North Carolina Marketing Solutions would like to introduce our Assistant Manager, Alessandra Del Sesto. Alessandra attended Assumptions College in Worcester, MA and graduated in May 2010 with a major in Business Management and Accounting. She’s from a small town in Berlin, CT and has a huge family. She is the youngest of four children.
In June 2010, Alessandra joined Jolene Foor’s office which is located in Trumbull, CT. She accepted the role as assistant manager to our President, Paxton Rogers and has assisted in opening the Raleigh office. We asked Alessandra about her success, motivations, goals, and her advice to future leaders. Enjoy!
Q: What and who has influenced you while you’ve been with the company?
A: I’m still here because of the supportive work environment. No matter what happened there were always people around that supported me. Tim Nation, Paxton Rogers, and Jolene Foor have had the biggest affect on my development because they each taught me how to overcome obstacles on my own. I started with the company because I saw the opportunity to progress to management quickly and live a life where I could give back to people in ways that most people can’t. No matter what difficulties I faced, they never let me lose sight of that.
Q: What makes you successful?
A: My determination to get the job done. It took me 23 months to get promoted to assistant management and I never would have made it if giving up was an option. I set a goal for myself when I started and I was determined to reach it. I learned that, “It’s not how many times you get knocked down, it’s how many times you get back up.” That’s a quote that I live by.
Q: What is your advice to someone just starting out?
A: The biggest advice that I can give to a someone new is to not worry about things that he/she can’t control. There are too many things that will just happen regardless. It’s important to only focus on the things we have control over like having fun and using the system. If they can master those two things, then getting promoted just follows.
Q: What’s your advice for more of a veteran representative?
A: The best advice that I can give to someone is to always believe in themselves and never give up. This business is more than just becoming good at sales, training, interviewing, and building relationships, it’s about personal development too and learning how to pick yourself up even after you’ve been knocked down. Being a leader is more than just a title, it’s about having a passion to make a difference with others and inspiring people with a vision for success. Strive to be that kind of leader.
Q: When did your mentality shift?
A: One Thursday night after team night I sat down and looked at my timeline through the business. I wrote out all of my successes and all of my “failures.” At that moment, I was able to put everything into perspective. In reflecting on my accomplishments since I started, I realized how much I had learned from the mistakes that I made. I decided at that time that I couldn’t settle for being average. I took on the mentality at that point that I didn’t care if it took me two years or two months to reach assistant management, regardless I was going to do it. I started spending more time with my guys and finding out what made them tick. I also read “How to Win Friends and Influence Others” and started to implement all the little things that Paxton had told me to start doing since we came down here in September. Seven weeks later I got promoted to assistant management and even now I won’t take my foot off the gas. This is just the beginning for me and I will no longer settle for just being average.
Q: Who motivates you?
A: Through the time that I spent with the company, I have met a lot of people who really motivated me and made me want to be better. Two people had the greatest impact on my success. Tim Nation, my leader in Connecticut, and Paxton Rogers my current manager. I saw both of them as leaders in the business. I also saw them both get promoted to assistant management and ultimately now they are both managers. They both always believed in me and knew that I was capable of more than I was giving. No matter how many times I was letting myself settle for just average they always pushed me to be better. Even though Tim is in Connecticut, I still hear his voice in the back of my head throughout the day when I’m trying to make a work related decision. That’s how you know someone’s leadership has had a great influence on you. As for Paxton, he never gave up on me and seeing how much he believed in me and helped me made me only want to reach my goals more.
Q: What are your long term goals?
A: My five year goal is to be promoted to Organizational Consultant. I love helping people reach their goals, that’s one of the main reasons I with the company because I would have that opportunity each day. Being solely responsible for the training and development of other reps is one of the most gratifying feelings I’ve ever had. I plan to promote at least one manager and two assistant managers my first year open to set me up to reach my 5 year goal of consultant. I also want to open up my office in either Nashville, TN or Dallas, TX. My ultimate goal in the company is to reach Senior National Consultant and manage a campaign and multiple offices.
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