Merchants of Change

Former college baseball player Tyler Huntey joins the show this week to talk about his transition from sports to sales and eventually becoming a CEO!Some great nuggets in this conversation on leveraging the mindset that made you elite at your sport into becoming a successful sales professional!5:35 Transition from Baseball to Sales9:53 First Sales Job and Experience 16:55 Advice to Senior Athletes24:20 The Importance of Selling as a CEO/Entrepreneurship----------------------Connect with us on social @shiftathlete on all platforms! Learn more about Shift Group at shiftgroup.ioToday's guest: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tyler-huntey-16b90895/About Face Development: https://www.linkedin.com/company/about-face-development/To our Athletes & Veterans: We will find you a career that you love, over prepare you for success, and connect you with great companies where you will grow, learn, and earn consistently.To our Hiring Partners: We will help you find the best candidates in the world that will outwork, outlearn, and outperform your highest expectations. We will work closely with you to match our candidates to your leadership style, your culture, and your expectations for performance.

Big thanks to Pat D'Amico, for joining us on Merchants of Change this week!This is an awesome conversation digging into the science of selling and the keys to success from BDRs to the C-suite!After serving in the U.S. Army, Pat transitioned to sales and eventually sales development. After 20+ years leading and training sellers, he started his own company About-Face Development, LLC!8:10 Sales Development, Enablement & Training15:35 Training Elite Sellers23:50 The Science of Selling38:20 Being Dialed In as a Sales Professional----------------------Connect with us on social @shiftathlete on all platforms! Learn more about Shift Group at shiftgroup.ioToday's guest: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patjdamico/About Face Development: https://www.linkedin.com/company/about-face-development/To our Athletes & Veterans: We will find you a career that you love, over prepare you for success, and connect you with great companies where you will grow, learn, and earn consistently.To our Hiring Partners: We will help you find the best candidates in the world that will outwork, outlearn, and outperform your highest expectations. We will work closely with you to match our candidates to your leadership style, your culture, and your expectations for performance.

Excited to welcome former NFL player Canaan Severin to the show this week!!After his college career at UVA, Canaan played with the New York Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers before making his transition to sales as an Account Manager with Coinbase!8:32 Transition from the NFL to Sales13:09 Why Athletes Are Successful in Sales29:00 Skills to Develop as a New Seller33:14 Being Dialed In as a Sales Professional----------------------Connect with us on social @shiftathlete on all platforms! Learn more about Shift Group at shiftgroup.ioToday's guest: https://www.linkedin.com/in/canaan-severin-2a448417b/To our Athletes & Veterans: We will find you a career that you love, over prepare you for success, and connect you with great companies where you will grow, learn, and earn consistently.To our Hiring Partners: We will help you find the best candidates in the world that will outwork, outlearn, and outperform your highest expectations. We will work closely with you to match our candidates to your leadership style, your culture, and your expectations for performance.

On this week's episode of Merchants of Change, we welcome Tad Gold, a former professional baseball player, two sport collegiate athlete, and current District Sales Manager at Toast!JR & Tad talk about his transition out of baseball, the skills that translate from sports to sales, and how he has quickly climbed the ladder and earned multiple promotions at Toast!10:43 Making His Transition to Sales17:37 Keys to Getting Promoted26:25 Advice For Your 1st Company32:41 Being Dialed In as a Sales Professional----------------------Connect with us on social @shiftathlete on all platforms! Learn more about Shift Group at shiftgroup.ioToday's guest: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tad-gold-5b153751/Diverse Athlete Placement: https://wearedap.com/To our Athletes & Veterans: We will find you a career that you love, over prepare you for success, and connect you with great companies where you will grow, learn, and earn consistently.To our Hiring Partners: We will help you find the best candidates in the world that will outwork, outlearn, and outperform your highest expectations. We will work closely with you to match our candidates to your leadership style, your culture, and your expectations for performance.

