Triathlon Athlete, true team-player, Yankees fan, VP of Sales…these are a few of the qualities from our team member spotlight for the month of December! George Sosa has been a team member at Metova for 2.5 years.
Tell us a little bit about yourself, George!
How long have you worked at Metova?
George: This coming June of 2023 will be 3 years…so about 2.5 years currently.
For those that don’t know, what do you do at our company?
George: So, my primary job with Metova is to do business development – to bring in new business. That’s a two-prong approach, that’s getting as many people to know about Metova as possible, and then out of those people, making sure they know what we’re all capable of and what we can do for them to bring value to our partnerships.
What were you doing before this?
George: I was actually in property management after having been in security, then I did security consulting.
What’s the most unique part about working here?
George: What I find the most amazing about working at a smaller company such as Metova, is the ability it has given me to quickly, within a 2-year period, learn as much about tech and about the challenges we were having before, during and the future challenges we might be having with customers, and making sure that I keep that communication going in a way that allows us to have good partnerships.
What has been your favorite project to work on at our company?
George: I think it’s two things. One is professionalizing the sales process that we use, i.e. not trying to win deals based on being the lowest bidder, but on the value that each one of the people on this call brings to the table and to the partnership. The other process that I was proud to be a part of is the story that many of you guys [employees] are doing with Watch Systems. This is something that I’m very proud that we as an organization are part of. I think they’re an amazing customer that really put a lot of trust in Metova.
How would you describe your team?
George: The one thing that I will say is that we have an amazing group of people on this team. One thing that I would challenge everybody on this call to do is to have the opportunity to reach out to other members of the team. Whether it’s our leadership or someone that’s just joined the organization – understand what other people’s challenges are and what they do for the business and development process. I think everyone would enjoy the entire Metova business model a little bit more if they understood all the different aspects.
Who are some of your major influences here at work?
George: I have quite a few. From an experience standpoint, I think Jonathan Sasse brings an amazing amount of experience to the table. I always enjoy hearing about some of the endeavors he’s been involved with in the past. Andrew Cowart is probably one of the best teachers I’ve had in my life. He’s always willing to make time to help me better understand something, and trust me for the last 2.5 years, Andrew has had his hands full in helping me understand the difference between a front-end and back-end developer. Then, of course, there are not many days that go by when the first person and the last person I speak with aren’t Mark Fulbright. I think Mark brings an incredible amount of glue to what is Metova to make sure all parts are moving. Josh Smith has been somebody that’s been instrumental in my success and in helping me understand tech sales and his vision for Metova.
What is it about you that most people don’t know?
George: I guess this is the first organization that I’ve been a part of that doesn’t know me 50 pounds heavier. I was about 50 pounds heavier and I was a smoker and I didn’t have a very healthy lifestyle. My kids started getting older and that encouraged me to quit smoking. When I quit smoking, a lot of people told me I would gain a lot of weight, and that encouraged me to not gain a lot of weight. So about 8 or 9 triathlons later, I have this triathlon habit and I no longer eat as much unhealthy food as I used to.
Do you cook?
George: I do! Not as much as I used to because my girlfriend is a much better cook than I am and she enjoys doing it. My heritage is Cuban and my girlfriend is from Michigan. Whenever I get to cook, chances are I’m going with the Cuban food, because I don’t get to eat it as nearly as much as I used to. It will either be Italian, because of my upbringing in New Jersey or Cuban, so I have a very weird mix of recipes.
What about pineapple pizza – yay or nay?
George: I think I’ll stick with pepperoni maybe on a good day.
What’s your definition of success?
George: If anyone’s familiar with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, it’s being at a point where you understand your self-worth. You’re happy waking up every morning, you’re confident in the work that you’re doing and you’re living well within your means so you’re not adding any external pressures on your life. I think all that and having great people around you – that’s the definition of success.
If you could choose anybody in the world to be your mentor, who would it be?
George: Winston Churchill is probably one of my biggest mentors. On a personal level, it would probably be having the opportunity to sit with my grandfather and have him coach me a little better on some of the challenges he faced.
What’s the best advice you could give to somebody starting their career in sales?
George: If you’re just starting off in sales and you think sales are going to be reading something off of a book and being able to regimentally be able to have a conversation with somebody about a process that you’re looking in front of you, but not listening to the customers needs or what their frustrations are, you’re really doing yourself a disservice. The first thing I would say is just to understand people. Have a normal conversation, starting with your own team.
What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever seen or done before?
George: Probably watching the Yankees win the World Series back in 1996. That was probably one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. It was nice seeing and remembering New York as a safe and enjoyable place brought together by these sports teams.
What’s the best meal you’ve ever had?
George: My favorite meal would probably be a bone-in ribeye, medium rare, charred, with a baked potato-loaded.
What’s your favorite video game or board game and why?
George: Board game is probably going to be Monopoly. I usually just stick to sports video games. I also do Call of Duty games with my kids.
How would you spend a million dollars in 24 hours?
George: Taxes would take care of half of that. With the other half, I would pay any bills that I have and buy myself a modest home and set money aside for the taxed on the home.
What are you the proudest of in 2022?
George: The overwhelming improvement in what I’m referring to as promoting scores, which is the satisfaction of our customers.
If you could go back in time and coach yourself a year ago, what advice would you give yourself?
George: Decide that I need to be more proactive and aggressive in Metova’s efforts for lead generation. I would’ve probably given myself this advice 2.5 years ago when I first started. Alondra Cruz, a great member of our team, comes to us with a marketing background, and she has some really great ideas. I’m really excited about where we are and what we’ve done in the past few months.
What are you most excited to achieve in 2023?
George: I’m going into 2023 the same as I look at triathlons. The training that it takes to go into a triathlon and come out of it either alive or doing a personal best time, is a lot of painstakingly waking up at 4 in the morning, staying up late so that you can train without affecting your work schedule or personal life. The culmination of that is when you come across the finish line. All that work is worth the feeling when you come across the finish line. We have some pretty aggressive goals for 2023. I know that the road from here to that finish line is going to be getting to work and rolling up our sleeves to do what we can to bring in new business, keep this amount of business, and keep happy customers.
Thank you, George! We appreciate your time and leadership and for showcasing who you are and your outlook on the company.
George: I want to thank the entire team. I really hope that despite the fact that we’re all working remotely, that you can have a conversation with some of your other teammates. I’d love to give any insight into where this ship, called Metova, is going.
