“I’m here to help people find joy. That’s my why.”
Meet Paul D’Souza, our new Go-To-Market Strategist as part of the “Meet Our Mentors” Series hosted by Impact By Women.
I’m Mahtab Namakian, product designer at Impact By Women. This role has given me the opportunity to work closely with women entrepreneurs. As an Iranian American woman, this means a lot to me because I have seen many inspiring and talented women in Iran wanting to follow their passion but lacking the courage and resources to achieve their goals. My desire to capture their stories inspired this series called “Meet Our Mentors”. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.
Paul D’Souza, Go-To-Market Strategist
Paul has spent his career helping companies increase revenue. His approach is strategic and mapped to the business goals of the leadership team. Paul has been turning business around and helping design sales strategies since 2003. Over the years Paul has held leadership positions of CEO, VP Sales, or Chief Revenue Officer to help companies restructure their Go-To-Market strategies, sales processes, and customer engagement programs. Paul is also the author of “The Market Has Changed — Have You?” which was picked as one of the “Top 10 Sales Books” by the ‘Selling Power’ magazine. Paul also mentors startup companies at the Founder Institute, in Palo Alto in the Silicon Valley.
MN: Please tell us a little about yourself and your background, your journey as a go-to-market strategist, and what brought you here?
PD: It happened by chance as all good things are in life. The most significant parts of our life usually occur by chance, and then they really influence us.
Back in 2003, I was a successful salesperson selling IT services in the pharmaceutical space in NYC. But I was unhappy and unsatisfied, so I moved back to Georgia where my family lived. Back home I retired myself and did what my heart wanted me to do which was teach meditation and healing and traveling to churches and yoga centers. During one of those sessions, I met a couple who wanted my business advice. So I started working with them and eventually became the interim CEO and turned the company around. That was my first consulting gig. And then I’ve just grown through word of mouth ever since.
At the same time, while living in my sister’s basement, I was also supporting her to grow her business and create a strategic and creative business model. Instead of competing with the local companies, we started working collaboratively to grow her business. I helped her with her confidence. In fact, that’s the quote I give at my workshops: “these principles work because my youngest sister asked me to help her make a million dollars while balancing her family and business and I did.”
MN: What part of your work inspires you and why?
PD: I am driven by personal passion. Before this career, I was traveling the world as a spiritual healer, doing workshops and healing sessions with people in Brazil, Argentina, Luxembourg, Madrid, Japan, India, all over the US. So I got to understand people, and I also got to understand how people suffer. And the only way to combat that is to have truth, awareness and connect with the spirit within.
Over the years I have designed a personal philosophy to integrate mind, body, and spirit to help people be in their joy, to help people be in their power. So I only have one goal in life — to help people find that joy. I do that by hosting workshops, conferences, these kinds of meetings and interviews, and coaching people. I’ve turn businesses around by asking one question, “ So tell me about yourself. What do you really want to do? What’s your passion? What’s your message?”
MN: What has shaped your mentorship philosophy?
PD: That’s a really good question. So there’s going to be many layers to that. In general, my mentorship has been influenced by my own phenomenal mentors. I call mentors “kitchen cabinet” because I was a political lobbyist in my early days. (The “Kitchen Cabinet” was a mocking term applied to an official circle of advisers to President Andrew Jackson. The term has endured through many decades, and now generally refers to a politician’s informal circle of advisers.)
I had so many different mentors who just took me under their wings because they were so excited about all the things I was doing. I was good at looking at the big picture and then zeroing down on the tactics and seeing how they go back to the strategy. I realized that who I am is a result of the inputs and the prayers of elders around me.
So when I look at people, I see opportunity and I love the early-stage companies. I look for people who have a passion for who they are and have clarity about what they want to accomplish. Those are the people I like to mentor. My filter is to really understand the person and what brings them joy. I can’t tell you how much I am anchored in this philosophy. I’m here to help people find joy. That’s my why. Because with that filter it is very easy for me to then assess what’s the best help you need at this next moment. As a company grows at every inflection point, you’re going to have very different strategic goals. Strategy at every level is going to be different. The tactics will be related to the strategy as it taps into the overall agenda.
