Unlike the game of golf, business doesn’t factor handicaps into performance. This is what makes Melissa Servatdjoo’s story all the more compelling.
The technology sales manager for Coast to Coast Business Products could have wallowed in the pit of despair burrowed deep by her physical challenges, which include daily struggles with fibromyalgia, interstitial cystitis and narcolepsy. Confronted with the option of self-pity, she instead chose to attack life and her profession with a spirit and vigor that proclaimed she was not going to let her physical debilitations define her.
“I feel that you must make a decision in life to succeed no matter the barriers,” said Servatdjoo, a 2021 ENX Magazine Difference Maker. “You can choose to let life control you or grab life by the freaking horns and take control!”
Servatdjoo relishes the opportunity to tackle challenges head-on, refusing to shy away from what needs to get done in order to move the needle for Coast to Coast. And while she feels it has taken her entire 20-plus-year career to find her place within the industry, she feels firmly at home in her current role.
After all, being that go-to person within an organization is the first and perhaps biggest step to becoming indispensable. “My many years in the industry, manufacturer relationships, and product knowledge have made me an essential key leader and player in my organization that everyone relies on,” Servatdjoo noted.
Road to Future
At the age of 17, Servatdjoo traveled 500 miles to Southern California in search of her destiny. She broke into telemarketing at the suggestion of her boyfriend (now husband) Ali, and in 1998 she entered the world of sales with Coast to Coast. While handling a wide variety of tasks, including vice president of sales, sales team leader, marketing, and training manager, Servatdjoo also went back to school, obtaining her business management degree from the University of Phoenix.
While the degree paved the way for Servatdjoo to eventually become vice president of sales, the role didn’t provide the level of personal fulfillment that she had imagined reaping from an executive post.
“I stayed in that (vice president) position for about a year or so and realized that I hated it,” Servatdjoo exclaimed. “I wasn’t having the opportunity to train and grow our new reps, as I had envisioned, and I wanted to sell. So, I demoted myself and couldn’t be happier. Happiness over money, always.”
It was Ali—her husband, mentor and confidant—who helped provide Servatdjoo with the vision and guidance that proved invaluable to her professional growth. “He is one of the best salespeople I have ever met and has always told me to be honest, upfront and unafraid, think big and don’t stress. These are words to live by in business and life.”
Changing Tactics
Despite all the challenges 2020 offered, Servatdjoo and Coast to Coast pounced on the opportunity to supply clients with products that became more and more in demand. The team relentlessly plowed forward under the difficult circumstances to provide unique solutions, a push that continues today. Servatdjoo and Coast to Coast have pivoted more toward contractual work in a business environment that has long been transactional for the company.
As she moves forward, Servatdjoo is focusing on staving off all negative elements as she seeks new ground for personal growth. “The biggest improvement I can make for myself is my self-talk,” she remarked. “Saying positive things to myself and carving out new neural pathways to replace anything negative from the past and present.”
Melissa and Ali have taken on a parental role for her 9-year-old half-sister, Sierra. They are in the process of gaining legal guardianship, and Servatdjoo says the experience has completely changed their lives. She cannot wait to get a passport for Sierra and travel the world as a family. Belize is one of the couple’s favorite destinations; they built a house there and hope to visit in 2022.
“I want Sierra to experience what it is like in other countries and see that not everyone is a spoiled brat with a ton of toys,” Servatdjoo joked.
