Are you in sales? Do you sit at your desk wondering, “What would it be like to be a Senior Vice President of Sales someday?” Well, you’re in the right place!
Spend a day with Salelytics SVP AJ Olander, from start to finish. He’ll guide you through his experience balancing the major responsibilities of work and the joys of family.
6:30 am
Wake up thanks to the poke of either a 5-year-old son or a 7-year-old daughter. (Who’s Okay to Wake clock has just gone off to signal the start of the day. Without these clocks we’d be up before 5 am.)
The best start of the day
6:31 am
Immediately start the kid’s favorite meal of the day: A carb-heavy breakfast to fuel them for a full schedule of running around. I myself fuel up with coffee and yogurt in between courses for the kids.
7:00 am
I start my morning work check-ins while the kids play before school. This typically consists of any emails from the night before, earlier risers on the team, and LinkedIn content engagement. By seeing which clients and prospects are active, I know where to interact or support them. Once or twice a week this time is substituted for a morning run of 2 or 3 miles (if I can sneak it in).
7:30 am
Then, I shower up to get work ready for a day filled with internal and external Zoom, MS Team, and Google Meet calls.
7:45 am
Sneak in some Lego building time with my son Carter.
Sneaking in Lego time
8:15 am
Muster up the final goodbyes to the kiddos for the day before my wife takes them to school and I head ‘up’ to the bonus room above our garage. The space is now my primary office.
AJ's office setup
8:15 – 5:00pm
- Formal meetings include those with our direct sales team where we talk about current prospective customer opportunities and next steps. We develop solutions to help grow these businesses and have scheduled calls with our amazing leaders of Talent Acquisition, Financial Services, and Operations teams to ensure program success.
- Consistent ad hoc communications with Operational Directors, Technical Project Managers, and IT/IS Senior leadership on current supplier relations and solutions to incorporate with our offerings. Thank goodness for Microsoft Teams which is the lifeblood of these interactions.
- Join prospect calls with the sales team as well as existing client calls with the B2B Operations team. Pitch in wherever needed to help keep the firm moving forward.
5:00 pm
After a well-worked day, I head downstairs and catch up on the day’s happenings with my favorite people.
AJ, his wife, and the little O's
5:15 pm
I juggle dinner prep roles with my wife, Jen. One of us usually handles the main meal while the other rounds out the kids’ plate for our fussier eaters.
5:30 pm
Luckily, family dinner is at the table. This is one of my favorite times of the day and probably one of the biggest benefits of our life shifts from the COVID. Nearly every day, we can have this meal all together as a family and talk without interruption or distraction.
5:45 pm
After dinner playtime! In the spring and summer, this is all outdoors, all the time for the Little O’s. Usually, this means running barefoot outside to check on the neighbors in all directions. Our kids are social butterflies around the neighborhood and love to share their stories with anyone who will listen.
Hanging outside
6:45 pm
We *start* the process of getting kids back inside and cleaned up for the next day. Usually, a mixture of a bath for my son, a shower for my daughter, and then jammies and reading on the couch. The kids have grown to love reading time thanks to my wife who is a teacher and believes reading is the key to all good things. 😊 Current hot series? Dragon Masters by Tracey West.
7:30 pm
We divide and concur on bedtime snuggles and tuck-ins. I usually start with Carter, and Jen starts with Addie. A little chatting before we switch makes sure everyone feels the love before bedtime.
7:45 pm
One or both come out asking for water.
7:55 pm
One or both calls for a ‘re-tuck.’
8:05 pm
Jen and I sit quietly on the couch while checking back in on our phones for texts/social outreaches from friends and family while we wait to ensure the final calls from the littles are done and they are asleep.
8:30 pm
Lastly, we fire up Netflix or another streaming service to watch a sitcom or two before bedtime. For those who know me well; my all-time favorite is The Office. We’ve watched the series start to finish more times than I can count at this point… it always makes me laugh.
9:30 pm
Call it a day and off to bed.
Phew! What a challenging, fulfilling day. It’s clear to see that this executive has his values in the right order, which coincidentally aligns with our own. Thank you for letting us tag along, AJ!
AJ’s Links
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