Angela Lindberg swapped a career in psychology for enterprise sales. On episode eight of Sales Rewritten, the Unmind seller explains why she blooms deals instead of closing them, and what building BetterUp's European team taught her about resilience.
Angela Lindberg never planned to work in sales.
She trained as a business psychologist, studying how people think and perform at work, and was finishing her PhD when a recruiter got in touch about a sales role.
In episode eight of Sales Rewritten, she tells host Alex Wood how that role led her to one of the fastest-growing startups in its space, a move to London, and a very different way of thinking about closing deals.
Angela grew up in Minneapolis and spent four years in clinical mental health before moving into business psychology, which focuses on how people drive productivity, engagement and retention at work.
In 2019, while working in consulting, she joined BetterUp, a coaching platform that was then a Series B startup.
She had never used Salesforce or negotiated a contract, but she knew the science behind the product better than almost anyone.
"The reason I had so much success, I attribute to two things. One, amazing coaching and mentorship from people above me and people below me and people who I consider my peers. And then the second was really my background and expertise."
She leaned on everyone around her, including her SDRs, whom she treated as experts rather than assistants.
The biggest surprise for Angela was the rollercoaster.
Deals could gain momentum and then disappear just as quickly. Over time, she moved away from the aggressive, hunting style of selling she first learned and towards something more patient.
"And now I'm starting to lean more into how to create more space for myself to understand the customer and their needs and provide a safe container for me to problem-solve with them. And that has led to such better conversations and really blooming of deals versus closing of deals."
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When BetterUp opened its European office, Angela was the only seller sent from the US to help build the team.
The new hires were still ramping, so she ran most of the meetings herself, including one day with 13 back-to-back calls. It took a toll, and she later took a year-long sabbatical to rest and reset.
That experience changed how she thinks about resilience.
"You know the person getting punched and standing back up again and again and again. But resilience is just as much about how you rest, restore and renew as it is about how you persevere."
She now builds that recovery into her routine, so she has energy to give when a deal needs it most.
Angela has always sold enterprise, where a single deal can involve 20 or 30 people. Her proudest win came after presenting to a client's entire C-suite and board.
She is just as proud of the deal she chose to walk away from, because it wasn't a healthy fit for either side.
She sees AI as a way to spend more time on the human side of the job.
"So it takes the things I don't like to do...The fun part of my role is sitting across from someone who's got a real problem and developing a solution to that."
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There is plenty more in the episode, including why the UK handles mental health in sales better than the US, what Angela looks for when hiring sellers, and her plans for life after sales.
Angela Lindberg is an enterprise seller at Unmind and a trained business psychologist. She was one of BetterUp's first sellers in Europe and helped build its London team. Find her on LinkedIn.
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Alex Wood tells Surfe's story across every part of the business, from product news to onboarding new users and everything in between. He oversees all aspects of Surfe's video content production, communicating new features and connecting with audiences. Born in the UK. Based in Bristol. Can quote every line of Jurassic Park 🦖
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