168: Authentically Passionate with Shannon Hall

0:00 Scott Ingram: This episode is brought to you thanks to the generous support of Vidyard. And thanks to them, there's only one very short interruption in this entire interview that I hope you'll act on. Better yet, act on it now and click over to top1.fm/v to get your hands on Vidyard's free plugin. You're listening to the Sales Success Stories podcast, where we deconstruct world-class sales performers to provide insights and strategies to help you improve. To learn more, visit us at top1.fm. Here's your host, Scott Ingram. Today on the Sales Success Stories podcast, my guest is Shannon Hall. Shannon is the top account executive at SentinelOne out of Eugene, Oregon. Welcome to the show, Shannon.

0:51 Shannon Hall: Thanks, Scott. So happy to be here.

0:53 Scott Ingram: So really excited for this conversation. Uh, want to give a real quick shout out to Ken Gillette for getting us connected. I'm going to come back to that, but before we do, let's kick things off like we always do with that immediate value and talk about the top 3 things that you believe have contributed the most to your success in sales.

1:13 Shannon Hall: Yeah, absolutely. Well, I guess the number one is really just owning my business. You know, like I take full responsibility, full accountability for the role that I'm in, you know, and that's really, really important to me. So just having that kind of balance between my family and my experience and creating boundaries and being able to continue adding like relationships within my territory. So it's like when I first joined SentinelOne, You know, I was like, okay, what's my patch? Like, what is my business? And then really wrapping my head around, you know, what does that all mean? So it's like, who are my current customers? You know, who are my partners? What relationships can I kind of dive into that I might have already built over the years and really just build that plan and those partnerships and going in green and really hungry to learn and from all my peers that have been successful, you know, ahead of me. So just really taking ownership, you know, and having that grit and tenacity to go after it and have a plan, right? So making sure once you understand all those components, you know, kind of putting together a plan of your market opportunity and like I said, current customers, partnerships that you can reach out to and just start building that. And yeah, execution is, is the name of the game. I'm like, okay, I'm gonna set some action items and I'm gonna go and and do it and just own that like it is my own. So I'd say that's number one.

2:48 Scott Ingram: Awesome. And we will definitely dissect the plan a little bit and kind of how you're doing that, because I know you've gotten to the top in relatively short order with SentinelOne. So excited to dig into that. What's the second one?

3:00 Shannon Hall: Second, I would just say probably habits in terms of, you know, my morning routine. So I'm like, really, I cover the East Coast territory. And as you mentioned, I live on the West Coast. So I wake up very, very early. It's not a painful situation for me. I enjoy getting up early and, you know, having my coffee and starting off the day with like an awesome Peloton ride or taking my dog for a walk. Like, getting that movement in is really big for me in the morning. Not to say I don't check my emails and all of that the moment I wake up because I am dedicated, but I think having those habits and that kind of morning routine puts me into a good frame of mind. Even practicing gratitudes and Focusing on what I can control because there's so much I believe that's like outside our control. So if I can kind of get into my groove and focus on the things that are most important, having a process around that as you kind of build out your business, that's something I think is crucial. And just movement in general, like, it's huge. So if I can get fresh air, and I'm a huge, huge Peloton lover, so that is how I like to start my day.

4:10 Scott Ingram: Very nice. Very nice. Do you want to share your Peloton username?

4:14 Shannon Hall: Oh yes. What am I? Uh, shall3175, I think is my username. Are you a Peloton rider?

4:22 Scott Ingram: I am. And I think I just reverted back to just my name. I got tired. I was playing with different handles and I'm like, you know what? I'm just me. So I'm just going to be Scott Ingram.

4:32 Shannon Hall: Totally.

4:33 Scott Ingram: Although I'm in right now, I haven't been super active because I'm in sort of a I'm in kind of a learning mode, right? And when I get into those periods, right, a lot more audiobooks, a lot more podcasts, which is hard to do on the Peloton. Doesn't really work. I've been going on rather aggressive walks lately. Not on the bike quite as much anymore, but I'm sure that'll ramp up here. I go through different phases. Who's your favorite instructor? Well, like what kind of a Pelotoner are you?

5:01 Shannon Hall: Oh gosh. I love so many of them. I'd say Emma Lovewell, love Alyce, Dennis. I really like '90s rock, even the '80s, like the good, uh, I don't know, dramaticness that gets you going.

5:14 Scott Ingram: Very nice. Very nice. I'll have to send you my picture with me and Alyce.

5:18 Shannon Hall: Oh, no way. You got to meet her?

5:21 Scott Ingram: I made the excuse, couple of trips to New York and I'd sneak off early in the morning and go do some rides while I was on some trips. Oh, it's been years, but yeah, I got a chance to hang out with Alyce and Matt and Dennis. And I'm very much a power zone guy, mostly for my own kind of sanity because I'm so competitive. I, if I get into normal classes, like I have to win, not that I can, but I have to try to win. And so Power Zone at least kind of keeps me in check a little bit better.

5:50 Shannon Hall: Totally. You're like, yeah, personal best, obviously.

5:54 Scott Ingram: Not right now, but love that. I mean, this is one of my favorite things. I love kind of pulling apart the habits and the routines and all of those things. So we'll get there, but we still have to get to your third point, which is what?

6:05 Shannon Hall: Yes, I'd just say like authentically passionate. So I really, really care about making a difference. I really care about, you know, my clients. I'm really curious about how I can help them, you know, and I just think leading with empathy, you know, and really wanting to help is huge for me because I'm like, I'm gonna go into any conversation with some ideas of, you know, what type of value I can bring in, but I'm super authentic. I'm off the cuff. I'm not super scripted every time, but to really care and just not be that slimy salesperson and just having that belief in what I do and the difference that I know that we can make is super important to me. But, you know, just really leaning into who I am and not changing for anybody else. And I mean, this field, it was definitely not a ton of women. Now that's shifted, and I've been fortunate to work with so many incredible women leaders as well as men in my career and just kind of owning that sometimes. I'm the only lady in the room and, but being able to be confident in what value I can bring to the table and just being real and bringing that passion. And I feel like that goes a long way and it's hard to fake that. Like either you really care and you want to learn and you want to help and you want to do all you can to truly make a difference.

7:33 Scott Ingram: Like that's, I think, something that I embody for every This is probably the perfect place to mention Vidyard because I can't think of any better way to get your passion and authenticity across than with video. Whether you're trying to make a connection and open a new door or trying to progress an opportunity by sharing your solution's value more broadly across an organization, Vidyard can help you easily record those videos and instantly share them with animated thumbnails. You've got to try it out. Their Chrome plugin is free. Just click over to top1.fm/v to download it and try it out today. top1.fm/v for Vidyard. And now back to my conversation with Shannon, completely uninterrupted. It's such an important ingredient. And you and I had a brief conversation kind of pre-show that maybe we'll come back to a little bit just around how you kind of rediscovered some of that. Passion, you know, particularly in the security space. So, before we get into that context, I wanted to help myself here a little bit. I want to mention Ken again, because what I've realized is some of the best guests I've had on this show have come from great managers and great leaders recommending their top performers. I know there's a lot of leaders that listen to this show, and so really appreciate Ken reaching out, and I'm realizing That sometimes helps me find the true stars because a lot of those true stars tend to be quite humble and they're not calling me directly saying, Scott, I'm the guy, I'm the girl, you gotta interview me, I'm the best in the world. It tends to be like, ah, who am I, right? What do I have to share? That I kind of find is a more common refrain among these top performers. So, if you're a leader listening to this and you have just an amazing top performer in your organization, do me a favor and get me connected with them. I'm always working on building some great pipeline for this show and for these interviews. And again, appreciate Ken and that connection. So Shannon, let's get to some of this context, kind of starting with your current role. What is your role and how did you get to the top?

