Amy Volas

I help SaaS startups hire executive Sales and CS leaders without the cringe ⋆ Personally closed $100MM+ ⋆ 2 Exits ⋆ LP ⋆ Strategic Advisor ⋆ Speaker ⋆ Writing My First Book

I don’t believe in guesswork hiring. And I don’t do transactional anything.

I work with founders, CEOs, and investors who are tired of wasting time, money, and trust on Sales and CS executive hires that don’t stick... or worse, do damage.

Because here's the thing:

A bad executive hire isn’t just a hiccup.
It’s a domino effect that fractures teams, tanks morale, stalls growth, and erodes boardroom credibility.

I’ve seen it all:

▸ CEOs and founders covering for a Sales leader who’s lost the room
▸ Execs spending more time firefighting than scaling
▸ Boards questioning if you can hire while the burn rate screams you can't
▸ Reacting to noise, chasing titles, and hiring before knowing what you’re actually solving for
▸ Watching progress stall, targets slip, and the trust in your decision-making fade

Sound familiar? You’re not alone. 
And, there’s a better way.

I'm Amy Volas, founder of Avenue Talent Partners (ATP).

Since 2015, I’ve helped tech founders and CEOs get executive GTM hiring right the first time, without the fluff, without the guesswork, and without the cleanup later.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗱𝗼 𝗮𝘁 𝗔𝗧𝗣:

𝗘𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵

Intentional, high-impact GTM hires that drive growth while sidestepping expensive missteps. 

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗢𝗦™ 𝗯𝘆 𝗔𝗧𝗣

When a search isn’t needed, but clarity is. Our proven hiring system that structures hiring for scale, eliminates guesswork, and arms you with the clarity, data, and process your board expects.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲? 20%
𝗔𝗧𝗣 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀? 80%+ and a 98% interview-to-hire success rate

Because it’s not just about who you hire.
It’s about why the hire is happening, how the process is run, and whether it fuels the kind of team that scales, not stalls.

I’m not for everyone, and that’s okay.
The founders, CEOs, and investors who get the best results with me:

▸ Prioritize hiring as a core strategy
▸ Embrace real, open communication
▸ Value people over transactions
▸ Think beyond the next quarter
▸ Know asking for help is a strength, not a weakness

Hiring is hard.
It’s supposed to be.

But it’s also the highest-leverage move you’ll ever make.

Let’s make people strategy your secret weapon.

We partner with focused executives who know the best products don’t always win, but the best teams do.

Ready to build one? So are we.

Founder & CEO

Great executives aren't hired on guesswork.

And starting + scaling a business is no joke.

The odds are against you and the people you hire to grow your business can make or break your ability to defy those odds.

The dynamic world of sales in early- stage startups is complex, busy, and ever-changing.

Trying to uncover, engage, and hire the cream of the crop is challenging when your plate is already full and the average tenure is 19 months for a VP of Sales.

That's why Avenue Talent Partners was built…

We help startups hire the right executive revenue leaders to defy the turnover odds to truly grow and scale.

The best part? We do it without the cringe!

With a collective sales experience of 40+ years and $100MM+ in deals closed, ATP's team knows what it takes to win at startup sales.

We're the recruiting firm you should be working with if you...

▹ Want to defy the odds of hiring the right sales leader who will stick around for more than 19 months

▹ Want to hire a high-growth sales leader who will build/lead a team to drive growth for the long haul

▹ Want a recruiting partner who speaks the sales language fluently, knows how to vet the right person for your stage of business, and has the experience to back it up

▹ Want a recruiting partner who truly cares about your success, takes the time to understand what you need, and knows exactly how to help

▹ Want a recruiting partner that celebrates candidate experience while representing your brand well throughout the recruiting process regardless of the outcome

The depth and breadth of our sales and startup experience coupled with our second to none people-centric, process-driven approach is here to help you get sales hiring right the first time to avoid the painful effects of a mishire.

Nothing you do is more important than finding and hiring the right people; we work tirelessly to help you do just that.

I help organizations create modern learning strategies for their people, partners, and customers | AE @ Docebo | 🎙Host of Stories of Selling Human

Sometimes in your life it feels like you lose everything.  

Like the year I was laid off.  Interviews pushed from COVID 19,  But then the real bomb hit,

My Dad got diagnosed Leukemia.

