We had the good fortune of connecting with Celeste Berke Knisely and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Celeste, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I had always dreamed about the freedom and rollercoaster ride of entrepreneurship, having watched my father build a business from scratch. Never having the courage to leap nor did I know where to start, I keep on climbing the corporate ladder while saving money for my rainy day fund. After a career-ending RIF in March of 2020 (how many can relate), I was faced with a fork in the road. To continue down the path I had known and excelled in, or take a chance on myself and start my own business and tap into my raining day fund. I chose the latter. The first year, I focused on upskilling, networking, and figuring out just what my offer was going to be. The thought process at the time was twofold, that I loved helping people, and that I had a knack for networking! Boy did I learn a lot during that first year. Imagine spending twenty years at the top of your game in corporate only to realize how little you know about modern-day strategies and technology. I faced a complete uphill battle and focused on the mindset of every day and every month that passes, I’m going to catapult my learning. I doubled down on investing in email marketing training, operational / systems training, learning the ins and outs of the digital landscape, what was trending on social media, and how to grow a personal brand. Little did I know at the time, that not having a clearly defined niche would hurt me – and selling to individuals during the post-pandemic (who had lost their roles) proved to be a challenge. PIVOTING quickly became my new mantra and in year two, I joined coaching programs to level up and learn as much as I could. My thinking over the last 3 years has been – to continue to invest in yourself, align with people who know more than you, give more than you take, be a sponge, and be willing to face criticism, shifts, lulls and dry spells.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
At age 27, I got my first Director of Sales role. I had never managed anyone, nor had I worked in the industry, nor been an individual contributor carrying a revenue goal. I must have wowed them during my seven (7) interviews. I share this as it really was the first time in my life that I showed myself, I can do hard things. Faced with changing the stigma around sellers (not all of us are smiling and happy – some of us are serious and introverted), I showed myself and others how you can break the glass ceiling by thinking outside of the box and challenging the status quo. You see, many of us who question how things operate don’t fit within a traditional mold – we want to be change-makers and problem-solvers. I quickly learned that in a traditional corporate role, those skill sets are not often viewed favorably. Ever feel like you are two different people – that was me – a corporate persona and a sarcastic witty individual. Learning to live within the confines of the corporate structure was a lesson in navigating, finding allies, and speaking when spoken to. I played the game very well! The only thing that I regret is not doubling down on my personal brand sooner. Had I done so – leaving corporate would have been a no-brainer as I would have been monetizing my brand. For all of you out there not building your personal brand and sharing value and building on social platforms – d not wait!

Currently, I work with sales teams on their sales process – through the Gap Selling Framework. These teams are experiencing low close rates, a decline in sales, weak pipeline generation and usally discounting – so low average sales prices. These problems can be attributed to poor discovery so we work with teams to train and enable them to use problem-centric selling. The differentiator is – people get super uncomfortable when they can’t talk about their product. No one gives a bleep about your product, they care about their problems. Learn what problems you solve for and how to find them, the impacts, and what they are stemming from and you change the conversation.

I also still train teams on brand building/prospecting/and sales acumen as it relates to LinkedIn – I work with a handful of hospitality brands for bespoke training, conference keynotes, and breakout sessions.

What I want the world to know is that everyone has a gift and it is up to us to have 30 seconds of insane courage and to go for it! It may not be easy, but when you give up, you never know what is on the other side.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I love Denver and all that it has to offer. Whenever friends come into town, I love walking around Cherry Creek and checking out quaint coffee shops or restaurants. For dinner, we will head to Larimer to see the lights or over to Wash Park during the day for park time and then hit up a restaurant in Wash Park or on Pearl. Having a toddler these days has made things interesting – so any park, outside venue, or enjoying a nice glass of wine at a hard to get into restaurant is always on the agenda. When my parents come to visit, we hit up a show – and this season I’m looking forward to Face Vocal Band (3rd time) at the Paramont!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Hands down there are so many people who I can attribute my growth to. When I was toying around with leaving corporate I teamed up with Meg at Hinge Resume Collaborate. She was a huge help in giving me the confidence I needed to pour into my resume and online brand and to start to clearly articulate my accomplishments. Through assessments and conversation, the me I was holding in finally started to show and I couldn’t have taken the leap without the spark she provided me. Trevor Robinson – I met him through Lindsey Anderson’s coaching program on Facebook. We started to collaborate and for the next two years, partnered together on bringing LinkedIn education and workshops to individuals and companies. I learned so much from him and I cannot stress enough how important collaboration and mentorship is during the entrepreneurial journey. A chance encounter of Corey Falter with Lure Agency turned me onto the book Gap Selling by Keenan and the rest is history. Rachel Mae and Braedi DeLong at A Sales Growth have set the foundation for helping me to grow as an entrepreneur and challenging me daily with my areas of opportunity. It’s like having multiple business coaches at my finger tips and the support of a team all in one.

Website: www.celestegapselling.com

Linkedin: www.linkeding.com/in/celesteberke

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@celesteberkesales

Other: Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/celeste-berke/id1702757889

Image Credits
none – all mine

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