Sales Code Leadership Podcast

Our guest on the Sales Code Leadership Podcast this week is, Christen Smith.

Christen is Chief Revenue Officer at Flock, a UK insurtech using data to transform insurance into something that proactively prevents accidents rather than simply paying out when claims occur.

Prior to Flock, Christen gained experience working at leading insurance companies, brokerages and MGAs such as Zurich, Cross Insurance and Hagerty with a focus on growing and retaining commercial insurance customers, both big and small.

Thank you, Christen for an enjoyable and insightful conversation about sales, teams and leadership.

Our guest on the Sales Code Leadership Podcast this week is, Kev Eley.

Kev is a sales leader and business development expert with over 25 years’ experience in the software industry (specialising in the cyber security industry in the last 14 years). He currently works at LogRhythm with previous spells at IBM, Microsoft, TrapX and Egress.

He cares deeply about people and performance – in particular the steps required in order to create high performing teams – and is very focused on coaching and assisting his team members to over-achieve on their goals. He is passionate about both business growth and customer and partner success - ensuring the teams he leads are organised appropriately to deliver a great customer experience - exceeding requirements and expectations.

In his recent career at LogRhythm, Kev was the WW Sales Leader MVP FY21 (leading the top performing region in LogRhythm) and as an individual contributor, was a 4x WW International Sales MVP (the top salesperson in international markets). Outside of work, he is married with 2 children and a rather noisy pet Schnauzer called Deacon.

Thank you, Kev for an enjoyable and insightful conversation about sales, teams and leadership in the tech sector.

Our guest on the Sales Code Leadership Podcast this week is James Frampton.

After cutting his cloth in finance and accounting for a manufacturing group, James has been in the technology arena for over 25 years specially around ERP, CRM & IT Service Management. He has worked through implementation consulting, project management, pre-sales and sales (both direct and channel) for companies such as Epicor Software, BMC and SABA (now Cornerstone OnDemand). In this time, James has been spearheading go-to-market functions across the EMEA theatre and has been part of leadership teams integrating multiple acquisitions along the way.

As SVP & GM EMEA for SugarCRM, today James is responsible for overseeing all aspects of sales, marketing and services for the region.

Thank you, James for a, really interesting, discussion about what makes a great sales leader.

Our guest on the Sales Code Leadership Podcast this week is Hugh Blane.

Hugh is the President of Claris Consulting. He is a strategic advisor and executive coach to executives, entrepreneurs, and investors seeking market differentiation and greater enterprise value.

He is the author of 7 Principles of Transformational Leadership: Create A Mindset of Passion Innovation and Growth, and his clients include VIVEX Biologics, Microsoft, Sony Pictures, Starbucks, Nordstrom, Providence Healthcare, Pepperdine University, KPMG, and Costco.

Hugh has published over 475 articles and videos on leadership and mindset at www.clarisconsulting.net and is an in-demand speaker.

Thank you, Hugh for a really interesting discussion about what makes a great sales leader.

Our guest on the Sales Code Leadership Podcast this week is James Ashton.

James Ashton is a UK-based financial journalist, speaker and adviser. He was City Editor and Executive Editor of the London Evening Standard and Independent titles and City Editor of the Sunday Times.

In his recent book, The Nine Types of Leader, he defines distinct CEO categories encountered in his 20+ years of journalism. Meet the Alpha, the Campaigner, the Fixer, the Seller and more. How did they get to the top – and how do they stay there? Which type are you?

James also hosts his own podcast, Leading with James Ashton, where CEOs from the worlds of business, charity, the arts, sport, military and technology discuss how they learnt to lead and the advice they offer others.

Thank you, James for a really interesting discussion about what makes a great sales leader.

Our guest on the Sales Code Leadership Podcast this week is John Freshwater

John Freshwater’s speciality is working with companies to identify, quantify, and unlock value in growth and scale readiness with a focus on GTM areas such as team design and structure, operational excellence, and positioning.