9:44 Shannon Hall: Yeah, so I'm an account exec covering the Mid-Atlantic region for SentinelOne, which is the region I started in. Gosh, I think that's about 2 and a half years ago. So I work with basically our commercial space, like as an organization, you know, we went IPO last summer. One of the highest, or it's the highest cybersecurity IPO in history. So I'm told. So it's really exciting. Like there's a lot that's happening all the time. A lot of moving parts, a lot of enhancements within our platform and deliverables. So yeah, quota-carrying rep, report to Ken and he covers the whole like Northeast region. Yeah. And I just jumped in and just started learning as quickly as possible, connecting Like I said, with all, all the other teammates within SentinelOne where we've like, I don't know, more than doubled our size, like since I've been there. So the account sizes keep changing, you know, we keep kind of leveling up, you know, more into the enterprise space, quite frankly. So yeah, I'm like a hybrid in terms of I work from home. I'm also on the road going to visit my customers and partners. I actually fly out on Sunday to go see some friends. So looking forward to that. But yeah, I mean, just owning my business and taking ownership and having something that really makes a difference in the market, you know, has allowed me to, to really be successful. And I just kind of have that innate drive to get up and put in those activities that I need to do. And even though it's always really painful when you first start a new job and, you know, you just left probably your last job being really good at what you were doing, and then, you know, you're the new person again, and, you know, so being super humble and learning all I can and then finding my own voice and my own way and having successes and being able to replicate that and understanding clients' journeys. And I mean, at the end of the day, providing value and like actual business outcomes for these folks to help them reduce risk, consolidate cost, or, you know, they have so many tools they're using, they don't all work together. So it's just like trying to kind of put that puzzle together of where these clients are within their journey and meet them where they are and help them uplevel. And building those relationships and the community of folks is huge. You know, if they're looking for something that's not in my scope, but I know somebody else that might be able to offer, you know, that technology or that fix or really care and listen, you know, it just snowballs. And I found it just hasn't stopped.

12:21 Scott Ingram: So Brilliant. Brilliant. Well, can you put that success and that value in perspective for us a little bit and kind of quantify your results for us?

12:29 Shannon Hall: Yeah. Well, last year, I mean, yeah, last fiscal year I was the top performing rep in terms of revenue. So I was able to sell quite a bit more revenue than probably a good chunk of my team at the time. And then was I, I think like 150% or so, and then this year I just started off super strong as well. Luckily I had some good deals I was working that hit in February, one of my bigger deals. So it really got me starting off the year strong. So like, I think I have like $200K to go to hit my, my annual number and I have until January to do so. So I'm feeling really great where we're at so far for the year. And then I was also very proud when I first joined, cuz I joined in May and I think I had like one week of like bandwidth basically to make my number and to be eligible to go to President's Club. And they had just started President's Club like the year before I joined and I made it and I was successful and I was like, I don't know, is this going to happen? And, you know, just kept pushing and pushing and working hard and it did happen. And yeah, so I'm just really, really proud of that. So really solid results. I mean, my whole career Honestly, I've not really had a hard time making my number. I've always been a top performer. So just having that belief again in myself that, okay, you're going to come and do it again and you're going to help a new set of organizations and get referrals and have happy clients, not from just selling them, but continuing to work with them throughout other parts of the year, be there when they need me and let them do their thing when they don't.

14:09 Scott Ingram: I love that approach. And just to give a little bit more context here, we are having this conversation in fairly early September, so about 4 months to go in the year, just so people can be oriented there a little bit. Well, let's talk about kind of this career journey that you've been on and maybe go back to the beginning of that. What's the origin story? I mean, how did you get into sales in the first place?

14:30 Shannon Hall: Well, I was an entrepreneur as a kid. I would ride my bike to the grocery store and go buy all the candy, come back to the neighborhood. Set up my shop and charge double or 3 times for my large Pixie Stix. So, you know, we had humble beginnings. My parents separated and they were working a lot and very young. And so I just always had that drive and kind of that need to go out and to kind of find my own way and kind of to change that family dynamic. You know, I was the first one in my family, direct family, to go to college, and I was really excited about that, but I didn't really know exactly what I wanted. And from that experience, you know, I ended up saying, hey, you know what? I think I'm gonna go to the West Coast. And I'd work in restaurants for a long time. I got a position like at a bagel store, which is, and I was like, oh, well this isn't really what I wanna do. But I realized, you know, like I wasn't just like, you know, selling bagels. Like I got to actually learn the business. Like I found mentors that taught me how to run a business at like 22 years old, which is not, you know, in hindsight I'm like, man, I wish I would've went to school for business or communications or something that was, you know, really relevant to kind of take me along. But for my journey, like, I just had a lot of real-world experience, and that's how I learn. Like, I'm very hands-on. I need to see something. I gotta put my hands on it. I gotta try it. I gotta talk through it. And so being in a huge auditorium and being talked at, like, was difficult for me. So anyhow, fast forward, I ended up being promoted to having my own store and being a GM. And so I did that for about 5 or 6 years, moved to Oregon, continued in that field, and then realized, you know, hey, I think I want to have like nights and weekends off. I would love to have holidays maybe. And, you know, I want to have a family. And so I'm going to do something different. So I started at Enterprise Rent-A-Car taking reservations, like getting more computer work under my belt, and quickly excelled there. And then kind of hit a glass ceiling because I didn't have a bachelor's degree. And so that organization, you had to, and I didn't finish my degree. I ended up just learning out in the world and finding a lot of success. So from there, that's where I pivoted into cybersecurity. It was really quite random, actually. Like, my good friend at the time was working over at Symantec, and so it was a large employer for our area at the time, employed thousands of people in our community. And I was like, okay, like, you know, this would be great. And I think I made like $27,000 or something my first year. Like, it was like really, really minimal. I was like, okay, this is tough. But I learned so, so much from that experience and just always had that grit and tenacity and eagerness to learn and to be successful and also competitive. Like, I wanted to win and, you know, despite all odds. And that journey just took me off. And now, you know, it's been 12, 13 years later and I've had a good amount of success. And honestly, at this point in my career, like, I want to work for really good people. I want to work for folks folks, you know, that I trust and that I know. Or Ken and I, we crossed paths back in our Symantec days, and he had restaurant experience as well. And so we kind of came from similar backgrounds, and we just looked at things a lot differently. And, you know, really outside-the-box thinkers and trying to get really creative with solutions and really caring about our clients. And so it was really cool to have the opportunity to come back and work with a lot of people that I knew from kind of that world. That were some of the best and the brightest minds I was exposed to. So I was like, okay, this is, this is awesome. And now I'm like, I just can't believe I've been doing it for over 10 years and just like really, really love it. And being able to show my girls too that there's a lot of avenues you can take in life and there's a lot of ways you can be successful. You know, it doesn't have to be all or nothing. Yeah, so just really proud of the accomplishments and, you know, where I've come to date.

