From Pro Mountain Biker to B2B SaaS: How to Design Your Career Around Your Life | Angie Parkhouse (Qualia)

In this episode, I sit down with Angie Parkhouse, Sales Leader at Qualia (real estate transaction management software), to talk about what it looks like to design your career around your life and the sales fundamentals that still matter in a world drowning in AI spam. Angie shares her unconventional path from B2B sales and 13 years in medical devices to taking a sabbatical to race mountain bikes, living the van life adventure, and ultimately pivoting into SaaS so she could build a career that supported the lifestyle she wanted.We also get tactical on selling. We talk about why vertical SaaS matters and why some buyers actually pick up the phone, how to cold call without commission breath, and what it takes to sell change to customers who did not ask for it. Angie breaks down how Qualia handles reputation-based objections, why empathy is the fastest path to trust, and how her team is guiding customers through major transitions after acquisitions.TOPICS WE COVERAngie’s pivot from medical device sales to SaaS, and how she designed her career around lifestyle and freedomThe mountain bike sabbatical and van life chapter that forced a reset and led her to softwareWhy vertical SaaS matters, including choosing industries where buyers actually answer callsCold calling fundamentals that still win, including discovery first and never pitching without painWhy AI spam is hurting outreach, and how to stand out by selling like a humanHow to sell change when customers are resistant, including handling Qualia reputation objections and leading with empathyABOUT THE GUESTAngie Parkhouse is the Transition Team Sales Leader at Qualia. She previously spent 13 years in medical device sales, then took a career sabbatical to compete as a Sponsored Professional Women’s Enduro mountain bike racer. She later pivoted into SaaS to build a career aligned with her lifestyle, and now leads teams helping customers navigate major software transitions and modernize the closing process.LINKSConnect with me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carter-armendarez/ Subscribe to the newsletter: https://www.techsaleswithcarter.com/newsletter/ Learn more about Qualia: https://www.qualia.com/