The Salesby5 Blog

Welcome back for the continuation and ending of Trey’s week at Salesby5.  Here’s how it wrapped up…

So as if this brilliant team of people who came together to complement each other and create an amazingly successful business weren’t enough, Erik also set me up with jobs working for Magi Real Estate, with Louis Pisano and Ryan Harrison (two other brilliant businessmen). Louis showed me the importance of tenant satisfaction and how your attitude can sometimes be the deciding factor on whether your business is profitable or not. He deals primarily with tenant relations and was dazzling with the way he handled his clients. Ryan dealt more with actually finding potential tenants, and is without a doubt a genius among salesmen. He spoke to me with an encouraging and supportive tone and actually offered me an internship for the next summer! Whether that works out or not, I was so pleased that one of the top real estate brokers in San Antonio would consider me for an internship. Observing these great guys and discussing concepts of business with them was an incredible experience in itself. Thanks guys for all of your help, you both were great mentors.

Now for my biggest influence, my uncle Erik Darmstetter, the man that made all of this possible. After living with him and his beautiful family for an entire week and working with him on critiquing my situation in life, he has definitely become a role model for me. I cherish the time I get to spend with him and still wish I had a little pocket bobblehead Erik to carry around for advice, which everyone needs from time to time. Anyone that has met him can understand what I’m talking about. His energy is contagious and he encourages using strengths to guide people through work and life. He seems to have it all, from a successful business to a loving family, and for the simple reason that he loves helping people in need, he decided to share it with me. That is what I determine to be a great man. I try to model some parts of my life from him and give him credit for my newly found ambition for college and success. So thank you, Uncle Erik, Nan, Kya, Q, Ryan, Louis, and the family (Bubba, Devyn and my amazing aunt Ann) for giving me one of the most productive weeks of my life. I hope to someday return the favor.

So what are my plans for the future? I simply want to… “inspire.”

Trey completed his week-long internship at SalesBy5 this past Friday.  Here is the story in his words.

Two weeks ago, my parents would ask me about my plans for the future, concerning college and possible professions, and I would not be able to generate any sort of legitimate response. I was not aware of or concerned with anything besides my present situation. College seemed to me to be a cliché and a pain, which I was considering avoiding… until I had the opportunity to have an inspiring conversation with my uncle, Erik. I’ve always had a relationship with him, due to our family interactions, but never really sat down to talk with him. Within minutes of discussing my life with Erik, he recognized the struggle I was having with taking my life seriously. He then presented me with the opportunity of a lifetime; to come and intern at SalesBy5 for a week. At first, I was concerned I would be wasting a week of my summer to go work for free but after a little debate, I decided I needed the practice.

Immediately after walking into the SalesBy5 office, I was greeted from all directions by Erik and his amazing co-workers, Nan and Kya. Their personalities alone delivered a comfort level cool enough to relax someone going through hell. I was put to work instantly, doing productive things for the company that was surprisingly not mindless busy work (for instance, I was revising and editing client proposals). For the first time in my life, I felt genuinely accepted into an adult environment and I loved every minute of it. Not to mention that Nan hooked me up with an awesome BlackBerry, which I did not want to return when the time came. The SalesBy5 team welcomed me with open arms when I was in a frightening new environment. They introduced me to the concept of following your strengths and how to apply that to my life. Nan, who basically is the coolest computer whiz I have ever met, and his advice—not only on sales and marketing, but also life itself—were an essential part of my learning experience. And Kya was a huge part of the reason I was able to wake up in the morning and look forward to going to work; something the majority of adults would kill to feel. I never saw Kya without a bright smile on her face and something intelligent to say. Sarah rocks too and was very helpful. I didn’t get a ton of time with Sarah, or Q, as they refer to her, but she was equally as appealing as the rest of the crew and a great person to talk to. The SalesBy5 team has the ultimate mix of abilities and personalities that all truly successful businesses should be modeling after.

Come back tomorrow for the rest of his adventures and his wrap up of the week.

Trey and his cousin, Dylan

How many of you grew up hearing that statement or something like it?  My dad, trying his best to help, actually got me to do a year of law school.  It was the most miserable year of my life.  Now you have the opportunity to help people younger than you - your kids, nieces and nephews, neighbor’s children - in helping them find their passion.  This week, Erik’s nephew Trey is joining us.  Yesterday, he had the opportunity to sit in on an exciting new potential client meeting and actually make suggestions.  He’s 17!  It’s likely he’ll never forget this week and surely, it will change the course of his life.  He’s getting a crash course in Strengths, what they mean, and why they’re important to his success and happiness.  Certainly, this is time much better spent than cleaning a grease trap at his local fast food joint.  This experience not only feeds Trey mentally, but it also pays us back. His wide eyed curiosity and excitement gives us a quick reminder about how special our lives are in having found such a wonderful place to call our company.  School is starting again soon, which kid can you grab for a day or two and teach? These experiences don’t exist in books; the responsibility resides squarely on your shoulders to introduce the next entrepreneur to the world.  Will you accept the challenge?

photo by euthman