In this latest episode, I had the absolute joy of sitting down with Johanna “Jo” Korhonen. Jo’s one of those people who shows up exactly as she is — loud, funny, open-hearted — and that’s what makes this conversation so special.

We talked about her winding path from wanting to be a history teacher, to falling (a little by accident) into telesales, and then building a career in global tech sales. Jo shares why she loves the rollercoaster of sales, the thrill of the chase, and that magic moment when you stop being “the pushy rep” and become a trusted partner.

What I love most about Jo is her honesty — about the highs, the lows, and what it really means to be a woman leading in sales. She’s passionate about opening doors for more women to step into this world, and she leaves us with one of her favorite reminders: “you can always re-choose your choice.”

We hope you enjoy the chat as much as we did!

Johanna Korhonen is currently Chief Sales Officer at Dear Lucy On her awesome LinkedIn Profile, she says:

Hi my name is Johanna but since you’re here, you might as well call me Jo 👋
As a stellar sales leader I’ve been turning "no" into "not yet" for ten years.
I’ve been leading and scaling teams of international software sales professionals in Helsinki and Dublin. Data-driven growth is the name of my game and fine-tuning sales analytics my forte.
In a nutshell: I eat numbers for lunch, brunch and dinner.
When I’m not breaking records and making quotas, you’ll find me doing yoga, meditating, training my dog, scrolling memes, drinking gin, and taking care of my carefully curated collection of dresses. 👗
If any of the above is of interest to you, feel free to connect with me. Don’t be shy, I know I won’t be.

You can connect with Jo on LinkedIn here

About Alicia Payne

Alicia is a mother of two young children, and a Senior Account Manager at ⁠⁠Nintex⁠⁠ in Melbourne, Australia.

Her tech career spans 15 years across channel and direct sales, working for Australian and Global organisations where she has grown and thrived. Alicia loves working in high growth organisations in scaling teams, and helping customers solve their business challenges with best in class technologies.

Prior to working in technology sales, Alicia graduated with a Master of Music from Monash University, performed with Victorian Opera in their chorus and taught Vocal Studies at several independent schools in Melbourne.

Connection is one of her greatest values and her passion is empowering others to find their voice through the sharing of stories. When not working, mothering or interviewing inspiring women, Alicia loves to read, travel, run, sauna and cold dip, walk along her local beach, and head to the theatre.

Connect with Alicia on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@holdingspaceforunicorns⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Instagram.

Upon realising it's been 15 years since I started in the IT industry, I've done a lot of reflecting lately- and naturally, this led to an idea for a brief solo episode

In this episode, I share the winding path that led me from music teaching into my first tech sales role. What began with countless interviews, rejection, and self-doubt became a story of resilience, opportunity, and alignment- one of my biggest life lessons to date.

You’ll hear:

• How a background in music shaped my confidence and drive.

• The setbacks and lessons that came with early interview rejections.

• Why resilience and persistence are often the real differentiators in a career pivot.

• The moment clicked — it alland how “lucky number eight” changed my life.

• Why not being everyone’s cup of tea is more than okay.

It's my hope that someone out there is going through a job search or career pivot journey, hears this and knows that there is light at the end of the tunnel. There certainly was for me.

About Alicia Payne

Alicia is a mother of two young children, and a Senior Account Manager at ⁠Nintex⁠ in Melbourne, Australia.

Her tech career spans 15 years across channel and direct sales, working for Australian and Global organisations where she has grown and thrived. Alicia loves working in high growth organisations in scaling teams, and helping customers solve their business challenges with best in class technologies.

Prior to working in technology sales, Alicia graduated with a Master of Music from Monash University, performed with Victorian Opera in their chorus and taught Vocal Studies at several independent schools in Melbourne.

Connection is one of her greatest values and her passion is empowering others to find their voice through the sharing of stories. When not working, mothering or interviewing inspiring women, Alicia loves to read, travel, walk along her local beach, and head to the theatre.

Connect with Alicia on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@holdingspaceforunicorns⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Instagram.

EPISODE 19!

I finally had the pleasure of sitting down with Dani Burns for our 19th episode of Holding Space for Unicorns.

Dani a product and business leader with a passion for building thoughtful products, high performing teams, and mentoring others.

During our chat, we touched on the following topics:

A career doesn't have to have a linear path to be great – From welding to product leadership, Dani’s journey has been all about following her curiosity.

Passion is a compass – Let what excites you guide your next step. For Dani, that meant pivoting from M&A to product strategy.

Mentorship matters – Be brave enough to ask. People are often more than willing to share their time and wisdom.

Unmask to lead – Dani shares how shedding corporate armour helped her lead with authenticity, empathy, and strength.

Redefining success – She doesn’t aim to be “special” — just real. Her philopsophy- If she can do it, others can too.

Dani is currently Head of Product at Uptick and you can connect with her on Linkedin here

About Alicia Payne

Alicia is a mother of two young children, and a Senior Account Manager at Nintex in Melbourne, Australia.

Her tech career spans 15 years across channel and direct sales, working for Australian and Global organisations where she has grown and thrived. Alicia loves working in high growth organisations in scaling teams, and helping customers solve their business challenges with best in class technologies.

Prior to working in technology sales, Alicia graduated with a Master of Music from Monash University, performed with Victorian Opera in their chorus and taught Vocal Studies at several independent schools in Melbourne.

Connection is one of her greatest values and her passion is empowering others to find their voice through the sharing of stories. When not working, mothering or interviewing inspiring women, Alicia loves to read, travel, walk along her local beach, and head to the theatre.

Connect with Alicia on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@holdingspaceforunicorns⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ on Instagram.