Breaking Barriers in B2B Sales - with Gidget Pugh, Socially Focused

**Ray Rike** (0:00)
Hello, I'm Ray Reich, Founder and CEO of RevOp Squared, and your host of the Metrics that Measure Up podcast. We talk to a wide variety of B2B, SaaS and Cloud thought leaders, executives, investors, and people just like you to discuss the metrics and benchmarks they use to make metrics informed decisions. Now on to today's show. Welcome to today's episode of the Metrics That Measure Up podcast. Today, we are joined by Gidget Pugh, founder of Socially Focused and a Barrier Breaker in the B2B software sales industry. On today's episode, we will be covering three main topics. One, the story behind Gidget's journey from retition to multiple successful roles in leading B2B sales organizations to founding a social media agency. Two, how Gidget broke racial and gender barriers in the B2B software sales industry, her insights and advice. And three, how has 2020 shaped Gidget's perspective on 2021 and beyond? Gidget, please take a moment to give a brief background overview of your journey to becoming a guest on the Metrics that Measure Up podcast.

**Gidget Pugh** (1:20)
Thank you, Ray. Thanks for having me here. First of all, I'm a native of Oakland. I'm a mother, I'm a daughter, I'm a sister, I'm an aunt who happens to be the founder of a digital marketing firm based here in Oakland, California. I started my sales and marketing career in 1998, kind of date myself. And how I got here is basically originally, I went to school to become a mortician. Life happened, got pregnant, had my daughter. And I figured out real quick that a mortician wasn't going to allow me to provide a better life for my daughter. So I had to figure out, like, what am I going to do? And after doing a lot of research on, like, what industry I could get into, sales. And I landed a position at QRS. I knew nothing about technology. I knew nothing about EDI, which is what I was selling at that time, electronic data interchange. I knew nothing about it, but I learned it really quickly. Sales, some people say sales is not innate. But for me, I've learned that it came natural to me. It's a part of the fabric of who I am. So love sales and marketing. I love technology. I fell in love with technology and love working with customers. And from there, I found it socially focused.

**Ray Rike** (2:43)
Gidget, wait a minute. 1998 So you trained to be a mortician, and I guess you've decided that was a dead end job. I thought you'd like that.
But then, you're a African American woman. Those are two strikes against you to enter the world of B2B Software Sales in 1998

**Gidget Pugh** (3:05)
Yeah.

**Ray Rike** (3:05)
Can you tell us and tell the audience, how did you land that first job in B2B Software Sales at QRS, which was the largest subscription company providing software-based solutions to the retail industry? How did you do it?

**Gidget Pugh** (3:22)
I think at that time, if I think about it, it was my determination and confidence. I knew I belonged there. I knew that when I walked into that building, I told myself, you're going to get the job. I actually did get the job. I got the job on the spot. I think it was just the confidence and, like I said, determination.

**Ray Rike** (3:43)
Confidence and determination and the self-driven personality to go and at least get that interview because you probably had all kinds of fear and certainty of doubts like why would they hire me? I know nothing about the industry. So do you have that just innate confidence or did you have to really muster that up to go and get that first interview?

**Gidget Pugh** (4:02)
You know, I think it was the fact that I was a mother. Like when I walked out of that door, out of my home, leaving my daughter there, didn't have a job. So when I landed the interview, receiving the answer, no, you don't have the job, it wasn't an option. So I went in there, I connected. And I think in just my nature, I can adapt and connect with anybody. And I really connected with the person that I was interviewing at the time. It's always been in my nature to be authentic. And I just went in there just with that confidence and determination that I had to feed my daughter.

**Ray Rike** (4:40)
Well, sometimes necessity is the mother of innovation, right? So you definitely had the necessity. But here you are, you got the job, which I'm sure you were excited. But how long did it take after you found out you got the job to say, holy yes, what did I get myself into? Did you not have those fears?