Never one to rest on her laurels, Melissa Guthrie left a solid paycheck and high-profile position at a well-known distributor for a new challenge. She joined Alpharetta, GA-based Swag Promo LLC (asi/340491) in its infancy, building the Jacksonville, FL, territory from the ground up. Nearly seven years later, she currently manages some of the company’s largest accounts and is on track to reach $1 million in revenue by the end of 2019.

“Having a family to support and not knowing if this would be a success was almost enough to stop me from making the single best career move of my life,” Guthrie says.

Guthrie is a married mother of three children (ranging in age from 3 to 10) who always makes time for her loyal clients via email, text, phone calls and any other tech-savvy measure, achieving that elusive work-life balance. Additionally, the University of North Florida grad constantly has her eyes open for new business opportunities.

“Word-of-mouth referrals have likely been my best strategy, which is great because it comes along with a job well done,” Guthrie says. “Especially as a woman, I consider it a great achievement to be able to model for my kids that career success can be met while also being a good and present parent, and I could never have done that without leadership that truly understands and applauds balance.”