Associate Account Executive

Overview

You're selling memberships to The Lighthouse, a creative campus/co-working space in Nashville aimed at creators, entrepreneurs, and content professionals. You'll be prospecting creators and creative businesses, getting them to tour the facility, and closing them on monthly or annual memberships. This is an early sales role—you're building the playbook, not inheriting one.

Role Snapshot

Company Context

Stage: Pre-seed (investor-backed, very early)

Size: 54 employees

Growth: Building out the campus and sales function now. You're one of the first sales hires.

Market Position: New entrant in the creator economy co-working space. Competing with traditional co-working (WeWork, Industrious) and creator-focused spaces in other cities.

GTM Reality

Pipeline Sources:

• 70% Outbound - You're cold calling and LinkedIn messaging creators, podcasters, video producers, small agencies in Nashville
• 20% Referrals - Members referring other creators, word-of-mouth in Nashville creative community
• 10% Inbound - People who hear about the space and reach out

SDR/AE Structure: No SDR support. You're doing your own prospecting, booking your own tours, and closing your own deals.

SE Support: No SE. You're showing the physical space and explaining membership tiers yourself.

Competitive Landscape

Main Competitors: Traditional co-working spaces (WeWork, Regus), home studios/offices, standalone studio rentals, coffee shops

How They Differentiate: Purpose-built for creators with production facilities, studios, and a community of other creators (not just generic office space)

Common Objections: "I already have a home studio", "Too expensive for what I need", "I don't need a full-time space", "I'm not in Nashville enough"

Win Themes: Community/networking with other creators, access to pro-level facilities they can't afford alone, credibility boost from being part of the campus

What You'll Actually Do

Time Breakdown

Prospecting (40%) | Tours/Demos (30%) | Follow-up/Closing (20%) | Internal (10%)

Key Activities

• Cold outreach: Calling and messaging Nashville-based creators, content producers, small creative agencies. You're building lists from LinkedIn, Instagram, local directories. Most don't respond.
• Facility tours: Walking prospects through the campus, showing off studios, workspaces, equipment. You're doing 3-6 tours per week if you're hitting activity targets.
• Objection handling: Most people are hesitant about committing to a monthly membership. You're negotiating terms, explaining value, offering trial periods or day passes to hook them.
• Member onboarding: Once someone signs, you're getting them set up, introducing them to other members, making sure they show up and use the space (retention matters).

The Honest Reality

What's Hard

• Most creators you call don't want or can't afford a dedicated workspace. They're used to working from home or coffee shops. Convincing them to pay monthly for something they don't think they need is tough.
• You're figuring out messaging and positioning from scratch. There's no proven script or sales process. What works is TBD.
• Tours are time-consuming. You spend 1-2 hours showing someone around, answering questions, and they often ghost after or say they need to "think about it."
• Nashville's creator scene is growing but still relatively small. You'll run out of obvious prospects quickly and have to get creative.
• 3 days/week in-office requirement means you're commuting to the campus regularly.

What Success Looks Like

• You sign 5-10 new members per month (mix of individual creators and small teams)
• You build a referral engine—members bring in other members
• You figure out which types of creators convert best (e.g., podcasters vs. videographers vs. writers) and focus there
• Retention is high—people who join actually use the space and renew

Who You're Selling To

Primary Buyers:

• Individual creators (podcasters, YouTubers, photographers, writers, musicians)
• Small creative agencies or production companies (2-5 person teams)
• Entrepreneurs building creator economy startups

What They Care About:

• "Will this pay for itself?" (Does the facility/community help them make more money or land bigger clients?)
• Flexibility—they don't want to be locked into a long-term lease if their business changes
• Community—access to other creators for collabs, referrals, learning
• Equipment/facilities they can't afford on their own (pro studios, lighting, editing bays)

Requirements

• 1-2 years as an SDR or in a sales role (they want someone who's done outbound before)
• Comfortable with rejection—most people you reach out to won't be interested
• Self-starter mentality—there's no established process, you have to figure out what works
• Interested in the creator economy or creative industries (helps with credibility when talking to prospects)
• Willing to work in Nashville 3 days/week
• Goal-oriented—they emphasize "wanting to WIN" and grow into a VP of Sales, so they want someone ambitious and metrics-driven