The Level Up Podcast w/ Paul Alex
Making Money in Digital Sales: How Lamees Attia and Yuki Huang Built Their Remote Careers
Sat, 02 Nov 2024
In this episode of The Level Up Podcast w/ Paul Alex, we meet Lamees Attia and Yuki Huang, two recent college grads who pivoted from traditional roles to thriving remote careers as Sales Development Representatives (SDRs) in digital marketing. They share their journey into high-paying, location-independent roles, discussing the skills, mindset, and training that helped them succeed. Learn about what it takes to break into remote sales, build a flexible income stream, and create a lifestyle of freedom and financial stability.Yuki: https://www.instagram.com/mtf.yukihuang/?hl=enLamees: https://www.instagram.com/lameesxattia/?hl=en“Your Network is your NETWORTH!”Make sure to add me on all SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS:Instagram: https://jo.my/paulalex2024Facebook: https://jo.my/fbpaulalex2024Youtube: https://jo.my/ytpaulalex2024Linkedin: https://jo.my/inpaulalex2024Looking for a secondary source of income or want to become an entrepreneur?Check out one of my companies below to see if we can help you:www.ATMTogether.comwww.CashSwipe.comFREE Copy of my book “Blue to Digital Gold - The New American Dream”www.officialPaulAlex.com
Chapter 1: What inspired Lamees and Yuki to pursue remote sales?
What was your degree in?
Advertising and public relations.
What? Okay.
All right. That's cool. Yeah. When I got my degree, all I knew is that I liked communications, but I think advertising and PR just sounded better. So that's why I ended up doing that. But with COVID, after I graduated, everything started to shift online. So I ended up doing a few small roles of just social media management with like small companies and people starting up.
And then one day I saw an advertisement for like SDR and like you get to talk to people and like help them out. And I thought that that would be really cool. So I ended up looking into it.
That's badass. So like I always hear all the time, guys, like social media manager, social media, you know, media buyer. Like what exactly were you doing for customers or for companies as a social media manager?
Yeah, so it would start, I would look at their company's social media profiles and give them feedback based off of what they're doing, what I think they could be doing more to get better engagement. And then I would take total responsibility over making their content calendar, creating their content, captions, posting on their behalf, and all of that. That sounds badass. Yeah, I really liked it.
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Chapter 2: How did Lamees transition from social media management to SDR?
That's pretty cool. I love that. So, all right. Love the background. So what got you in transitioning to SDR? Like you saw the job posting. Is it as simple as just interviewing and then just telling them like, hey, I like I have some background in social media and like I've done this. Like what qualifications do you need to be at SDR right now?
Oh, definitely. So I actually ended up finding an ad where they would train you to become an SDR. So even though I felt like I knew advertising and social media and all of that stuff, I still felt like I needed a bit more training on how to actually connect with people and like help them. Yeah. So I ended up taking a course. I invested in myself.
I watched a lot of trainings and over time I was able to build up the skill.
No, I love that. I love that. I'm a big believer in, like, self-education.
Yeah.
I mean, at the end of the day, depending on what your degree is in, I have a high respect for anybody that has a college degree, whether four-year, six, or PhD.
Yeah.
But it takes a lot of discipline, for sure, right? I know the digital marketing game is quite different now than when I started back in 2020. Yeah. I know during COVID, it changed everybody's life, as your story started in 2021. Yeah. And... So now, explain to the listeners and the viewers, okay, specifically what your job role is like at SDR.
Yeah. So when someone is looking to learn more about a company, we're usually the first people that they talk to. So we help them get initial information on how the company works, what they need, help them decide if it's a good fit. So we're really the first people were like, I just saw this company and I want to learn more.
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Chapter 3: What skills are essential for a successful SDR?
So I was like, you know, I kind of went to college a little bit naive of like, yeah, you know, I just I like the environment. Like, let me just, you know, just major in it. Right. And then I got to the point where I was graduating and I was like, OK. Now what am I going to do? It was like the uh-oh moment. Yes. Which I think happens so often more than people think. I could see that.
It's just like you go to college, you pick something and you're like, yeah, that sounds cool. I want to learn about it. But just because you want to learn about something does not mean that you should start a whole entire career in it. And that's something that you don't really figure out until you're like, I mean, even when I was graduating college, I was like, dang, what am I doing with this?
Right. In psychology too, I'm like, am I going to be a therapist? Like, I don't know.
Did you have like a game plan like while you were in college and you had that moment where you like, all right, like, forget it. Like, I got this degree. I'm going to make it happen no matter what. Like, what was your thought process?
Yeah, I think COVID really changed everything around too. Okay. It's like I came in thinking, okay, I'm going to, you know, get like a, you know, entry-level position doing environmental consulting or something. But I knew I had to go get a master's eventually to be able to continue on with it. I was like, dang, that's another, like that's even more money I have to pour into education.
which is valuable, but at the same time, it's like, do I want to do that for something that I'm not sure is going to be my career? So I was like, okay, let me look at something else. And so I had seen basically, I don't know if you've ever heard of, or it's like, what do you call it? Like packaged consumer, like frozen goods.
It's a company that I worked for, but they do like vegetarian frozen foods and they had like a social media marketing intern position.
and i was like graduating college i was like sure why not let me just go ahead and apply for it on linkedin like you know the easy easy apply feature whatnot and so i did it and then somehow i ended up there and i was like okay i guess i'm gonna try being an intern for like social media marketing for a little bit and so then eventually i worked there for about three months doing internship and then from there they promoted me to like coordinator social media coordinator so
With that, what it really meant was just like similar to Lamise, like content creation. I was filming TikToks. I was like the face of their TikTok and, you know, filming like food content. And it was actually really fun, like really got to be creative with it. And then from there on, I just got the itch. I was just kind of like, I want to do something else, you know.
