Becky Guertler recalls her early days in sales at Xerox, where she had no prior experience in the field.

“I had never sold anything before in my life and my boss told me every day for the first three months, ‘You need to go talk to and get 20 new business cards; if you come back with one less than 20 and not with the name of the person you could talk to about their copier, you're fired,’” she said. 

One of her first sales visits, Guertler introduced herself and asked to speak to the person in charge of purchasing copiers.

“The woman took my card, didn’t smile, and just stared at me. Then, without a word, she tore it in half and dropped it in the trash,” Guertler recalled. “I pulled another card from my pocket, matched her same energy, and said, 'Looks like you lost my card. Here’s another—I've got plenty.' She started laughing and told me the only reason she did that was because they had just gotten a new copier. I replied, 'Sooner or later, you're going to need another one. At least I want to make sure the person who will handles that knows my name.'”

Guertler said the incident taught her how to handle tough situations.

“That was exactly what I needed. These are opportunities, not obstacles, because you have an opportunity to figure out how to navigate through those challenges as you're going along,” she said.

Guertler shared this story to about 75 Hillcrest High students during a session of Meet the Pro speaker series, part of a work-based learning program which connects students’ classroom learning to real-world career experiences.

The speaker said her varied careers equipped her with valuable skills and a strong network, which she draws upon in her current role as the leader of the Utah Veteran Business Resource Center. There, Guertler helps veterans, active-duty service members, and military spouses start their own businesses.

“When they have an idea, we help them go forward, but if it's not going to work, we have those hard conversations too. We're not just the bobble heads in the room,” she said. “We connect them with opportunities and resources, help them refine their ideas, develop financial projections, negotiate, market their business, and learn how to pitch their products or services. We work with businesses across all sectors.”

Her extensive career has allowed her to cultivate a diverse network, ranging from import/export companies to food trucks to sales professionals—and even the lady who ripped up her card—people who now mentor veterans through her program.

“The people you meet now, whether in your job or through childhood activities like selling candy or wrapping paper, are part of your network. I have a whole army of supporters who help our veterans because of this network. If a veteran has a problem or question, I can reach out to someone who can help,” Guertler said.

She urged Hillcrest students to start building their own networks and find mentors now. She encouraged them to confidently share their innovative ideas, a lesson she once taught a preteen as part of the Young Entrepreneurs Academy.

Using the same approach as her Xerox boss, she took 20 young entrepreneurs to an economic summit and asked them each to get five business cards of people who may help them launch their businesses.

“At one point, an 11-year-old girl said, 'No one wants to talk to me because I’m just a kid.’ I told her, 'You're standing on the same carpet, breathing the same air, and attending the same event as everyone else. So why aren't you seeing yourself at their level? They're not talking to you because you're seeing yourself as a kid. Go back in there as a business owner.' I couldn't get her out of the room—she ended up collecting 40 cards by talking to everyone," Guertler said.

Her message was clear: “Don’t just test the waters, get in there and make waves.”

Guertler then asked the Hillcrest students to take a moment to write down what motivates them and who inspires them. She also asked them to distinguish between “vanity metrics” and “actionable metrics.”

“Vanity metrics are the likes, the shares, the comments people get on their social media. The actionable metrics are what moves their bottom line, what puts money in their pockets, what drives them, what keeps them moving forward. Be helpful, be kind, be actionable and focus on the metrics that matter. It’s super easy to look sharp when you’ve done none of the work, but it’s the actionable metrics in your life that will make the biggest difference,” Guertler said. “Take a minute from swimming and look at the waves you've made as you're moving through life. And if you're not making waves, get swimming.” λ