Lead Your Way - Tom Salley Coaching

Tom Salley

Unlocking the stories behind bold life and career moves. Lead Your Way dives into the pivotal moments when leaders, founders, and professionals take calculated risks, embrace change, and transform their personal and professional lives. Hosted by Tom Salley, Executive Coach, each episode uncovers the mindset, values, and strategies behind these bold leaps, inspiring listeners to navigate their own career and life transitions with clarity, courage, and purpose.

Episodes

  1. 17 Aug

    #5: Harry Pelivanidis — From Individual Contributor to Leader | Trust, Ambition & Impact

    In this episode of Lead Your Way, Tom Salley sits down with Harry Pelivanidis, Managing Partner at Berg Search, to explore his journey from individual contributor to senior leader and his ambition to one day build something of his own. Harry shares his journey from studying in Barcelona to building his career in Athens, from customer-facing and business development roles to Dialectica and Guidepoint, where he progressed to Vice President of Customer Success. He then moved into the startup world with Berg Search, where he now helps lead the company as Managing Partner. The conversation explores what it really means to lead people: why trust should come first, how to balance being close to your team with maintaining professional boundaries, and why leadership success should be measured by what you achieve through your team, rather than what you accomplish yourself. Harry reflects on building diverse teams, understanding different personalities and motivations, giving people autonomy, and creating an environment where people can grow. He shares a powerful leadership lesson: your role isn't to create people who are just like you, but to help each person become the best version of themselves. Tom and Harry also discuss ambition, career progression and long-term goals, including what happens when you finally achieve a major milestone and find yourself asking: "What now?" From studying abroad to building a career in Athens and eventually stepping into startup leadership, Harry offers a thoughtful perspective on trust, ambition, purpose and creating meaningful impact through other people. TakeawaysLeadership success comes from what you achieve through your team.Trust creates engagement, ownership and accountability.Great leaders balance approachability with professional boundaries.Diverse teams benefit from different personalities, strengths and motivations.Moving from individual contributor to leader requires redefining your own value.Delegation is about giving people ownership, not simply giving away tasks.Great leaders create an environment where people can grow.Your career path doesn't need to follow someone else's definition of success.Personal ambition and helping others succeed can go hand in hand.Leadership is about listening, trusting, coaching and inspiring.Achieving a major goal can create a new challenge: figuring out what comes next.Meaningful work comes from creating positive change in the lives of others.Chapters00:00 Introduction to Harry Pelivanidis & Berg Search 01:03 From Corporate Life to Startup Leadership 04:09 Why Hiring for Startups Is Different 07:44 Harry's Multicultural Background & Early Years 09:42 Barcelona, Entrepreneurship & Expanding Your Perspective 10:27 How Different Experiences Shaped Harry's Leadership Style 14:20 Building Diverse Teams 17:42 Trust First: How Harry Leads His Team at Berg 20:10 Listening, Trust & Avoiding Micromanagement 22:28 Being Close Without Losing Boundaries 27:28 From Individual Contributor to Managing Partner 31:00 Defining Your Own Version of Career Success 38:20 What Happens When You Finally Reach Your Big Goal? 40:00 Measuring Leadership Success Through Your Team 42:00 The Power of Trust & Freedom in Leadership 45:01 The Long-Term Dream of Building His Own Company 48:24 From Greece to the Global Stage 52:27 Why Long-Term Goals Keep You Moving Forward 53:32 The Real Driver: Helping Other People Grow 56:14 Closing Thoughts

    #5: Harry Pelivanidis — From Individual Contributor to Leader | Trust, Ambition & Impact
  2. 20 Jul

    #4: Sophie Allen — Building a Recruitment Business | Entrepreneurship, AI & Finding Top Sales Talent

