{"id":18,"date":"2018-03-17T19:41:54","date_gmt":"2018-03-17T19:41:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/massimolesti.com\/?page_id=18"},"modified":"2026-01-31T17:58:39","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T01:58:39","slug":"professionalexperience","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/massimolesti.com\/?page_id=18","title":{"rendered":"Professional Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

VCA Green – Sales Manager<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n
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As the Sales Manager of a growing team, I am responsible for the continual training and development of both my newer and more seasoned Sales Representatives, while also setting a standard of excellence when it comes to client relations, service line knowledge, and organizational best practices. I often confer with overlapping departments like marketing and project management to ensure effective acquisition of new business and best-in-class customer experience. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

RNDC – Lead Talent Acquisition Specialist<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n
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When Gallo decided to award the distribution business within California to RNDC, I was chosen to lead our recruiting initiatives within Southern California as the Lead Talent Acquisition Specialist. Within this role, I lead a team of three recruiters responsible for sourcing and staffing across the Southern California division. I\u2019ve successfully increased the staffing percentage by 22% within four months by identifying talent needs, managing job requisitions through Workday and SuccessFactors, and implementing strategic recruitment initiatives. Additionally, I manage an 8-week summer internship program for 12 undergraduate students from key pipeline universities.  <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

G<\/span>allo Wine Company – Wine & Spirits Sales Representative, Training Manager, District Manager, Recruiting Manager<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n
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As daunting a<\/span>s joining the work force straight out of college might seem, I consider myself extremely fortunate to have found such a welcomi<\/span>ng home in Gallo Wine Co. Aside from the contagiously fun company culture and work perks, Gallo has provided me with exceptional sales and account management training, advanced wine and spirits education, and opportunities every day to expand my leadership skills and run my sales territory like it is my own personal business. Best of all, the whole company is full of great people who are dedicated to investing in and improving one another, from merchandisers to upper management, who have taught me how to live the 6 company values of integrity, innovation, commitment, teamwork, respect, and humility. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once I showed my aptitude for leadership and mentoring, I was promoted to the Field Training Manager role, where I conducted new hire orientations and provided hands-on training in sales techniques, earning recognition as Field Training Manager of the Month in November 2020. Shortly after, I was promoted to District Manager where I led a team of eight and managed over 100 retail sales accounts, driving team performance through training, coaching, and administrative oversight, which resulted in four promotions within my team. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My last role with Gallo Wine Company was as a Sales Recruiting Manager, within which I oversaw the full recruitment lifecycle for our retail sales team and supplier internship program, leveraging ATS systems and actively engaging with six Southern California college campuses through career fairs, workshops, and mentorship efforts<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Replay: A Collective Marketing Agency – Business Development Intern<\/h3>\n\n\n
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I was first introduced to the world of digital marketing during my internship with Replay: A Collective Marketing Agency. Throughout my time with the company, I not only learned the basic principles of inbound marketing and how to create engaging content for any company, but also developed my sales and customer relationship skills by assisting with client contract proposal meetings.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

VCA Green – Sales Manager As the Sales Manager of a growing team, I am responsible for the continual training and development of both my newer and more seasoned Sales…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2126,"parent":0,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"template-full-width.php","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-18","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P9KVXq-i","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":38,"url":"https:\/\/massimolesti.com\/","url_meta":{"origin":18,"position":0},"title":"Massimo Lesti","author":"massimolesti","date":"March 18, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"About Massimo My journey began in sales, where I honed my skills in building consultative relationships, exceeding targets, and driving growth across several sectors. As a Field Training Manager and then District Sales Manager, I not only met sales targets, but also developed internal talent, drove customer success, and fostered\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/massimolesti.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Massimoheadshots-51-scaled.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/massimolesti.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Massimoheadshots-51-scaled.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/massimolesti.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Massimoheadshots-51-scaled.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/massimolesti.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Massimoheadshots-51-scaled.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/massimolesti.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Massimoheadshots-51-scaled.jpeg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2142,"url":"https:\/\/massimolesti.com\/?page_id=2142","url_meta":{"origin":18,"position":1},"title":"Climate Work","author":"massimolesti","date":"April 15, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Terra.do Learning for Action Completed a 12-week climate fellowship composed of group learning, individually led modules, and case study assignments, to understand the complexities of climate change and the many solutions that are being developed to mitigate and adapt to its adverse effects. TreePublic Solar During my time as a\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/massimolesti.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_4490-scaled-e1744761545681.jpeg?fit=1200%2C538&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/massimolesti.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_4490-scaled-e1744761545681.jpeg?fit=1200%2C538&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/massimolesti.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_4490-scaled-e1744761545681.jpeg?fit=1200%2C538&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/massimolesti.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_4490-scaled-e1744761545681.jpeg?fit=1200%2C538&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/massimolesti.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/IMG_4490-scaled-e1744761545681.jpeg?fit=1200%2C538&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/massimolesti.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/massimolesti.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/massimolesti.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/massimolesti.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/massimolesti.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/massimolesti.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2355,"href":"https:\/\/massimolesti.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/18\/revisions\/2355"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/massimolesti.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/massimolesti.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}