Stories of Women in Revenue

Be curious, show up with confidence and data, don't put away aggressive (it is probably just your confidence that someone is trying to keep down), constantly learn AI tools and learn with your respective community. None of this happens on an island.

When I was working in revops, a Senior VP of Sales told a relatively new BDR that the only reason she likely booked a meeting with a phenomenal prospect was because she 'send him naked photos.' Earlier in my career this kind of discrimination was rampant and while it still exists, it's gotten substantially better. I started my career working in cybersecurity/defense and later in healthcare. I worked hard to get out of environments where this behavior was tolerated and found friendlier/healthier industries. Now I feel a personal responsibility to create safe, professional environments for women in revenue.

Luckily I was never discriminated. But I have found myself in situations, where the "loudest" person in the room wins. This is usually not me, as I like to think that my achievements/numbers speak for itself. I have noticed that often men are more confident and like to talk about the great things they have done and achieved. I was in the situation once where my performance rating was lower than the one from my male colleague, even though we had the same team quota achievement. When I challenged the decision I didn't get a satisfactory answer.

In my 30's a Sales Director made implicit and explicit suggestions he had a physical attraction towards me. I very carefully and gently pushed back on his advances and then became a "target" where he took half of my accounts away, asked a small amount of key work people to stop engaging with me on my accounts and monitored my every move etc... I eventually left

On another work assignment as a Sales Leader I took over a team who was underperforming (-40% yoy) and after 9 months had the targeted +70yoy growth, fixed hiring, stopped team member churn and supported the partner ecosystem growth. I was the only female leader in that group and quickly became the person to bring down. My boss took the credit for the team positive turn around, though he had no play in it.

In the same company as above, I took over the team from another manager (who had not been briefed he was going to lose half of his team). When I introduced myself to him for the first time he refused my hand, looked at me and said:
"That team doesn't need a mother"
I replied: "You are right, that team needs a leader."

Rather than a single instance, this has been a recurring pattern throughout my career. Compared to my male peers, I’ve often had to work five times harder to prove myself, just to earn the same level of respect and opportunities for advancement. Time and again, I’ve found myself in situations where my male counterparts—some with similar or even less experience—have their words accepted at face value, while I’ve had to constantly defend and validate my expertise. It’s an exhausting reality, but one that has shaped my resilience and determination.

I once witnessed judgment due to pregnancy. And I realized that I don't want to be in the same situation during my pregnancy (I'm going to be in a very fragile state), so I've decided to quit before the official maternity leave.

The most valuable thing you can do for other women in revenue roles is to be a girl's girl - lift up, champion, celebrate other women. And remember that you don't have to model your behaviour on your male counterparts to be successful - find some female role models!

I was young and new in my role. It wasn’t merely because I was a woman but because I didn’t have the experience. I have been lucky enough to be supported throughout my career.

Find a group of people into or outside your organization with whom you can share your challenges and find an audible ready audience.

If you feel disrespected or underestimated or pressure because of gender, it's not just a feeling - it's a real happening thing! Don't be fool and have an open conversation with your manager and HR, if they want you to lead and achieve results they should be interested in keeping your motivation as well!

As a double minority, I have had customer behave in less than professional manners, I had leadership undervalue or underestimate my skills.

I wasn't "allowed" to attend the leadership meetings as a VP of Customer Success even though the VP of Sales was. The group was all men and even though they didn't say it, I was not welcome.

When I stepped into people management, my manager (a man) was constantly belittling me, not taking into consideration my inputs, slapping his fingers to get my attention and "invite me" to his meeting rooms. I'm not sure if he was simply a terrible person or if he discriminated against my gender, but it was an appalling experience reporting into him.

The first major instance I wrote about in a LinkedIn post.

