Welcome to the first episode of It’s A Yes! Making It In Media. Hosts Jo Wood (The Media Exchange) and Debra Sharron (Media Sales Training) share the career paths that led them into media from unconventional beginnings.

They discuss their career transitions from pharmacy and English literature into media recruitment and magazine sales, exploring why neither initially saw themselves as "salespeople". This episode tackles common questions about professional development in media, including how to refine your CV, what drives promotion decisions when you're already hitting targets, and why job satisfaction can shift around the 18-month mark.

Why do top performers sometimes get overlooked for advancement? What role do team dynamics and communication skills play in sales success? Jo and Debra explore what's often happening behind the scenes in sales management and career progression.

1. Why sales roles are often misunderstood across the industry
2. What commercial experience gives you that other roles don’t
3. How progression and recognition tend to work behind the scenes
4. What influences job satisfaction and motivation throughout a media career
5. CVs and recruitment - and why human judgement still matters
6. Communication skills, team dynamics and adapting your approach for career success
7. Critical turning points where media professionals rethink their next move

Surrounded by Idiots — Thomas Eriksson

Debra recommends this bestselling book on communication styles, based on the DISC personality model. It explores why people communicate differently at work and how adapting your approach can improve working relationships across teams, clients and managers.

More here: https://www.surroundedbyidiots.com/en/

If there’s a media career question, challenge or experience you’d like us to explore, email hello@makingitinmedia.com

Debra runs online interactive media sales training workshops focused on building commercial confidence and capability.

Details of upcoming sessions can be found here: https://makingitinmedia.com/sales-training-courses/

Follow the show for conversations about building a career in media, and share this episode with someone who would find it relevant.

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Welcome to It's a Yes! Making it in Media, an exciting new podcast for media professionals. Hosts Debra Sharron (Media Sales Training) and Jo Wood (The Media Exchange) combine their expertise to help you get hired and stay inspired as you build your media career.

Series 1 is coming soon. You can hear it here, on this feed. Subscribe now to be notified automatically when new episodes drop in early 2026.

Questions? Email hello@makingitinmedia.com