Name:
Heather Chastain
Age:
36
Job Title and Description:
President, Celebrating Home. Celebrating Home is a $100+ million dollar direct-sales company that provides a home based business opportunity for men and women who want to provide home décor and entertaining solutions for busy women all across the country while earning an income of their own.
College/Major:
University of Texas, Dallas Business Administration
Website:
celebratinghome.com
What is a typical day like for you?
The great thing about my job is that I get to use my entire skill set every single day! On any given day, I will be called upon to deal with everything from distribution and supply-chain issues to celebrating with one of our field sales representatives after she earned a Mercedes Benz through our car program.
In addition to my job as President of Celebrating Home, I am also a mom to two very active little girls and wife to one amazing husband. My days will typically start with getting everyone up and ready, lunches packed and seeing everyone off for the day. Then, off to
What was your first entry-level job in your field and how did you get it?
My first job in direct-sales was actually in the manufacturing and operations side of the business. I started out as a production supervisor on a manufacturing line. However, when I realized how passionate I was about this industry, I took the initiative to go directly to our CEO at the time and let him know that I was interested in learning more about the business. From that conversation, he provided several opportunities for me to “volunteer” on projects in other parts of the business. This gave me invaluable experience and exposure to all facets of the business and help complete the skill set that would be required for my current position.
Who is one person who changed your professional life for the better?
It is very difficult for me to choose one person as there have been so many individuals along the way that have provided opportunities to me. I think the key is to be very open to learning. Know what you don’t know and ask someone who does. I have found that those in leadership positions in business are VERY open to sharing their wisdom, advice, mistakes and what they have learned along the way. The secret is that you have to ask them!
Is there a particular quote or mantra that you live by?
Again, very hard to pick just one. However, our company has gone through much transition in the last two years. We were dealing with a tremendous amount of change that included everything from a new company name and re-branding process to changing the way our field sales representatives were compensated. My personal mantra through this process was “Sometimes, you have to believe enough for everyone.” What I mean by this is that, as a leader, you are often called upon to have strength not only just for you, but also for those on your
What is one mistake you made along the way and what did you learn from it?
I have always believed that if you are not making mistakes, you aren’t making progress so my list of mistakes is healthy. There are some things specific to leadership that I have learned along the way that center around the difference between being a strong individual performer and a strong leader. This is a difficult thing to learn because, usually, the skills that are rewarded as a strong individual contributor (always having the answer, doing more work than others, etc.) are different than the skills required as a leader (listening before speaking, making sure that you surround yourself with those that are smarter than you, effectively delegating both responsibility and authority) and I think you have to misstep a bit in order to really find that balance.
What is the most rewarding part of your job?
I love everything about my job. I think that the most rewarding thing has been when I can open someone’s mind to a greater sense of what is possible. I love pushing people to see that they can often accomplish so much more than they may have originally thought. The ability to encourage, motivate and energize both employees and field sales representatives is the element of my job that gives me the most energy.
What do you look for when considering hiring someone?
I believe that one of the most overlooked attributes when evaluating candidates and probably my most important requirement is their level of helpfulness. This may seem like an odd choice, but I have found that when someone is a genuinely helpful person, they fit well into almost any corporate culture, they are well-liked and respected by their peers, they tend to look for more to do, their minds are generally open to doing work and participating in activities that are outside their specific scope of responsibility, they will be there to go the extra mile when necessary and are usually natural choices for internal promotion.
What advice would you give to a 20-something with similar aspirations?
If someone is ultimately interested in a senior executive position, I would absolutely recommend viewing the business like a pie, with each slice of the pie representing a different functional piece of the business (accounting, marketing, operations, sales, finance, etc.) and focus your energy on developing specific work experience in each of these disciplines, even if you have to take on projects from other areas while working a position in one of the disciplines. There is no job too small or no project too insignificant. The more you can learn about how each of these disciplines of business work, the stronger you will be. You will be able to speak, not just intelligently, but knowledgably about a variety of things and that will not only help you problem solve but will also expand your resume in a way that will really stand out to potential employers.