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 salespeople become sales leaders w/ the Salesblazer Method™️ | Executive Sales Leader

Over the last decade, I helped build multiple multi-million dollar medical device territories by developing new markets and strategic sales teams. I also helped customer-partners build their personal brands and land consulting contracts, which led to developing new products/techniques and enhanced patient outcomes.

Then, in 2023, I hit a fork in the road. Do I continue building someone else's company at the expense of my convictions, or do I risk my comfortable life to gain personal agency, take complete ownership over my future, and craft something worth telling a story about?

Building something on my terms and diversifying my income would be the best pathway towards control over my calendar, autonomy over the work I get to do, and the direct impact I can have.

While this pathway has not been easy, the results have been remarkable.

Since leaving a sales executive role with a great brand, I have been able to replace my income by working for myself with less effort (working smart).

I have launched Sparkbound, a medical sales & marketing organization that goes beyond the transaction and seeks to enrich the lives of others.

Sparkbound not only helps our people build influential careers, increase our partners' influence, or improve our practitioners' patient outcomes, but we also want to help aspiring difference makers become the change they wish they could make... and then help them make positive change happen.

My mission is to help you see that you're not stuck. You don't have to labor and live as others expect you to. My mission is to help you challenge the status quo, lead by design, and choose the impact you wish to have.

I love writing about leadership, specifically leadership without titles, about how high-impact professionals can earn personal agency, purposeful productivity (doing more good, better), and meaningful work.

Francisco Martinez

Don't be the sales boss who kills careers.

Be the one who:

1) Prepares people for future promotion
2) Takes on the blame for their team
3) Gives credit where credit is due
4) Champions people behind closed doors
5) Knows their purpose and passions
6) Teaches sales principles on repeat
7) Allows for personalized sales processes 
8) Invests in their development
9) Helps align their revenue goals with team goals
10) Follows up on 1-on-1 meetings

Because when your team knows you have their back,

Everything changes.

They trust you more.
They take bold risks.
They own their growth.
They grow faster.

And they stick around longer.

Because you make it hard for them ever to want to leave. 

Your job isn't to hoard all the success. 

It's about building a room full of people you want to support and setting them up to win in sales and life. 

Be the boss who doesn't just want their team to be successful,

But who puts in the work to make it happen. 

Have you had a boss like this?

---

♻️ Repost to encourage people-first leadership.

And follow me, Francisco Martinez, for more leadership content

Making Leaders Remarkable | Follow for systems & strategies for effortless leadership & remarkable work | Founder & Principal building an 8-figure sales agency from scratch

The best leaders aren't the smartest in the room. 

More Knowledge won't get you promoted. Try this instead:

Acquire wisdom. 

Here's why:

🧠 Knowledge is about knowing more. 
🦉 Wisdom is about knowing you don't know enough. 

🧠 Knowledge says, "I know the answer." 
🦉 Wisdom asks, "What's the right question?"

🧠 Knowledge recites best practices. 
🦉 Wisdom knows when to break them.

🧠 Knowledge speaks first in meetings. 
🦉 Wisdom listens, then synthesizes what others missed.

🧠 Knowledge focuses on being right. 
🦉 Wisdom focuses on being useful.

🧠 Knowledge collects information. 
🦉 Wisdom connects the dots others can't see.

The leaders who get promoted aren't the ones with the most certifications or the largest vocabulary.

They're the ones who can navigate complexity, read between the lines, and make decisions when the data is incomplete.

They turn information into insight. Problems into opportunities. Chaos into clarity.

Stop collecting Knowledge. Start cultivating wisdom.

Your career will thank you.

What's one moment when wisdom mattered more than Knowledge in your career? Share below 👇

-- 
♻️ Repost to help your tribe be wiser
➕ Like and follow Francisco Martinez for more insights

Take your work seriously, but not yourself seriously.

One of the greatest mindsets for doing great work without running over people:

- Think of yourself less (& others more)
- You’re not that important
- Commit unwaveringly to your mission
- Leave a mark on those you serve
- Decide to involve the skills and talents of your team
- Have fun

Nobody likes to work with arrogant jerks. 

The humble way, while more challenging, brings everybody together to accomplish your important work.

If you want to look like a leader, get your MBA. 

If you want to be a leader, start leading.

Leadership is simple. 

