In this episode, Alex Kremer and Lauren Goodell get vulnerable about the depression, gender dynamics, and burnout culture hiding beneath their early sales careers, and land on a framework for building a career without losing yourself in it.

Episode Navigation:

00:49 — The Microsoft Academy of Collegiate Hires and starting out at 22

02:11 — Meeting in Atlanta and the speaker who planted the seed

04:56 — Walking into a boardroom as a 22-year-old woman in state and local government

08:36 — Why “sales was just the start”: sales as an operating system, not a career

09:49 — Crushing quota while quietly struggling with depression and suicidal thoughts

15:13 — Being the only woman on the team, and the CFO who changed everything

20:22 — Hustle culture, burnout, and learning to rest without guilt

25:03 — The “Sacred Third”: neither burnout nor escape, but a third way

29:46 — A full-circle dream: returning to inspire the next class

Connect:

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/@SalesWasJustTheStart

Sales Was Just the Start: saleswasjustthestart.com

Alluviance (Alex Kremer): alluviance.co

Sell with Goodell (Lauren Goodell): sellwithgoodell.com

Clustr (Lauren Goodell): getclustr.ai

Resources:

How to crush your quota without crushing your soul - https://ruvbi.share.hsforms.com/2rGW9QG0MTuao6rwF1rkEiw

The 4 masks of sales - https://ruvbi.share.hsforms.com/2NM3dwRaFTAKnZIWUZm7kGQ

The 5 day inner game reset challenge - https://ruvbi.share.hsforms.com/2W1Ko6wnZQPazEVXSwXVD1A

In this first episode, co-hosts Alex Kremer and Lauren Goodell trace their friendship back to a Microsoft training program over a decade ago. They reframe sales as a trailhead for self-discovery rather than a scoreboard. And they lay out why this show trades the highlight reel for the whole game.

Episode Navigation:

00:00 — Cold open: recording day one and why they're doing this podcast

00:26 — How they met: the Microsoft Academy of Collegiate Hires and the “MARK” program

04:17 — Redefining sales as humanity, not persuasion

05:44 — Introducing Alluviance and Sell with Goodell

09:32 — The breakdown that became a breakthrough

12:28 — Setting the show's vision: vulnerability over the highlight reel

15:37 — What's ahead: guests behind the mask, starting with Scott

19:30 — Reframing failure: “fail fast, learn faster”

21:07 — The Gap and the Gain: measuring progress instead of distance

24:15 — Community and mentorship as the foundation of growth

About Your Hosts:

Alex Kremer is the founder of Alluviance, a community built for sales leaders and founders doing the inner work alongside the outer grind, through retreats, coaching, and a mastermind community. Before leaving corporate life, he spent 15+ years in tech sales and leadership at companies including Microsoft, DocuSign, and Outreach. He lives with his wife, Alexia, who has also become a leader within Alluviance's community and retreats.

Lauren Goodell is the co-founder and CRO of Clustr, which helps organizations build real AI fluency and adoption starting with their people, and speaks and consults on human-first sales and AI through Sell with Goodell. She previously spent nearly a decade in enterprise sales at Microsoft and Salesforce before founding the sales tool Zinnia, which has since wound down. She's based in Charlotte.

Connect:

Sales Was Just the Start: saleswasjustthestart.com

Alluviance (Alex Kremer): alluviance.co

Sell with Goodell (Lauren Goodell): sellwithgoodell.com

Clustr (Lauren Goodell): getclustr.ai

Resources:

How to crush your quota without crushing your soul - https://ruvbi.share.hsforms.com/2rGW9QG0MTuao6rwF1rkEiw

The 4 masks of sales - https://ruvbi.share.hsforms.com/2NM3dwRaFTAKnZIWUZm7kGQ

The 5 day inner game reset challenge - https://ruvbi.share.hsforms.com/2W1Ko6wnZQPazEVXSwXVD1A