18:48 Scott Ingram: Yeah. Yeah. So good. And one of the things we talked about beforehand, I think is really relevant if you're willing to share the story, as I was looking at your background, I'm like, huh, this seems not on the normal path. Right. You were really kind of 10 years of cybersecurity. And then, then there was kind of a different turn. Can you kind of talk about that and maybe just some of the things that you learned from that? Cause it feels like it kind of reinforced the path that you were really on.

19:11 Shannon Hall: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. So I worked for a really large organization for many years. I mean, I was pretty naive in the beginning. I'm like, I'm going to retire from here. I mean, that's what I saw. Like my grandma, she had her job, she was there 30 years. Like that's kind of what people do. And I'm like, oh, that's not really the way things work anymore. That was kind of interesting. And I remember like when there was changes and it affected me a lot more than it does now. Like now things just kind of roll off a lot easier, but it's like when you're young young and you're learning and you're eager and you're like, okay, and you just want to take care of your family and like actually enjoy what you're doing, you know, that was awesome. And I worked for a couple organizations after that, you know, that were more of a startup type mentality. And at the end of the day, the last organization I was at, like, just my values didn't align to the leadership and how that they operated, even though the technology was fantastic. And my daughter was in Girl Scouts at the time, and I met the Girl Scouts mom who happened to be the manager over at Cintas, which is totally different than what I was doing. And really, she persuaded me because I was wanting something that was really family-friendly and that, I don't know, there, like, in the tech world, there wasn't as much of an integration, like, with your family that I found at the time. And so I was like, you know what, like, I'm kind of burnt out, honestly, and I don't want to just pick another company and go there and I don't know, keep doing the same thing essentially. I just felt like I needed to try something new and totally out of my comfort zone. And I got to make an impact on my local community and I've never worked in my backyard before. So that was really, really exciting for a while. And then COVID hit and I was leaving my house every day. I had a first grader at the time, you know, no one's going to school. And like, I'd like be sobbing in the car, like going, driving a few hours to meet clients. And at the time what Cintas was offering in terms of PPE and garments and masks and all these things just inflated. And so I was like really energized for a while, also crying that I'm leaving my kids at home to figure out school and Zoom. And so it was a really weird time. And then as I was with the organization, we were impacted with a security incident that impacted my job and impacted my customers and the organization. And so I got to feel what it was like to what I'm trying to help my customers, I guess, prevent or to have that. And there was just this part of me, I just wasn't totally fulfilled, and I just kind of kept thinking about it and stewing over it. And eventually, I mean, Ken's the one who got me to look at SentinelOne again, and I just really missed the security space. Like, I felt like my passion was just a lot more in alignment, and my professionalism and what I'd learned through the years, it just felt like, this is something I need to get back into. And I was nervous going back. I'm like, okay, like, am I gonna know what I'm doing? And it really was riding a bike and just being surrounded by super good humans or trying to make an impact. And so now, you know, fast forward, it's like, you know, I've seen this evolution of security over the last 15 years, and I've also been on the side of seeing what it's like to be impacted by a security incident, what that cost my company, and how painful it was for… to be an employee of a company going through that. So it just really fired me up to make a change and to, you know, really not just take a job to take a job, but to find a company that I actually believed in, that I'm like, I can see why you've come to market and why you're different. And I really respect so many people that work there already. So I'm like, okay, this is going to be great. And, you know, it just goes back to that passion and being authentic. And I think I was just kind of losing faith a little bit, or just my passion wasn't totally in alignment, you know, at the last organization So I've, you know, made great relationships and listened to so many podcasts and books when I was on the road and just kind of continued to keep that with me as I move forward.

23:27 Scott Ingram: So yeah, I think finding that is so impactful, right? When you really find, look, this is a company that I'm passionate about the people I work with, I'm passionate about the solution. It's just so much easier to do what we have to do day in and day out when you have those those components in place. And especially, especially when you have a great leader that you get to work with.

23:48 Shannon Hall: Yep, absolutely. And just having that flexibility. I'm like, the world flipped on its head during COVID And I remember like driving and like I was going by Costco or something and there was like just people everywhere. I was like, whoa, this feels super like the world's gonna end, like apocalyptic. Like people were like going into all the stores. Like I remember even being at one of the stores like 5 in the morning and there was people everywhere. There was nothing on the shelves, like everything was gone. I was like, things are shifting and this is crazy. Like, wow, it's so hard to like believe that. And I don't know, so I think the cool thing that I think there's a lot of silver linings that came from that and having now that flexibility too. I mean, when I was super sad to like leave my kids and, you know, I mean, my family is huge to me and what drives a lot and I'm not willing to give up that time, you know. I mean, our kids grow so darn fast. Rest. And that is so, so important to me that I felt like that was another thing I was sacrificing in that. And now I'm like, okay, like, I can run my business. I mean, sometimes I have 4 meetings before they even wake up for the day, especially during the summer, you know. So it's just nice to be able to be like, okay, I can still be there for them, show them hard work and be successful. But I just felt empowered personally to be able to come in and just be so well supported. I just can't say enough about that.

25:12 Scott Ingram: Yeah, so great. I'm really eager dig into kind of how do you put it all together? Like what is the integration? What is the routine? But I'm curious about, I mean, you've had an unconventional path, right? From bagels to cybersecurity to like local sales and everything else. If knowing all that you know now, if you were starting over, what would you do? I mean, would you get your degree? Do you feel that's necessary? Like how would you sort of approach this?

25:38 Shannon Hall: Yeah, that's a good question. I mean, if I had known at the time what I'd want to do when I'm younger, I think I would have done a little bit more studying or tried to have got a degree or, you know, maybe done more public speaking or, or things like that. Like, I'm really encouraging my kids to continue their education because I do believe it opens doors. Like, some of the things for me was harder because I didn't have that piece of paper, but at the same time, I feel like I But, you know, just such great experience. I was just really lucky to find good mentors kind of early on in life and I had the drive to do so. But yeah, I mean, if I could go back, I don't know that I'd necessarily change anything 'cause it made me who I am today and like gone through some challenges and been able to overcome that. But be cool. Like I see all these younger kids coming into the organization, you know, making pretty great money, you know, young 20s, 30s, you know? And I'm like, man, like I'm like, feel like I'm still catching up in a way, you know? And so from that perspective, I'm like, yeah, it would've been cool to have maybe a more solid background. But, you know, also I wanted to move and try new things and not just be in the same tiny little town that I grew up in. So there's merit there too, to kind of do the unknown and the things that you don't really know exactly what's gonna happen, but had belief in myself that I'd figure it out. But it did make it probably more challenging in certain parts of the journey, you know, that I wouldn't want my kids to have to struggle so hard, you know, to really have a plan and to kind of know what drives you. But had I not been randomly introduced to cyber, like, I had never thought I'd be, you know, in cybersecurity. Like, that never even crossed my mind. Such an interesting journey.

27:25 Scott Ingram: Yeah, well, let's keep on our journey and down the challenging path. What do you find to be either the most challenging kind of things, or maybe what was the most challenging time for you?