Leadership is not: 

- Executive titles
- Being a high performer
- Corner office with a view
- Managing a 10K person org

Leadership is:

- Stepping up to care for those around you.
- Getting results while raising up others.
- Creating opportunities to serve. 
- Leading yourself. 

Titles, certifications, degrees, and education amplify your leadership. 

But they don't make you a leader. 

How can someone start leading today?

Stop faking you are a "team player" just to get promoted. 

True leaders give for the joy of creating value for others. 

That was my biggest mistake I made in my 17 years of building an influential sales career:

Not being generous.
Not monetarily, that's easy.
But sacrificial with everything else.

Now, I give away my:

- Expertise to customers with zero strings attached
- Strengths & skills to develop others
- Time in the trenches with our reps
- Ideas to improve our organization

Giving binds people into a community.

True leaders don't give to get but to inspire others to bring their best efforts to this world in accomplishing good things that bless others. 

What steps can you take to advance the world around you?

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Myrko Mladosich

Most people wait for the perfect opportunity to start leading.

The perfect promotion.
The right work/life balance. 
The sales kickoff meeting.
A bigger team.

But here’s what I’ve learned after building sales teams:

There is no perfect opportunity.

The promotion won't make you a leader.
There is no such thing as work/life balance in sales leadership.
Leadership happens before the title. 

The people who get promoted don't wait. 

They start.
They lead anybody.
Create opportunities to serve. 
They find solutions that everyone has been aching for. 

Because they understand something most people ignore:

You don’t build influence by a title. 
You earn it by leading. 

Serving builds trust.
Solving problems makes you indispensable.

That’s exactly how I've gone from a sales demotion to now running my own sales organization.

Not with a perfect plan.

But by showing up every day seeking to enrich the lives of others.

What about you?

You don't need permission to lead.
You don't need to work 60-hour weeks.
You don't need approval to implement AI.

Don't let anybody tell you otherwise. 

The biggest lies we tell ourselves:

"I need to wait until the culture improves."
"I need to be promoted before I can lead."
"I need to stay in my lane.

Here's the truth:

You have everything you need to make change happen in your company.
The work isn't waiting for permission.
The work is taking responsibility.

How many people do you know who spent years taking orders instead of taking initiative?

The most successful people didn't wait to lead and do great work.

They had a vision.
They took small bets.
They chose to lead and make a change.

Stop waiting to get picked.

Pick yourself and make positive change happen. 

♻️ Repost to help your tribe be the change they wish they had
➕ Follow for more insights on getting unstuck and doing things better.

After 14 years in medical sales (18 total in sales), I've had to reinvent my career several times. 

I have been demoted, stuck, and promoted. 

I have represented large brands and startups. 

Every time, it has come down to these basic but powerful habits. 

Here are the 17 powerful habits of high-impact salespeople:

1. Focus on what you can control: your attitude & actions
2. Learn to say, "I don't know, but let me find out." 
3" Give, don't take. Give away your time, expertise, & self. 
4. The day starts the night before. Wake up to execute. 
5. Practice patience, not passivity. Growth takes time. 
6. Like Navy Seals, train with a pod of peers. 
7. Sundays are for strategy. Plan an ideal week.
8. Get aligned every quarter with your values and mission
9. Always be checking in on your character. 
10. Do what you say you will do, even if it costs you. 
11. First impressions are for impact, not to impress. 
12. Time block high-revenue activities. Ruthlessly stick to it
13. Send a weekly highlight report to your boss. 
14. Send a weekly lessons learned report to your team. 
15. End each day with a self-assessment review of yourself.
16. Solve big problems instead of reacting to fire drills. 
17. Go beyond the transaction and seek to enrich lives. 

Medical sales, and all sales, are more than hitting quota. 

It's about becoming the person you would rave about doing business with. 

What did I miss? 

--
♻️ Repost to help your network become a high-impact salesperson
➕ Follow for more tips on how to grow your sales career

It's not your fault that you aren't getting promoted.

Companies love to promote the wrong people: 

People with seniority, big numbers, and loud mouths. 

But don't let that stop you from getting promoted the right way.

Promoting the right way is simple.
It's not about being extraordinary. 
Nor is it about being high performing. 

It's about being a high-impact person. 

High-impact people don't chase what others chase:

🏷 Executive titles
🏢 The corner office
👏 Praise and recognition
🎓 Fancy MBA degrees

High-impact people are simply leaders without titles. 

Lead where you are. 

No hierarchy.
No entitlement.
No permission needed.

