#8 - He Almost Lost His Job, Then He Made $1M Two Years in a Row | Jonathan Samuelson

#8 - He Almost Lost His Job, Then He Made $1M Two Years in a Row | Jonathan Samuelson

When I interviewed Jonathan Samuelson, I knew his numbers were incredible. 248% of quota his first year with Untap Your Sales Potential, 318% the next, and two consecutive years earning over $1,000,000 W2 in tech sales.  What I didn’t know was his personal story and how much adversity he’d overcome to get here.  Before joining UYSP, Jonathan had been at Genesys for five years and had nearly lost his job due to poor performance. Then his son Miles was born with a heart condition and couldn’t breathe on his own from the moment he entered the world. They spent 21 days in the pediatric ICU. By God’s grace, his son survived and he’s now a happy and healthy boy.  When Miles stabilized, something shifted in Jonathan as a father and a man. He had a much deeper purpose in life, and a greater appreciation for how fragile and precious life can be. At that point, he made the decision to invest in himself and go ALL IN on his career, his family, and his future. The next year he was at Chairman's Club. Then he did it again. In the process, he also runs Ultra-marathons including running a 100-miler. To top it off, he published a children's book called Little Trail Runner to teach kids some of the valuable lessons that he learned from trail running, and is raising two kids under four at home. Want to know how he does it all? This is exactly what we discussed on the podcast.  This conversation is one of the most inspiring and energizing ones I’ve had since starting the podcast. Here is what we covered: * His rock bottom before starting coaching: spending his workdays browsing Zillow, being constantly distracted, and feeling deep anxiety from not performing at his potential * How Miles being born with a life-threatening heart condition became the moment everything changed * Going from under $200K to over $1M in his first year in the program, and the exact shifts he made to 5x his income  * The daily planning system that keeps him focused and intentional despite having ADHD * How he closed an $8M ACV deal at the director level without ever having true executive access, and what that taught him about champion-building * The 40X ROI of coaching: investing $20K and earning $800K that year  * Why he started doing daily affirmations after mocking them for years * How faith changed his relationship with anxiety and quota pressure * Running 100 miles in 24 hours and what that taught him about endurance * Writing a children's book * The decision to go ALL IN that changed his entire life If you are sick and tired of getting average results, this conversation will inspire you to make the necessary changes to succeed at the highest level in sales and in life.  Learn more at https://www.untapyoursalespotential.com/podcast [https://www.untapyoursalespotential.com/podcast]

#7 - He Sold $87M at 34 Years Old | Mike Brandt

When I was at Salesforce, I fiercely competed for the #1 Enterprise AE position against another seller named Mike Brandt. I haven’t spoken to him in 8 years since then, and we recently caught up for this month’s Fireside Chat.  You may not have heard of Mike Brandt before, but after today’s conversation you won’t forget him. Mike has one of the most impressive track records I’ve ever seen in tech sales: 12 of 13 years over quota, earning 500K to 1M as a top Enterprise AE at Salesforce, before getting promoted to Enterprise RVP and now leading one of Snowflake’s strongest teams. Mike and his teams have personally sold over 87M in net new ACV!  The most impressive part – he is only 34 years old.  And he’s achieved this without sacrificing his health or personal life.  Mike has five kids under eight years old and his family is “screen-free.” He lives on a small hobby farm with goats, sheep, chickens, and a pony. He’s also been sober for three years. Mike is a force of nature, and this is the first time he has ever gone public with his story. Here are some of the topics we explored during our conversation:  1. How he “does it all” The habits, boundaries, and lifestyle choices that enable him to lead at an elite level, finish work by 5pm, and spend quality time with his family.  2. How he landed a job as an Enterprise AE at Salesforce at just 22 years old.  3. Why selling like a consultant is key to landing big software contracts, and the exact playbook to sell like a consultant.  4. How he develops sales superstars with the goal of getting one person on his team promoted every year, and another to pay off their house!  5. The shift from license to consumption model in software sales, and how to adapt your sales approach to meet the changing market landscape.  6. Why Mike got sober three years ago, and the impact it’s had on his mind and health.  I know this conversation will inspire you as much as it inspired me.  Learn more at https://www.untapyoursalespotential.com/podcast [https://www.untapyoursalespotential.com/podcast]

