What sucking at sales taught me
Learning the Hard(ish) Way. A little over two years later.
I’ve never been the person who has it all figured out. There’s a concept in behavioral science called choice overload - Quite self explanatory name. It happens when you’re faced with too many options and your brain short-circuits trying to pick one. The result? Either a bad decision or no decision at all. Sure can relate. Which brings me to my point: How are we supposed to choose a single path in life when the whole world’s your oyster?
Don’t get me wrong - being overwhelmed with possibility is a great problem to have. But in my mind, these big life decisions can feel definitive. Finite. Like once you picked a lane, that is it. So yeah picking a path has always felt like a bit of a conundrum. I’m a think-too-much until-you-explode kind of gal, ok?
A “fluid” journey (slightly chaotic)
Safe to say my trajectory has been somewhat fluid - which is a more cutesy version of “all over the place.” Some people figure it out early. Some take a little longer. I studied Business Management in Porto, then did a Masters in Behavioral Economics at the University of Bath, UK. I finished my thesis on the brink of Covid and, shortly after handing it in, landed a role at a Portuguese-Brazilian behavioral science consultancy - fully remote - working on some pretty cool projects across both private and public sectors. So far, so good, right? Then the company hit financial trouble. I was laid off.
Fun times.
Applying for other behavioral science consultancies meant I’d likely have to relocate from Portugal. Cue the job search spiral, mid-interview limbo, and utter existential dread.
Enter WildBran
One day, while scrolling LinkedIn (as one often does in such circumstances - i.e: unemployment), I saw a post from a small food factory in Póvoa de Santa Iria, Lisbon. They were hiring a Junior Account Executive.
WildBran - “Farelos Selvagens" Cool name. Not so cool job description.
See, account management was a bit random given my background. But hey - beggars, choosers, I’m young, could be an adventure, etc. So I applied. Interviewed. Two weeks later, I had an offer. Fastest recruitment process EVER. Can’t even imagine what it’d be like had I been actually qualified for the job. Accepting it was a gut decision. And just like that, I was on Idealista looking for flats and moving to Lisbon. Well, Santa Iria da Azóia to be exact. Trendier Lisbon prices were not on my side.
Zero sales experience. Zero shame.
I had ZERO sales experience. But that’s not even the tragic part. If you were to build a profile of what makes a good salesperson - assertive, great negotiator, thick-skinned, etc. - I would not check many of the boxes.
Why? I’m a natural people pleaser. I avoid conflict like the plague. I cry watching 15-second videos of rescued dogs on Instagram. I’m deeply sensitive to other people’s emotional cues - which, all in all, is not the ideal personality cocktail when your job revolves around closing deals and negotiating, asserting yourself, handling rejection, and often playing the punchbag for unhappy clients. Thankfully there was a flipside to that, otherwise my stay in Lisbon would likely have been cut short. I had adaptability. I was commited. I could connect with people. And, most important of all I think, I was deadset on not being fired.
So I leaned hard into those. And figured out the rest, eventually. Faking it until I made it.
If you were to build a profile of what makes a good salesperson - assertive, great negotiator, thick-skinned, etc. - I would not check many of the boxes.
Power meltdowns, power growth
What followed was two years of learning by doing - aka learning the hard(ish) way. The role was challenging in itself because I was way out of my element. I had to learn everything from scratch. Add startup dynamics to the mix - playing multiple hats, high stakes, emotional rollercoasters, lots of change - you get the idea. At the same time, I was handling marketing and project management for our own brand launch. All the while juggling weekdays in Lisbon and weekends back home in Porto. (A very special thanks to Rede Expressos and Flixbus for being my unofficial sponsors during this time). There were plenty of moments where I didn’t know what I was doing. Some mistakes were made - and not in a fun, exploratory way. More in a panicky, anxiety-inducing, sneaky-cry-in-the-bathroom way.
I coined the term power meltdown. A spiritual sibling to the power nap - very cathartic. Just less restful. But at the same time, there were moments I surprised myself. Tough calls. Amended mistakes. Deadlines met. Great wins celebrated like maniacs. And great work colleagues who experienced it all with me.There’s bonding through trauma - and then there’s bonding through startup life. Similar results, really.
I coined the term power meltdown. A spiritual sibling to the power nap - very cathartic. Just less restful.
Turns out evolution is buildable
Hindsight is a beautiful thing. But it can make you look back at your experiences through a way-too-rosy lens. Still with that in mind, looking back I’m proud. I started out as someone who sucked at sales. But eventually figured it out and played the part. Slowly. Painfully at times. Incrementally - but I did it. And, more than anything, it proved how much a growth mindset actually matters. Abilities can be developed. Self-doubt quiets down - a little. Behavioral science calls it self-efficacy - your belief in your own ability to learn, adapt, and succeed at something you weren’t sure you could do.
It’s not fixed. It’s built. And it’s buildable.
Learning by osmosis, survival by team
In a team this small and intertwined you learn from everyone. I’ve learned by watching my teammates deal with stress, hearing them talk about their lives, receiving feedback, or jumping into fire (sometimes literally because yeah, that’s happened before). In behavioral terms, that’s social learning. In startup terms, that’s survival. And like most startups, a lot has changed along the way. People come, people go. Teams restructure. Some roles disappear; new ones appear out of thin air. Things shift and priorities reshuffle. But in the middle of it all, you find a weird kind of rhythm. When I joined WildBran, I thought I’d stay a year. Just enough time to regroup, figure out my next step, and move on. A year has turned into two. And counting. Now, after two years I’m officially switching to marketing full-time. It’s a new beginning - but not exactly a fresh start. It’s a continuation. The next chapter.
Now, after two years I’m officially switching to marketing full-time. It’s a new beginning - but not exactly a fresh start. It’s a continuation. The next chapter.
What the Wild Way taught me
Turns out, being out of your depth is a pretty good way to grow - once you stop panicking. WildBran taught me that I don’t need to be “perfectly suited” for a job to do it well. That adaptability is a strength. That growth often feels like a mess before it starts to make sense. That evolution is made of steady, often small increments. That’s what the Wild Way means to me. It’s not about having all the answers. It’s mostly about just going for it anyway with open arms, showing up, making mistakes, learning from them, and doing the work - even when you're wildly underqualified.
Especially then.
So... What am I doing?
I’m building. I’m learning. I've come a long way.
But honestly?
I’m probably still wildly underqualified.
And yes - still suck at sales.