Another instance was during an interview for a Sales Director role at a solar company which I will not name. The job description clearly said that no prior experience in the solar industry was needed, however, once I arrived for the interview that all magically changed.  All the sales people and leadership were white men.  I was told that there was no way they could have me start as a director even though my resume showcased relevant leadership experience at other companies much larger than this one.  I was then asked if I was the "breadwinner" in my family.  I asked why that was relevant and the interviewer kept asking.  Eventually I said yes (because I was).  Then he proceeded to say that they would hire me if I took a $90k salary cut.  They said instead of getting an office like any of the other senior sales leader, I could sit at the large group of tables with the "marketing girls".  I think my face said it all.  The CEO turned bright red and I promptly left.  THE AUDACITY.  They would NEVER ask a man those questions or devalue him in that way.

I was told I throw people under the bus. That it was a career killer. Mostly I was critical about a project that was being rolled out. I can't help but feel that my aggressive nature would be taken as a win if I was a man but is viewed differently as a woman.

I was recently passed over for a promotion and a leader that I hired that used to report to me was given the job. I had been managing 75% of the people and products that were ultimately under him, including the biggest revenue generators. I feel my contributions and expertise were underestimated because he is better at promoting himself. I was given the option to report to him or head up a new Ops function.

As an executive of a global enterprise I was constantly being second guessed. Sales with completely disrespect me in front of customers and peers. Worse, my leadership kept moving the needle on my goals and even when I met them, they continued to challenge me without ever providing any support.

Learn deeply about expectations of the financial side of your company and business and industry as quickly as possible. Immerse yourself in the mechanics of revenue operations and architecture immediately. Understand how customer outcomes tie to revenue and be able to articulate it, tell the story. Data is great, but not if you can't tell the story in a way that's compelling and immediately impactful to the bottom line that your C-suite wants to hear.

It's definitely helpful to have a sponsor within your organization. If you're able to find one, make sure you have real conversations about your goals and align on concrete steps you can take and your sponsor can take on your behalf along the way.

If you aspire to be in leadership, learn about what that means in your company or industry. The people side of it, the reporting side of it, the customer side of it, the revenue side of it. Amplify your strengths, identify the areas you can shore up with training.

Make your ambitions known. Show up. Make your case before the opportunity even comes up.

I was constantly (and still am) underestimated when I put in my notice to start my own business. Common inappropriate questions (90% of which came from men or male-presenting people) are:
1. "Aren't you worried clients will think you're too young?"
2. "What's your income?"
3. "Do you have children?"

My worst experience since starting my business has been the sexual harassment I faced during my first sales call after incorporating as an LLC. I'm happy to say I adjusted my pre-call questionnaire, vet prospects more thoroughly, and this has not happened again since.

During my maternity leave, there were significant changes within the organisation, including the departure of my sponsor/manager. With her leaving, it became painfully clear that I had been "forgotten" in the new structure. By the time I returned, it was evident that they didn’t know where I fit in, ultimately leading to a 'demotion' into a different role. I felt deeply discriminated against for having taken maternity leave, and my return to the workforce was incredibly challenging. This experience has made me passionate about supporting others—both employees and managers—through similar transitions.

I was let go off from my last position so that the COO's "buddy", a male, could be rehired (he'd vacated the position to pursue an opportunity that didn't work out and wanted to come back). It was indicative of the larger gender bias toward women in the org.

Throughout my career in male-dominated industries like the trade show and technology fields, I’ve often felt underestimated and sidelined. Electricians would call me “little girl,” and my opinions were frequently talked down to or placated. One experience that stands out was interviewing for a role at a heavily male-dominated company. Over seven interviews, I only spoke to men aside from the recruiter, and the questions shifted from my skills to how I’d balance my personal life with the job—questions I’m certain wouldn’t have been asked of a male candidate.
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It was disheartening but also eye-opening. It made me realize this wasn’t an environment where I could thrive, and I ultimately walked away. While discrimination is never acceptable, it’s often a way to see the true culture of a company. These experiences have been tough, but they’ve also strengthened my resolve to recognize my worth and advocate for myself in any setting.

