Meet Paula Iwanski

This is Paula Iwanski's first sales job. After 17 years working in marketing on the client side, the Southington, Connecticut native decided it was time to make a change. When a sales position opened up in 2006 with Bonnier Corporation's Outdoor Group that includes Field & Stream, Outdoor Life and Shot Business, Iwanski went after it. "These were the magazines I was always pulling out of the pile and actually reading for fun," she says. "I've always been such a fan."

Her passion for the magazines shows. Just over three years into her sales career, Iwanski's a finalist for Sales Representative of the Year in the Bonnier Sales Awards 2009. "I just try to be the sales rep I always wanted when I was on the client side. I take pride in the full service approach." And it works: Five years after an editor gave a rifle a scathing review and the client pulled all advertising dollars from the magazine, the advertiser is back in the magazine, thanks to Iwanski's dedication.

But Iwanski won't take the credit for herself. "It's a team effort. We're the best brands in our segment of the industry, with the best editors and marketers and salespeople. I feel privileged to work with the team I do."

And how does she like her first sales job? "It's really been an amazing ride so far," she says. "I love working with the people, every aspect of it."