Just 5 months later, unfortunately my Dad passed away.  Despite losing so much, I'll never lose what my Dad taught me about life.  Things like selflessness, a relentless work ethic, and a thirst for knowledge.

His best lesson was how to create genuine connections with everyone in your life.  I've taken that approach to sales my whole life.  I’m still the 8 yr old kid who loved meeting people so much that he went door to door selling Ham and Cheese out of a catalog.

I got genuine connections out of it and the Sony Boombox I won wasn’t half bad either!

Highlights from 15 years in professional sales:

🔥 I launched a new team where I successfully recruited financial producers for a firm owned by Fran Tarkenton, Hall of Fame QB.

🔥I was named the top sales rep in an office of over 50 media sales people.  Judged not just by sales attainment but also by activity.

🔥At Monster, I sold the biggest partnership contract in the history of our team. $300k ARR, 3 year deal. 

What am I most proud of professionally?

A 15 minute meeting.  I drove 3 hours to Chicago to meet a client I’ve never met in person.  For 15 mins to say hi and drive back.  It wasn’t to close a deal.  It was just a Tuesday. 

Those “Just Tuesday” moments are why I love this gig.

I’ve had success in my career because I genuinely seek to understand people. 

An understanding strategy IS my sales strategy.

My relentlessness isn’t driven by my product or a sales number. I'm motivated by digging deeper to discover the “un-discovered” problem.   Sales is something that happens for and with your buyer not to them.  You're a guide on a discovery together with the intention to help and add value.  ALWAYS.

The best feeling in sales isn’t ringing a bell, (even though that’s always fun). 

The real joy is in being told three simple words.

“I trust you.” 

That’s what really lights me up and what I'm going for.

Finally, my approach in sales is guided by attuning yourself to what someone’s entire world is like, actively listening without any agenda, being genuine, and putting them first.

I call these things, “Selling Human”.  I practice it daily.  I think we can all do it.

I choose to study it.

If you want to learn it with me, listen to my podcast:  Sell By Being Human 
(wherever you get your podcasts)

AND for more,

Follow #sellbybeinghuman

Alex Smith

It’s Wednesday, and instead of putting out a podcast episode, I’m putting out a shout out.

Shout out to my friend Jen Mueller.

I get reached out to by lots of people to be on the Sell By Being Human Podcast  

But I was absolutely giddy when Jen’s team reached out to me to have her on.

Jen is a long time sports reporter in Seattle.

She’s covered the Mariners, Seahawks and many of the famous teams and events in that region for years.

And if that’s not enough, she has an awesome cooking show and is an engaging keynote speaker.

I always say we all can sell things through the lens of human connection.

Jen sells the value of spending time with her to the players on the team.

She’s not just asking questions.

She’s building relationships.

It’s how she sees the players that gets them to want to tell her things most reporters don’t hear.

Take a listen to how she does that effectively in our episode below. 👇 

So it meant so much for me to see this pic this morning of her on the team plane with the Superbowl trophy!

Congrats Jen.  🏆. 

You are the Champion!

#sellbybeinghuman

I help organizations make learning enjoyable across their people, partners, and customers | AE @ Docebo | 🎙Host of Sell By Being Human

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I’m getting on a plane to see my mom this week but I also need your help.

Hoping someone out there has worked with a parent that is searching for assisted living or memory care.

This week we’ll be looking at some places and its a whole journey I’ve bever been a part of before.

So always good to find people that have travelled that same journey.

I also know its big to shout out birthdays on Linkedin recently so shouting out my Mom for turning 79 this past week!

79 has brought a lot of joy and tough realizations.

She’s the same age as my Dad was when he passed away 6 yrs ago.

As your parents age you start counting experiences you’ll have with them in person on your hands.

Trying to squeeze in more time because you know it’s finite.

I always hear people say, 
I’m not ready for my parents to get there.

But its not about being ready.

You’ll never be ready.

Its about being present.

So value the time you have before it’s too late.

Lucky that we have this week and hopefully more weeks in our future to be present.

Presence is the present at 79.  😊

She wasn’t trying for the Gold.

But she got it.

I love a good comeback story and what it can teach us all.

A skater that won world championships as a 16 year old in 2019.

Her whole life was skating.

Pressure.

But she said she didn’t have the time to know herself so she left the sport.

