Luke Russell

Luke Russell always enjoyed the company of others, and knew that being around people was something he wanted to do for a living. He was lucky enough to find a job that encompassed that.Growing up with a family of Baylor Bears, Luke always knew he wanted to stay at Baylor after graduating. For a couple years after graduation, he ran the social media for the Baylor Bookstore, even helping to create a runway show that supported it. He loved this work and being able to create and give back to the university that gave him so much, but he felt a calling towards something else—sales.His work at Baylor had something in common with sales, as Luke is passionate about helping others whether that is through creating content or providing people with a service that will benefit them.

“I like to offer a solution towards a problem someone has,” Luke said about what he looks for in almost everything he does.

He wanted to continue help the Waco community grow and ended up with a sales opportunity through the small company Five Star Group Representatives. Their company is unique, being that representative firms are usually large, but theirs is small allowing them to be laser-focused on their customers and the products which appealed to Luke. He would be able to work face-to-face with customers and appeal directly to their needs.

Providing People with a Solution

Though originally a marketing major, Luke started off at Five Star Representatives working with manufacturers in sales, though he still was able to do parts of marketing that he enjoyed as well.

“I enjoy the people aspect and not only convincing someone they needed this product and also providing an answer for someone to a problem or an issue they have,” Luke said.

Though not initially what he had thought he would be doing, he found he loved sales even more than marketing. Luke found himself working in the petroleum industry and working with manufacturers who had been in the business for generations. The ability to directly interact with people across the board gave him exactly what he had been looking for.

“I am definitely a people person. I love working with all sorts of people and all reaches. There are men and women who are in their 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, but also their sons and daughters … it’s cool to be able to work with each of those groups of people and to do it well.”

Bridge Building Within the Community

One of the things Luke enjoys most about the small company is that he gets to work with people from many different generations as most of the companies are family-run. He focuses on maintaining the relationship with these businesses by taking care of the people in them and being transparent in all his work.

As a people person, Luke loves meeting and talking with new people, which is just one of the many reasons he enjoys sales so much. One of his favorite things is being able to connect different people he knows with each other, which he calls “bridge building.”

This love for building new relationships and networking is not only why Luke is so fond of his job, but also one of the many reasons he loves WacoWork.

A Place for Work and A Place for Home

Since he decided to stay in Waco after school, Luke is now a remote representative for his Dallas-based company. This meant trying to find the perfect space where he could take phone calls and work, separate from his apartment.After visiting many different spaces around Waco, a friend put him in touch with Caroline, our community manager here at WacoWork. Though he previously had never thought about co-working as the space for him, that initial sit-down with Caroline was all it took.

“I wanted to find a place that had people. Not just an office where I might not see people I know, or is quiet without any atmosphere. Then I sat down with Caroline and knew that WacoWork would be perfect.”

More than just a place filled with friendly faces and people all working together, WacoWork was a place he could feel motivated. From just working at home to being able to see other people working hard and doing it with purpose was a huge change for him. He found his favorite parts of his job in his work space as well.

“My favorite thing to do in sales is what I call bridge building. The idea is that you connect people together that need each other and that's what co-working is literally built for. For me it can help myself bridge build, or to help other people with relationships that I can connect.”