Not everyone is cut out for sales. Even superstars are challenged – by competitors, market conditions, customer demands. But according to Bentley’s 2017 Sales Person of the Year, attitude is everything. Wendy Jorgensen, saleswoman extraordinaire from the bustling Big Apple and a finalist for this year’s Interior Design HiP Seller award, is a true believer in mind over matter. It’s what keeps her resilient – and successful.
Held from June 11-13 at The Merchandise Mart in Chicago, NeoCon has evolved into one of the most recognized and attended trade shows in the industry and this year will be no exception. Join us at our Merchandise Mart booth #1098 and at our Kinzie showroom across from The Merchandise Mart, 220 W. Kinzie St. Suite 200, for our NeoCon events!
This story begins with a New York hotel room key. Actress and singer/songwriter, Caitlin Crosby, started wearing the hotel key as a necklace while on tour and had the idea to start engraving old, used keys with inspirational words. Realizing that, in a way, we are all like these keys – unique, flawed, scarred, and sometimes discarded by others – she wanted these keys to have their purpose renewed over and over again.
Getting ahead can be tough for women in any industry, particularly male-driven ones such as the music industry. Jen Lowe, solo artist, multi-instrumentalist and a Bentley collaborator through Banding People Together, says it’s all about owning your story and creating a forward-moving narrative for yourself and others.
Many industries, but especially architecture and design, demand creativity. Its core to achieving business goals and meeting client expectations; it’s also key to who we are as individuals and a community.
For May Cruz, Bentley’s senior creative services manager, art is her world. It shows up in everything she does: from the art festivals she takes her kids to, to the colors she puts in her hair (more about that below) to the oil paintings she does in her spare time. Art is more than a job…it’s a way of life.
Our worlds are colliding. Boundaries between home and office, personal and professional are blurring more than ever. Today’s generation craves it – a subtle yet sophisticated integration of work and play no matter where they are. It’s a spirited shift in culture and style, fusing form with function in ways we’ve not quite seen before. Today, there’s little in our lives that isn’t touched or somehow influenced by the biodiversity and edge effects of our surroundings. It’s part of us – how we live, how we engage, how we work.
Inspiration is everywhere. But it’s people who intrigue and influence us most – especially those who are so passionate about what they do and why they do it that it’s contagious. You can’t help but be moved. At Bentley we surround ourselves with people just like this. Often purposefully, but sometimes, by chance. Being part of the big but small world of design is helpful in that way. But we like to think being in Los Angeles gives us an added edge.
When Paula Hagerty has a goal, she makes sure it’s within her sights. Literally. She writes it on a piece of paper, pins it to her bulletin board, and looks at it every day – right next to a running list of big sales and projects she’s working on. Ambitions side-by-side with achievements. Wishes next to the hard work it takes to make them come true.