how-i-landed-my-dream-job-by-staying-focused-and-open-to-new-opportunities
Sales & Supply
Mar 29, 2022

How I Landed my Dream Job by Staying Focused and Open to New Opportunities

Andrea Sultan
Destination Manager

Andrea Sultan is a destination manager for Mexico & The Caribbean at GetYourGuide. She explains how she landed her dream job by way of the Sales and Operations teams, and why patience and communication are key to getting where you want to be.

In this series of growth stories, we’re highlighting the people who paved their own career paths within GetYourGuide.

My name is Andrea Sultan. I’m a proud working mom, born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela and moved to the US in 2010 to pursue my career in hospitality. After a few years working in the hotel industry, I made the smart decision to move to the OTA world. And here I am, celebrating my third anniversary at GetYourGuide, and have just come back from maternity leave after having my second child.

{{divider}}

From Sales, to Operations

I started at GetYourGuide in November, 2018 as a sales coordinator for the NYC office. Here, I was in charge of supporting destination managers with their day to day tasks, as well as answering any supplier’s requests that destination managers couldn’t get to. It was a lot of administrative work, but the beauty of it was that every day was different. New challenges, new conversations, and lots of learning.

After two and a half years as a sales coordinator, the company restructured and my position was moved to the Operations team where I became a supply operations manager. I knew that Operations wasn’t my thing, but took the opportunity with an open mind, and was ready to learn as much as possible.

I knew that being part of the Operations team would give me new skills for future opportunities. One of the things that I enjoyed the most was broadening my network within the company. I met and worked with people that taught me many things in a short period of time.

After a few months as a supply operations manager, we were opening an office in Miami, and I knew I wanted to be part of this new challenge. I applied for one of the open roles to become a destination manager. After getting over my nerves and having a few interviews, I got the role I’d always dreamed of — destination manager for Mexico & The Caribbean.

My family supported me on this journey, and we made the move from New York to Miami in May, 2021. We’re now a team of seven in the Miami office.

Gaining new skills

I knew what I wanted to do since the first day I joined GetYourGuide and that was key. I wanted to be a destination manager. By knowing my end goal, I made a plan. I knew I needed to level up my sales skills (especially in English) in order to become the sales person I wanted to be.

To work on this, I asked to join meetings that I wasn’t initially part of. One of the things I did often, and one of my favorites, was joining calls that destination managers were having with their suppliers.

I listened to their pitches, saw how they reacted to different objections from suppliers, and asked questions to really understand the big picture. When I felt ready to pitch GetYourGuide, I asked my manager to make some calls and acquire some suppliers.  

In short, what helped me gain the skills I needed to get my dream role was surrounding myself with people that inspired me, getting out of my comfort zone, and, alongside creating a plan, shooting for the stars.

Adapting to working in new languages and cultures

I think the language barrier was my biggest challenge. I didn’t trust myself enough to pitch GetYourGuide in English, and that stopped me from getting an opportunity earlier in my career.

How did I overcome it? By working on myself. I’d practice pitches in the mirror, write notes to make sure I didn’t lose the main idea, and I ALWAYS stayed authentic and understood my unique way of selling GetYourGuide, with my Latin accent :)

As a Latin person, I’m a talker. I like to talk more than I should even when I write emails. German working culture is the complete opposite — they like things short, concise, and to the point. To overcome this, I became conscious of my communication style, and asked my peers to review some of my emails I sent to Berlin.

Through my tenure at GetYourGuide I have had different managers, which could be positive or negative. For me, it was a challenge, as I didn’t have the career consistency I wanted to have. With every manager, I had to introduce myself, explain my aspirations at GetYourGuide and let them get to know me on their own. When you’re ambitious and have a goal in mind, these changes could delay you reaching your goal.

I overcame this by being extremely vocal and transparent with ALL my managers and my team. I needed to count on my peers to advocate for me with new managers, as they were the people who knew the work I'd done so far. Honesty, transparency, and good communication were key.

Be patient while crafting your career path

I think it’s important to understand that timing is a huge factor in your career path. I say this because I thought I was ready to move to my next role before I had the opportunity to do so. Maybe I was ready, maybe not. But the reality is that GetYourGuide didn’t have the role for me at the time. Being patient and trusting the process is important.

Last but not least, my mantra since I joined GetYourGuide has been: the sky's the limit. That’s my own expectation of my career path.

Advice for folks thinking of a career pivot

My first piece of advice is to take chances. Second, say yes to opportunities, even if you’re not 100% convinced about them. ALWAYS be honest and transparent with your manager. Third, communicate often with your manager. Let them know what your end goal is, and where you want to go.

Interested in a career at GetYourGuide? Check out our Careers Page.

Other articles from this series
No items found.

Featured roles

Marketing Executive
Berlin
Full-time / Permanent
Marketing Executive
Berlin
Full-time / Permanent
Marketing Executive
Berlin
Full-time / Permanent

Join the journey.

Our 800+ strong team is changing the way millions experience the world, and you can help.

Keep up to date with the latest news

Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.