I have felt underestimated. I worked with in a hostile and uncomfortable work environment as a woman in leadership. I had a manger who pressured me to act like and carry myself like a younger sales manager. I was clearly the better manager from my sales number and culture I carried on my team. While in this role I had the opportunity to share a sales process I created to the ELT team. I received praise from the ELT team and they wanted to implement my process immediately. My manager shared feedback either me that my presentation was great and excited about the launch be stated I need to carry myself like the younger manager. Meaning I needed to talk more proper and not be so outspoken in my role. This made me feel less than and I eventually left that company due to the uncomfortable and degrading comparison.

Early in my career, I was told I would never excel in my role simply because I was a woman—my decisions would be clouded by my hormones. Thankfully, I was surrounded by strong advocates who helped me push back against those damaging narratives and reinforced my confidence in my own abilities.

Embrace every challenge as an opportunity to learn and grow, and never underestimate the power of collaboration. Stay authentic to your values while focusing on building strong relationships, both within your team and with customers. Your leadership journey will be filled with moments of change, but each of those moments shapes you into a more effective and inspiring leader. Most importantly, be patient with yourself—growth takes time, and consistency, dedication, and a clear vision will get you where you want to go.

One of the leaders in my past clearly did not value my expertise. I tried using their "open door policy" to share concerns I had. During the meeting, the feedback seemed to be received well, but immediately following, this "leader" made it clear to others that they felt I was "not a fit." I still persevered and months later, many of the things I had escalated became very clear deterrents to our success. I ended up fixing many problems, sometimes via all night working sessions, even though listening to me in the first place would've prevented those problems in the first place. Nevertheless, instead of realizing I was right, I was further mistreated by having a high rating and promotion blocked. I felt discouraged, undervalued, and defeated. I came very close to accepting another role, but decided to wait for the right thing instead of taking "anything" just to escape a bad leader. Shortly after, this leader's weaknesses apparently became obvious to those in power because they were let go. Since then, I've had the opportunity to work in several other roles and teams and grow my skills. Has it been perfect? No. Have I been underestimated since then by others? Yup. But I am glad I stayed and gained the experiences I did. It has helped me professionally and personally.

Know the data and plan on how you will articulate impact before you even start and build a network that will challenge and support you.

From being in meetings with male team members more junior than me but having people only make eye contact with them or assuming they are the ones who make the decisions.

To being hit on by customers or partners in front of colleagues who didn’t stand up for me.

A tactical one that comes to mind is when I was leading the Global CS team for the B2B arm at Meta.

The CTO of Meta (Schrep) was going to visit London so they asked the Head of EMEA sales to organise the event and prospect meetings. I was in copy of this comms and this leader didn’t know what to do. So to help him get started, I created a request for the internal events team to manage all logistics as well as drafted him a template for his sales people to send invites. Already should have not done that but I wanted to make sure the CTO visit was a success.

He wasn’t managing to get any confirmations so we opened the invite to customers. Immediately I received 15 confirmations for the event but still had no prospects in attendance. The Sales leader was getting pressure and he asked me to draft him the reminder emails. I was shocked because this is so basic and had already gone our of my way to get him set up. I declined stating I was busy with customer meetings and he could just reuse some of the content from the original invite. This upset me because there’s always this expectation that women are admin, note takers, etc.

A day later, it just so happened that we had our 1-1 scheduled and he asked me in this meeting to write him his draft. I made him grab his laptop while I dictated. I refused to write it myself but I couldn’t believe that instead of having a valuable discussion on the region revenue challenges or success, we had to spend the time drafting a comm for that.

In the end, the event was a success with about 20 customers and 5 prospects.

My current boss is a monster. He constantly questions my contributions. He recently told me I didn’t accomplish anything in 2024.
I manage a team of CSMs who are breaking their backs. Meanwhile every idea or suggestion I have to improve their work or even up level our client engagements is shut down. I feel constantly ridiculed. Lately I just feel like I’m failing at life.
I used to love my work.

There's been 2 times in my life that I've felt I was deserving of a promotion and someone else was given that role instead of me, both times that role went to a man. I don't think it was discrimination, I just don't think I was speaking up loudly enough about my desire to be promoted and why I felt I was deserving, and so I was overlooked.

