Reflecting on 2020

Family Photo: Nov 2020

This year was a year of many first.  2020 was the first year the world experienced a pandemic that changed the fabric of how people work, the first year that I saw an uptick on Presales content such as blogs, webinars, conferences, and products, this was my first year as the VP, Presales North America at Pluralsight and most importantly it was my first year as a dad.  Many first came to many learnings and uncertainties; however, happiness and appreciation of what this year has given me.  

2020 felt like a breakout year for presales.  There was so much content produce between blogs, webinars, and podcasting.  It is great to see so many excellent new resources produced by passionate practitioners in the industry.   I hope to see this trend continue for the years to come.  Although I didn’t post much in 2020, I focus a lot of my time between leading webinars at SENY(https://www.salesengineersny.com),  mentoring both presales consultants and managers.  If anyone missed one of my webinars, you could find them all at SENY YouTube channel (https://www.salesengineersny.com/past-events)

At Pluralsight, my role is considered remote, and I have been working remotely since I first joined the company.  As many of you know, being a presales consultant requires travel, and at Pluralsight, that was also true.  I was on the road at least once a week, but all of that changed once the pandemic hit.  Before the pandemic, the travel helped break up the week from being at my home office five days straight, and when traveling stopped, the workweek became longer.  After a few months, I notice that I was working longer and continuously (even working every weekend).  I realize I needed to change my habit and re-priority how I worked at home five days a week.  I made some drastic changes, such as removing work email/messaging from my phone and only working in the home office.  These two changes helped me to separate work and life so that I can enjoy my time with my family.  

This pandemic has affected everyone in different ways. Personally, I have seen the silver lining in which it has allowed me not to travel and stay home throughout my daughter, Isabel, first year.  2020 has allowed me to be present to many first in her life, her first crawl, her first steps, and her first words.  Those moments are engraved in my memory forever.

And finally, being promoted as a VP in 2020 brought a lot of first in my career.  It was the first time I was leading a Presales organization, and as such most of my attention was dedicated to the organization and ensuring I set them up for success.    Although 2020 has been tough and probably a more challenging year than expected to be leading an organization with the pandemic, social injustice, and political climate, I will take away how I handle each of these with my organization and plan to continue to grow with these experiences. 

In closing, looking into 2021, I am excited to keep building on the success that came from 2020.  I know that in 2020, I stopped blogging for a while; however, I have plans to pick up where I left off and continue sharing what I have learned in the hopes that other find value in my own experiences in Presales.

Thank you,
Sam