Company: Pepsico Beverages

Position: National key account manager

Employed: Four years

Where did you go to School? What program did you attend?
I graduated from Acadia University with a bachelor of business administration degree.

What drew you to your current field?
I am a competitive person by nature. I grew up playing various sports and have never lost my passion to win against the competition and achieve my goals. I saw PBC as a company with a strong track record that delivered their results through their competitive spirit. The scale of the business also represented the fact that there would be many experiences available to allow me to grow throughout my career while gaining the knowledge and training to be a successful salesperson.

How did you find your current position?
In the fall of my graduating year at Acadia, I attended a career fair in Halifax. It was there that I met many interesting people from a variety of companies. From this group, PBC stood out from the crowd. I was tremendously inspired by their culture of thought leadership and innovation. I was encouraged by the fact that PBC was a company that rewarded hard work, something I valued in an organization. I started my career in Dartmouth, NS, and during the past four years have taken on increased responsibilities, moved to different geographical areas, and worked on numerous teams within the business. In my opinion, this is a crucial time in my career to take advantage of every opportunity.

Tell us a bit about your responsibilities.
In my current role, I manage national chain restaurants and distributors. My accountabilities in this role include: demand planning (forecasting), contract negotiations, selling in features and promotions, and managing the execution of activities across our front line sales teams and managers. I enjoy the challenge of this role, as it provides me the opportunity to sell both externally and to work with the key internal stakeholders, including working with finance to gain alignment to proposed programs.

What is the most challenging aspect of your position?
Time management continues to be a challenging portion at PBC. We are a very ÔÇÿAct Now, Do it Today, Get Results' based company, and so we are constantly forced to re-assess our priority list and ensure we not only meet our customers' expectations, but those internally across the organization.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?
Our people. I absolutely love coming to work. This company is comprised of passionate, competitive, and positive individuals. At the end of the day, we are all working towards the same common goal, and it is such a wonderful experience knowing you are working with a family that supports your daily initiatives.

What skills have you learned through your work experience?
I think the most important skill that I have learned in my past four years is business confidence. PBC allows you to run your territory or group of accounts like it is your own business. My managers have instilled the confidence in me to make big decisions, analyze my business and provide feedback and input on our overall strategic platforms.

What do you think it takes to be successful in this career?
Passion for results, love for the business and understanding of people.

Is there one accomplishment you are most proud of to date?
In June of this year, I was awarded our President's Ring of Honor in Purchase, NY. This award is the highest front line sales award in our company, and is awarded to just 0.25 percent of Pepsico employees internationally. Like all award winners, I was permitted to take someone to the ceremonies with me; I took my father for the weeklong event. It was a wonderful feeling and a proud moment to be able to share such an accomplishment with a family member who has supported me and my career from day one.

What are your future career aspirations?
I want to continue to develop as a leader and gain more experience in people management. My career aspirations are to gain as many experiences as possible throughout our system with increasing responsibilities. My aspirations are to join PBC's executive team.

What advice do you have for students looking to land their first job?
Be open to new opportunities and willing to try roles that take you out of your comfort zone. Always respect the front line, and be willing to start at the bottom and work your way up. It is very easy to gain respect within an organization if you can say you have ÔÇÿbeen there, done that.' jp
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