27:37 Shannon Hall: Well, each time I guess I uprooted my life and moved, I didn't really know anybody where I was going. I wasn't necessarily moving like for a career. And so just kind of that unknown of like, okay, wait, let me go. What am I gonna do? Like, I'm not really sure what's gonna be next. And that was scary, just not really knowing or having a plan and kind of needing to fall into these positions, you know, with my community and people that I know that would be like, hey, you're a top performer throughout your entire life. We're going to put you here where maybe I could have blazed that path for myself a little bit more. But yeah, it's just tough. I mean, I remember living paycheck to paycheck forever, and I still get worried about paying my mortgage and stuff. I'm like, oh, God. Not waiting for the other shoe to drop, but just, I don't know, like trying to make sure, you know, that I'm setting myself up maybe better than my parents did and trying to teach my kids to do even better than I did. But it's also okay to not have all the answers right away, but to follow our passions and to get out of our comfort zone. And I feel like at the end of the day, I guess I probably did pretty good with that over the years, just putting myself in situations that I just never anticipated I'd be in. But yeah, just trying to make it in a very competitive world. And now it's even more competitive. So I'm just internally grateful that I have now these years of experience and a proven track record where now I just gotta keep the drive and keep it up to make sure that I'm continuing to execute and to be that A player, because that is important to me.

29:23 Scott Ingram: Yeah, I mean, it feels like that kind of brings us back to this place of building that initial plan, right? Where it's like, okay, I'm in a new situation. So maybe that's a new geography, maybe that's a new job. I mean, you don't have all the answers, you don't know all the things that are ahead, there's a lot of unknowns. But what's your process there? Like, how are you building that plan? I guess the best context is how did you do that when you walked into SentinelOne?

29:47 Shannon Hall: Yeah, well, just, yeah, walking in and like I said, being humble, reaching out to all the people that I could talk to. I feel like a huge thing is just not being scared to ask for help and just being okay with what you don't know go so far and that you're going to figure it out. I think identifying mentors early on in maybe a new company and even people that you've worked with in the past, like, you know, I would call up other mentors and be like, okay, I'm at a, you know, a fork in the road. Like, I have these couple options and I'm trying to decide what is best. And not even just from a career perspective, but like, what's going to make me mentally happy and spiritually happy, where I can feel like I can be successful. Because some of my past, I was put in positions, you know, from doing really well, and they're like, hey, we're gonna have you take on this new market. And this new market was not really excellent market opportunity for the solutions that we were selling. And that was really difficult because I'm used to finding success. And so I feel like kind of overcoming fear. And then when you recognize if something isn't congruent with your values, it's okay to kind of make a move. But in terms of plan, yeah, just coming in. I mean, I think the main thing is connecting with people because I just need to understand like, who am I working with? Like, what do they care about? Who are their families? Like, what's going on with these folks that I'm going to be working with day in and day out? And I'm like, I want to identify other people's strengths as well because certainly I have some of my own strengths, but also there's things that, you know, maybe I'm not the best at. So I want to know like, who is the killer Salesforce like report ninja? Like, who's crushing that? Who are the folks that live in the region that I'm covering that we're both covering this territory for different segments or healthcare, education, like if we're broken down into segments? So that was my number one, like literally calling everybody like, hi, I'm new, I'm new on the team. Maybe I know you, maybe I don't, and I want to get to know you. I want to understand your success and what's been your experience here so far. And of course, going through the typical trainings and having, you know, an outline… like, I literally would have my notebook and I would just like write down stuff all day long until your brain's gonna explode. Like, okay, wait, I heard this tool, I heard this thing, I need access to that. Okay, like what are we selling? Where are we successful? Like who are our customers? And just kind of dissecting those pieces so that then I can kind of understand. I don't know, I feel like that gives me a good understanding of kind of like what's going on and where the other strengths are and being able to ask for help. Like I asked for a lot of help in the beginning. I'm like, Ken, you need to get on this call with me. I'm gonna run this, here's my plan. And kind of having that plan before you even get on the phone with the prospective client or whoever, like who are we speaking to? What do we know that's important to them? And doing kind of that pre-call plan and then that postmortem. Okay, we just did the meeting. Here's what went well. Here's maybe what I missed. This is where I could have done better on. Or like, hey, we want to ask these questions and just getting into the weeds of how I can be successful. And then I'd like to focus my efforts in a few different buckets, if you will. And a couple of things to note, I feel like in corporate America, there's so much noise, noise, noise, noise. Do this, do that, update this, do that. There's a lot, lot going on, and I feel like it can be really easy to get inundated with all the noise and the updates. And so I just try to stay really humbled and grounded to the activities that I know are actually going to make a difference and that they're, you know, like revenue-producing activities. Like, yes, I need to update my Salesforce. And, you know, for me, I like that because it keeps my brain on track of like, I told you I would do this thing by this date or whatever my follow-up is. And so that does like really keep me on track. And like process-wise, I'm like, okay, I log into my computer, like I open up kind of the same pages every day, and like I'm gonna be looking at my opportunities, you know, first thing in the morning, or like checking my emails and prioritizing. And I think I've learned this over the years, like what's really important or like what can wait. That used to be really hard for me. I remember one of my, my managers back in the day, and he was like, Shannon, you're trying to… like, you care so much, but like, you're killing yourself and you're trying to boil the ocean. Because I felt like I owed everybody response. I said yes to everything. And now I'm like, okay, like, I have boundaries now and I can't say yes to everything. And not everything has the most equal importance, if you will. So trying to categorize that into like feeling successful at the end of the day, because there's always more to do. There's like, I mean, things keep me up at night if I, I owe somebody something and I haven't gotten to it yet. Or, you know, that will not mean… I'll be like, okay, I gotta wake up and get that done. So having that checklist was crucial because then I could keep myself accountable and be like, okay, you know. And when I'd have my one-on-one with my manager, like, just writing down questions as I go and referring back to that, and then slowly building my building blocks and putting all those pieces together. So I hope that answers your question.

35:20 Scott Ingram: Yeah, I mean, so many threads I could go pull on, but the one I want to go back to is because I had a wacky experience with this myself, and I see a lot of people get into this place, and I'm just curious how you dealt with it. You talked about being in that situation where territories got realigned and you got into a position where it just kind of wasn't there, right? And my situation went through that, right? We doubled the size of a sales team. This is… well, I belabor the story in the first Sales Success Stories book, and I like to tell it in its totality. Because the net result was I got fired. But we reorganized things, and there were eight people on this team. And over the course of three quarters, one person one time made their number. So we were one for twenty-four. And these were some of the best salespeople I've ever worked with. I'm like, okay, this is not me. How did you work through that situation when it's like I'm doing everything, but it's just not here?

36:14 Shannon Hall: Mm-hmm. It was hard. It was really hard. I remember. My manager at the time, him and I kind of went over to start this new opportunity. And yeah, and also amazing sales rep. And, you know, we were so eager, so excited to get this going. And it was hard. Like, I remember like taking walks around the block with him and like just trying to like dissect everything. Like, are we missing something? Like, and really being open kind of with our leadership on what was happening. And, you know, the funny thing is at the end of it, like our chief operating officer at the time, I mean, he really recognized that and he ended up making a move to a new organization that I ended up following too. And he was like, I'm really sorry, you know, that this had happened. And so it was pretty cool. I think that was maybe the first time I went through something like that and it ended up being validated from the organization that like, yeah, actually this isn't really the direction that, you know, we're trying to go. And like, you know, sorry you're in this position. I mean, I think that's where where I had to kind of lean in on, I don't know, self-discovery a little bit and to be like, okay, wait, am I going to stay in a position where I continue to bang my head around the wall? And then I'm seeing this around my peers too. And yeah, there might be that one lucky outlier, but I'm also kind of realizing when it's time to rip off the Band-Aid and not being scared to make a change, even though I was so hopeful and optimistic that this was going to go well, you know, just being uncomfortable and being like, okay, like this is not meant to be and I got to make a change that's going to better, you know, better my life and my family. But it's just, I mean, it just was hard. It was just a difficult time.

