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Employee Spotlight - Bree D.

In this Employee Spotlight, we will highlight Bree's quick promtion from an Associate Territory Manager to owning her own Territory in NY and what she has learned and why Advanced Endoscopic Technologies (AET) is not just a team, but a family.

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Advanced Endoscopic Technologies, better known as AET, is a force to be reckoned with. In the last few years they have implemented and substantially grown an Associate Territory Manager (ATM) program, expanded their salesforce dramatically and created a culture that succeeds on developing their own and promoting internally.

Bree Dobbins is a great example of a AET teammate who has experienced all of these dynamics in her short career with CONMED. I recently spent some time with Bree to dive into her path and experience so far.

Bree’s Path to CONMED
Bree was a pre-med undergraduate student whose plan was to be a doctor. After graduating completely debt-free, she wasn’t sure if it made sense to go back to school for such an extended period of time and rack up all of the debt. “I started working for a bar near my college town.” Execs from leading pharmaceutical and medical device companies regularly stopped in with their local vacation homes being in town. They opened her eyes to a whole different path in the healthcare industry. From there Bree asked a friend selling medical devices to shadow and the rest is history. She “realized that was it!” and started applying to roles in the industry. The recruiter at CONMED “gave her a shot” and she had a chance to sell herself to the Area Director, who even told her “you don’t have the background, but tell me why you?” She did just that and sold how she was going to make her mark and grow with CONMED. In just a year Bree was promoted from an ATM in Chicago to a TM in NY, owning her own territory and quota.

Life as an ATM
When Bree joined the team the ATM program was in its early stages. There were only a handful of ATM’s across the country, supporting multiple Territory Managers each. Her favorite part was being exposed to “3 different reps." Some taught by sharing mistakes they’ve made to help Bree avoid them. Others gave her the autonomy to go out and meet with accounts solo and backed her up letting her know “you can’t mess anything up."

The AET Culture
“AET comes together as a family." Bree shared that she can call on anyone and they will drop everything to see how they can help. It’s an extremely “family-oriented culture where everyone is willing to help." Each person has their own quota and goals, but you will do anything you can to support each other in being successful.

Promotion to Territory Manager
Just shy of a year into Bree’s role as an ATM the AET salesforce went through an expansion. There was a brand new NY territory carved out and Bree put her hat in the ring. Along with external candidates, she began the robust interview process. She remembers walking out of her first in-person interview with Pat, the Area Director, and Vicki, the VP of sales. Bree recalls being “nervous” and how she looked up to both of them so greatly. “I’m in awe of Vicki from my stance as a young woman professional."

Over a month’s time and many more interviews had passed and she hadn’t heard if she was getting the promotion or not. The team was together at CONMED’s annual Global Sales Meeting. They went to dinner and each “area” of the country sat at their own table. She was sitting with her Midwest team. Then the GM of AET gets up at the microphone and asks where Bree Dobbins is. She remembers thinking she did something wrong, but stood up. He told her she was sitting at the wrong table and wasn’t a part of the Midwest team anymore, now Northeast! “Everyone was cheering and giving her hugs. It was like a sports moment." Bree recalls what a great experience that was to “stand up in front of your peers and get a pat on the back."

What Now?
Bree is loving owning her own territory. At the “end of the day, it all comes down to me."

What would you tell someone interested in joining AET?
"You are lucky if you get it!”

If you are looking to join an amazing team at CONMED, join the CONMED Talent Community to learn more about the company and receive job updates when positions open that match your area of interest!