✅ Seek impact, not impressions.
✅ Take initiative when others are complacent.
✅ Pursue excellence when no one's watching.
✅ Lift morale when others stick to themselves.

The gap between insignificance and influence shouldn't be authority.

It's the choice to become the leader you wish you had.

What do you think?

99% of people miss a promotion because they try to do "more". 

Future leaders focus on who they are becoming.

❌ Stop asking, "What must I do to get promoted?"
✅ Start asking, "Am I becoming someone worth following?"

❌Stop asking, "How many more years do I need to wait for that next promotion?"
✅ Start asking, "Where can I initiate, and whom can I begin serving today?"

❌Stop asking, "How can I get noticed by leadership?"
✅ Start asking, "How can I shine a spotlight on others?"

❌Stop asking, "What skills do I need on my resume?"
✅ Start asking, "What real, soft skills can I develop?"

❌Stop asking, "Who can help advance my career?"
✅ Start asking, "Whose career can I help advance today?"

❌Stop asking, "What tasks can I take off my boss's plate?"
✅ Start asking, "What common problem can I bring solutions for?"

If you are frustrated that nothing is changing, stop asking the same questions everybody else asks.

Ask better questions.
You'll get different, better results.

"Quality questions create a quality life." - Tony Robbins.

What questions have you asked yourself to become the leader you wish you had?

Avoid being the 99% who wait to get promoted.

Trust me when I say:

- mastering influence
- excelling in your role
- crafting solutions as a niche
- teaching others to create success

And above all, being worthy of remark...

Will make it 100x easier to get promoted.

Waiting for an opportunity isn’t reliable. Go create a demand for your skills.

You can't just "wing it" in leadership. 

If you want to succeed as a leader, start asking two questions:

"Who will I serve today?"
"Who will I surprise this week?" 

Leadership is simple. 
Leadership is servant leadership. 
Servant leadership is not waiting around hoping to be asked for help. 
Servant leadership is initiating and planning acts of service. 

You will either lead well or not. There's no in betweena. 

You can fail to plan your leadership, but you will plan to fail as a leader. 

How do you plan to lead well this week?

Don't just pray for a great culture.

Be the answer to your prayer.

It's easy to hope for a healthy workplace—one where you feel safe, valued, and seen.

But culture isn't something you stumble upon.

It's something you help create.

Culture is not:

- Pizza, ping pong, or even pickleball
- Unlimited PTO or remote work
- A profitable business unit
- A mission statement
- HR department
- Core values
- The CEO

The success or attitude of individual contributors is not the measure of culture. 
But it is measured by:

- Low burnout
- Employee referrals
- High retention rates
- People celebrate each other
- Alignment of all people and parts
- The way employees feel on Sunday night

Yet, no culture is perfect. Even great workplaces will disappoint at times.
And that's okay.

That's why what matters is how you carry yourself and champion the culture you wish you had.

You bring attitude, habits, and values everywhere you go.

The best cultures aren't found. Courageous people cultivate them.

So yes, pray for a great team, a mission you can stand behind, and a culture that breathes life.

But don't stop there.
Be the person who:

- Gives credit
- Has a bias for action
- Chooses to lead without a title.
- Praises the efforts and success of others.
- Isn't waiting to be asked to serve but creates opportunities to serve.

You're not just a recipient of great culture.
You're crafting it... every single day.

What are the best ways a leader without a title can impact their culture?

The #1 credential for leadership is character. 

Without high integrity, you can't influence people effectively. 

Character is more important than your certifications.
Character is more important than your degrees. 
Character is more important than your experience.
Character is more important than your success. 
Character is more important than your content.
Character is more important than your mission.

Character is the most foundational aspect of leadership, as everything flows from it. 

Your hard work. Your motivation. Your goals for your people. Your servant leadership. Your trustworthiness.

All of it flows from the person you are when nobody is watching.

Before you ask what you should do to be a leader, ask, "Who am I becoming?"

Character is a slow brew. It is shaped and developed through testing over time. 

So be patient. 
Know who you want to become.
Be that person. 
When you fail, own up to it. 

That's what the people around you need most. 

Then watch yourself naturally work on being and having all those other things essential for success with people. 

Do you agree or disagree? Comment and let me know.
♻️ Repost and like if you agree

The best medical sales reps don't sell. They serve.

After 14 years in medical sales, I've watched too many reps crash and burn trying to be the smartest person in the room.