    In this episode of Lead Your Way, Tom Salley sits down with Sophie Allen, founder of Trampoline, a specialist recruitment company focused on helping SaaS companies find exceptional SDR and BDR talent. Sophie shares her journey from building SDR recruitment teams at Venatrix to launching her own business and placing nearly 150 sales development professionals in her first year. She explains how focusing on a specific niche, building a strong personal brand on LinkedIn, and creating a candidate-first approach helped her grow a successful recruitment business independently. The conversation explores the evolution of SDR recruitment, why traditional assessment centres are changing, how LinkedIn has transformed talent acquisition, and why specialization can become a powerful competitive advantage for entrepreneurs. Tom and Sophie also discuss the future of sales development in the age of AI, whether SDR roles are really disappearing, how companies should balance automation with human connection, and what it takes to build a business while raising a young family. From moving to Nice, France, to running a business remotely, Sophie shares the realities of entrepreneurship, staying present, and creating a lifestyle around the work you love. TakeawaysSpecialization can create a strong personal brand and make you the go-to expert in a specific market.LinkedIn has become one of the most powerful channels for finding and attracting modern sales talent.Recruitment success depends on understanding both companies’ needs and candidates’ motivations.Traditional group assessment centres can sometimes reward performance rather than true ability.AI will transform sales development but is unlikely to replace the human relationships that drive successful selling.SDRs and BDRs remain critical roles when combined with strong processes, technology, and coaching.Building a business around your strengths can create more freedom and flexibility.Entrepreneurship requires balancing ambition, family, and personal priorities.Remote work enables founders to build companies from anywhere in the world.Staying focused on delivering value today can be more powerful than over-planning the future.Chapters00:00 Introduction to Sophie Allen & Trampoline 01:20 Building a Successful SDR Recruitment Business 03:00 From Venatrix Assessment Centres to a New Recruitment Model 06:20 How Trampoline Finds Top SDR & BDR Talent Today 09:20 The Power of Niching Down as an Entrepreneur 11:45 Are SDRs Being Replaced by AI? 14:30 How AI Is Changing Sales Development Skills 16:40 Building a Business While Raising a Family 20:10 Entrepreneurship, Lifestyle & Staying Present 23:20 Why Sophie Chose Nice, France as Her Base 27:10 Building Networks Outside Traditional Business Hubs 29:35 The Future of Trampoline & What Comes Next

    #4: Sophie Allen — Building a Recruitment Business | Entrepreneurship, AI & Finding Top Sales Talent
  3. 2 Jun

    #3: Suji Goetzke — The American Who Cold Calls the UK | Social Selling, GTM & Sales Leadership

    In this episode of Lead Your Way, Tom Salley sits down with Suji Goetzke, Head of GTM at Trellus and one of the fastest-growing voices in modern B2B sales. Known online as "The American Who Cold Calls the UK," Suji shares how she built a personal brand from scratch, leveraged social selling to accelerate her career, and became a recognized thought leader in sales at just 23 years old. From making collection calls at a local gym to leading go-to-market initiatives for a fast-growing SaaS company, Suji's journey highlights the power of consistency, resilience, and authentic relationship building. The conversation explores cold calling across different cultures, managing and coaching sales talent, the realities of digital nomad life, and why outbound sales remains one of the most effective growth channels. Tom and Suji also discuss the role of AI in modern sales teams, the balance between automation and human connection, and what it takes to stand out in today's competitive sales landscape. TakeawaysPersonal branding can create career opportunities faster than traditional paths.Cold calling remains one of the most effective outbound channels when done consistently.Social selling and sales development are becoming increasingly connected.Great sales leaders focus on coaching, adaptability, and individual growth.AI should enhance strong sales processes, not replace them.Digital nomad life offers freedom but comes with challenges around stability and relationships.Building genuine connections is still at the heart of successful selling.Chapters00:00 Introduction to Suji Goetzke 02:00 Growing a Personal Brand on LinkedIn 08:00 Early Sales Lessons & First Cold Calls 13:00 Women in Sales and Standing Out 18:00 Living as a Digital Nomad in Europe 22:00 Building and Leading a GTM Team 27:00 Why Cold Calling Still Works 31:00 AI, Automation & The Future of Sales 36:00 Career Growth and What's Next

    #3: Suji Goetzke — The American Who Cold Calls the UK | Social Selling, GTM & Sales Leadership

About

Unlocking the stories behind bold life and career moves. Lead Your Way dives into the pivotal moments when leaders, founders, and professionals take calculated risks, embrace change, and transform their personal and professional lives. Hosted by Tom Salley, Executive Coach, each episode uncovers the mindset, values, and strategies behind these bold leaps, inspiring listeners to navigate their own career and life transitions with clarity, courage, and purpose.