She found joy on a ski trip.

Instead of chasing medals.
She chased joy.

The medal was a residual of joy.

In practice rounds where others were thinking over every jump.

She was taking pictures on the ice.

So it’s no wonder she skated flawlessly.

Alyssa Liu teaches us all.

Find joy first.

Your goals will follow.

#teamusa #olympics

Hey, I know that guy on the TV!  Props to Keenan for an awesome move this weekend.

Jim Keenan aka Keenan . has been a huge mentor to me from afar with his book Gap Selling.

Excited for his coming book Gap Prospecting.

Anyone who wants to know the essence of sales, I always direct them to his book.

Sales is about finding problems worth solving and he outlines it perfectly in this book.

For Christmas this year, he surprised his family with a trip to The Olympics.

To make it even sweeter, one of his daughters is in serious competition to be an athlete there one day in moguls.

Dual moguls is wild, a race to the finish with tricks in between.

I love it bc you can fall but still win with the difficulty of your tricks.

Congrats to all the medalists but especially Elizabeth Lemley who go on the podium with bronze after a tough fall.

And props to the entire Keenan clan cheering them on.

And also, like your sales skills, your sign game is on another level.

#teamusa #olympics

Last year I wrote a letter from my future self looking back and this is that letter.

I got this concept from the book “The Art of Possibility” by Benjamin and Rosemund Zander.

Benjamin did this with his students at The Boston Philharmonic by giving them all A’s to begin the year.

They just had to write a similar letter.

Not what you intend to do.
Or what you hope to do.

↪️Who you became.

My year had a lot of downs after I wrote this.

But I never lost sight on it.

What’s awesome is that I accepted the award at PClub and my yell said it all!!

Visualize who you want to become.

Over what you need to do.

Here’s that letter in full:

This is a letter that my future self will read this time next year to reflect on what occurred to find success at Docebo.  

This was the year you realized your full potential on attainment.  I’m listening to Greg on stage at SKO 2026 about to announce PClub winners and your smile is infectious.  

I got to PClub because I’m living a systems first mindset and the system you put in place is making me a better husband, a healthier person, and an elite seller.  

The term “Selling By Being Human”isn’t just the name of your podcast, it’s now a repeatable process that’s won you big deals.  

This past year, you committed it to being a “skills year”.  You took a long look at the skills you needed to develop and sought out the help of top people on the team to learn them.  You doubled down on your strengths.  The deals you won this year were transformative for your clients and will impact tens of thousands of learners.  

The way you work with your internal team is recognized for how detailed you get.  You make your teams jobs easier and in return you win deals that you absolutely couldn’t win without them going above and beyond.  

People on the team come to you to strategize their own deals and you learn from them. 

In the past, you were someone that was good but you struggled to find that top gear.  

This year, you played big and even when you had tough months, you kept focusing on running your system.  

Finally, the yell you shout when you go on stage is the physical evidence of all the work you put in.  This happened because you chose to make it happen…

#sales #docebo

Today, I'm posting the last episode of my podcast.  Well sort of.  The last episode before a new look.

I've always thought that everyone in the world is in sales.
But the only ones that admit it are those with it in their job description.

So I set out to find people in every profession.
That sell things through the lens of human connection

Nurses
Magicians
Parents
Teachers
Entrepeneurs
Speakers
Marketers
HR Leaders
Learning Professionals

I've interviewed them all.

And some themes emerge when I ask people:

What does it mean to you to Sell By Being Human?

To Be Curious
To Align Yourself
To Care About The Person
To Find Value
To Listen
To Solve Problems

My 153'rd episode is with Amos Balongo.

Amos moved from Africa to America when he was a boy.
Learned English and how to make an impact through relationships.

He's now a keynote speaker and executive communications coach.

Unlikely road, maybe.  But not when you meet him.

I love his approach to speaking below.

There's a difference between:

Speaking At People
Speaking To People
And Speaking Into People

Can't wait for you to see a new look.  

More on this coming!

This year, I'm going hard into this.
Maybe it doesn't grow.  Maybe it does.
Or maybe it's a foundation for something else.

Either way, look to see more as I dig into even more professions that you never thought were in sales but are.  

And contrast them with professional sellers.

And help everyone unlock the human side of sales in your own work.

#sales #sellbybeinghuman

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Amy Volas

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The Battle

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