Meet Michelle, our new Sales Trainee at F&P

As a leading stock clothing wholesale company, we could not afford to leave the vast Spanish speaking area untapped any longer. Fortunately, Michelle has recently joined our Sales Team as a trainee. As usual, we asked her to outline her previous academic & working experiences and to express her point of view on the F&P working environment in the frames of a blogpost. Welcome to F&P, Michelle! We wish you good success in your endeavor to expand our horizons in Latin America.

About me

Hello! I’m Michelle, I’m 21 years old, and I come from Bogotá, Colombia.

Curiosity has probably been the personal trait that characterized me the most since my very childhood. Despite my parents are pretty much into the arts, and I also share a pronounced sensibility towards this field with them, they are, first of all, businesspeople. This factor exerted a great influence on me while I was living under the same roof with them since their entrepreneurial spirit was a dominant element of the atmosphere in our home.

I went to a commercial high school with a focus on finances and accountancy. Since I was very young, I realized that the ability to speak different languages is a fundamental requirement to either do business or just travel around the globe. Therefore, I studied at a business university that is also known as the “University of entrepreneurs” – EAN University. My bachelor was centered on modern languages. My major subjects were English and French translation and business communication, with German as the third language of study.

Thanks to an international exchange program offered by the EAN University, in 2015 I managed to travel abroad for the very first time to join a summer business school in Cambridge, UK. The highlights of this program were represented by the excursions to the London School of Economics and the London Stock Exchange.

Being immersed in different cultures has always been a huge passion of mine. Accordingly, after I obtained my bachelor’s degree in January 2018, I started a long journey around the world. I traveled to more than 18 countries, including long stays in Mexico, Belgium, the US, and Hungary. In Budapest, I profited from the opportunity to work one year long as a key account manager for such business partners as Tata Consultancy Services, Tech Mahindra, Schneider Electric, Electrolux and Nokia. This experience allowed me to make my first steps in the world of B2B relations and to put in practice the knowledge I’ve gained during the university’s modules on international relations and businesses.

Why F&P?

A broad array of life situations requires exactly those precise skills which are the prerogative of salespeople. Therefore, I believe that sales are primarily a state of mind, apart from being a profession. As soon as I came across the F&P Academy Program in Berlin, I felt that this was the place I would love to be, namely the perfect mix between a multicultural environment, sales and entrepreneurship.

Now I am responsible for the B2B Sales for the Spanish speaking markets (Spain and Latin America) at F&P. Concretely, I am in charge of getting in touch with several clients who can be either wholesalers, retail outlets or online stores, and negotiating with them the best fashion overstocks deals.

One of the main challenges I overcame at the beginning of my traineeship at F&P was the cold-calling process. The resulting mental tension filled me with adrenaline, which, in turn, helped me to successfully deal with my initial angst.

I enjoy being part of F&P Stock Solution! One of the aspects I like the most is the energy level of all the people that are working here, as well as the go-getter, entrepreneurial mindset. Everybody here is very accessible and is always ready to help each other. The atmosphere at F&P Stock Solution is truly young and dynamic, and Berlin is an exciting place where everything is possible! In conclusion, absolving an internship at F&P Stock Solution is definitely the best place to kickstart one’s professional career.