Like many professional women making their way through the corporate world, Fox was enjoying a long run of career success when a personal trial forced her to take stock of how far she had come and where she wanted to go in the future.
"I had a long career in the intimate apparel industry (over 20 years) as a senior marketing executive. I traveled the world and led design and marketing teams in product development and strategic line development. And then, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.
"It completely altered my world. Although I was very fortunate due to early diagnosis, I became much more focused on making a difference with people in a truly profound way. Fashion was fun, but having a deeper impact with people was my purpose. I was very fortunate to have an exceptional background in business from some excellent companies, both large and small, domestic and international. These experiences provided a strong business and strategic focus not always found in the coaching world. I was able to leverage these experiences and offer them to my clients in their career development objectives."
Fox's path to business success began in Buffalo, New York, where she was a college student in a time she describes as "challenging tradition and conservatism — it was a time of idealism." Upon graduating, she decided that the business world was where her ambition led, and she soon discovered that the key to getting into that exclusive world was to network.
"My father had a friend who was a senior executive in a successful intimate apparel company in California. I reluctantly contacted him (what was so great about ladies' underwear, anyway?), and he put me in touch with a senior executive in sales seeking to build his sales team. We were instantly connected, and I began my long career in this industry via a sales support position. I loved the challenge, the industry, and the people. It was a great fit (no pun intended), and I was soon promoted to the product development division."
Having successfully launched herself into the business world, Fox would spend the next phase of her career in a variety of companies, solidifying her reputation as a leader and problem-solver who not only led her companies to success, but learned from them as well.
"Over the next two decades, I rose in leadership positions yet didn't mind traversing from one company and opportunity to the next in order to build a broader level of experience and expertise. I was fortunate to have worked in larger organizations where the corporate environment honed a level of professionalism I wouldn't have received elsewhere. I also worked in a Japanese company, so I gained the understanding of working with other cultures and business viewpoints."
With such a long history of distinguished and diverse career successes, Fox has naturally experienced many professional high points over the years, though none as notable as identifying a market niche for her company which paved the way into a new market and created opportunities to expand its client base.
"This translated into greater revenues and profits for my division, but more importantly, it was great fun to strategize, gain buy-in, and then follow through on a concept. I also learned the importance of gaining the support of change agents within an organization when I wanted to bring an opportunity to fruition. I realized I couldn't do it alone."
In light of the fact that Fox was rising in the business world at a time when women in prominent positions were still something of an anomaly, she found two mentors who proved especially influential in shaping the path of her career, though not necessarily in the way one might expect.
Q. What do you do for fun? A. Play with Baxter, my dog — teach him tricks — lots of tennis, read every business book and non-fiction book I can get my hands on, write, and watch lots of movies.
Q. What CD is in your CD player right now? A. Jackson Browne, I'm Alive (just dug it out of the archives).
Q. What is the last magazine you read? A. I am usually reading several at the same time. Just picked up Pink for the first time, and also read Inc. and Law Firm Magazine.
Q. What is your favorite TV show? A. Mostly shows on HBO — Entourage and Curb Your Enthusiasm (when I watch TV at all).
Q. Who is your role model? A. Oprah and Bill Clinton.
Q. What makes you laugh? A. Chris Rock, and when Baxter plays with his toys.
"I had two mentors, and learned as much about what to do as what not to do to be successful. One female mentor helped educate me on the business side of the business. A male mentor helped me in the relationship-building side of the business (interesting that the male focused on relationships, while the female focused on the mechanics). Nevertheless, I did get some poor counsel from my male mentor, who encouraged me to 'not rock the boat' when it came time to ask for a promotion and a raise. As I look back on it, this mindset is what keeps women, and men, from believing in themselves and asking for what they believe they are worth. It took me a long time to overcome that counsel."
Being a professional coach, Fox is in the business of providing advice and wisdom to those who seek her counsel. Her advice to young and aspiring professionals is to apply the dual concepts of ambition and charity, which need not be mutually exclusive.
"Be generous and be unstoppable. If you come from the mindset of 'What's in this for me?' and a scarcity mentality, you will not generate results as quickly as you will with the 'givers gain' attitude.