Early in my career, at a rapidly growing startup, I was hired as a BDR Manager and quickly established myself as a high performer. I was passionate about building a strong team and driving results. However, when my initial manager departed, the dynamics shifted dramatically. My new manager, unfortunately, seemed to operate under a different set of rules, a set that actively excluded my voice.

Despite my proven track record and valuable insights, my contributions were consistently dismissed. It became painfully clear that my gender played a significant role in this dismissal. My ideas, presented with data and conviction, were met with resistance, only to be enthusiastically embraced when echoed by male colleagues. This pattern of undermining and blatant disregard for my expertise created a hostile and demoralizing environment.

The final blow came when I was let go under a pretext, a thinly veiled excuse that masked the true reason: my manager's unwillingness to acknowledge my capabilities. To add insult to injury, the junior manager I had personally trained and mentored was promoted to fill my position, a stark reminder of the systemic bias I faced. This experience was more than just a professional setback; it was a profound lesson in the challenges women face in leadership, and it fueled my determination to advocate for equitable treatment and create inclusive workplaces.

1. Early in my career I was in a sales role. I was primarily put on accounts/deals where there was a female decision maker because they believed it would help the likelihood of closing the deal if the female decision maker was working with another female. Even though I was a top performer, I had less leads and the ones I received were hand picked because of my gender vs. my performance. Even with a fraction of the leads, I outperformed many of my male colleagues - and I was still treated as a more junior associate.

2. Many deals and meetings were over drinks or on the golf course, and I was often left out because they assumed I wouldn't be interested as a female.

3. I was let go while on maternity leave.

4. Working remotely as a mom, people assume I am not interested in traveling for work and I do not get invited to in person leadership meetings.

5. I had a leader once refer to my leadership style as "sweet". My team was the top performing team in the business and I had the highest number of promotions. Yet, my leadership viewed my leadership style as softer and less effective.

6. I was a VP at 30 years old and had numerous occasions where a male client or investor would meet me for a meeting and say things like "let's wait to start until your boss gets here".

7. As a leader, I handle conflict directly and with respect. Other male leaders do the same. However, when I handled an issue directly and confidently, a male colleague went to my leadership and said that I was being "difficult", "sensitive", and "not a team player".

8. I had a VP once that was extremely biased towards male leaders vs. females, regardless of performance. I was held to a much higher standard and had to "prove" myself and my VP took credit for my ideas and work. I shared my experience with HR and they said something along the lines of "I know it isn't right but they aren't going to change, either you can deal with it or you can leave".

I have had situations with clients, where they asked to talk to a more "qualified person" instead of me. I've been in injustice types of situations where I clearly saw how better opportunities were given to male professionals where my results were there.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, I faced racial discrimination at work from a male executive. He made jokes about me going back to Asia, asking which port I’d use, and often put me on the spot in meetings, expecting me to answer questions in front of everyone.

At first, I couldn’t believe this was happening in a professional setting. I reported the issue to HR, but nothing changed. It wasn’t until I called out his behavior in a public meeting that things finally stopped.

Standing up for myself in that moment wasn’t easy, but it was necessary. It taught me the importance of speaking up and creating a respectful work environment. I hope my story encourages others to do the same if they ever find themselves in a similar situation.

I was told I was not VP of Sales material. The role was given to a male counterpart that was less qualified than me. In meetings, our mutual boss would ask me to do things that were part of his job because "I know you'll get them done." It was very frustrating, especially when I was voted MVP unanimously by the Commercial team.

I was up for a promotion from Senior to Director. At the time, I was the most experienced, highly educated, and longest-tenured person on the team. Not only had I previously held Director roles, but I was also the only one with leadership experience.

When I expressed my interest in the role, the VP asked if I felt I could "handle" the job, specifically as a mother of five. I was also asked if I’d be willing to modify my already flexible schedule to be in the office more, as a way to “prove” my commitment. Meanwhile, a colleague with no leadership experience was simply asked if they wanted the job, no conditions attached.

This experience was a reminder of the biases women, especially mothers, face in leadership. I didn’t just have to be qualified, I had to justify my ability to lead while being a parent.