#6 - She Climbed From 38% Quota to $14M in One Year | Carolina Chavez

What does it take to go from 38% quota attainment to closing $14 million in a single year, landing one of only 20 elite sales roles in all of SAP, and doing it all as the youngest person on her team (and the only Latina woman in the room)? For Carolina Chavez, it started with facing herself. Carolina is now an Account Executive in SAP's Strategic Customer Program, where she manages one of SAP's global strategic accounts. She spent two years in Untap Your Sales Potential and during that time tripled her sales production, closed $14 million on a $5 million annual quota, and earned a promotion that only 20 people in the entire company hold.  She is also a certified hypnotherapist with over 250 hours of training, a co-founder of the Latinas in Tech Denver chapter, and one of the most self-aware sellers I’ve ever coached. But the version of Carolina who walked into our first coaching call was a completely different person. She had hit only 38% of quota in her first year at SAP. She was the youngest on her team, one of the only women, and had zero enterprise sales experience. She was operating from a place of fear and proving herself to others.  She questioned herself constantly and wondered “why would anyone listen to me?”  She was in hustle mode, pouring from an empty cup, and had no idea that the real problem was not her skills. It was what she believed about herself. And underneath all of that was something even deeper. In 2020, she had been through a traumatic personal event that shook her sense of confidence and safety to its foundation. She eventually had to get a restraining order. She tried traditional talk therapy and it didn’t work. Then she tried hypnotherapy for the first time and was shocked by how much it helped. That experience started a years-long personal healing journey that would eventually transform the way she showed up in every room she walked into. Here is what we covered on my latest podcast episode: * How to go from a new Enterprise Seller with zero experience to closing $14 million on a $5 million quota and earning one of only 20 strategic customer roles at SAP by age 30 * Going from hustle mode and proving worthiness to showing up calm and authentic  * The deep multi-threading playbook she used to break through IT and build C-suite relationships at a 20-year customer who had never once responded to outreach * How she went back to a prospect's college years on LinkedIn to find a warm path to a chief accounting officer and what happened when she finally got the meeting * Her morning routine: hypnotherapy, movement, visualization, and why she calls it non-negotiable * Why investing $18,000 in coaching transformed her sales and life * How she was able to rise above a traumatic experience through hypnotherapy, and her powerful advice for anybody who remains stuck because of their trauma  * What she would tell anyone sitting at 38% quota right now who feels like the role is beyond them Carolina's story is proof that the inner work is not separate from the results. When you do the work on yourself, your results skyrocket.  Learn more at https://www.untapyoursalespotential.com/podcast [https://www.untapyoursalespotential.com/podcast]

#5 - From Homeless Shelter to $1M in Tech Sales | Mikhail Avant

Most people never come close to achieving their full potential. Not because they lack talent. Because they never fully commit. This week on the Untap Your Sales Potential Podcast, I sat down live with one of the most intense, disciplined, and inspiring sellers I’ve ever coached: Mikhail Avant. It was one of the most inspiring conversations I’ve ever had.  Mikhail was born in a homeless shelter. He grew up in violence, chaos, poverty, and instability. By age 10, he was helping raise his younger brothers while his mother worked to survive. He became obsessed with discipline through basketball and hardship. Then life humbled him. He dropped out of college and worked as a janitor. Lived in a tiny apartment with cracked walls. He had no mentors, degree, or roadmap to follow.  But he refused to accept his current life.  He started working as a trainer and found out he was really good at sales.  If only somebody would give him a shot in corporate sales, he would take care of the rest.  Eventually, he broke into tech sales and got his opportunity. He became a high performer and continued to put himself in bigger opportunities, finding his way to ServiceNow.  That’s when he decided to level up and coach with me.  When Mikhail joined my coaching program in 2023, his biggest year ever was around $200K. The next year he made over $500K. The following year, he made $1M. But the most powerful part of his story isn’t the money. It’s HOW he transformed. He made a decision to go ALL IN and become the very best in sales.  In this conversation, we go deep on: • The mindset shift that completely changed his life • Why champions don’t “set goals”, they make decisions • What “ALL IN” actually looks like in practice • Executive selling and how to get access to power • How he sold massive enterprise logos like Snowflake, Microsoft, and Lyft at a startup • Why most people never reach their potential • The role spirituality, purpose, and identity play in elite performance • Why he left SaaS for AI and where he sees the future going • The mentality required to become truly world-class This was one of the most emotional, raw, and powerful interviews I’ve ever done. If you know you’re capable of more… If you’re tired of playing small… If you’re ready to stop making excuses and fully commit to your potential… There are nuggets in this conversation that can genuinely change your life - but only if you make a decision to take action afterwards. Learn more at https://www.untapyoursalespotential.com/podcast [https://www.untapyoursalespotential.com/podcast]

#4 - She Sold $15M in 5 Months at AWS, Then Quit Her Job | Athina Lampru

What if the intense drive that makes you successful in the sales comes at the cost of your family, your peace, and your life? What if you run so hard that you end up in the hospital?  In our latest podcast episode, our new sales strategist Athina Lampru shares how running from her past fueled elite performance in sales, but nearly cost her everything.  Athina sat down with me to share her story for the first time publicly.  Here is what we covered on the podcast: * Growing up in Venezuela with an alcoholic mother, an absent father, and a childhood defined by survival mode.  * Why trauma is often the hidden fuel behind high-performing salespeople, and what it costs when you never deal with it * The birth of her first son and the postpartum spiral that cracked everything open  * What it actually looks like to miss your child's first year because you cannot stop running * The panic attack that finally forced her to face herself * Walking away from millions because the cost to her family was too high * The integrity gap: why the distance between your values and your actions is directly proportional to the shame you carry every day * How slowing down at Amazon unlocked a $60 million pipeline and $15 million closed in under 5 months  * Getting baptized and married on the same weekend, with both parents who hurt her most walking her down the aisle * Her advice for anybody running so fast they can’t enjoy the life they are already living Ahtina's story is living proof that you can have it all if you are willing to slow down and face yourself. And when you finally slow down to face the person in the mirror and do the deep work on yourself, you come back more powerful than ever. Book a free discovery call and learn more at untapyoursalespotential.com/podcast [http://untapyoursalespotential.com/podcast/]