His expertise as an operator and a leader with high-growth companies is both tactical and strategic, helping companies on the rapid scale journey to grow faster with less risk. Working within the people space since 2007, Freshwater believes that talent is the most reliable source of sustainable competitive advantage.

Prior to Talentful, Freshwater was the Senior Vice President (SVP) of Sales for EdCast, a SaaS AI-powered knowledge cloud, and has led international teams and worked with clients in NA, EMEA, and APAC.

Thank you, John for a really interesting discussion about what makes a great sales leader.

Our guest on the Sales Code Leadership Podcast this week is Alan J. Sears, a leadership expert and the author of The Four Fixations of a Brilliant Leader

Many people claim to be experts in leadership, but Alan stands out as an expert in the art of leading in dynamic and challenging environments. He embeds values, changes behaviours and helps teams adapt, adjust, break through.

Alan has dedicated his career to developing the skills and capabilities of people stepping up as leaders and managers or facing change, in every corner of the globe. In a world that is shifting faster than most leaders and managers can run, Alan is the voice of reason and sanity.

In 1996 Alan sailed around the world in the BT Global Challenge and used this experience to develop high performance behaviours in executives and top teams. Building on his work as a consultant Alan is a public speaker, a published author and a personal teacher and coach.

Thank you, Alan for a fascinating insight into what makes a great sales leader.

Our guest on the Sales Code Leadership Podcast this week is Nick Shaw.

Nick is currently the Chief Revenue Officer of Brightpearl - a fast-growing SaaS Retail technology company. Brightpearl has experienced fantastic growth during the past few years and this has culminated in them recently being purchased by Sage PLC.



Prior to Brightpearl Nick has had various Sales and Marketing leadership roles in US Companies. His previous role was General Manager EMEA of the Norton Consumer business. He managed to turn around a declining business into growth and also was key in revolutionising the retail journey for consumers.

He has extensive experience in leading teams in EMEA, USA and Asia Pacific.



Nick is passionate about empowering his teams and believes this gives exceptional results


Thank you, Nick for a fascinating insight into what makes a great sales leader.

Our guest on the Sales Code Leadership Podcast this week is Penny Orme.

Penny has worked in software sales for over 23 years. Her experience spans working in large companies undergoing transformation to SaaS start-ups: with a focus on investing & building happy, successful sales teams & customers (which ultimately leads to strong revenue growth!)

She started her working life as an SDR in Ad Sales, and then moved into the Financial Services & Software space where she spent 13 successful years initially as an Individual contributor, and then as the Head of Sales for the EMEA at Merrill, growing the team and revenue across services and technology businesses. She now works at iManage where she heads up the Global Growth strategy for their AI solutions, with a focus on aligning Marketing, Sales, Channel Partners, & Customer Success.

For 4 consecutive years she has been recognised as a top 20 SaaS Sales leaders. She is passionate about seeing more woman in sales leadership roles, and is an active mentor for rising female executives.

In her ‘other role’ Penny is a mum of 2 and lives in Buckinghamshire with her husband and Boxer Dog Dotty. She is a football fan ( her club is Tottenham so it’s been a tough few years😉!

Thank you, Penny for a fascinating insight into what makes a great sales leader.

Our guest on the Sales Code Leadership Podcast this week is Nigel Gracie.

Nigel is an experienced and passionate sales leader with over 15 years sales and sales leadership
experience within L&D solutions, consulting to understand client challenges, coaching, sales
leadership, and the psychology of what makes someone successful. He has significant experience in
selling and use of psychometric assessments, leadership development, employee engagement, 360,
and management consultancy.

Notable achievements include leading a team to 22% growth of portfolio compared to company
average of 15%, revenue growth of individual team members of between 45% and 88%, member of
Pinnacle (top 10% of salespeople), regional salesperson of the year, sales team of the year, and
being nominated for living the company values by his peers & colleagues.

Nigel has created and delivered content for partnerships with the government-funded Growth
Accelerator programme and has broad experience with most sectors.’

Thank you, Nigel for a fascinating insight into what makes a great sales leader.