Now there’s a third element that you have to anchor your approach is on the core value of the founder and the culture of the company. I make that connection. I’ve seen people who have an idea to do something in the market, but in the heart, there’s no connection. It’s just taking an idea off the shelf and seeing if this idea will float. For me, that is a deal-breaker. I’m not willing to say, let me help you build your foundation of truth. You can’t be an amazing coffee barista and not drink coffee. You can’t be a wine sommelier and not drink wine.
MN: What excites you about working with women entrepreneurs?
In my career, I’ve enjoyed working with women a little more than men because women see the world differently. Women at an early age have a more holistic approach to who they are and how they see the world almost every time. And I really enjoy tapping into that because it’s not a linear story. It’s not a linear strategy. It’s not a linear practice. Everything we do is holistic including the core of a narrative of who we are. That is my space of possibility. That is my happy place.
I’m an advocate who supports women, wants to do good business, and helps women’s businesses grow. My only caveat is they have to show up. And this is because the market is irreverent. The market, the commercial system is a meritocracy. And this is where we’re walking a tightrope between opportunity and growth. The market doesn’t care if you’re a male or a female. It only cares for the right offering.
I always give the businesses I’m working with a female identity. That’s the only way for me to be authentic and have my north star aligned with the decisions I make so that that the company thrives. I think women have paid a terrible price. We expect them to reach the highest level of business, deal with all the pressures of running the company, and also have a family. We have to do better than that. We have to find ways to help women succeed in all the roles they play. And that’s why I’m doing my part.
MN: What are the challenges you’ve faced as an entrepreneur?
PD: I don’t have a business or an organization with a headcount. I am a single shingle and I keep it that way consciously. I was very stuck between building my nonprofit, doing my healing work, and serving humanity, or growing my marketing company, rocking it out, and exiting. That was a big challenge for me. How do I balance my sense of service and business? You may call it the work-life balance or the driver between your passion and your sense of growth. And I think a lot of founders figure that out. It goes back to this one question, knowing truly what business you’re in. I think a lot of founders suffer from that, Which is we have several ideas and we want to go big into the market.
“ It’s very important for us to zero and nail one product, one idea, one culture, one customer persona and just nail one vertical sector first before we grow the company.”
MN: How has COVID impacted your life?
PD: I think COVID for me has been a tough pill to swallow, has been very challenging, but it has also brought an enormous gift. COVID has allowed me to accelerate my dreams of living on a ranch and do what I thought I would do when I retired. It’s allowed me to work from home because that’s how we operate in the world now. It’s given me a tremendous opportunity to really zero in on the essence of my truth, so I can celebrate a good life and from this place of power, serve the world.
So I moved onto the ranch in May 2020. We are located 30 minutes South of Gallup in New Mexico, on a 300-acre property surrounded by the Navajo Nation. On this ranch, I am creating a place for entrepreneurs to bring their dreams into reality and chart their own path. It will have cabins and guest houses to stay immersed in nature.
MN: What would you advise your younger self?
PD: I would advise my younger self to focus on what I’m good at. I really advocate for men and women to reach a floor level of success first. When I was young I was chasing things that brought me happiness, but actually, to be successful in life, it’s good to focus on what you’re good at initially. Because if you’re good at it, success will come. And hopefully in time, if you have successes, you’ll find out whether you also like what you’re good at. This floor level of success brings peace and freedom to try different things.
MN: What’s your hope for the future?
PD: My hope for the future is that more human beings can live out their dreams. We are in a phenomenal phase of the evolution of human consciousness. We’ve learned to talk to each other. The world has become very, very flat on any given day. So the future now, especially with COVID, is beautiful and full of possibilities. People are taking responsibility, taking control of their life, the quality of that life, and how they want to spend their time. I think we are in a very beautiful place. I’m full of hope, that technology is enabling human beings to live magical lives, but it puts pressure on each one of us to be anchored in our truth.
Meet the Designer :
Mahtab is a UX and Product Designer based in the San Francisco Bay Area, who recently graduated from California College of the Arts with a Master’s in Interaction Design. She is motivated and driven by identifying innovative approaches and improved solutions to connect and empower people. She is inspired by people’s stories and constantly tries to find opportunities to dive deep into understanding their motivations, intentions, attitudes, and needs. She believes in thinking empathetically, sharing humbly, and working collaboratively.
