Maria, originally from Venezuela and a mother of two, shares the reality of starting a Level 4 Sales Executive apprenticeship at a later life stage while working and raising a family. The episode details the structure of the programme (one day of study, four days working, with Mercury as training provider), learning Salesforce and other technical skills, the joy of pre-call research and genuinely listening to customers, building relationships across Royal Mail, discovering LinkedIn and Sales Navigator as research tools, and her mantra: don't be a salesperson, be an advisor.