My name is Steve Heroux. I’m the founder of The Sales Collective, a sales training and consulting firm, and the author of the best-selling book The Sales Contrarian. I have committed my life and career to transforming how sales is taught, led, and lived. But, the truth is, I wasn’t born with unshakable confidence.
In fact, public speaking once paralyzed me with anxiety. But after stumbling into a sales job selling Cutco knives at 18, something clicked. By my senior year of college, I was the #1 Cutco rep in the entire country. And later, I dominated the insurance world, becoming the #1 agent nationwide for AFLAC out of 60,000 people.

But success didn’t blind me—it opened my eyes.

The deeper I went into the sales world, the more I realized something was fundamentally broken.The tactics being taught were old, manipulative, and completely out of touch with how people genuinely want to be treated today. I watched so many talented professionals burn out trying to conform to those outdated systems, and I knew something had to change.

That’s why I started this journey with one mission: to help individuals and organizations break free from mass-produced strategies and rediscover the power of personalization, truth, and self-awareness. When I deliver a keynote, I aim for it to be bold, eye-opening, and deeply human, sparking real transformation from the inside out.

I imagine a world where salespeople no longer have to pretend, manipulate, or pressure others to win. A world where they’re empowered to lead with integrity, sell with authenticity, and thrive by being exactly who they are. For me, the joy is uncovering the truth about what actually works in sales—and showing others how to rise above outdated tactics and step fully into their own greatness.

I am on a mission to redefine what it means to succeed in sales.