From $15k in Debt to Tech Sales Leader | Tahlija Macdonald

Tahlija Macdonald is Head of Sales Development at HiBob, where she's spent ~4 years building and leading the ANZ BDR/SDR team. After starting out in media sales, a world that nearly pushed her out of the industry for good, she made the jump to tech at ServiceNow and never looked back. Tahlija is passionate about one thing above all: helping people from any background break into tech sales and change their lives doing it.Chapters: 00:00 Intro & welcome01:15 Tahlija's origin story: market stalls, retail & studying marketing04:30 Media sales at oOh! Media — burnout, debt & nearly quitting08:00 The friend who handed her a tech role09:30 Marketing vs sales: why listening beats being the loudest in the room12:00 The moment sales clicked as a career14:30 KPIs as a tool, not pressure (& the Deloitte lesson)17:00 Consistency over time — the sports analogy19:00 Landing ServiceNow: the 3-month talent-pipeline interview22:00 Big vendor vs scale-up: where should you start?25:30 What she looks for when hiring (and the AI-polished red flag)29:00 Cold calling, Orum & coaching with data32:00 LinkedIn & personal brand at work34:00 Her leadership style: extreme ownership + radical candor37:00 Managing expectations: BDR to AE & finding your "why"40:00 Motherhood & returning to work in tech43:30 Final advice: there's no one "right" background for tech salesFollow on Instagram @caelahstanleyFollow on LinkedIn @caelahstanleyFollow on Instagram @GabemarzanoFollow on LInkedIn @Gabemarzano#techsales #B2BSales #SaaSSales #technology