Kelsey Chope "It is our mission to embody the relentless pursuit of self actualization, motivated by the desire to contribute our best selves to something greater"

I showed up to practice after class on a normal, cold afternoon (cold meaning a good 25 degrees. Can someone remind me why I went to school in the Midwest?).

We started off with a 4v2 "keep away" drill. Two players were in the center of a square and everyone else was passing the ball around them until one of the defenders intercepted a pass. Like "monkey in the middle," but with a soccer ball.

My teammate and I were the two defenders, and were having a hard time winning the ball. Seven minutes later we were still in the middle - and for a drill like this, that's a long time. We were running around like chickens with our heads cut off and neither of us were having it. The rest of our team was watching us, thinking "good thing I'm not them right now, that sucks."

As with any team sport, the game of soccer is all about communication. And with frustration & fatigue starting to rise, I so badly wanted to lose my cool and yell at her. But I knew she was coming back from a recent injury and was hurting badly, and came to the quick conclusion that my words would probably hurt our little situation more than it would help. Biting my tongue, I refrained from raising my voice and instead threw in some positive encouragement.

At the end of the drill she approached me, her emotions high, choking back a few tears, knowing that it wasn't her best having been out for weeks, and apologized. I told her not to worry about it, I wasn't exactly playing well either. She then told me something very small yet I still remember it to this day. She reminded me why I played this sport, on this team, for some pretty incredible people.

"Thank you for being such a great teammate."

Graduation was approaching & after getting denied an internship role at Adobe the summer of 2019, I went back to the drawing board - What could I improve on? How do I stand out? I channeled my creative energy & decided to do things the "Adobe Way" - being innovative in creating my resume in Indesign, & role-play presentation in Adobe Spark.

Nov, 12th 2019 I was the first to get the call & was offered a position at Adobe as an Associate Inside Sales Representative

SS3 Opptys - 2

ASV attached - 2.2M

Meetings set - 4

JMP - Magento Commerce

Context - This opportunity came to our team at the end of last year, through a subsidiary of SAS. JMP is a suite of computer programs for statistical analysis developed through their parent company, and they had a vision to enrich their commerce experience as part of their "Annualizes Prime Project" - an initiative that would allow customers to access licenses online & add users in an efficient manner. They also had a greater vision: to utilize this Magento instance as a stepping-stone for their larger company, hoping to pave the way in e-commerce & roll out their success with the platform to other business units.

Result - Closed booked

Key takeaway - This was a deal that was definitely handed to us through our relationship with SAS, however we did have to go back & forth internally to solidify who's account it actually was. The commercial team mentioned it was their account due to size, & I was on a few calls with their team to iron this out. At the end of the day they contracted through the parent company, which ultimately landed in our patch. This taught me to stick up for myself in these scenarios, and get more accustomed to confrontation which will help me in customer conversations as an ISR.

Nemours Foundation - AEM Cloud Services

Context - This was a deal that actually carried over from my patch in FY2020. We had briefly mentioned an AEM move-to-cloud play with this group around Q2 of last year, but it was determined that Nemours did not have budget to make the jump. This year came around, and after a few attempts to reach out, our main contact finally got back & we were able to meet with them in February of this year. This is an interesting deal, because they have been on the same SKU of AEM for years (Maintenance & Support is also ending), and their renewal was coming up in March. We decided to zero-in on a forced migration.

Results - A SS5 AEM oppty with a sign-by date of July 15th

Key Takeaways - This was probably one of the more interesting deals I have been able to work. The biggest takeaway for me regarding this deal is learning the sales play itself & staying firm in uncomfortable situations. It's a play that being candid, is a bit awkward because we are forcing a children's hospital to pay 2x the amount that they are already investing in their current Sites instance. However, they have been on the same AEM instance for many years & have not moved, & we have provided delayed start dates, delayed payment to December of this year, & discounted their quote heavily from last year.

IOne Digital - Adobe Analytics R&R

Context - This deal was a result of outbound activity, & I was able to get in touch with the VP of Innovation & Creativity, along with the VP of Product & Platforms. IOne Digital is a subsidiary of Urban One, a media & entertainment company focused on driving better customer insights through data collection. They are both Adobe Champions, & used Adobe for a while until they moved off of our solution for Google. IOne has been "whining ever since" they made the switch, which gave us a good leg to stand on in initial conversations. I was able to lead initial discovery alongside my Kara, check out the chorus recording below:

Results - A SS4 Analytics oppty, with potential to add Real-Time CDP

Key Takeaways - This deal has taught me the importance of casting a wide net in initial conversations. We knew based on the first 15 minutes of the call Analytics was going to be our primary play, however I was able to uncover a need for CDP and even Adobe Target. We are still in conversations on both solutions in demos & follow-up conversations. This is an important skill set as an ISR, as its easy to get pigeon-holed into talking solely about the renewals. It is important to ask deeper & more insightful questions to better understand a customer's upcoming projects.

Travel and Photography

One of the things I cherish the most is the ability to go new places. My goal is to visit all 7 continents in my lifetime.

I also thoroughly enjoy taking pictures. Ever since high school, I loved getting a hold of my mom's fancy camera and taking photos of things that caught my eye. The creative process is something I truly value, being part of a family of creatives. Some of my favorites pictures & places are below.