38:01 Scott Ingram: Yeah. I mean, you've mentioned mentors a number of times in this. I wonder if you leaned on them because it feels like when you're in it, when you're in these situations, it's like, am I crazy? Because I think the challenge is getting to the truth of of, is it me? Am I responsible for this? Is there something that I'm missing that I can do, that there's a way that I can turn this away or turn this around and own it? Or is it just like, this is out of my control and I'm just in an untenable situation and I need to work through that, whether that's I work with leadership and we find some type of a solution, or I just have to go?

38:35 Shannon Hall: Yeah, I think mentorship is huge and communicating meeting with the people that you work with and, you know, just trying to be creative. Yeah, to understand like, oh yeah, is this me or no? No, it's not. And it is validating to even my engineer at the time, like such a great relationship. He was so amazing. And I'm like, oh my gosh, like if we are not putting this together, like, you know, as rapidly as we would like, you know, and I think I was calling outside forces and just kind of that introspective kind of look to be like, okay, actually, this is out of my control. This is not… and now I'm bringing this home and I'm very unhappy and it's now affecting my family life. It's, of course, affecting my paycheck. And so just knowing with conversations with my friends that, yeah, no, this isn't probably where I'm meant to be. This is a great run and we did make a lot of impact in the first year. And this growth, like, it's just, yeah, like, and I've outgrown the other positions here. So it's time to move on. It's time to try something new and to have that belief in myself that you're going to go and you're going to have success again. This was a, you know, kind of unique situation where it was humbling because you're like, well, wait a second. Like, normally I'm going to figure this out, but this just, it just wasn't meant to be.

39:58 Scott Ingram: So yeah, I think that's so important. Right. And just having that support system, having a network, having a community that you can lean into. To one, just to help you see it for what it is. And if you do need help, you know, to get out and do something else because there's not another opportunity there, right? Making sure that you have those kinds of resources as well. Because a different situation for me, right? Not that one. Interestingly, I didn't lose a lot of confidence through that process, strangely. But I had another situation with just a pretty awful leader, and I stopped believing in myself. It was one of those situations where I thought it was me. And it took, um, actually my current CEO reminding me and offering me a job on the spot. He's like, dude, like, you are so much better than this. What the heck? Just come work here. And again, I had just… I'd lost sight of all of it and went down this spiral, and I just… I lost confidence in what I'm capable of. And it was the situation, it wasn't me. All right, we have been like in this valley of despair for way, way too long. Let's climb out. And I want to talk about, like, what are you most proud of?

41:04 Shannon Hall: Yeah. Okay. Um, I don't know. I'm so proud to mostly to like share this with my kids. Like, I'm just really proud that I've continued to step out of my comfort zone and to try new things that I've never tried. I mean, yeah, hitting my goals are great, but like, I don't know, at this point I'm just so proud to like, you know, work with really, really good humans and to actually like love my job. Like, I really, really love my job, and that just makes it so much better. So I'm like, if I can spread joy and put a smile on people's face and just like have a good experience and create that good experience, you know, for everyone that I talk to, and hopefully leave where people are feeling empowered and, and feeling good or heard or listened to, like, all that like does make me really proud proud. You know, I mean, I'm proud to be talking to you today. This is something I wouldn't have necessarily reached out to do. And I think part of the journey and what I've been realizing lately is, and I think part of maybe the reason you started your podcast is to, you know, it's like you're recognized within your organization or, you know, like people in my little sphere, my bubble, like know, you know, what I bring to the table and, you know, that I will likely be successful and, you know, just actually be a good teammate. Like I really, really care about everybody that I work with and just want to make that positive impact from human to human, like, as much as possible. And that I'm just, I'm really proud of. And yeah, the fact that I've got to take a vacation in President's Club with my husband the last couple years, I'm like, wow, we don't take vacations, like, without our kids. And so I was like, wow, this is really cool. Like, I'm really proud of us for, like, leaving them for 4 nights and also being like, hey, it's okay, for us to go away, you know, and then hopefully to mentor other newer reps that are coming in and, you know, just doing things that are still outside my comfort zone. And I do want to figure out other ways to connect with other top sellers and other organizations that, you know, can sell crazy different things. Like, I don't know, like that got me really excited. I was seeing your like Sales Summit stuff and I'm like, oh my gosh, like what a neat experience to kind of push myself now to maybe get out of my little bubble of only being within my company. And I'm still trying to identify, like, yeah, what is going to be next for me? That's always the question. Are you going to stay an individual contributor? Do you want to be a manager? Do you want to uproot your family and be right in your territory? And so that's something that's always kind of weighing on me, and I'm always kind of thinking about that in the back of my head. I'm like, okay, I just want to have fun what I'm doing. Like, I know, you know, but I gotta push myself a little bit and get connected with other people because there's just so much out there and there's, you know, maybe more I could contribute in a meaningful way. And so just kind of learning, you know, how to do that. And that makes me proud to do that too, to try new things. So yeah.

44:09 Scott Ingram: Shannon, I'm really interested in how intentional were you in trying to find that job you love situation? Like, was this something you were really seeking out or was it just a really happy accident that you got into this position?

44:25 Shannon Hall: I think I turned on my, like, LinkedIn recruiter. You can come start talking to me now. You know, and it was interesting because over the years, some of my counterparts, they got hit up all the time, and I really didn't. And I'm like, oh, that's interesting. And then I feel like, I don't know, once I hit so many years or something, like, then it shifted. And going to SentinelOne, yeah, I was ready. I was ready for a change. I was intentional that this wasn't completely filling my cup and I need to find something else, did reach back out to some mentors. And one of them, he was like, maybe you really should look at SentinelOne. And just called out some of the specific people that I respected and that were running it and kind of their leadership style that I could get behind. So I started to put my name in the hat for a few different positions. And came in to do my interview, you know, really prepared. I was like ready to answer all the questions or whatever they were gonna throw at me. And it was the most different interview that I ever had because so many of the folks that actually were on the team, like I had known from a previous life. So from that, like that really showed like where relationships come into play, where it was less of me being really interviewed, but more them trying to share their leadership style, the company, and really eager to have me be part of the team. So it was a lot less of a grilling interview, but more like, what can we do to get you to come here? And I was like, oh, okay, well, that's really different. I thought I was going to have to really fight hard, but I built a good reputation, had a good track record. And so making that… I don't know, it just felt so right. I called a lot of different people before that I was looking into the company, just like, give me the real talk. Tell me exactly what's actually happening. Because of course the recruiters and everyone else are going to tell you this is the best job ever. Of course we want to work here. But I needed to kind of validate that for myself. And I did do a good amount of research and was really intentional about who I reached out to that I know would give me real perspective. Was people around the country that I'd found. I'm like, oh, wow. Even you, Scott, when we connected, I'm like, whoa, we know 30 of the same people. Wow, that's so cool. It's so interesting when you start seeing your connections come together. And I'm like, oh, wait a second, I used to work with this person over here. Or like, oh, whoa, I know this person was a really great engineer and we looked up to them and now you're over at this company. And so it really did fall into my lap quicker. Than I probably would have anticipated when I decided it was going to be time to make a change. I had limited interviews. Now that's changed as we've grown. Like now you have to like have 5 interviews and present and do all the things to show that you're competent. But, you know, my track record had proven that and it just felt right in my gut. So I decided to just make the leap, the leap of faith, and it's been a good ride.

