Experience.com’s Rising Stars series brings to life real stories of achievement and challenges from young people today in jobs across the industries.

Here are some of the young women they feature who have hit their stride pursuing careers in sales.

Brea Hall, Driving the Wienermobile to Inside Sales

Name: Brea Hall
Title: Client Experience Specialist
Company: Cleveland Cavaliers
School: Pennsylvania State University
Years Out of College: 0-2
Major: Advertising/Public Relations

I was absolutely surprised that I ended up in sales when I came out of a public relations curriculum. However, now that I am here, I see how business skills, communications skills and personality can be a great combination to accomplish anything.

Brea learned about marketing and public relations in a very hands-on way immediately after college: she spent a year driving the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile. Later, she was able to translate those skills into an Inside Sales position in the National Basketball Association and then to a higher-level role in Client Services. She credits her business and communication know-how, along with her outgoing personality, with getting her where she is today.

Kelly Champagne, Finding a Place in Software Sales

Name: Kelly Champagne
Title: Account Manager
Company: The MathWorks
School: Bentley College
Years Out of College: 5-10
Major: Marketing

I never really thought about sales when I was in school. It wasn’t really discussed in terms of a viable profession in college. I always sort of pictured sales in the retail/car dealership sense.

Kelly never thought she would land in sales. In fact, she hated most sales jobs until she found software sales, a specific role involving strong product knowledge and deep client relationships. Along the way, Kelly has worked with people who believed she had the potential to succeed, and they were right… Click here to read more about Kelly.

Maureen Keyo, Sales: A Ticket to a Dream Job

Name: Maureen Keyo
Title: Premium Sales Manager
Company: Boston Celtics
School: College of the Holy Cross
Years Out of College: 5-10
Major: Political Science/Spanish

It is important for recent graduates to resist pigeonholing themselves into a specific role or function,” she said. “If you know what you want to do, that is terrific. But most of my classmates coming out of college were not sure, and that was totally fine.”

Maureen acknowledges that her job has almost nothing to do with her political science degree, but she values her liberal arts education for the opportunities it gave her to be a “well-rounded and versatile job candidate.” Though her career path was unexpected, this successful sales manager has shown that hard work can turn a strong interest into a solid job.

Visit Experience.com to read more about these women as well as Rising Stars in a variety industries including entertainment, accounting, technology, finance, education, and non-profit.