This week we welcome Danya Abrams, former Boston College basketball player, to Merchants of Change for an awesome conversation!After his college career, Danya played professionally before starting his own financial services firm and founded Diverse Athlete Placement, a platform helping minority student-athletes transition out of sports!7:57 Transition from Basketball to Sales & Entrepreneurship12:37 Skill That Translate from Sports to Sales20:21 Shift Group x Diverse Athlete Placement Partnership30:51 Being Dialed In as a Sales Professional----------------------Connect with us on social @shiftathlete on all platforms! Learn more about Shift Group at shiftgroup.ioToday's guest: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danyaabrams/Diverse Athlete Placement: https://wearedap.com/To our Athletes & Veterans: We will find you a career that you love, over prepare you for success, and connect you with great companies where you will grow, learn, and earn consistently.To our Hiring Partners: We will help you find the best candidates in the world that will outwork, outlearn, and outperform your highest expectations. We will work closely with you to match our candidates to your leadership style, your culture, and your expectations for performance.

Super excited to welcome Keenan to the show this week to kick off another great season of Merchants of Change!!As a Best-Selling Author, Founder, and CEO, Keenan brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in sales, making this a must-listen conversation!He pulls no punches, tells it like it is, and is convicted in his opinions not because they get impressions, but because he actually believes them.----------------------Connect with us on social @shiftathlete on all platforms! Learn more about Shift Group at shiftgroup.ioToday's guest: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimkeenan/Gap Selling: https://www.amazon.com/Gap-Selling-Problem-Centric-Everything-Relationships/dp/1732891001To our Athletes & Veterans: We will find you a career that you love, over prepare you for success, and connect you with great companies where you will grow, learn, and earn consistently.To our Hiring Partners: We will help you find the best candidates in the world that will outwork, outlearn, and outperform your highest expectations. We will work closely with you to match our candidates to your leadership style, your culture, and your expectations for performance.6:55 Transition to Sales16:05 Writing His Book's Not Taught & Gap Selling29:17 What is Gap Selling38:55 Advice to Athletes/Veterans

Ending Season 7 of Merchants of Change with a bang! Super excited to have Ryan Feely, former Florida State football player, and current Senior AE at Seamless.AI join the show for an awesome conversation!Ryan has had an incredibly successful run in his sales career, being promoted 5 times in 5 years, from BDR to Director of Sales. This conversation highlights the skills, traits, and characteristics he took from his football career that allowed him to succeed in sales!9:12 Sales Degree's in College19:22 Climbing the Ranks & Getting Promoted29:49 Advice to Athletes Preparing to Transition41:07 Accountability & Extreme Ownership47:24 Being Dialed In as a Sales Professional ----------------------Connect with us on social @shiftathlete on all platforms! Learn more about Shift Group at shiftgroup.ioToday's guest: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-feely-%F0%9F%94%8E-91801a134/To our Athletes & Veterans: We will find you a career that you love, over prepare you for success, and connect you with great companies where you will grow, learn, and earn consistently.To our Hiring Partners: We will help you find the best candidates in the world that will outwork, outlearn, and outperform your highest expectations. We will work closely with you to match our candidates to your leadership style, your culture, and your expectations for performance.

This week on Merchants of Change...we welcome Nathan Frieberg, former Vermont Catamount and current Outbound Sales Manager at 280 Group to the show!After his soccer career Nate started his own company and then transitioned to sales, where he's built an impressive resume as a sales professional leveraging the skills that allowed him to be a Division 1 athlete!10:56 Advice to Seniors Preparing For Life After Sports17:52 Critical Sales Skills to Develop23:17 Characteristics of a Good Hire27:14 Being Dialed In as a Sales Professional-----------------------Connect with us on social @shiftathlete on all platforms! Learn more about Shift Group at shiftgroup.ioToday's guest: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathan-frieberg/To our Athletes & Veterans: We will find you a career that you love, over prepare you for success, and connect you with great companies where you will grow, learn, and earn consistently.To our Hiring Partners: We will help you find the best candidates in the world that will outwork, outlearn, and outperform your highest expectations. We will work closely with you to match our candidates to your leadership style, your culture, and your expectations for performance.

