Kerry on sales, leadership pressure, and building Hello Laser

Katy is joined by Kerry, a former sales director with more than 20 years in corporate sales who has since launched her own business, Hello Laser. This conversation covers the reality of climbing the ladder, what makes someone genuinely good at sales, and why leaving a high-pressure corporate role can be the right move when the culture no longer fits.They also dig into the emotional side of leadership, the difference between being liked and being effective, and how Kerry is applying years of commercial experience to building a business on her own terms.

Key topics

• Kerry shares how her sales career began early, from helping her nana clean cars to working on her granddad’s fruit stall and learning about money, margins, and hustle.
• She explains how her first job in sales admin at Loot pulled her into sales for real, and why commission, autonomy, and earning potential hooked her.
• Kerry breaks down what sales director actually means in practice, including pressure, internal politics, people management, and being accountable for more than just your own numbers.
• The conversation explores why not everyone should become a manager just because they are good at selling, and why leadership requires empathy, judgement, and the ability to operate within each company’s culture.
• Kerry and Katy talk honestly about the loneliness of leadership, especially when you have to make hard calls, protect your team, and absorb the stress yourself.
• Kerry shares the practical side of progression in sales, including hitting numbers, engaging your manager, taking initiative beyond your core role, and understanding the specific game each business plays.
• A mini sales masterclass covers rapport building, gaining commitment, avoiding assumptions, asking better questions, and using SPIN to uncover the real cost of a problem before presenting a solution.
• Kerry explains why she thinks many people in sales are in the wrong role, and why 80 20 performance patterns are real when teams lack urgency or true selling instinct.
• She opens up about the mental strain of corporate life, how pressure and personal life changes pushed her to reassess everything, and why she eventually knew she had to leave.
• Kerry talks through launching Hello Laser, including training, shadowing, doing the numbers, finding support, hiring help, and building a business with more freedom and better fit.

• SPIN selling - Situation, Problem, Implication, Need payoff
• 80 20 rule - a small number of salespeople often generate most of the revenue
• Build rapport, gain commitment - Kerry’s simple sales philosophy for moving from conversation to close