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