Excited to welcome Katie Grimm to Merchants of Change this week!A former Virginia Tech lacrosse player and current VP of Sales at S2N Health, Katie offers some great advice for our audience on transitioning your experiences as an athlete into a successful career in sales!4:50 Transition to Sales & Leadership15:13 Importance of Coachability24:45 What to Look for in Your 1st Company/Manager36:08 What is MedTech42:33 Being Dialed In as a Sales Professional-----------------------Connect with us on social @shiftathlete on all platforms! Learn more about Shift Group at shiftgroup.ioToday's guest: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-spicer-8189b43/To our Athletes & Veterans: We will find you a career that you love, over prepare you for success, and connect you with great companies where you will grow, learn, and earn consistently.To our Hiring Partners: We will help you find the best candidates in the world that will outwork, outlearn, and outperform your highest expectations. We will work closely with you to match our candidates to your leadership style, your culture, and your expectations for performance.

Merchants of Change welcomes Ryan Spicer to the show this week to talk about the value your athletic background can bring to any organization!As a former professional soccer player and coach, Ryan took his experiences and translated them into a long and successful career in media sales!Sales is hard, but if you apply the same grit, determination, and resiliency that made you successful in sports or military service, you will succeed!15:50 Transition from Professional Sports to Sales24:30 What is Media Sales?42: 35 What to Look for in Your First Company47:44 Being Dialed In as a Sales Professional-----------------------Connect with us on social @shiftathlete on all platforms! Learn more about Shift Group at shiftgroup.ioToday's guest: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-spicer-8189b43/To our Athletes & Veterans: We will find you a career that you love, over prepare you for success, and connect you with great companies where you will grow, learn, and earn consistently.To our Hiring Partners: We will help you find the best candidates in the world that will outwork, outlearn, and outperform your highest expectations. We will work closely with you to match our candidates to your leadership style, your culture, and your expectations for performance.

Joining us this week is Kevin Reed Jr., former pro football player turned sales professional with Excedr!This conversation dives deep into skills, traits, and processes that translate from athletics into a successful career in sales!Kevin also talks about the NIL resource he has built for student-athletes called All Gas Athletics (link in the notes)10:49 First Cold Call Story12:52 Skills, Traits, and Processes that Translate from Sports21:15 First Company Advice25:21 Keys to Having a Quick Start as a BDR------------------------Connect with us on social @shiftathlete on all platforms! Learn more about Shift Group at shiftgroup.ioToday's guest: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinreedjr/All Gas Athletics: https://allgasathletic.com/To our Athletes & Veterans: We will find you a career that you love, over prepare you for success, and connect you with great companies where you will grow, learn, and earn consistently.To our Hiring Partners: We will help you find the best candidates in the world that will outwork, outlearn, and outperform your highest expectations. We will work closely with you to match our candidates to your leadership style, your culture, and your expectations for performance.

Joining us on Merchants of Change this week is Matt Barr, former Bentley basketball player and current VP of Sales & Client Success at Breezeway!15:45 Starting at a Small or Large Company17:27 Advice to Transitioning Athletes27:45 Pillars to Sales Success as a BDR35:07 What it Means to be Dialed In as a Sales Professional-------------------------Connect with us on social @shiftathlete on all platforms! Learn more about Shift Group at shiftgroup.ioToday's guest: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattjbarr/To our Athletes & Veterans: We will find you a career that you love, over prepare you for success, and connect you with great companies where you will grow, learn, and earn consistently.To our Hiring Partners: We will help you find the best candidates in the world that will outwork, outlearn, and outperform your highest expectations. We will work closely with you to match our candidates to your leadership style, your culture, and your expectations for performance.

