For many freshly minted college graduates, carving out a professional path can seem daunting. How do you plan an entire future after being released from the comforting familiarity of academia? After Lia Isono graduated, she wasn’t sure what career she wanted to pursue, so she turned to part-time retail work that included a running specialty business. Those jobs proved to be fruitful learning experiences, providing valuable skills that would help her forge a rewarding sales career.
“What I enjoyed most about those jobs were the interactions I had with customers and knowing that my recommendations were helping them achieve their running or fitness goals,” she says.
Building customer relationships was a vital part of her retail jobs, but when Isono first started at PitchBook in 2021, her self-doubt nearly got the best of her. Although she’d cultivated a promising sales foundation, she was nervous about the unpredictable components of her new job—the factors that were beyond her control.
“Sometimes it’s hard to trust your process when you’re not seeing immediate responses or results,” she says.
Isono pushed through her uncertainties and soon realized that working in sales provides room for creativity and problem-solving. She embraced being resourceful, which led to noticeable success. As time passed, her confidence grew and she ascended to the role of Director of East Coast Inside Sales.
Here, Isono shares what she’s responsible for as a sales expert, how she’s conquered challenges at work, and the best advice for women who are striving to earn leadership roles.
What attracted you to PitchBook, and how did you know the company would be a good fit?
I didn’t have a finance background before joining PitchBook, but I was interested in the boom of tech companies that were consistently popping up. After learning more about PitchBook’s product, I was fascinated by how these startups and their investors leveraged the data PitchBook tracks to make vital business decisions. I also had time to chat with PitchBook employees before my interview process. I was encouraged by how people were eager to give advice and pointers that ultimately set me up for success when I officially joined the team.
What are your core responsibilities as the Director of East Coast Inside Sales? Why did this work excite or inspire you?
I oversee the Inside Sales Department at PitchBook’s New York office. I’m responsible for the Sales Development Representative (SDR) teams and the Business Development Associate (BDA) team achieving their monthly and quarterly targets. I also ensure that both teams have the resources to do their job effectively and communicate with sales leadership on strategic rollouts. My favorite part of my job is supporting the SDRs/BDAs professional development, seeing them get promoted, and honing their sales skills.
What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced as a woman leader in the sales industry, and how did you overcome it? What valuable lessons did you learn?
One of the biggest challenges I faced while in leadership was working with my team to communicate expectations when we enact change, which happens frequently at PitchBook. There have been times when I’ve felt like members of my team were withholding information from me or not being truthful about how they felt about their work. Sometimes I’ve wondered if it’s because they don’t feel comfortable telling me and if they’d be more comfortable telling a male manager.
What I’ve learned is that it’s vital to establish trust with your reps. It’s important to be honest and transparent. I always let my team know that I care about them as individuals—even outside of the day-to-day tasks that they accomplish in the office. The times I’ve also received some hesitation from my reps, I’ve found it’s been helpful to be vulnerable with them and let them know where I feel like I’ve fallen short because mistakes are inevitable. The sooner you can have those candid conversations, the more your reps know they can count on you.
You’ve been at PitchBook for over three years. Describe your internal trajectory. Where did you start, and how did you ascend to your current role?
I started as a Sales Development Representative, which is an entry-level sales role. I spent six months in the role before moving into a team lead position and then into management. Part of my success was due to being tenacious in the face of setbacks (problem-solving when my prospects weren’t responding to me or ghosting me) and actively seeking out feedback and advice on my work.
Early on, I felt like I wasn’t getting traction with prospects. My manager helped to identify parts of my workflow where I could capitalize on connecting with my prospects, leading to more chances to convert those conversations into sales opportunities.
My experience as an individual contributor gave me the confidence to pursue a managerial role where I was responsible for helping others develop their confidence and skill sets. I’ve directly managed a pod of Sales Development Representatives as well as the Business Development Associate team.
Now, I’ll be overseeing the entire Inside Sales Department. I’ll be directly managing the managers of each team, making sure they feel equipped to communicate important decisions, coach their reps, and handle various situations that are bound to come up in their conversations with their teams.
How does PitchBook encourage professional growth and internal mobility? How does the company empower women to succeed, and how have you personally been supported?
I’ve heard that PitchBook is unique in its commitment to helping people grow professionally. On the sales team, we’ve maintained a regular cadence of quarterly promotion cycles. Having a regular schedule every quarter helps the team know what they need to focus on to help them develop their skills and make the next jump in their careers.
The nice thing about sales at PitchBook is that our commission structure is egalitarian. All reps are on the same pay structure. I know from my experience I appreciated that I didn’t have to worry about a pay gap because of my gender identity.
My managers at PitchBook have also supported me by soliciting my feedback and making me feel like my voice is equally important as anyone else’s in the office. PitchBook does a great job of encouraging people’s participation. It’s easy to feel intimidated in a male-dominated environment, so I appreciate that my manager has made sure there’s a time and place for me to express my thoughts.
What is one highlight or accomplishment of your career thus far at PitchBook, and why?
My career highlight thus far would be when I helped communicate workflow frustrations my team had to sales leadership. We used to have a workflow that was challenging for people to accomplish their tasks and more importantly, was challenging for people to develop sales skills that would get them ready to sell PitchBook to prospective clients.
Ultimately, the team felt disconnected from their big-picture goals and wanted resources and changes to help them feel proud of their work. Nothing made me feel better than letting our sales strategy leader as well as upper management know that we had an opportunity to re-envision the responsibilities of the Business Development Associates so that they would be more empowered and excited when they came to work.
What advice would you give to candidates—especially women—who are striving to become leaders in the sales industry? What skills do they need to thrive at PitchBook and in their careers?
My career advice to anyone, but especially women, is to be curious, master your communication skills, and act as a sponge. What’s helped me get to where I am is ensuring I fully understand my team’s needs. Moving from an individual contributor to a manager role forced me to step back and look at the team’s operations from a bigger picture.
Why is PitchBook an exciting place to work, especially within sales?
PitchBook is an exciting place to work because of the changes that happen in our industry. Many factors can impact the trends we see in the private capital markets; staying up to date with what’s happening presents endless opportunities to learn something new and apply these learnings in the daily workflow. No conversation sounds the same when we’re speaking with prospects, and we get to learn directly from industry leaders who share their thoughts about the markets and what they’re prioritizing.
You earned your master’s degree from The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). What was your favorite part about living in London, and how did the experience challenge or expand your worldview?
My favorite part was living in a city with a deep history in so many fields—arts, culture, and politics. London was exciting because I could see landmarks that are hundreds of years old.
Being in London also exposed me to students from all around the globe. Learning about international relations from students from Asia, Africa, and South America provided a unique perspective outside of the dominant voices of U.S. and European scholars. As obvious as this sounds, I think learning about international relations from other cultures helped to expand my perspective to understand where American foreign policy is missing the mark.