47:32 Scott Ingram: That's fantastic. That's so good. I'm going to call out our sidebar conversation. It was very deep, but we were talking about the summit. So Shannon's previous comments kind of about the summit and the power of this community led us to that conversation. Unfortunately, we couldn't make any real-time decisions, but hopefully we'll get an opportunity to connect with Shannon and Ken at the summit. We're going to try and make that happen. Again, we're recording this early September. The summit is about a little less than a month and a half away. The agenda is really starting to come together. Super, super exciting, powerful stuff. I was actually looking this morning at the attendee list, and over 30 people who have been on this podcast are going to be at this year's summit.

48:17 Shannon Hall: Oh, wow.

48:17 Scott Ingram: So, over 30 top performers, over 30 of the people that you've heard on this podcast. We're not done. I get a lot of the signups, probably 40% of the people that come and join us sign up in the last month or so. Still some space available, but it is coming together. Well. And again, we're going to try and take some pieces. We got very personal in that conversation, but I'm going to take some pieces of the conversation I had with Shannon and with her permission, I will share it one-off. And here's what I will offer. If you're interested in coming to the summit, you haven't pulled the trigger yet, you're kind of on the fence, you're thinking about it and just curious about what are we really trying to do in this event, that conversation and some of the challenges and things that Shannon is working through are so spot on and so aligned to the way that I'm really looking to serve this community and allowing sellers to kind of take back their power in a lot of different ways. So send me a note if you'd like access to that. Again, I'm going to get Shannon's approval before I share it individually. We won't share it publicly. Drop me a note, scott@top1.fm or on LinkedIn. LinkedIn. The other thing that's likely to happen here, I'm just kind of looking at the clock and our trajectory. We both have a hard stop, so we're probably going to run out of time. If you want to hear more from Shannon, I may ask this again as we get to the end and we try and wrap a bow on this. Let me know, and we can always do kind of a round 2 or a bonus, or better yet, hopefully everybody just gets to come together at the summit and we can hang out there. So the details for the summit are at top1summit.com. The bar is very, very high. Last year I asked the question, the first question in the survey was, was this the best sales event you've ever been to? Yes or no? 91% said yes.

50:03 Shannon Hall: Wow.

50:04 Scott Ingram: So the bar is very, very high, but I'm feeling very, very good at this point about my ability to deliver again and continue to raise the bar.

50:12 Shannon Hall: Absolutely.

50:13 Scott Ingram: I don't know what the heck I'm gonna do to myself next year, but I'm super fired up about this year's event.

50:17 Shannon Hall: Well, I haven't seen the first several years, so I don't know. It sounds incredible. I love what you're creating. I mean, having so many talented folks that are just willing to share and uplevel and to be vulnerable and real, it's really, really powerful. I mean, yeah, I've had my fair share of sales trainings over the years, and this just sounds just very drastically different in an excellent way.

50:44 Scott Ingram: That is the plan. That is the plan. Well, let's get back on track. Really want to get into your habits, your routines. I know you listen to the podcast, so I always like to ask this in terms of alarm clock goes off, tell us what time and give us a pretty detailed run-through of kind of a typical day in the life until your head hits the pillow again.

51:03 Shannon Hall: Yeah. Well, now kids are back to school, so we're kind of in a transition again in terms of like timing and whatnot. But yeah, waking early morning, that's kind of my peaceful time, have coffee.

51:17 Scott Ingram: Wait, what time in the morning? Let's be specific.

51:19 Shannon Hall: Oh, specific. Yes. I'm usually up like between 4:30 and 5:30, I'd say, depending on the day. Like I don't set an alarm unless like I have a super huge meeting that starts at 6:00 AM my time. Then just to make sure I'll set an alarm, but yeah, typically I'll wake up like, let's just say 5-ish in the morning, you know, start with my coffee, kind of checking in. On my business real quick just to make sure there's no fire drills or whatnot, just because I know a lot of people don't like to look at that. But for me, it helps kind of set my mind at ease to know that there's nothing crazy that needs to be taken care of, or if there is, like, I know about it so I can handle that, you know. So a perfect day, waking up at 5, just having some quiet time and my coffee. I take my dog Skipper for walk, and that's huge, just that movement. I just got a new watch that connects my podcast to like my earbuds. So I was really excited about that. That just happened like last week. So I was like, oh, this is so much better than carrying my phone because I went through a phase where I would go on really long walks and I'd always listen to stuff. And then I kind of took a break for a minute because I'm like, my mind is just going crazy like all the time. And I'm like, I also like to just take some moments to like breathe and to like have gratitude. Like literally I'm walking with this big smile on my face, you know, telling my dog how grateful I am for him and thinking of specific things that happened the day before. If my kid made me laugh or whatever the situation is, but trying to kind of put some gratitude out there just helps me start on the right foot. And, you know, even when times are tough, it's like once you, you know, are really grateful for something, it really does change your perspective. And when you think about, I don't know, where you started off in the journey and now you're like, oh wow, I'm like, I have a house, I have these lovely children and these things that I always hoped for. And so just finding gratitude in that and then getting my kids off to school. So typically if I'm home, I have that flexibility and I will schedule meetings kind of as needed with my clients. I don't always have a super hard line that I'm not going to talk to you until 8:00 AM. I actually find a lot of pride and joy with my clients and my prospects to say, you know what, I will be up at 8:00 your time. I am up early and you can depend on me. And so I don't mind integrating kind of my work and kind of my morning routine. Sometimes that can be a challenge because the lines can blur a little bit. But yeah, always getting my movement in, whether it's on the Peloton. I also am a big yoga fan. So if I can do a couple of stretches, kind of get the day going. And then, you know, just getting right into it. I also am very business-focused and like to just get right into what I need to do. So like I said, having my process of opening up my LinkedIn, opening up my opportunities, looking at my calendar, knowing what I have for the day, you know, and pretty much executing upon my meetings and have my to-do list on, you know, what I owe folks. You know, after that, getting my kids from school. Now we're starting high school sports. So I'm a line judge for volleyball, so that's fun. And making dinner, doing the family thing. And, you know, I think the big thing is just every night, like, I look at my next day to be like, okay, what do I have going tomorrow? And trying to prepare in advance. I mean, I try to do this like at the end of the week, honestly, for the following week. Like, I put in all my notes, or, you know, if I'm starting any type of a testing environment with a customer, like, just having all that dialed in night before because I think the worst thing that can happen is you show up and you don't know what you're doing and then you're wasting all this time trying to decide what activities you're even going to do. So I guess just mentally have a plan, whether that's kind of written out or now that I've just been doing it for a little bit, I'm like, oh, okay, I do these. I'm going to go in and look at my opportunities. Number one, where am I at with this deal? Do I owe these people something? Being like, where am I at? Because that is where I'm gonna get my paycheck. But being prepared and like having that in advance so that you can just show up and do what you do best, you don't have to overthink about it. You're just taking action. And I think obviously that's a big thing of having habits and routine. But also I can't be naive that, you know, there can't be flexibility there. So not every single day does look exactly the same for me because I have to be flexible with what my family needs or what my business needs. But the thing that never changes is, yeah, starting my coffee and a walk or a ride. You know, without question, if I can't get a ride, I'm going to go for a walk. And having a dog helps me, helps me make sure that I do that.