Awesome conversation this week with Jenn Haskell, Director of Sales Enablement & Training at Nasuni and former 3 sport collegiate athlete!Jenn is our first guest who works in sales enablement and provides some great insight into the career and how she is training her reps to be successful!9:37 The Value of Sales Enablement20:20 The Art of Sales28:20 Sales Enablement Playbook40:10 Why I Love Sales & Being Dialed In------------------------Connect with us on social @shiftathlete on all platforms! Learn more about Shift Group at shiftgroup.ioToday's guest: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennhaskellmba/To our Athletes & Veterans: We will find you a career that you love, over prepare you for success, and connect you with great companies where you will grow, learn, and earn consistently.To our Hiring Partners: We will help you find the best candidates in the world that will outwork, outlearn, and outperform your highest expectations. We will work closely with you to match our candidates to your leadership style, your culture, and your expectations for performance.

We are excited to welcome Steve Travaglini to Merchants of Change this week to discuss what makes an elite sales professional!Steve is a former football player at Assumption University who transitioned to sales, quickly climbing the ranks, and is currently the Chief Sales Officer at LinkSquares! 7:57 1st Sales Job17:48 Advice to Young Athletes30:34 Sales Playbook41:21 Elite Sales Skill & Being Dialed in------------------------Connect with us on social @shiftathlete on all platforms! Learn more about Shift Group at shiftgroup.ioToday's guest: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevetravaglini/To our Athletes & Veterans: We will find you a career that you love, over prepare you for success, and connect you with great companies where you will grow, learn, and earn consistently.To our Hiring Partners: We will help you find the best candidates in the world that will outwork, outlearn, and outperform your highest expectations. We will work closely with you to match our candidates to your leadership style, your culture, and your expectations for performance.

Former Boston University hockey captain, Patrick MacGregor joins us on Merchants of Change this week for an awesome conversation!JR at Pat talk about the challenges of the BDR role, what to look for in your first company, and how to translate your skills as an athlete into becoming an elite sales professional!9:50 Transition to Sales19:10 1st Company and Advice to Transitioning Athletes24:25 Telling Your Story34:53 Elite Sales Skill & Being Dialed In------------------------Connect with us on social @shiftathlete on all platforms! Learn more about Shift Group at shiftgroup.ioToday's guest: https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-macgregor-32945386/To our Athletes & Veterans: We will find you a career that you love, over prepare you for success, and connect you with great companies where you will grow, learn, and earn consistently.To our Hiring Partners: We will help you find the best candidates in the world that will outwork, outlearn, and outperform your highest expectations. We will work closely with you to match our candidates to your leadership style, your culture, and your expectations for performance.

Merchants of Change is back with a brand new season, loaded with elite guests and awesome conversations!In episode 1, we welcome Charles Ruiz, a former college & professional baseball player who transitioned to sales and eventually started his own coaching company, CLR Connection.JR & Charlie talk about his transition to sales, advice for young sellers, his playbook for sales success, and what it means to be dialed in!9:37 Transition to Sales19:40 Telling Your Story25:50 Playbook for Sales Success29:30 Elite Sales Skill & Being Dialed In------------------------Connect with us on social @shiftathlete on all platforms! Learn more about Shift Group at shiftgroup.ioToday's guest: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charles-ruiz/CLR Connection: https://www.clrconnection.com/To our Athletes & Veterans: We will find you a career that you love, over prepare you for success, and connect you with great companies where you will grow, learn, and earn consistently.To our Hiring Partners: We will help you find the best candidates in the world that will outwork, outlearn, and outperform your highest expectations. We will work closely with you to match our candidates to your leadership style, your culture, and your expectations for performance.

