Courtney, Lauren and Paige reflect on Season 2 of the Aspire2Ascend podcast, share their own super powers and share their upcoming Real Customers of SAP virtual event series. 

Jack Werder talks to Ascend Source about his unique career path and what he learned throughout his journey.  Jack has reinvited himself several times through his career including running a family business. Jack believes anyone can re-invent themselves at any age by being humble, checking their ego at the door and a willingness to learn. 

Ascend Source is joined in this episode by Paul Kurchina, who is a true customer advocate and SAP Ecosystem Accelerator. Having spent over 25 years within the ecosystem, he has dedicated his career to improving business operations with SAP, but more importantly, taking that experience and knowledge to others. Paul has lived his life and his career by freely giving and investing into people without expectations in return and finding true joy and personal satisfaction in connecting with others. With this lens, Paul shares with us his advice to others on how to survive, but more importantly thrive, in this SAP ecosystem. 

Ari Seelinger is not your typical SAP Account Executive. Unlike some sales individuals, he is not motivated by the paycheck, but rather the person he is working for. He started his career at Oracle, then moved to a small start up, and finally landed at SAP. With this experience, Ari is no stranger to navigating both small and large organizations. Ari talks to us about the importance of hustle and attitude and how a bad day rarely knocks him down.

Ascend Source is joined in this episode by SAP Vice President in the Midwest, Brian Moores. Brian shares with us his SAP journey and how curiosity fuels his motivation. We discuss his vision and transition from being an individual performer versus leader.  He has learned the importance of knowing when to step in and when to listen.  When growing and investing in individuals on your team, he expressed the importance of understanding and accepting that individuals are just that - individual people.

Join Ascend Source as we speak with Josh Milos, Head of IT Applications for Birkenstock Americas. At the forefront of SAP technology, Josh shares with us the importance of partner selection and what he looks for when choosing vendors. As an active ASUG member, he shares the benefits of tight-knit SAP Communities and Special Interest Groups and how they have provided him value and guidance throughout his career. 

Amy and Wizzie deep-dive into their viewpoints of professional friendships and the importance of commroderie. The best relationships are built on respect, vulnerability, and integrity. These are not just buzz words - they are truly a way of life. They also address the not-so-simple challenges we are all facing during this pandemic and touch on how they have had to completely redefine their own sales strategy, hustle and grit. "It's time we all become unapologetic and authentic, especially during this difficult time." 

Juan Albelo started his career with a degree in engineering. However like many, he landed in a completely different field. Now with  over 25+ years in software industry, Juan walks us through his journey of entrepreneurship and some of the challenges he faced. He shares some of the best practices from his career as he has worked on both the software vendor side and partner side. He will share his definition of ‘hustle’ and his own personal leadership perspective on teamwork, with many thanks to the example his mother set as a young immigrant forced to provide for her family, instilling hustle at a young age.

Kevin talks with Ascend Source about his successful and tenured-career at SAP. He shares with us the impactful mentors that helped him along the way and his passion for giving back to young professionals in a similar matter.  He also shares his insights on what he looks for within his high-performing sales teams. Kevin brings it down to earth, intimately sharing parts of his story, including his late wife, Kathy, and the incredible, beautiful impact she had on the world. 

Omar Zuberi started his career as a mechanical engineer with a passion and admiration for the individuals deciding what to make it and when to make it within the Supply Chain space. Now, one of the founders My Supply Chain Group (MSCG), he walks us through the journey of entrepreneurship, challenges of a growing company, and the shift within the Supply Chain space. He chats with us about what energizes him both inside and outside of the day-to-day, and what he believes are the keys to success in the industry and how to manage a growing company through the right leadership and culture.