Here's what actually works:

Stop trying to impress doctors.
Start trying to improve patient outcomes.

This mindset changes everything.

Here are the non-negotiables for high-performing medical sales reps: 

✅ Lead with patient impact, not product features
✅ Create opportunities to serve your customers. 
✅ Play the long game and build trust as you build your pipeline.
✅ Educate, educate, educate. 
✅ Don't knock the competition. 

Here's the interesting truth:

When you stop selling and start serving, your numbers go up.

In medical sales, we don't just move products.
We're integral to someone's healing.

Act like it.

What's the most important lesson you've learned about putting people before profit?

♻️ Repost if this resonates
➕ Follow for more on character-driven sales leadership

The best sales leaders don't obsess over numbers. 

They obsess over people (and their growth). 

Here's a simple playbook for developing your people: 

> Invest in everyone, not just top performers.
> Be the leader you wished you had.
> Know your people's strengths & weaknesses (personal SWOT).
> Create an actionable development plan to earn higher paychecks.
> Become a broken record with the company's mission, values, and vision.
> Connect the people's "why" with the company's purpose.
> Coach, don't command.
> Delegate to grow people, not just clear your plate.
> Lead from the trenches with daily rep face time.
> Make 1:1s sacred (& follow through).
> Celebrate effort, not just results.

The math is simple:
Better people = better culture = better results. 

Choose people over profit because people matter more. The byproduct? They generate profit. 

What are your favorite methods for developing people?

Don't be the sales boss who kills culture. 

Be the one who:

1) Doesn't cave under pressure from the top
2) Prepares everyone for future promotion, not just their favorites
3) Gives credit even to the rookie when credit is due
4) Fights for people's rights behind closed doors
5) Hires character over credentials or skills
6) Teaches sales principles on repeat
7) Doesn't say, "My way or the highway."
8) Self-assess daily, they are living by integrity
9) Helps align their revenue goals with team goals
10) Doesn't make promises they can't keep

Standing on principle is easy when everyone agrees. 

But when you have to stand alone? 

That's when one's true character shines. 

The best way to maintain loyalty to principles rather than people or parties in the workplace is to develop what I like to call a personal leadership blueprint.

This is a living document that identifies the following:

🧭 Your personal mission statement
🧭 Your personal core values
🧭 Your convictions - principles that hold you dearly. 
🧭 Your experiences, credentials, skills, talents, gifts, etc - All the things that make you, you. 
🧭 Things and people you need for your leadership to succeed - Admits weaknesses.
🧭 Your life vision and dreams. 
🧭 Plans you are making to stay true to this document. 

Then every hire, every decision, every strategy is based on your personal leadership blueprint. 

That's how you stay true to your principles. 

Culture begins with you. 

Go make a culture you are proud of. 

Have you had a boss like this?

---

♻️ Repost to encourage principles-first leadership

And follow me, Francisco Martinez, for more leadership content

The biggest mistake I made in building an influential sales career:

Not being generous.

Not monetarily, that's easy.

But sacrificial with everything else.

Now I give away my:

- Expertise to customers with zero strings attached
- Strengths & skills to develop others
- Time in the trenches with our reps
- Ideas to improve our organization

Giving binds people into a community.

Salesblazers are better together.

Caring isn't a strategy you implement. 

It is a lifestyle you embody daily.

So stop acting like you care. Start actually caring. 

❌ Don't perform empathy for your team 
✅ Genuinely invest in their growth

❌ Don't fake interest in customers
 ✅ Detach from profit and connect as humans

❌ Don't care for the applause 
✅ Care because it's a person you can impact

If you feel you are acting, tell yourself to care genuinely.

Do the work to make an impact, not just to impress.

What's one way to embody authentic care?

♻️ Repost to inspire leaders to care
➕ Follow and like for more unconventional musings

The system for promoting salespeople is broken.

And it's costing companies their best leaders.

5 metrics nobody is using to discover true leaders:

Old metrics:

- Seniority
- Expertise
- Big personality
- Quota achievement
- Number of direct reports

Better metrics:

- Flexes between extrovert and introverted personalities
- Develops and creates more leaders (not just followers)
- People passionately following their mission and vision
- Obsesses over people first over quota
- Initiates acts of service

The common denominator? 

Not quota achievement or high-performing. 
But pouring into people because that's the right thing to do. 

Traditional credentials make a manager. 
People make the leader.

What's one trait youve seen in a great leader that never shows up on a performance review?

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