Women In Sales With Rachel Shi

‘Women Who Sell’ is all about showcasing women who sell, and are thriving and challenging stereotypes. We feature real perspectives of what it’s like, the barriers and the breakthroughs.

Here, Rachel Shi, Director of Strategic Accounts at Anima, shares her take.

What is your job title?

I am a director of Strategic Accounts at Anima, a health tech startup based in the UK.

How did you get into sales and what makes it the career of your choice?

I got into sales really by accident.

So I started my career as a creative, so I went to school for game design and then did, a bit of everything after graduation: graphic design, web design, illustration. I found out, pretty quickly two things.

It was neither financially nor creatively fulfilling to be doing that commercially, so I did a bit of soul searching, ended up, in an agency sales job, and the rest was kinda history from there. I really believe that sales is the best career of choice for somebody who is ambitious and non-technical. Because your outputs are really going to mirror your inputs, right?

So if you're going to be all in at work, it might as well be somewhere where you are going to get a really big return for your efforts and treat it like a craft. I also believe that sales can be one of the biggest levers for personal growth. Everything in life is sales. Whether you're selling an idea, you are selling yourself in a job interview, or even if you're a buyer, right, for a house or something like that. Knowing the art of deal-making, which is really what we're talking about, regards to sales at this level, just makes you smarter in the world.

Are there any barriers you have faced as a woman working in sales, and how have you overcome them?

So I think there are two levels that you can answer this question on.

So the first level is short. Women do face unique barriers when it comes to the workplace of which, you know, sales can sort of fall into. So if you tackle it from a hiring perspective, right? Even if you're an A grade rep. What employers are doing is weighing you up against maybe somebody who's a B grade rep, but is a man and is not going to go off and start a family and be a cost centre from a mat leave and, resource planning perspective.

That is honestly the decision that hiring managers are, making when it comes to hiring you. So there's a lot of sort of inherent biases, of course, that are, connotative with that.

Now, on another level, and this is the level that I prefer to operate on, which is a little bit above the material realm, let's call it, is that I fundamentally believe that all barriers exist in your head. Now what I mean by that is I fundamentally believe that, you can achieve anything that you really put your mind to. So if all you focus on are the barriers, then you will manifest more barriers. If you focus on what you can accomplish, then you attract more opportunities. So I personally have never let any of the, typical stuff kinda get in the way because I just prefer not to live that way.

So I think it's healthier.

What do you like the most about being a woman in sales?

It is good to be underestimated. I will leave it at that.

What advice do you have for a woman wanting to get into sales and those wanting to advance?

So for those wanting to get in. My advice would be to take 100% ownership of your outcomes. Recognise that it is you alone who is responsible for getting what it is that you want. So in the beginning, when you don't have too much experience or network, it is all about just putting in the hard work. Or sweat equity, right? So you'll do that. You'll be making the calls, you're putting in the applications, networking, meeting new people, and building relationships.

And once you get your foot in the door, and over time essentially you can start to trade that sweat equity for financial and social equity, or capital. You can do that to access better opportunities and gain better outcomes for yourself. So that was what I would say for somebody who's trying to get in.

Now, for those who are wanting to advance, I would say crystallize exactly what it is that you want before going after it. I think the worst thing that you could possibly do is just wake up 10 years into the future, realizing you are in a position that you do not want as a result of chasing some title or some position because society told you that you had to.

If you would like to get involved with the blog series and share your story as a woman in the sales industry, we’d LOVE to hear from you. And head over to Women Who Sell’s LinkedIn for more content.