When I finished studying economics and business, I had no clear idea what I wanted to do for a living. I did know that I wanted to live and work on as many continents as possible during my twenties. So I made the obvious career move and went to teach English at a small school in rural Thailand.
Teaching was not part of a plan to get into sales. Neither was what came next. I moved to Australia on a work visa and found a company in Melbourne selling paintings door to door. The job was commission only, but it came with a place to stay. I shadowed another rep the night I arrived and went out on my own the next day. I made about $250. On day two, I worked six hours and made nothing. It was a fairly efficient introduction to the profession.
I liked the game more than I expected, though I also liked eating and paying rent, so I found a sales job with a base salary. I started selling gas and electricity door to door in towns around Victoria. Every knock required me to read the person in front of me quickly, explain something clearly and earn enough trust to keep the conversation going. People also introduced me to an impressive range of Australian insults. Both parts of the education proved useful.
After roughly three years abroad, I came back to the United States and joined a startup as its director of sales. I had no problem walking into businesses and starting conversations because Australia had already cured me of the fear of hearing no. Over the next few years, we built a team, entered new markets and helped grow the company into a multimillion-dollar business. Later I moved into technology, earned a promotion and then lost the job when part of the sales organization was dissolved in 2022.
That layoff sent me traveling again, which made the whole path look even stranger in reverse. I had left home because I wanted to see the world, stumbled into sales because I needed work, and eventually built a career from skills I had learned while being uncomfortable in unfamiliar places. Travel taught me to ask questions, listen closely and adjust when the first approach failed. Sales asked for much the same thing.
I don’t think everyone needs to cross an ocean to become good at selling. I do think it helps to spend time somewhere you aren’t the expert. When you don’t know the language, the customs or which bus you’re supposed to be on, you get better at paying attention. You learn that confidence and curiosity can exist together. You also learn that forcing your way through every interaction is a reliable way to miss what someone is telling you.
The best salespeople I’ve known don’t make a conversation feel like a performance. They understand the person in front of them, figure out whether they can genuinely help and are comfortable walking away when they can’t. I learned some of that in offices. A surprising amount began in a rural classroom and on doorsteps in Australia, long before I knew I was building a career.