To Be Successful, Trust Yourself

As Head of Global Sales, Morrishane Collins leads Godrej North America – a global leader in consumer products with a patronage of 1.2 billion consumers globally – distribution channel across 45 countries. She is responsible for driving strategic planning, running global sales operations and shaping growth initiatives in developed and emerging markets.

Jill Griffin: Godrej recently announced the appointment of a new, female-driven executive leadership team. What does this appointment mean to you?

Morrishane Collins: Yes, this is an exciting time. Godrej Consumer Products Limited(GCPL) is a global player in the hair care market for multicultural women. I’ve been appointed as Head of Global Distributor Sales and Kendria Strong has been appointed as Executive Vice President of Marketing and Innovation for the company’s emerging North America multicultural business. Bottom line: it means more leadership options for women in our organization.

Griffin: What makes women such natural sales people?

Collins: The key to excelling in sales is understanding what your customer wants and resonating with their need to be heard. Listening and understanding go hand in hand in order to make an informed recommendation for your client. I think women make such natural sales people because they’re generally great listeners. Because women typically represent the households and drive majority of consumer purchasing, they understand the importance of listening and understanding specific needs.

Griffin: In your opinion, how does Godrej foster a diverse and inspiring workplace that leads to employee growth?

Collins: One of our values at Godrej is “show respect”. Godrej is a firm believer in embracing one’s full self in order to bring your full experience and uniqueness to the company. This creates a more enjoyable and productive environment and makes for creating a championship team which leads to growth and promotion. We believe that all of our opinions matter and we use our experiences to inform the decisions we make surrounding our products because we are the consumer.

Griffin: None of us have careers that have been beds of roses. Tell me about a setback that you had early on in your career?

Collins: I’ve been in consumer-packaged goods for over 15 years. One of the many lessons I’ve learned early on in my career was the importance of advocating for myself. I started my career as a field sales representative and I was intentional about working in the worst territories in order to challenge myself and make it better. I was always taught “your work will speak for yourself” so I made sure to work hard and maintain excellent numbers. I was even tasked with training new team members based on the success I was having in my specific territories. I was excelling in my field, however, I was getting overlooked for promotions. Even the new team members I trained were getting promoted over me. One day, I had a conversation with my with district manager who coached me on the importance of knowing my value and making my voice heard. He mentored me on being a catalyst for my own career.
Now I make it a point to make myself heard in the workplace. I know the importance of my opinion and that I need to be the catalyst for my own career.

Griffin: What advice do you have for women who are in sales and trying to get a leg up / grow?

Collins: Find your way to shine. My biggest advice is find your voice and not to be afraid of using it. Trust your intuition when it comes to next steps and go into job interviews with the mindset of interviewing the company (make sure it’s an environment that encourages growth).

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