56:10 Scott Ingram: Well, I'm curious about, do you take a break in the morning to… I mean, I know this routine is just coming back into play, but do you take a break in the morning to kind of be with your girls and get them off to school after you've done the first thing in the morning East Coast calls?

56:22 Shannon Hall: Yeah, no, definitely. So yeah, I might do calls at 5, 6 AM, you know, then I'll go get a walk in and come back, wake them up, or they're already up getting ready. But yeah, I always pause to check in with them, see how they're doing, make sure they're set up for their day as well. Because yeah, it's super important. I mean, I, you know, sometimes can sit at my desk for too long and be like, wait a second, I gotta eat now. So there's a lot of intention that I think we have to put into every day. Sometimes that mom where I will make sure everyone else is covered, you know, when it comes to food and all the things, and I'm like, oh wait, like, you need… now you need your breakfast. And if I'm not out on the go or packing my lunch, like, sometimes I'll forget to like have that stuff ready for me. So just, I don't know, I've been trying to adjust that a little bit too and be like, oh, mom's gotta pack her lunch too, or I need to have my things in line so that I'm not just speaking words but also, you know, leading by example. But taking breaks in the day and connecting with people. I feel like I'm on the phone a lot, on Zoom a lot, having a lot of conversations, and sometimes like, okay, I just want to like not talk anymore. So when I'm doing some of my admin work, you know, I might just listen to a podcast or listen to some music and just try to get up and do some movement in the day. Because I feel like once you start walking or even doing some like weight training in the garage or just something to get moving, I'm like, oh, okay, now I don't feel as like lethargic and my brain's starting to fire, you know. And maybe I'm gonna make a call to a friend, you know, or I call Ken a lot. I'm like, hey, okay, here, I'm working on this thing. And, you know, now I'm like, oh yeah, you have so many other reps that you're supporting now. And so trying to kind of broaden out and meet some of the newer folks that are on our team that I haven't worked with in the past and just kind of connect with them. And I do feel like that kind of helps energize me to be like, okay, Okay, now I can keep going. And I always try to plan like a week in advance, like setting meetings up for like the following week so that you're not coming into a week with like nothing to do or nobody to talk to. And so it helps, you know, if I kind of have that in advance, like, okay, I know I'm going to be talking to this company or these people. And then, you know, a lot comes up that I don't expect, like all the time. And I think prioritizing what's most important, what can wait, what can I ask for help with and just kind of owning, you know, that all of our time is super, super important. And it's hard to give your time away, you know. So I just try to make sure I'm maximizing every moment to the best of my ability, but also give myself grace. And, you know, I'm a huge lover of the ocean, so I try to escape or get away, get out in nature and just move. Like, we love being outside. I feel like, you know, right now I'm like, oh, I'm just gonna walk around my backyard and talk to you so that I'm not sitting at my desk, which is really great.

59:23 Scott Ingram: Love it, love it. So you talked about having kind of a wrap-up prep part of your day late in the day. Is there kind of a defined time that you try and kind of wrap up the official day job? Like, how do you make that transition kind of to family and stuff in the evening?

59:38 Shannon Hall: Yeah, that's a good question. I think when I was listening to Mel Robbins at one point, she was always saying like, have the end of the day, like know what time you're ending your day. I don't know that I'm the best at it, but covering the East Coast territory, you know, around 2, 3 o'clock Pacific time, you know, things are pretty quiet from a business perspective. So usually around that time, you know, I'm wrapping it up or not really on the phone as much, just kind of making sure like whatever I said I was going to do gets done before the end of the day and the things that are most important. And now, yeah, got back into the school schedule. I mean, sometimes I'm running to grab the kids and come back and I still need to do a few more things, or I'm like, you know what, like, this actually can wait. So yeah, usually around probably like 3-ish in the afternoon is when I need to go get my kids. And so I know at that point, like, I'm going to give myself a break and I hope that I've kind of done everything that I need to do. But there's certain times that I definitely come back to that. And I think my kids are kind of used to like, oh, okay, like maybe, but I try to communicate that with them and like, hey, I have like these few last things that I need to do, and then you have my divided attention. So I just try to communicate that because I think it's really important that… I mean, it's hard to have real boundaries, especially when you're, you know, working somewhat out of your home. It's so important to have that family time that you're not just working all the time. But I think the kids really can appreciate that, and sometimes they're tired from their day and we get to catch up on the walk home or the drive home and get them a snack. And I'm like, hey, I'm gonna finish whatever it is I need to finish, you know, before we get you off to practice or, or whatever that is. But then the rest of the night, it's like, yeah, I'm there for them. I'm… I'll probably still kind of check my emails more than I should, but, you know, it's not often that I'd be taking calls like in the evening or anything like that. It's more the early morning. Like, most things can wait. So even just kind of like acknowledging things that come in, like, hey, I see you, thanks for the no, I'll get back to you. So I take that approach sometimes too, where it's like, now I need to focus in on my kids and what's going on in their world so that they can see it shut off. Like, my husband works in eye surgery, so he works in a surgery center with all kinds of doctors, and he comes home and his work doesn't come with him. He has to do a few texts and figure out what time surgeries are the next day and this and that. So I try to use that and be like, okay, I have the flexibility. To run around where he's stuck in an OR all day, you know. So there's benefits there, but, you know, then he's able to easier, like, shut it off easier because it's like no one's there that needs him. They're not home with you. So yeah, it's a balancing act, but I think just being intentional and setting boundaries and communicating with your family of what's going on, because some seasons are more hectic and other seasons you have a little bit more, a little bit more time and grace where you're doing more planning than you are 18 meetings in a week.

1:02:40 Scott Ingram: So just Yeah, I love the idea of kind of seasons and just the communication and the expectation setting, right? I mean, I've certainly had times in my career I'm like, okay, look, the end of this quarter or the end of this month is going to be crazy, right? I've got 2 weeks. It's going to be nuts. Just understand I'm going to disappear for a while. And I'm not perfect about this, but if you're really good, you could be proactive about that and say, hey, the week after that's over or the weekend after that all wraps up, we've got got this little quick trip we're gonna do, or there's something fun that we're gonna do to kind of celebrate and give yourself that opportunity to kind of acknowledge like, okay, we all made some sacrifices there. I'm sorry, but we all love each other and it's all good, right?

1:03:19 Shannon Hall: Absolutely. No, I think that's huge, that communication. And, and then yeah, unplugging when you can and having those things to look forward to are huge. I'm like, I need to get away. I'm like, I feel like the ocean is my happy place. I'm like, okay, like everything's just calm. We can just like go with the flow. There's not all these things that need to be So it's really rejuvenating. And that time that you do have with the fam is even better. But now it's like their schedules are so hectic that it, you know, it shifted again where I'm like, ooh, we're in another new season that is new, another new chapter that I'm like, oh, I haven't… you've been where they have practice or games every night and all these obligations. And I'm like, but wait, let's go away. And they're like, no, no, we can't. I'm like, oh, okay.

1:04:04 Scott Ingram: Yeah. It's amazing how that whole thing just shifts and evolves.

