Case Study

Manager Spotlight: Brandon Boyle, Senior Sales Manager @ Brex

Who is Brandon Boyle?

Brandon Boyle is a Senior Sales Manager at Brex, a SaaS fintech that offers finance to fast-growing companies. Brex’s sales team alone consists of more than 50 Account Executives and Sales Development Representatives.

Brandon started at Brex as an Account Executive – an individual contributor. Six months later Brandon was promoted to Sales Manager and then within seventeen months, to Senior Manager. Come July, he’ll be a Director (managing managers) and has his sights set on becoming VP of Sales. To state the obvious: this guy is going places. 

Like so many managers, developing strong sales skills afforded him the opportunity to move into management. But it was experiencing exceptional management himself that encouraged Brandon to embrace it as a career path. 
Prior to working at Brex, Brandon was at Zenefits and then Gusto where there were hundreds of sales reps.

“I was very average. One of my sales managers was hands-down the best sales professional I’ve seen. He had an unbelievable natural ability. He would help me close deals and I thought I could learn simply by watching him in action. But I remained average at the job,” Brandon explains. 

It wasn’t until Brandon was managed by one of his now mentors, Simi Sapir, that his sales skills skyrocketed. He became the number one Account Executive in his team, bringing in and closing deals month after month. 

“From her leadership I saw what incredible management could do for someone’s career. Following that path felt better to me than hitting quota every month,” says Brandon. 

And so a people leader was born.

People Manager Problems

As any manager knows, watching good management and executing good management are two very different things. For Brandon, there were some surprises when he landed his first management role. 

“Realizing the people you manage are all motivated and wired differently came as a surprise to me” he says. 

“Every individual needs a slightly nuanced communication style, requiring me to adjust my style accordingly while maintaining continuity across how I present and operate within the organization as a whole” he says. 

Why did Brandon join The Mintable?

Brandon has a coach with whom he meets every three weeks. Whilst he stresses the value of having 1:1 relationships with mentors, he understands the importance of access to a community of people managers, from varied organizations and industries. This was his driving motivation to join The Mintable’s program: to gain varied perspectives on the same problems.

“I’m in sales, so naturally things can be very sales focused,” he says.

He also wisely notes that “a manager is a manager is a manager. We are all having the same internal conversations and struggles, regardless of what industry said manager is in.”

Another problem Brandon was facing as a people manager was seeing the Big Picture. So much happens on any given day, pulling a manager in every direction imaginable. Like so many other managers, Brandon was stuck.

“Having a range of different perspectives from leaders like Lauren and Mel, to the other 30 odd managers in your cohort – being able to pick their brains is invaluable,” he says.

Once managers leave the course, they have ongoing access to their cohort Slack channel and all resources on Notion.

“Access to these resources has been of as much value as the course itself,” says Brandon.

Advice to other ambitious people managers

Brandon’s successful journey into management didn’t happen by osmosis or dumb luck. He worked hard to find the tools he needed to become the people manager he is today.

“You think you’re going to wake up one day and know how to be a manager but you don’t. I had nowhere to learn this skill set. There wasn’t a playbook or a network when I started managing people. But now with The Mintable, there is,” he says.

Brandon credits The Mintable with providing him the tools, connections and network he needs to face the daily challenges of management.

Brandon’s parting advice to all ambitious people managers is to understand why they want to become a people manager. Getting into management purely on the basis of seeking a promotion or ‘taking the next step’ won’t cut it.

“It’s not just you you’re responsible for anymore, it’s a whole team of people counting on you,” says Brandon.

At The Mintable, we couldn’t agree more. Because being a manager is more than a job: it’s a mindset.

Join The Mintable today.