From student to high-performing salesperson
Some people start a new job with years of experience. Others arrive with a backpack full of curiosity. Sabah clearly belongs to the second group.
Today, she is strengthening STROOHM’s Inside Sales team. She advises customers, thinks along with them about solutions and continues to build her technical knowledge every day. But if you had told her a few years ago that she would end up working in the world of charge points and electrical installations, she probably would not have believed you.
“When I first came into contact with the electrical sector as a student, I genuinely thought: this isn’t for me,” she says with a smile. “Everyone was talking about residual-current devices, charge points and technical terms. It was all Chinese to me.”
Yet she decided not to walk away from that unfamiliar feeling. Quite the opposite.
“I’m extremely eager to learn. If there’s something I don’t know, I want to understand it. That has always been my biggest motivation.”
Today, she can see for herself how much she has grown.
“Now I can genuinely help customers. That’s incredibly rewarding. I don’t want to be someone who simply passes people on. I want to be able to provide answers.”
If there’s something I don’t know, I want to understand it. That has always been my biggest motivation.
“Getting started was quite intense.”
When Sabah looks back on her first few weeks at STROOHM, a smile immediately appears.
“It was quite intense,” she says honestly.
Due to the merger, not everything followed a perfectly structured plan. Everyone was trying to help, but everyone also had their own way of working.
“I was actually getting different explanations from everyone. That’s understandable in a situation like that, but eventually I started creating my own training file.”
“I wrote down everything I learned. Not just for myself, but also for colleagues joining after me. I think we can bring even more consistency to this.”
Typical Sabah.
Not waiting for things to improve, but thinking about how she can help make them better.
No prior knowledge? No problem.
According to Sabah, you don’t have to be an expert when you start.
“You mainly need to be curious. I asked an incredible number of questions.”
She laughs as she says it.
“If you want to learn, you have to be willing to ask questions.”
For her, that may be one of the most important qualities someone can bring to a job.
“Technical knowledge can be built up. Curiosity and the willingness to learn are much harder to teach.”
“With her nails and eyelashes... She probably won’t know much about this.”
Sabah tells the story without bitterness. Rather, with a smile.
“In a previous experience, there were people who thought: that girl with her nails and eyelashes… she probably won’t know much about this.”
Those kinds of comments no longer bother her.
Quite the opposite.
“That actually gives me energy. I like proving people wrong.”
She notices that young women are still often underestimated in technical environments.
“Sometimes people automatically assume you know less because you’re a woman. Especially when you’re young.”
But in her view, that should never hold you back.
“You don’t have to walk in as an expert. You just have to be willing to learn.”
A message for young women
When we ask what advice she would give her younger self, Sabah doesn’t have to think for long.
“Just go for it.”
She smiles.
“At my first job, I wore a blazer because I thought I had to look professional. Looking back, I realise that’s not what really matters.”
So what does?
“Being curious. Asking questions. Being willing to admit that you don’t know something yet.”
And above all…
“Don’t let yourself be held back because others underestimate you.”
Her favourite saying sums it up nicely…
“Fake it till you make it. Not because you have to pretend you know everything,” she immediately clarifies.
“But because you can trust that you’ll learn it.”
Critical, but always solution-oriented
Sabah describes herself as critical.
“I can definitely start complaining sometimes,” she laughs. “But I also recognise when I’m getting stuck in that mindset.”
She then consciously tries to ask herself a different question.
“What can I do to contribute to the solution?”
She brings the same mindset to her work. She sees opportunities to make processes more efficient, enjoys thinking things through with others and wants to keep growing.
“One day, I’d like to become a team lead or manager. I see lots of opportunities to make processes smarter. But first, I still have a lot to learn.”
Everything happens for a reason
If there is one life lesson Sabah strongly believes in, it is this:
“I believe things happen for a reason.”
That doesn’t mean you should simply wait and see what happens. Quite the opposite.
“You have to work hard for what you want. But sometimes you also have to know when to let go. If something still doesn’t work after ten attempts, try a different approach.”
Today, she worries much less than she used to.
“If I really want something, I go for it.”
And perhaps that is the common thread throughout her story.
Not the technical knowledge. Not the job title.
But the belief that curiosity can take you much further than certainty.
Or, as Sabah puts it herself:
“You don’t have to know everything. You just have to be willing to learn.”