Carol Robbins came into her rural Southern roots honestly.

The Texarkana native’s father is a cattleman and has owned a nearby auction barn her entire life. If folks in the area don’t know Carol, they likely know her father. With a tinge of a southern drawl and an unapologetic stubbornness to succeed, Carol is comfortable in her own skin and around just about anyone in her sales territory – from CFO down to special assistant.

She credits her father for her professional success and the high expectations she sets for herself. It was years ago, as first a substitute teacher and later a biller/administrator for then-Firmin’s Office City, that he encouraged her to jump out of her comfort zone and try something new.

“My father was always firm in that you follow through with what you say. If someone doesn’t have your word you don’t have anything. Making him proud has always been the greatest commission I could ever receive,” Carol said. “He had told me many times before he thought I could be doing more than I was doing, but I didn’t want to take the chance. He believed in me more than I believed in myself.”

That would all change at Datamax.

Carol’s career changed with a simple question.

In June 2019, Datamax acquired the copier division of Texarkana-based Firmin’s Office City. At that time, Carol was working in administration. The Texarkana office was being remodeled and all officemates shared a room. Area Sales Manager Lee Wheelington was in the space frequently, and Carol couldn’t help but over-hear his conversations.

On this summer day, the conversation was about hiring a new Account Manager.

“He got off the phone and he asked if any of us knew anyone who might be interested (in sales),” Carol recalls. “I asked him what the financial details of the role were, and my accounting brain immediately starts doing some math.”

Afterwards, she asked her colleague Lindsey Russett: “Do you think I could do it?" Lindsey encouraged her to inquire more.

“The next day Lee comes back in the office and I said ‘What about if I try to do it? I already know all these people (in this territory). I was raised here,’” Carol said. “Lee told me that there are some pretty big accounts in this area, like the school district. I said, I graduated from Texarkana Arkansas ISD, my parents were in the first graduating class there. I know every single board member, and I personally know the superintendent.”

Enough said to garner consideration. Carol took the necessary IA tests, was interviewed, and was soon after hired as the newest Account Manager for Texarkana. It was an unprecedented leap of faith for the former teacher and administrator with no previous sales experience.

Her career grows with her determination.

As much as an uncomfort zone as sales initially was for Carroll, her territory itself was as comfortable as an aged pair of leather boots. There’s hardly a weekly coffee or a downtown Chamber gathering that Carol’s not poking her head in, if just to say hello. She breeds trust through both friendliness and a firm sense of urgency, wherever she goes and with whomever she meets.

“The way people are in this area, they aren’t extravagant. A lot of the people here know my family from the auction barn, some of them don’t. But either way, they know they can count on me. If you sell them right the first time, you’ll win in the end. I try to deal with my one-machine customers the same as I do my 30-machine customers. Exactly the same.”

Shortly after taking a sales role, Carol drove to Little Rock for a team meeting. In strolled current Area Sales Manager Kristina Prichard with a leather jacket that caught Carol’s eye. She used that jacket as a symbol of her motivation to absolutely kill it in her territory.

“I was more determined than anything else to be successful. I wanted to make money. I wanted to make Lee and (Admin Manager) Kristen Finkbeiner proud. I wanted to prove to everyone that I could do this job just as good as anyone else… I didn’t even know before how competitive I really am,” Carol said.

Her career flourishes with the greatest commission she could receive… from those who matter most.

It wasn’t too long after that sales meeting, after a particularly big sale, that Carol herself strolled into Dillard's, using her Canon points, and bought herself a leather jacket. (She also bought a raincoat because Lee told her the best sales days are rainy ones). It’s a mark of where she’s come, but also an indication that she’s just getting started (of note: Two Presidents Club Awards under her belt).

The commissions keep coming in, but none greater than the recognition from her biggest career cheerleaders.

“My dad told me recently, ‘I tried to tell you that you could do big things like this,’” Carol recalls. “He’s my dad, he thought I could be president. Both he and my mom have been my biggest cheerleaders…and Lee is that positive cheerleader of a boss. He gets the best out of me… I’m 54 years old, I’ve failed at a lot of things. But I’ve never sat down and I’ve never stopped.”

In both the good days and the bad ones especially, Carol can take particular comfort in that.