"Success is the signpost of an unstoppable, unshakeable commitment to a purpose. I love this story:
"An actress had been trying to get her big break for ten years. She contacted her agent and said: 'I've been trying to get a big break in this business for almost a decade. Do you think I should throw in the towel?'
"He replied, 'I think you're a beautiful, talented actress. But maybe you're right — if you haven't made it by now, maybe you should move on.'
"She replied: 'Wrong answer, jerk' (the term she really used was a lot more graphic). Six months later, Sharon Stone got her big break in Basic Instinct."
With decades of business expertise behind her, Fox has proven that her professional instincts are right on the money.
SellingCrossing Fact #113: With SellingCrossing’s industry-specific, sister Crossing sites, no matter what field of work you want to pursue, we’ve got relevant jobs.
April , New Lenox, IL
SellingCrossing has so many jobs at one place. Plus, it is very easy to search for the kind you are looking for.
Aaron , Denver, CO
SellingCrossing has a search engine that is really fast. It saves a lot of time.
Roberto , Seattle, WA
I like the volume of jobs on SellingCrossing. The quality of jobs is also good. Plus, they get refreshed very often. Great work!
Richard , Baltimore, MD
The number of jobs listed on SellingCrossing is great. I appreciate the efforts that are taken to ensure the accuracy and validity of all jobs.
Linda , Brownsvelle, TX
On SellingCrossing it's easy to access the vast variety of jobs on offer. The search engines are superb!
To compare SellingCrossing with other job sites
You've Always Been in Charge: Now Take Charge of Your Sales Career
You are driven to fulfill your duties, hard-working, dependable and with your follow through can accomplish anything. Finding the ideal sales job is no exception. We have a tradition of helping our members organize their job search with access to thorough, honest and straight-forward research and information about sales job openings.
You like to be in charge. You are not afraid to work hard to fulfill your duties because you value security. We give you the tools to pursue your dream for you and your family.
Become part of a tradition of research excellence that has elevated the careers of countless sales professionals just like you.
Complete the sign up process today and become part of SellingCrossing today.
Tell us where to send your access instructions:
Total Jobs on SellingCrossing
210,409
New Sales Jobs This Week
69,917
Jobs on EmploymentCrossing Network Available to Our Members
Outside Sales Representative United States-LA-Shreveport
Outside Sales Representative - Part Time
Shreveport, LA
ReminderMedia offers the premier customizable marketing solution for successful businesses ...
The city of Denver is among the largest cities in the Midwest. This means there is a significant population in the city that can be drawn upon for the purpose of selling and marketing products or services.
EmploymentCrossing is the most convenient and user friendly job site that I have come across. It provides users with a truly user-friendly approach in their job search.
Malika , Houston, TX
The newswires on SellingCrossing is the best thing about the site. I like to read them regularly.
Leigh , Denver, CO
I liked the 'My hotlist' feature on SellingCrossing. It was the best of the abundant of features on the site.
Unlike other sites, SellingCrossing works for you and does not charge employers to post jobs and actually goes out and researches jobs for you. The jobs you see are the jobs we find for you and not the ones employers are paying us to post.
You've Always Been in Charge: Now Take Charge of Your Sales Career
Start doing your job search in a thorough, organized, efficient and competent manner.
Take charge of your job search with honest unbiased research, facts and information about sales jobs. Your hard work, dependability and drive will all pay off when you have access to:
Sales jobs from every company employer career webpage we can find.
Sales jobs from every sales firm career page we can find.
Sales jobs from every job board we can find.
Sales jobs from every newspaper classified ad we can find.
Sales jobs from every specialized sales publication we can find.
Sales jobs from every federal, state and local government career page we can find.
Sales jobs from every public interest, nonprofit and other career page we can find.
Tell us where to send your access instructions:
Today at SellingCrossing
17,937 - Jobs found in last 24 Hours69,917 - Jobs found in last 7 Days210,409 - Total Jobs Found
Your privacy is guaranteed. We will never give out, lease, or sell your personal information.
SellingCrossing - #1 Job Aggregation and Private Job-Opening Research Service — The Most Quality Jobs Anywhere
SellingCrossing is the first job consolidation service in the employment industry to seek to include every job that exists and not charge employers to post jobs on its site.
SellingCrossing uses sophisticated technology and manual work to comb employer websites and other job boards for jobs and bring them all to its site.
