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What Career Advancement Looks Like at Beyond: Leadership Spotlight

When Andrea Johnson joined the Beyond team, she was fed up with the payments industry. After years of changing rates and broken promises, she was tired of grinding for a company whose morals she didn’t align with and ready to give up on the payments industry as a whole—until she heard about Beyond.

After learning about the launch of Beyond—and the guiding principles our business was founded on—she was eager to join a payment processing company that businesses in her community could actually trust. With lifelong ties to the restaurant business, she knew the value in creating relationships built on trust and integrity, and was ready to give her time to a company she really believed in.   

Today, she’s one of Beyond’s most valuable players. In three short years she’s worked her way up from Business Advocate to Vice President of Sales—a textbook case for the limitless career possibilities Beyond offers. We sat down with Johnson to learn a bit more about how she rose through the ranks, some lessons she’s learned, and what other salespeople can take away from her experience.

Whether you’re a rookie salesperson looking for a few tips and tricks, or an experienced leader ready to improve your management style, Johnson’s outlook and nuanced approach to sales leadership is something we can all learn a thing or two from.

Rising Through the Ranks

In 2017, Johnson came to Beyond as the sales team’s first hire in Virginia. When she started as a Business Advocate, she told her manager if there was ever an opportunity for her to be a leader, she’d love to take that challenge on. The challenge arose sooner than she thought it would—a few months into her career at Beyond, she moved into a Team Lead role, and just two months down the road moved up again as Division Director. She led her team to be a top performing division for the better-part of 2019, and eventually took on a larger territory that she now leads as a Vice President of Sales.

While impressive, her career advancement isn’t uncommon at Beyond. Our sales team is truly in control of their careers, and as a growing company, there’s huge possibility for anyone who joins our team. Andrea explains,

“We’re still growing as rapidly as we were back in 2017 when I started, and across the country we need sales leaders. The people who do really well here are the ones who grow through the ranks—people who are willing to cut their teeth selling. It’s a really complicated industry and we need team members who can go out in the field and get really good at this so they can teach others how to do it, just like I did.”

Aside from her own grit, Johnson credits the sense of team comradery and support at Beyond as a reason for her success. She explains, “I’ve had a lot of opportunities to grow and step outside my comfort zone, but I’ve also gotten a lot of peer-to-peer mentoring and support. The open-door policies of leadership and transparency from the top-down has been tremendously helpful.” Johnson applies this same philosophy when it comes to running her team.

Building a World-Class Team, Despite the Distance

While sales jobs can often be isolating, Johnson has built a tight-knit team with collaboration at its core. Johnson says that just because her team members aren’t selling together, doesn’t mean they can’t work together. Her leadership style and knack for building community on her team has led them to be a top performing region, month after month:

“We’ve got a lot of comradery on our team. People pushing each other and teammates holding teammates accountable—we really work more like a family. The payments space can be a pretty lonely world, so I really try to give my team the space to engage and work together. It’s really rare to find ‘watercooler opportunities’ in the outside selling world, so I really tried to build that.”

For Johnson, culture comes first. She focuses on growing her team by finding the right fit, and then giving them the tools and support they need to succeed. Her leadership philosophy relies  on building personal connections—even if her team members live in different states.

Making it Personal

When she’s training her team, Johnson always tries to find the “why.” Understanding what motivates her team members, why they do what they do, not only helps her keep them accountable, but also helps her build connections within her team.

For Johnson, working for Beyond really is personal. With business owners for parents, providing quality solutions to businesses in her community, products that businesses truly need—rather than something that adds extra to their plate—has always been a huge motivator for her. She encourages her team to lean into their why—whether that be work-life balance, family, or community involvement—to keep them motivated. Johnson’s “why,” is the freedom to be a mom, while still excelling in her career:

“I originally started working in this business because it gave me the ability to be a mom. This was an opportunity for me to see my daughter at dinner every night and still build wealth. It’s hard, and it took a lot of work, but I was still able to be home every night. I think there are a lot of moms who miss this opportunity. You can work the good days, and not feel guilty on the days your kid is sick, or if there’s a field trip or a gymnastics show.”

At Beyond, we’re proud of the teams our sales leaders build. It’s their commitment to their teams, their clients, and their community that makes our company what it is. Experience a career without limits by joining a team like Johnson’s. 

Get more insight into Andrea’s sales style by listening to her recent podcast with Ramped Careers, and learn more about Beyond’s career opportunities today.

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