Welcome to Season 3 of 10/10 GTM: The Podcast for Revenue Leaders!
Our guest for Episode 44 is Marina Golemis, SVP of North America Sales at ShipBob. Marina is a seasoned sales leader with over 15 years of experience.
In this episode, Ross and Marina discuss the importance of shaking things up, being strategic about the ‘get it done’ attitude, and delighting in what you don’t know.
Listen to the episode here, and get the key takeaways from our conversation below.
Blow sh*t up
Processes and playbooks can become outdated. The longer you’re with a company, the more attached you become to them, which stunts your ability to be objective and see when change is needed.
To keep strategies fresh, Marina recommends evaluating your processes once a year. She suggests asking: "If I were building this from scratch today, is this how I would do it?" If the answer is no, consider the tradeoffs and potential disruptions of making changes. Then, go blow sh*t up.
“Rather than wait for an external hire to come in with a new perspective and tell me what the issue is, I force myself to zoom in and pull myself out of the weeds. I have my leaders do this too,” says Marina. “We question what we’ve been doing and whether it’s still working, or if it’s becoming a bottleneck.”
This practice helps Marina and her team identify areas for improvement and promotes company wide collaboration.
Be strategic about the ‘roll up your sleeves & get it done’ attitude
Early in a company’s growth, the focus is on achieving goals by any means necessary, with everyone banding together for a common purpose. However, this approach becomes unsustainable as the organization scales. When more than two or three business units need to align to close a deal, having Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), well-defined processes, and a RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) framework becomes essential.
“It’s a double-edged sword,” says Marina. “From a high level, you want your leaders to get behind you and have the whole company band together and hit a goal. But the problem with this ‘roll up your sleeves and get it done attitude,’ is that everyone overlooks the processes. Conversations that are happening in Slack lead to processes that aren’t repeatable or scalable. When you bring more departments together to close a deal, such as finance, compliance, and legal, you need to have a process in place or it takes longer to close deals.”
Following established processes and not taking a ‘one-off’ approach to deals after your organization reaches a certain level promotes scalability as the company grows. This keeps everyone aligned and on the same page.
Delight in what you don’t know
Everyone starts every new position as a beginner. This is a crucial (albeit uncomfortable) phase where you have the opportunity to quickly learn, grow, and ask questions. While this period is often intimidating, when you embrace what you don’t know, you’ll develop a genuine curiosity that will serve you throughout your career. This perspective will allow you to face challenges with a problem-solving mindset.
To build confidence during this time, delight in what you don’t know. Talk to your peers. When you engage with people who are or have been in your shoes, it enables you to see problems from a different perspective. And get energized by the work at hand — it can teach you a lot!
“I am constantly delighted by what I don’t know yet because that means there’s a solution out there for everything,” says Marina. “At one point or another, everyone experiences imposter syndrome. It’s a natural part of growth. Build a network of peers and consult them regularly. These are the people who can help you see things from a different point of view and troubleshoot any challenges you’re facing. Their support and insights can be invaluable in navigating problems and building your confidence.”
And remember: feeling uncomfortable is a good thing. It means you’re growing. Discomfort allows you to step outside of your comfort zone and learn new skills, which will serve you throughout your career.
About Marina
Marina is an experienced sales leader with over 15 years of direct sales experience. She is skilled in negotiation, operations management, sales, marketing, business development, and cross-functional collaboration. Before joining ShipBob six years ago, Marina held positions at Allume and Trunk Club.