1:04:09 Shannon Hall: Like our family vacations aren't hot. Yeah. Like normally we take an end of the summer family vacation. This year we couldn't because it changed. Like she had to be at volleyball tryouts and I'm like, okay, well, I mean, I can still, I guess, take a couple of days and we can do something around the house. And then there's still all these beautiful moments in between. You're like, hey, well, we're open right now. Like we're going to go for a bike ride. Like let's go do the thing. But it's maybe not what it was last summer. But that's okay. Like, it's just, it shifts. Yeah. If I just, I mean, we have to be always just have to be flexible, like 100%.

1:04:43 Scott Ingram: That's the game. Well, let's talk about your information diet. I'm excited to dig into this because I know that you're very audio-centric. So I'm sure other podcast listeners will be excited to hear the audiobooks and podcasts and things that you're kind of listening to. So what are those? When do you do that? What have been some of the kind of most impactful things that you listen to?

1:05:02 Shannon Hall: Yeah, well, I did a lot of like audiobooks. Oh my gosh, my time of reading a real book… my kids don't actually think I read. I'm like, you guys, I listen to a lot. They're like, okay, Mom. So kind of funny. So shifted from lots of audio. What did I read? I remember reading The One Thing book a long time ago, and actually that did really help me because I felt like I always was so proud to be a multitasker And I mean, I still kind of am, it's hard not to be, but also then really being focused on what it is you need to do and kind of trying to shut down the noise. 'Cause it can be, there's so much happening around us all the time. There's so much information. So really being focused on that. I mean, actually I really love outside of, you know, high performance habits, I read Never Split the Difference, Chris Voss. That was super great. Just different perspectives. Also Gary Chapman and the 5 Love Languages I found to be super interesting, you know, just to connect with humans and like what are the things that kind of drive us and how we all interpret things different. Like I'm a super high-energy excited person, but when I'm matched, you know, with an analytical person, you know, so like I have to kind of dial things down a little bit so I'm not too, you know, just not changing who I am, but also being aware of other people and how they like to communicate so that I can really understand them. I found that to be interesting. Now I do mostly podcasts. I really like, like Mel Robbins and Brené Brown in terms of kind of that vulnerability. And Mel Robbins is just like super real in terms of, I don't know, just like things that you might be going through in your life. And just, she brings on a lot of really cool people on her podcast that I like. Yeah. Marcus Chan. I used to work with him. I think we were connected and he's… yeah, I had a small moment with him at Cintas actually. And he was our sales director for the region. And he was phenomenal. I was like, oh my God, I'm gonna learn so much from him. And then he started his own thing, you know, shortly after. And so I was like, oh, I gotta follow him. And I really like Brian Burns. I listened to like his quick tips. Yeah. And then, you know, I've been now listening to the daily sales tips that you guys offer on the Sales Success. And that's been really cool. I like the quick nuggets and then, you know, just kind of digging in deeper to hear from other top performers. Has been super cool. I'm like, I really enjoy that. I think I have like 12 credits on audio and a bunch added to my cart that I'm like, oh gosh, I almost felt slightly overwhelmed that I have so much I could capitalize on there. But the podcasts are just kind of nice consumable nuggets. So I really enjoy that. And I'm just super open, like now connecting with you and other folks. I'm like, oh, okay. Like, you know, I go on LinkedIn a a lot and follow people that I think are interesting on Instagram as well. So I feel like that is always evolving in terms of what I find or what I think is interesting, or even sometimes kind of going back to some of the classics. And I think there's a little bit of something you can take from a lot of folks. I'm certainly not like a total Grant Cardone style, but there's nuggets that he has that I'm like, oh dang, Okay, that's pretty good. So I'm just like always listening and curious and looking for those little nuggets where, you know, I can improve or it just helps me think about things differently or a new perspective. Those are some of my favorites. I like Jon Gordon too. Jeff Hoffman, I did one of his trainings years ago, so he has little daily things I'll listen to and, you know, some of that resonates.

1:08:44 Scott Ingram: Awesome. Well, we will assemble all of that into a clickable list like we always do. So if you go to top1.fm/whatever the episode number is, because as per usual, I've lost track, or top1.fm/Shannon-Hall, which is probably the easier way. You'll be able to find all of that detail. Shannon, just to keep us on time, I'm going to ask you kind of 2 questions at once and let you kind of take us out. The first one is, what do you think your superpower is? And then I'll just have you take us into kind of like, what's the actionable thing that you would suggest that the person listening to us do after listening to this to improve themselves and improve their results? So your superpower, and then what do you suggest people do?

1:09:27 Shannon Hall: Oh boy, I don't know what my superpower is. I think maybe partially charisma, just coming in with my passion and truly caring about the other human. And I want to build trust and prove that I'm reliable to pretty much anyone that I'm working with and just leaving them feeling like we… like with a really great experience. I mean, sometimes I'll lose deals and like it's really cute when people are like, oh, Shannon, like we really want to buy from you, but it's this whatever technical situation or something that's out of our control because they actually can tell and feel how much I care. And I do have a lot of experience and seen a lot throughout the years. So it's just genuinely caring And yeah, being a reliable, trustful source that can help. And then in terms of what people can do, I mean, just give yourself grace and go out, make friends. Don't get too stuck in your ways. I think being open-minded is huge. I mean, we have a lot of people that have joined our organization that have varying sales backgrounds or came from something completely different. And, you know, cyber can be really overwhelming and there's a lot going on. And I just, you know, like take it one day at a time. Like I know I can make certain actions every single day that are going to add up. So it's like put in the work, like do what you need to do day in and day out and results will come and build those relationships and that community around you so that you're always building a funnel. Of new opportunities for your future and maybe getting introduced to other folks that you could help. So I think community and relationships are huge. So pick up the phone, be curious, see how can you help. Maybe you can't help, but just to listen and always thinking about your client or the other person. Like, for me, it's not about me. It's not about showing up and throwing up. I feel like best advice for new reps. It's like, you know, I mean, the tech speeds and this and that, or whatever it is you're selling, like, that's excellent. But at the end of the day, like, you know, you're trying to, like, help solve some type of a problem, and you need to understand the bigger picture, you know, and those individuals, and do your homework. Like, you need to know their role, what they care about, so you're actually making an impact. So it's just being thoughtful, build those relationships, and just go do it.

1:12:02 Scott Ingram: Love it. Shannon, this has been a blast. We could keep talking for a very long time. I know.

1:12:08 Shannon Hall: Yay, Sales Summit! I'm like, okay, I'm like so intrigued. I'm going to see if there's a way we can make that work. I greatly appreciate the invitation and it sounds right up my alley and would be something of an excellent experience. So I really hope I can make that happen.

1:12:23 Scott Ingram: I hope we can too. And if you want to hear more from Shannon, drop me a note. Maybe we'll come back together and continue the conversation. Shannon, I appreciate you. Thanks for taking all the time.

1:12:32 Shannon Hall: Yeah, thank you, Scott. Appreciate it.

1:12:33 Scott Ingram: One final note before I let you go. Since my interview with Shannon, both Shannon and her boss Ken have bought their tickets and will be joining us at this year's Sales Success Summit. Will you be there? Do us both a favor and grab your ticket today at top1summit.com. Thanks for listening to the Sales Success Stories podcast. To be sure you never miss an episode and for an invitation to our Sales Success Community powered by Influitive, subscribe to our newsletter at top1.fm.