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Chapter 4: What does a typical day look like for an SDR?
exactly yeah you kind of i was like is this customer service like rep like when i'm you know like typing on amazon or something and um you know i was like yeah this is a piece of cake like that's easy like i'll just i can message people send emojis yeah send emojis like you know be like hey how are you doing things like that right and then i had a i had an awakening of like yeah that's not what it is at all
It was definitely an eye-opening experience for sure.
So now that you guys know, I would consider you guys veterans in the game of appointment settings slash SDRs. And you guys have been able to actually now live a remote lifestyle. You guys are able to travel. You guys are able to work from the laptop. Like you guys are here down in Miami for a sales conference. It's, I think, every young person's dream to have a job like that, right?
That's able to cover your bills, you're able to travel, and you work remote. What more can you want right now in your 20s, right? Make sure to check out my YouTube channel, OfficialPaulAlex.com, for more motivational episodes. So, with that perspective, who would you say? What SDR's lifestyle or remote lifestyle like this is meant for? Is it meant for a more proactive person?
Or is it meant for a person that likes to take shortcuts? Or what would you say? This is a great question. Are the top three characteristics that makes a good appointment setter? And I'll start with you, Yuki. Now you guys can go back and forth.
This is a great question because when I was interviewing Lameith, this is exactly what I was looking for. Right. So for me, it's well, hunger. Right. So when you talk about being proactive, that's a big aspect of it. It's just, you know, there's there are things that you can't teach. And I feel like hunger is one of them because it's like either they got it or they don't.
And the more that you try to coach someone to be hungry, it's like if they don't really want it, it's just not going to be there. You can try to foster as much as you can, but at the end of the day, it's their decision.
Yeah.
So hunger, I would say consistency because every day it's the same. It's the same repetitive things. You know, it may not be the most glamorous thing, but it's repetitive. And if you really get good at it and it's processes, things like that, then you can really succeed. Hunger, consistency. And I'm blanking on my last one right now, so.
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Chapter 5: What challenges do SDRs face and how do they overcome them?
Like, where do you see yourself in the next six months? Like, do you want to eventually become a consultant where you actually talk to people and you're actually on the other end where instead of setting the appointments, you are now closing deals for companies? Or are you looking for more management? Or do you want to do a startup? Like, what's your vision for yourself?
Yeah, definitely. So I'm looking to in the next six months, definitely become a closer or like become a consultant because I really like talking to people. Like above all else, like at the root of everything is I love talking to people and I love helping people and doing it online as setting is still really, really great now. But over time, I want to continue to develop the skill.
And like if I can talk to people face to face and like really like see their faces, I'm helping them. I think that would be amazing. At the same time, I also want to start, like, leveraging, like, the money I'm making in order to make investments and really just set myself up for the future.
Yeah. That's awesome. No, that's good to hear. I think with becoming a consultant and actually talking to people and getting into the real deep roots of sales, right? Yeah. Talking that face-to-face. I call it the game. But when you get in the game, I think empathy. I think caring for people is huge. Right. Because people can really read people.
And I think this entire business that, you know, we do, especially with digital marketing now, a lot of marketing, a lot of companies out there, they're really resonating with the whole personal brand. They're getting their CEOs to show their face and talk. And there's a lot of people out there that don't want to do that. Yeah. But I think it's a big advantage nowadays. It's huge. Right.
So Yuki, same question. What is the vision for you? What do you see yourself in the next six months? What do you want to do? Do you want to continue being an SDR? Do you want to get into management? Where do you see the longevity of this?
Yeah, 100%. So I think it's a little bit of a mix of both. It's like, you know, I've kind of got to dabble a little bit in the management side for a little bit. And for me, I really love that. And it's kind of like sales to your sales team. You're like trying to sell your team on the idea of like, hey, if you work on the weekend, You get a few extra closed deals.
Like, isn't that something that would benefit you? Even though, you know, it's like some people maybe don't want to work on the weekends. Like, well, if you're kind of like almost having like leading team meetings, it's almost like having a, not just like a closing call.
Like, it's kind of like similar where you're trying to influence, you know, and you're trying to frame things in a way that's in the best interest of the person that you're talking to, even if they may not know it. Right. Because you see a larger audience.
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Chapter 6: What are the top characteristics of a successful appointment setter?
Exactly.
It just really depends on how much effort and belief you have in it.
Yeah.
So no, I definitely resonate with that.
Yeah, I completely agree. And especially when I first invested in this, this was the first time I really invested in anything like outside of like college.
Would you mind if I asked you how much you invested?
$6,000.
Did you tell anybody when you invested that money?
Yeah. So it was actually really crazy because when I invested that money, I was actually in Egypt because my family moved to Egypt after COVID. So after I graduated, I just went and I was doing my social media thing. But when I told people, some people said it was a scam, but most people were like, are you crazy? You could have put a down payment on a house.
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Chapter 7: How do Lamees and Yuki see their future careers evolving?
Yeah, we actually went through the same program.
Is that how you guys met?
Yeah.
Oh, that's pretty cool.
I think we were around the same time, actually, too. Yeah. But for me, I didn't tell anybody. I just, like, after work, I'd be like, all right, write my after five years.
Sorry to cut you off, Yuki, but you didn't tell no one?
No.
You just kept it a secret. You're like, unless this works, I ain't telling no one.
Why would I tell anyone? Because that's what people tell me. Smart, damn, blah, blah. It's just like, I don't need that outside noise. Okay. Right. And so I knew that, well, actually, I took the course solely just so that I could work with you. Yeah. And so I was just like, okay, well, if I... Which it worked out. Yeah, exactly. Here I am.
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