On the last episode of Season 6 of Merchants of Change, we welcome Esther Iyamu, Founder & CEO of GrowthQ to the show!Esther is a former NFL and NBA cheerleader who successfully transitioned into a successful sales career before founding her own company, GrowthQ!A conversation filled with advice on starting your sales career, the importance of selling in entrepreneurship, getting dialed in, and much more!1:53 Cheer/Dance Career17:40 Transition to Sales29:40 Entrepreneurship38:50 Core Sales Beliefs44:05 Elite Sales Skill and Being Dialed In------------------------Connect with us on social @shiftathlete on all platforms! Learn more about Shift Group at shiftgroup.ioToday's guest: https://www.linkedin.com/in/esther-ayorinde/GrowthQ: https://www.linkedin.com/company/growthq/To our Athletes & Veterans: We will find you a career that you love, over prepare you for success, and connect you with great companies where you will grow, learn, and earn consistently.To our Hiring Partners: We will help you find the best candidates in the world that will outwork, outlearn, and outperform your highest expectations. We will work closely with you to match our candidates to your leadership style, your culture, and your expectations for performance.

Excited to welcome another elite guest to Merchants of Change this week, Vince Nistico, former college football player and current Strategic Enterprise Account Executive at ServiceTitan!Another awesome conversation, loaded with advice for anyone looking to start a career in sales! JR & Vince talk about picking the right company, establishing your operating rhythm, and being dialed in!9:10 Preparing for the Transition25:25 Picking the Right 1st Company31:55 Establishing Your Operating Rhythm41:40 Being Dialed in------------------------Connect with us on social @shiftathlete on all platforms! Learn more about Shift Group at shiftgroup.ioToday's guest: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincenistico/To our Athletes & Veterans: We will find you a career that you love, over prepare you for success, and connect you with great companies where you will grow, learn, and earn consistently.To our Hiring Partners: We will help you find the best candidates in the world that will outwork, outlearn, and outperform your highest expectations. We will work closely with you to match our candidates to your leadership style, your culture, and your expectations for performance.

This week on Merchants of Change we welcome Dan Fantasia, President & CEO of Treeline, Inc. to the show!With over 20 years of experience in helping companies build elite sales teams, this is an episode packed full of great advice for athletes & veterans preparing to break into a career in sales!Getting prepared for your interviews takes a lot more than just showing up. There are countless steps you can take to ensure you show up to that interview prepared and land that sales role!9:00 Core Sales Beliefs17:15 Preparing For Your Interviews25:50 Telling Your Story30:30 Choosing Your 1st Company------------------------Connect with us on social @shiftathlete on all platforms! Learn more about Shift Group at shiftgroup.ioToday's guest: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danfantasia/To our Athletes & Veterans: We will find you a career that you love, over prepare you for success, and connect you with great companies where you will grow, learn, and earn consistently.To our Hiring Partners: We will help you find the best candidates in the world that will outwork, outlearn, and outperform your highest expectations. We will work closely with you to match our candidates to your leadership style, your culture, and your expectations for performance.

This week on Merchants of Change, we welcome Cianna Levi, a former Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader and current Enterprise SDR at Outreach to the show!Cianna has taken the skills & characteristics that allowed her to be elite in dance and used them to transition to a successful start in sales.JR & Cianna talk about her transition, advice for telling your story in an interview, picking your first company, and getting comfortable with starting a new career from the bottom of the ladder.7:40 Dallas Cowboys Operational Excellence16:50 Cianna's Transition24:40 Telling Your Story34:15 Picking Your 1st Company38:30 Elite Sales Skill & Being a Pro-----------------------Connect with us on social @shiftathlete on all platforms! Learn more about Shift Group at shiftgroup.ioToday's guest: https://www.linkedin.com/in/levici/To our Athletes & Veterans: We will find you a career that you love, over prepare you for success, and connect you with great companies where you will grow, learn, and earn consistently.To our Hiring Partners: We will help you find the best candidates in the world that will outwork, outlearn, and outperform your highest expectations. We will work closely with you to match our candidates to your leadership style, your culture, and your expectations for performance.