Last week at my day job I was awarded the company’s first Golden Hedgehog award for outstanding excellence in sales and marketing. It came with a cool foot-high lucite trophy and a gift certificate to yummy Morton’s. OK, I know it sounds pretty silly, but I was really touched. (A second Golden Hedgehog was awarded to the highest grossing sales rep of the year.)
In most companies the sales team gets all the glory and marketing’s contribution is generally overlooked, but this time my boss the VP of Marketing and the VPs of Sales decided to highlight my work. Even I was surprised to realize that a significant portion of our sales pipeline originated with lead generation programs I developed and implemented and that more than half of our deals this year were influenced by one of my marketing campaigns (either before or after the reps engaged with them).
I really enjoy my work. Our product is amazing. The people are wonderful – excellence is valued, teamwork is rewarded, and the no asshole policy is consistently applied at all levels. After seeing so many crummy, drama-filled startups, it feels wonderful to help build a winner.
I try to do a good job every day, but this year was really tough. Not only did we grow the company rapidly, but I also had to learn how to juggle taking care of a baby with working full time and endured an endless series of flu, colds, and stomach virus that the boy brought home from daycare. And surprise – got pregnant with baby number two!
This new year is already a roller coaster. I’m trying to get twice the usual number of programs organized this quarter so half of them can generate leads while I’m on maternity leave next quarter. It’s really, really hard and really, really fun.
P.S. If you’re wondering why our mascot is a hedgehog, it’s a Good to Great thing:
https://goodtogreat.com/lab/hedgehog/index.html