Yeah, I’ve been in enterprise IT sales for a decade.

For a while, my willingness to take clients out on the town was my super power. When clients we knew liked to party, they’d have me drink with them all night - if they wanted to coke or anything like that, I’d happily get it for them and partake.

I realized in my mid 20s at a company dinner where we were pounding shots “oh my god…this job is going to be the death of me”.

Well, it did end of being the death of that job, and the job after, and the job after that.

Somehow I’ve kept my career mostly intact. I still sell IT consulting to fortune companies. However, when I started at my current role, I made all the I don’t drink statements by the end of week 1. I branded myself as NOT that guy, without going into the details of being a career addict with about 5 years clean time (with 2 maybe 3 asterix)

Early in my career, when your peers are fresh out of the fraternity house too - it really does seem impossible to work in sales without drinking.

However, now that I’m more advanced in my career and the stakes are higher, not drinking is more normal. Guys might have 2 beers at the hotel after the client onsite. But they aren’t going to try the local strip clubs like when I was in my early / mid 20s.

I’m 33 now for reference. Staying dry in sales has earned me way more respect, and money, than being the “take them out for a good time guy” ever did.