Lead your way. Don't feel pressured to mimic other leaders to be seen as equal. Don't conform to other people's expectations about your leadership. Most effective and successful leaders build upon their unique strengths, backgrounds and perspectives.

I know firsthand how often women take on the "invisible backpack" of extra, unpaid labor—whether it’s organizing, planning, or smoothing over workplace dynamics. At one point, I even created Gladys, my fictional assistant, to highlight how much non-promotable work was falling on me. Gladys became an inside joke, but the reality wasn’t funny: women are often expected to handle the behind-the-scenes work while still fighting for a seat at the table.

Early in my career as an executive at Verizon, I often walked into meetings with my (older, male) team members, only to watch customers instinctively direct their attention to them. They’d sit next to my male colleagues, start conversations with them, and assume they were the decision makers. It wasn’t until introductions were made that the tone shifted and I was included in the conversation. My position got me in the room, but it took proving myself for me to be taken seriously.

Experiences like these reinforced something I already knew: women in leadership don’t always fit people’s preconceived notions. The burden of proving ourselves is still real—but it’s one we keep overcoming, step by step.

Entering technology sales and as time went on, [I experienced] ageism in technology sales from men and women. Upon entry technology sales, I was told ‘you lack the experience’ though I provided strong evidence to my success in previous sales of different industries, such as retail and automobile sales. When I landed my first job in tech, it was temporary to replace my coworker who is going out on maternity leave, she did not return, and my 90 day trial position became permanent based on my sales success and increased territory/company attainment. If it weren’t for the trust and foresight of my CEO of a small startup chip and motherboard manufacturer from Taiwan, I wouldn’t have had the foothold for a hard fought successful career! 
 
As time went on, I had many supporters, mentors, and detractors. The ones who did not see what I had to offer often in interviews provided man-explaining, posturing, and sometimes outright condescending statements and questions on my capabilities to close deals and exceed my quotas.  Once landing my new job, most due to my network popping doors then my knowledge and past sales experiences / successes, most the time I was the only woman on the team and either #1 or in top three for whole team in sales.  This often caused distancing and sometimes isolation from my colleagues (mostly male, as time went on women too!), yet to my appreciation there were male and female Managers & coworkers outside of sales that supported me.  Having a champion strengthened my resilience and resolve. You have to have a tough mentality to succeed in sales as well as knowing your value.  
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Note: My sales closer was averaged 100% offer exceeding at 120% or higher.  
Lastly, as I aged the jobs became fewer, I relied on my network and friends who knew my value, drive, and capability to be successful at what ever Sales or Sales Leadership role I took on. Once I became a parent caregiver late in life this became even more challenging, I continued to be successful as a consultant.  Age discrimination now is the main challenge for full time work vs consulting.  So! I changed my focus to a new industry and again with those that know my worth I am now working,  enjoying my semi retirement.

Throughout my career in sales, I've encountered a range of ineffective and even toxic sales managers—alcoholics, bullies, individuals with poor moral judgment, and those who lacked leadership skills. Some experiences were traumatic, but they taught me invaluable lessons: how not to lead, how to quickly identify bad leadership, and most importantly, how to become a better leader and coach myself. These experiences, instead of diminishing me, empowered me to understand the true essence of leadership—understanding what it truly means to inspire, empower, and guide a team with integrity.

The first time I was finally promoted to VP, it did not come with a big raise. I was told that I was already in the pay range and they couldn't increase it. It didn't feel right, but the circumstances didn't allow me to negotiate.

Later, when a Director was transferred to me so that I could manage their PIP, I saw that we were essentially earning the same pay rate. I stood up for myself then, and received the raise that I should have had as well as a bonus to make up for the time difference.

Early on, I encountered a manager who, despite telling me she was pleased with my work, subtly undermined me. She'd often take my ideas as her own and, despite her assurances, wouldn't advocate for me in important meetings. It felt like a constant struggle against being underestimated. This experience pushed me to find roles where I was truly valued, and eventually, to join Women of Customer Success, where I found a supportive community.