Community Highlights: Meet Leila Colgan of Level Up Your Sales

Today we’d like to introduce you to Leila Colgan.

Hi Leila, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My story starts in the world of pharmaceuticals and biotech, where I learned early on that the best sales professionals aren’t the loudest in the room, they’re the most trusted.
Over 20+ years in B2B sales and commercial leadership, I worked across Fortune 500 companies, startups, and high-growth organizations, generating over $65M in sales and earning 31+ national awards along the way. I transformed territories from as low as 0-5% market share to as high as 98%, not through pressure or scripts, but through deep preparation, genuine relationships, and showing up as a trusted advisor to C-suite executives, founders, and key opinion leaders.
But the more I achieved, the more I noticed something troubling in the industry. Talented, values-driven sales professionals were being handed playbooks that felt manipulative, and it was costing them their confidence, their integrity, and their clients.
That tension is what sparked everything. I wrote Level Up Your Sales to give professionals a better way to sell, one that feels natural, builds real relationships, and replaces old school training with something rooted in trust and conviction. From that foundation, I built HeartSell AI™ so that those same principles could be applied in a practical, modern way without losing the human element that makes sales actually work.
Today, as a Relationship-Based Sales Strategist and coach, I help experienced sales leaders and entrepreneurs grow sustainable, relationship-driven revenue without sacrificing who they are in the process. I still work in the field as a Senior Precision Medicine Liaison in oncology and genomics, so everything I teach is grounded in what is actually working right now.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Honestly, no. And I think that’s part of what makes the work I do today so meaningful.
Building a career in B2B sales as a woman in male-dominated industries like pharma and biotech comes with its own set of challenges. There were moments where I had to work twice as hard to earn a seat at the table, and others where I watched less experienced colleagues get opportunities simply because they fit a certain mold.
I also had to wrestle with the sales culture itself. Early in my career I was handed the same pressure-based playbooks everyone else was using, and I kept running into this quiet conflict between hitting my numbers and staying true to how I naturally built relationships. It took time, and some hard lessons, to trust that my way of selling was not a weakness. It was actually my greatest advantage.
There were territory setbacks, deals I lost, and seasons where the grind felt unsustainable. But every one of those moments taught me something that no training manual ever could. They shaped the methodology I teach today and gave me the real-world credibility to back it up.
The road was not smooth. But I would not trade any of it, because the struggles are exactly what built the conviction I now help others find in themselves.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Level Up Your Sales?
I help experienced sales leaders, business owners, and entrepreneurs scale trust-based revenue using relationship-driven sales systems and AI, without sacrificing integrity, relationships, or who they are.
What I specialize in is what most sales training skips entirely. The real reason talented professionals struggle to scale is not their work ethic or their product. It is that they were trained using outdated, pressure-based tactics that feel misaligned with how they actually want to show up. I help them replace that with something better.
I am known for the Sell From the Heart™ 5S Method, a proven framework built on preparation, discernment, conviction, follow-through, and long-term relationship nurturing. This methodology is the foundation of my book Level Up Your Sales, and it is what powers HeartSell AI™ (leilaaitools.com), a tool I built to help professionals apply these principles in a practical, modern way without losing the human element that makes sales actually work.
What sets me apart is that I am not a former sales trainer who left the field. I still work in it every single day as a Senior Precision Medicine Liaison in oncology and genomics, advising C-suite executives, founders, and key opinion leaders. Everything I teach is grounded in what is working right now, backed by 20+ years of B2B experience, $65M+ in sales generated, and 31+ national awards.
I specialize in complex, high-trust offers with longer decision cycles, typically in the $3K to $100K+ range, where relationships and reputation are everything.
What I am most proud of brand wise is that my work gives sales professionals permission to sell in a way they can feel proud of. That is the transformation I am most committed to. Not just better results, but a better experience of getting there. Because at the end of the day, sales is not about convincing people. It is about building trust that allows the right decisions to happen. That is the heart of everything I do, and readers can learn more at levelupyoursalesbook.com

What was your favorite childhood memory?
My favorite childhood memories center around the teachers who truly believed in me. Staying after school, having someone genuinely invested in my success, not because they had to be, but because they chose to be. That kind of care leaves a mark on you.
I think those moments are a big part of why I am wired the way I am. When someone takes the time to really see you, it changes things. It changed me.
It also shaped how I showed up with other kids. I was always the one who noticed the person sitting alone at lunch, or the one on the outside of the group. I would gravitate toward them and make friends. Not out of pity, but because I genuinely saw them and wanted them to feel that same sense of belonging that my teachers gave me.
Looking back, I can draw a straight line from those moments to the work I do today. Relationship-based selling, at its core, is about making people feel truly seen and valued. It is about showing up for others the way those teachers showed up for me. That has never left me.

Pricing:

• Book: https://www.amazon.com/Level-Up-Your-Sales-Playbook/dp/1964644658/
• Heartsell AI: $69/mo or $402 Annual corporation pricing available upon request
• Coaching: $497 – $5000+ (I am a certified Maxwell/Disc Coach)
• Custom AI Sales Tool Build: $5000 – $15k+
• Skool Community: Included with HeartSell AI

Contact Info:

• Website: https://leilacolgan.com/home
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/leilacolgan/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leilacolgan
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leilacolgan/
• Twitter: https://x.com/LeilaColgan
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@leilacolgan