Hi confused,

So sorry to hear about your job loss. I've spent years in B2B sales for large corporations, and got fired 8 months ago for reasons directly related to my alcoholism. I've spent the last 6 months striving to become a sober, healthier and better person while launching a new career path in a small business.
I know quite well the shock and disbelief you may be feeling. Mine was also accompanied by anger one moment, and knowing I deserved what I got the next moment. Had those feelings for months, but they're dissipating now.
If you'd like to share with me, feel free. I don't pretend to have any answers, just the experience of a 40 year old alcoholic who's been sober for a little while. :)

Sales guy here too. Was with a large corporation for 10 years in commissioned only sales and left because they started finding ways to nickle and dime us to death. Went out on my own doing the same thing and am really glad I did. I left while on my downward spiral alcoholically and through the grace of God was able to hit my bottom while being in the beginning stages of having my own small business, and somehow survived business wise and health wise. 643 sober days here.

What were you selling? I am quite certain that with your tenure at your last company that you would be quite desirable. Most companies will overlook anything except an unlawful act to have a seasoned sales professional with a long track record with the same company for as long as you. I am surprised you would get fired for that, since drinking and alcoholism is so common in our profession for so many reasons. But it is what it is.

I think once you get past the shock and trauma of what happened, you will see that you are a very valued person as being able to successfully provide income to a companies bottom line.

But you need to start today with getting a handle on your drinking problem. What are your plans for stopping drinking? My choice was AA and I am so blessed for that program.

Best of luck to you and please let us know how you plan on stopping your drinking and what develops for you professionally. You will get past this, but you have to stop drinking.

I am 51 years old myself. This would have been my 13th year, so we seem to have an interesting parallel path in some ways.

thanks guys, you have no idea how much your support means to me. I sent both of you friend requests and I hope we all become better people through the pain of making mistakes.

your friend
Vince

I am not a sales guy..but my husband is. He is a normie. He has been in sales for 40 years. If you are worried about entertaining when you get back into a new sales job, i wanted to share with you what he has always done. He tells the bartender to bring him tonic and lime and everyone thinks he is drinking gin and tonic. He has saved the butts of many of his clients by making sure they stay out of trouble and get them cabs. He has had them grateful enough the next morning that they are happy to sign contracts. Perhaps your being sober while the rest fall apart will work for you in your business. He is now abstaining because he became diabetic, but he has had that little trick for years....
I hope your next job is better than the last. Make sobriety your first priority and everything else will fall into place.

Yes, I'm in industrial sales and when people in my profession get together in large groups, drinking is pretty common. The only thing I can say is that many of the guys who started in this business with me seem to have grown out of the really heavy drinking. I guess the ones who did not grow out of it are no longer in the business.

I've never been fired but I've embarrassed myself. In more recent years, I've been on the other side though and I've witnessed some others doing the same things I've done in the past..... it's an eye opener.

The only thing I can say is that once I attended my first event sober, I realized that there weren't as many people drinking "hard" as I had thought. It's just that I was so busy knocking them back, I tended not to notice or to gravitate towards the drinking crowd.

I'm just about to turn 48, and I've been in this profession since I was 25.

I'm not a sales "guy" in fact I'm a career woman. However, I've always been in an environment that encourages hospitality and with that...alott of drinking. It wasnt easy to be the only one not drinking -- early in sobriety. But now its not at all difficult. I have come to realize that I was often the one drinking *more* or at least as much, as anyone else. Now that I'm sober I've noticed a few others are too. And that's good.
So welcome to the board and I hope you find support and sobriety.

LivinLife
Your words:
"...I realized that there weren't as many people drinking "hard" as I had thought.
This really resonated with me. I too thought that many others "were in on the party" and keeping up with me at business and social functions. Now that I see things from a sober point of view, I was very wrong about that most of the time.
I feel a bit stupid realizing this. Incredible awakening for me and really helping with my journey.

I am in sales, my business partner is also in recovery so we get along pretty good. We don't let things bother us, plain and simple!

Good Luck!

Welcome to the group Vince. I nearly lost my job due to my drinking. It was a culture as well, but I'd have been a drunk in any profession and would have lost a lot more than just my job if I'd kept on going the way I was. Glad you found us and hope what we share here will help you to find a better path.

Hi there, I am not in sales and I am a women but in my career there are many drinking situations. I have friends in AA who do well in sales ad don't drink. In AA's literature there's a quote about taking an alcoholic to North Pole to escape drinking but then an Eskimo might come along with a bottle of scotch.. You get the picture!

The answer is to get to a place where the presence of alcohol really is of no consequence to you. That may sound amazing but it is perfectly possible with some effort on your part. It happened for me and countless others so it can happen for you too.

I am a solutions consultant/sales engineer, so while I do not have a quota, I am involved in sales.

At sales meetings and business functions I used to be one of the people slamming back the drinks at cocktail hour. Had to have a few before dinner, bottles of wine and after dinner drinks. I also thought there were lots of heavy drinkers and I was just "one of the crowd." Where are the drinkers now? Did everyone quit or slow down after I quit? We just had our company sales meeting, followed by cocktails and hor d'oeuvres. No one got wasted -- no one was even toasted.

I am sure lots of people still drink heavily at business functions. I just notice all the people not drinking much or not at all now that I am sober. I like it.

Sorry you lost your job. Don't fall into drinking more right now. I know what that is like too. Losing a job was all I needed to go from a problem drinker to black out -- pass out drunk every single night.

Glad you found us, Vince.