I Get to be Social on a Daily Basis

Name: Samantha DoCouto
Role: Business Development Executive
Location: Dallas
Joined Sogeti: 2017

Sales is definitely in my DNA. My father owns a commercial real estate company, so I kind of grew up in that world for most of my life. I started negotiating at a very young age. My mom would say, “Make your bed” and I’d say, “Well if I make my bed, I don’t have to wear my hair up.” I just knew at a very young age that I was going into sales whether I wanted to or not.

I ended up getting a degree in finance with a focus on real estate because that was what I thought I wanted to do. I worked in commercial real estate for about a year, and I realized it was not for me. I really wanted more of that interaction with people rather than just walking into a giant concrete space and trying to sell it to someone. It just wasn’t very exciting for me.

But here it’s completely different. I love that I get to be social on a daily basis. But I love that I get to interact with people every day. It’s never the same day twice, and you never really know what you’re going to get, so it’s always exciting.

While every day looks different for me, I’m usually here at 7 AM catching up on emails from the night before (I try not to check email after 8 PM). I also like to plan my day out at the beginning of the day because I’ll usually have one or two client meetings.  Since Dallas Fort Worth is so large, clients can be 45 minutes apart.  So, I like to plan out my day so that I can make it to those meetings on time.

Then I’ll have a lunch with a client or one of the consultants. I like to make sure that they know I appreciate them. I usually end my day at a client site or in my office catching up with emails again. I also try to meet clients for drinks or dinner.

I’m very outgoing person naturally, and that comes from my mother. She is a life coach, and a lot of what I have learned from her was to be patient with people. That’s not something that comes very naturally to me. But when you work in sales and IT, you have to learn to be patient.

To me, what makes Sogeti different is that it feels like I have a career here and not just a job. At other companies where I’ve worked, there was not a lot of direction. It’s the opposite at Sogeti for me. I feel like here I’m given a ton of direction, a ton of feedback. I always know when I’m on the right path and when I need to pivot to be on the right path. You can pretty much go to anyone in my office and say I want to do this, and they’ll help you get a plan in place, so you can do it.

That is a big part of the Sogeti culture; there is always someone who will help you get to where you need to be. The team dynamic in Dallas is amazing. Everybody is just so stellar and willing to help, which is awesome. I’m never in a place where I feel that I don’t belong or that I shouldn’t be here. Sogeti does a really good job at making you feel like you are a part of the team.

In the future, I see myself still doing the same thing. I see myself still selling awesome solutions to my clients helping them figure out how to fix their problems. I also hope that I can have someone that I can mentor just like others have done for me.