Homaira, Business Development Manager
- Hometown: Kabul, Afghanistan
- Her favorite part of the job: Working in sales and creative marketing at the same time
- What she likes best about being at Belkin: The open-door policy
- What you’ll find her doing after work: Belly dancing
Homaira was exposed to the world of sales early in life. “Growing up I used to help my father with his antiques business. Even though I was only 10 years old, I knew then I liked to sell,” she says. “I knew I didn’t just want a desk job.”
As a Business Development Manager charged with managing a multimillion-dollar reseller account, Homaira gets to combine her sales skills with her passion for creativity.
“A lot of my day is spent building a strong pipeline by developing relationships with the off-site reps, mentoring them, challenging them, and helping them close deals,” she says.
Homaira is also responsible for creating promotions and quarterly contests to help motivate and inspire thousands of sales reps all over the country. She’s introduced contests that have sent top sellers to the Kentucky Derby and given others a chance to drive a race car for a day. “I get to put a contest together from its inception, figure out what I want the message to be, and what I want the marketing materials to look like,” she adds. “And, I get to change it up every quarter, so it’s never boring.”
When Belkin tapped Homaira to spend a summer working on-site at a reseller’s headquarters in Chicago, she jumped at the chance to serve as the face of her company.
“At Belkin, you have to be a self-starter and be willing to take on challenges,” she says, “but you get the opportunity to shine and excel.”