Chris Ingate is the Enterprise Account Executive at Overhaul, a supply chain risk management software company founded in 2016 and headquartered in Austin, Texas.
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1) To kick things off, could you tell us a little about your career background and current role?
I’ve had over 10 years in customer-facing sales roles ranging from Account Management here in Sydney. To my current role as an Enterprise Account Executive in Austin, Texas for Overhaul – which is a supply chain risk management software company.
I believe that every person on earth is a sales rep as we sell ourselves daily: to banks, to our friends, to waitstaff, employers, and so on. Being an effective sales rep is being able to handle on the go objections with humility, and trying to navigate a win/win for both parties.
Gone are the days of business where one party needs to lose. Let’s work together and make the pie greater for all involved. This attitude has led me to overachieve in almost every single sales quota, as I always put the customer first.
One of the best elements with sales is that it’s one of the very few industries where your success is directly correlated with your input and effort. If you’re behind quota: make more calls, send more emails. If you’re succeeding: spend time helping others, building up your team, improving processes. It’s a very rewarding feeling when everything goes well.
2) What does a day in your life look like for you? Can you take us through a recent workday?
My ideal workday:
Wake up and go for a run or do a yoga session without looking at my phone. Followed by a coffee with my yogis, discussing ways to solve the world’s problems or mainly sport.
Complete my 5 min gratitude journal and write a monthly postcard demonstrating my gratitude towards a friend.
Begin my workday in which I prioritize any urgent emails or slack messages. Given a large part of my role is outbound lead generation. I would follow this by reading my relevant 5-10 industry articles for key information relating to my target accounts.
Navigating around any internal or external meetings. I would block out hour time slots for new account outreach or cold calling depending on my target list. LinkedIn Sales Navigator is also a very powerful tool for me to understand if any roles or new hires have been made across my target accounts. I also spend time interacting with key stakeholders organically promoting my company.
Over lunch, I find it’s important to refresh your mind from your working office, especially as we continue to work remotely at home. New environments are key for the mind to recharge. So I like to squeeze in a short walk or house errand.
My afternoons are similar with a combination of cold outreach using email, vidyards, calls, and LinkedIn to land discovery meetings.
After work, I’d head to Zilker Park for a game of volleyball, tennis, or spike ball. Or head to a sports bar to watch the raiders lose another NFL game.
For dinner, I love researching new recipes for a home-cooked meal with a lucky friend or my two roommates. Combined with a drop of dry french rose or nip of tequila for a little stress reliever. Followed by a warm bath with candles, some reading, then my gratitude journal as my last thing before bed. I’m always searching for new friends, so if this is of interest, please reach out.
Tip: Do not look at your phone 30mins before sleep or after you wake up. Stay disconnected allowing your mind to think freely.
3) Does your current role allow for flexible or remote working? If so, how does that fit into your life and routine?
Yes, my current role is flexible, mainly working remotely but also having the choice to visit the office. This is fantastic as it allows me to bring more balance into my routine.
Simple errands like preparing a slow-cooked pork dish, cleaning the house, shopping, or exercising can easily be integrated into my daily life. Especially if your spending hours commuting to the office this time can either be effectively utilized on work, personal, or family matters.
4) What does work-life balance mean to you and how do you work to achieve that goal?
To me, work-life balance means that your daily routine subconsciously energizes your mind in all aspects of life that are important. These elements to me, are:
- Ensuring you’re motivated at work to deliver your best self for the team and company’s goals.
- Ensuring I have time for daily exercise which I use as alone time for problem-solving.
- Social interactions with friends and family to remain connected. Social isolation is one of the leading causes of depression.
- Travel. IMO, this is the most important element in anyone’s life as it gives you the opportunity to appreciate your home/origin or discover paradise in an unknown destination.
A life where I am naturally energized and gravitating towards the above elements- is a happy life worth living. I’m also aware happiness is better off shared. So, it’s important to have a partner in crime to join the ride.
5) In the past 12 months, have you started or stopped any routines or habits to change your life?
Yes, yoga 2-3 times a week. I could not speak more highly of the importance of yoga which is the perfect balance delivering benefits to mind, body, and soul.
Second, “read often and read widely.” I had a goal of 12 books in one year but I smashed my target and read 24. I’m old school and prefer hard copies which I sign and circulate amongst friends.
Tip: Schedule 20 mins every day in your calendar, set an alarm, and don’t have your phone near you.
6) Do you have any favourite books, podcasts or newsletters that you’d like to recommend?
Favorite book: The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom. If Tom Brady has read it every year for 10 years, it must be good.
Favorite podcast: Livin a mental health charity empowering people to speak up about their mental health because #itaintweaktospeak. Founder Sam Webb brings on industry-leading guests to discuss this crucial message. Love you Sam, and please keep up the amazing work.
Favorite newsletters: Morning Brew: an easy unbiased read about things occurring in the world delivered to your inbox every morning. Enjoy it over a nice cuppa.
7) Are there any products, gadgets or apps that you can’t live without?
Honestly, after seeing the negative impact technology and social media is having on mental health fueling disconnection and depression. There is a reason suicide rates are skyrocketing in parallel to social media.
I have made a strong effort to remove as much technology as possible from my life and I have never felt better. I have deleted social media, I do not read or watch the news, and most importantly I don’t use my phone in social settings.
But, I would say I can’t live without my phone calendar in which I schedule all work and leisure activities.
8) If you could read an interview about work-life balance by anyone, who would that be?
Mark Wahlberg. He has had such an interesting life from being: in the Funky Bunch, model, producer, weight lifter, business owner and all-round good bloke. I’d love to have dinner with him.
9) Do you have any last thoughts on work, life, or balance that you’d like to share with our readers?
My purpose in life is to spread the importance of positivity and balance. For optimal happiness, it’s vital that you attempt to incorporate the following 7 elements into your life:
- Quality sleep
- Savoring the moment
- Gratitude
- Kindness/volunteering
- Social connection
- Exercise
- Mediation
All of these have been scientifically proven from the ‘Science of well-being’ online course I did at Yale.
Please always reach out to continue this conversation further. I’d love to chat with anyone and everyone.
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