this in my article, but I am a single mother, too. So, it's been... You know, we've all been through a lot, and... It's just something that has always motivated me, but even before their time, I always saw more for myself.

02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?

Oh, goodness, that you're gonna fail a thousand times before you even get where you want to be. So if you're not failing, you're not trying. Sales... a lot of trial and error. You're gonna fail a whole bunch. I mean, that goes without a lot of careers. You're not gonna know it as soon as you get there, so...

03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?

To definitely allow... time. Don't expect instant results, and don't be so hard on yourself, because good things take time, and just because the results aren't instant, it doesn't... It doesn't speak on you as a person. Especially in a commission-based kind of job. You're not going to get those big commission checks right off the rump. I take a lot of hard work. a lot of dedication, and what you can't do is be hard on yourself because you don't have the numbers you want, you know. After 2 or 3. 3 months. You have to really... Allow yourself the grace and peace, and keep working really hard, and you'll get there.

04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?

The biggest challenge... I think... Right now, I think it's a lot of companies, at least in my field, have a current vendor list who they're associated with. So there's always. some hicc. And that, because they can only go through X amount of vendors and decision makers are, say, we're in Maryland, the decision makers are all the way in Texas. So, definitely. Having to pull some strings and pull your weight and get the connections, because that doesn't mean you can't become. they're, they're parked. It just means you gotta work a little harder. Oh, everybody needs staffing. Every woman... workforce needs help. Like, no matter what. Support, support, especially if it's the right support and you stand by your team, I mean, you can't go wrong with getting some extra support, so...

05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?

Transparency, like, you know, how transparent are you? Definitely. honesty, quality, trying to think... That, I mean, that's really... honestly. equality. transparent. currency. and just forming those genuine... being genuine, like, I think that's very important.

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