WOMEN WHO SELL WITH JUSTINE DOUHET
‘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 being someone that identifies as a woman in Sales, the barriers and the breakthroughs.
Here, Justine Douhet, International Account Manager at Limbs & Things shares her take.
What is your job title?
I am an International Account Manager at Limbs & Things. I am responsible for sales predominantly in western Europe and Latin America.
Through consultative selling and building strong connections with our customers, my role is to grow relationships with distributors, clinicians, and educators to establish their needs for medical simulators which will help train the clinicians of the future.
How did you get into sales and what makes it the career of your choice?
Growing up, I was always very discreet in public, I let others dictate who I was. After taking my independence and going to university, I started finding myself and building my personality. I wanted a challenge that would allow me to show my full potential. Coming from a more modest upbringing than most people I went to school with, I valued work and had a strong desire to earn in proportion to my input.
At this time, I had a literature degree, and I was fortunate enough to be given a chance in an Estate Agency based on my character and motivation (thank you, William).
I then moved from France to England and had to prove myself all over again as a foreigner with no experience in this country. Sales is a great way to practice resilience, as I worked in different roles, I kept stretching my comfort zone and always accepted new challenges, not letting self-doubt stop me.
People saw that in me, and I was given opportunities to be promoted and trusted with more responsibilities.
When the pandemic hit, I was made redundant and it broke me in many ways. I had to build my confidence again and learn what truly made me special so I can apply that to a new industry.
To me, there is nothing more fulfilling than a career that makes you constantly learn and evolve. Learning your product and service and increasing knowledge is the easy part, but you must learn to know yourself and adapt to be successful. I embraced who I was, the competitiveness, the will to help others, solve their problems and stop wanting to be a fit for everyone.
The balance between questioning myself to find ways I can improve, and believing in my skills and ability is what makes sales challenging and amazingly rewarding once you take the step.
Are there any barriers you have faced as a woman working in sales, and how have you overcome them?
One of the barriers was gaining credibility from my peers and customers as a young woman in sales. This can be frustrating at first, but I realized I had to use the doubts and comments as a motivation to prove people wrong. I stayed away from people bringing me down and stuck to what I knew I had inside me until it would be seen and recognized.
Sticking to my values, thriving to become an expert and building my assertiveness were the keys to my success in front of customers and my management.
A big part of Sales is about being in control of how and what you communicate with others. The way people treated me changed as I started valuing myself and being fair with how I perceived myself. I took every chance to grow and be around supportive and caring people to take their feedback on board.
I am fortunate to now work for a company founded by Margot Cooper, who is an incredible and very inspiring woman. Our sales team counts mostly women and across the company, women are equally given management roles. To be part of such a successful company with examples proving stereotypes wrong is great and I hope this becomes the standard.
What do you like the most about being a woman in sales?
Depending on the industry, being in sales often means I was surrounded by men. I enjoyed being able to bring a different perspective. When you start thriving as a woman in sales, it becomes contagious, and it inspires other people to do the same in their field. Women have great qualities for sales and management and beating stereotypes is empowering. When you show who you are and what you are capable of, people value and respect you even more for it.
I am a strong believer that mixed teams not only in terms of gender but also in terms of culture, background and ethnicity are the strongest teams. Diversity is an essential part of success, and it produces the best collaborations.
What advice do you have for a woman wanting to get into sales and those wanting to advance?
Use the great women and men around you to learn and grow. I was lucky enough to meet co-workers and managers with great qualities that inspired me to work and improve my own.
Although not everyone comes from a supportive background or workplace, it’s about finding where you fit and will be valued and heard. I advise building self-confidence by learning everything about the field you want to be in and using this to grow assertiveness and your work will do the rest. Distance yourself from people with bad intentions. It all starts from within.
- Written by Tim Macmillan
