RevGenius Member Spotlight: Tara Horstmeyer
In the spirit of Women in Sales Month, it only felt right to make our second member spotlight one of the best saleswomen we know: Tara Horstmeyer.
Tara is a nurturer. She nurtured Gravy’s SDR team to expand and blossom. She nurtured the Mag to be able to bloom fully. And she nurtures those around her with warmth and kindness.
This “normal state” of hers is precisely what we hope to foster at RevGenius: a place where every person feels welcome and nurtured to achieve their best. And, with Tara as part of the team, we’re that much closer to achieving this.
Below is our interview with Tara Horstmeyer:
Introduce yourself to our audience. Tell us who you are and what you are currently focused on.
Hey party people! I am Tara Horstmeyer, and I am currently the Director of Partner Success at Gravy. However, as you’ll see, my career journey has been anything but linear.
From sports journalism to social selling and ministry leadership, I have loved leading people and projects for the last 17 years, all while enjoying my freelance writing and strategic content development side hustle — something I still love to this day!
Two years ago, I settled in at Gravy, a fast-paced startup that focuses on humanizing and revolutionizing the failed payment recovery industry for businesses with recurring revenue. I have held several sales and marketing roles, but things became interesting when I stumbled into sales development and discovered I had a unique knack for it. I ultimately got to prove the SDR concept, build the program, and write the inbound and outbound playbooks while hiring and leading a team. Last month, it was time to promote my replacement, scaling the program to new heights!
As far as my current focus, I am putting my builder hat back on as I move onto our 2-person partnership team, specifically charged with creating and activating our referral and affiliate programs. Outside of that, I love leading, building community, communicating, and helping people find their voice on LinkedIn.
How did your journey lead you to Partnerships?
Two words: Relationships and Revenue.
I now get to combine all of my passions — people, connections, content, messaging, strategy, marketing, and sales — into one super role that I hope will have an impact as I activate and empower anyone and everyone who desires creating income and influence as a Gravy referral partner.
What advice would you give to a salesperson wanting to get into partnerships?
I would probably give this advice no matter the role: learn from others. Seek out mentors and guides who are smarter and more experienced than you. Ultimately, you will have to level up your game to keep up, which often translates into success, no matter the endeavor.
Personally, I am on a mission to connect with everyone I can with experience in this field so I can borrow their perspective as I re-envision our program. While I want to optimize the proverbial wheel, I may not necessarily need to recreate it altogether.
Why are you so passionate about salespeople being good copywriters?
I’ve said this before, but I love this definition of copywriting: “Copywriting is the art and science of strategically delivering words (whether written or spoken) that get people to take some form of action.”
Sales pros are communicators, and the best communicators are often the best writers, no matter the medium. It could be via email, over text, via a voice message, or over video. But when you take the time to craft and nail your messaging, your hook, and your delivery, you’ll soon see your prospects begin to take more favorable action at each stage of the sales process.
…and that’s what we all want, right?
What gets you out of bed every morning?
Competition, creativity — and coffee!
I am highly competitive with myself, and I often wake up feeling a little behind, which spurs me to tackle the game of life that presents itself each day. I also love to create first thing in the morning, so I try to write and reflect to start my day. Lastly, this is all fueled by the most crucial ‘C’: Coffee, y’all!
What would you say your personal superpower is?
Hmmm… I don’t know if it’s a superpower, but I would say it’s my ability to connect authentically and motivate others to take action for their benefit and betterment. I absolutely adore people, and I adore leading people. I love the art of genuinely connecting with others exactly where they are, but also have this passion and desire to move others to take action to get where they want to go.
I have led in various capacities throughout my career, and at the heart of who I desire to be — whether I lead a team or not — is inspiring people to take action in ways that matter for themselves, for the team, and for the organization.
What is one piece of advice you’d offer working moms?
I am no pro at this, so everything here is a supreme #notetoself. But, here’s what I know I need to hear, and what I have learned as recently as this week…
Working moms: You are amazing. You are enough. Give yourself grace. Ask for what you need. Know your worth, both intrinsically and as it relates to your earnings potential. Have vulnerable conversations with people who love you and know you when (not if) you hit a wall every so often.
Sometimes we need people who will not only talk us off a ledge but remind us that the ledge was actually made for us to fly from, not fall from. Borrow others’ perspective as often as you can, and let that give you all you need to soar, moms!
Why should other Sales & Partnerships professionals join RevGenius?
If you are in sales, marketing, or partnerships, you are in the business of people. And the people business is messy because people are messy. You need a community. We need a community.
RevGenius is a unique community because there is literally something for everyone. Want to connect in a small setting? Join a roundtable. Want to write from an expert perspective? Contribute to RevGen Mag. Need a pick-me-up? Check out the #gratitude channel. Want to go deep each week? Join Thursday Night Sales Slack channel. There is no shortage of ways to dive in, connect, grow, and give back each and every day.
And if you are in the business of people, then you need community. And your community — your people — are just one Slack away on RevGenius.