Terry Hagenes

Why this persona fits the audience

Leads a 3-person SDR team at a UK fintech scaleup in Manchester, keeps messaging consistent across segments, and works inside Outreach plus HubSpot to run weekly account-based email campaigns and call tasks.

• Age: 28
• Location: Manchester, UK
• Occupation: SDR Team Lead
• Income: £62k base + bonus
• Education: Bachelor's degree in Business Management (University of Manchester)
• Company size: 50-100 employees
• Years in role: 2

“I'd rather have a team that wins by 2 points consistently than one that wins 50-0 once a month. That's how you build systems that scale.”

Terry Hagenes grew up in Wakefield watching his dad run his own plumbing business - a formative lesson in how systems beat hustle. His university days were spent in the University of Manchester's business program where he discovered sales through a student-run consulting club. After graduation, he joined a Manchester fintech as their first SDR, quickly realizing the chaos of inconsistent messaging. When the company promoted him to SDR Team Lead, he implemented a 'message architecture' system requiring every campaign to include 3 customer insights. His team's response rates improved 42% in 3 months. Now he's obsessed with refining their playbook - currently testing a system where SDRs must write the first draft of every email template themselves instead of using AI. Outside work, Terry's competitive nature extends to gaming (he tracks his K/D ratio in a private Notion doc) and fantasy football (where he won his last league by .2 points). His budget tracking spreadsheet has 8 color-coded tabs, a system he developed after overspending on a ‘career accelerator’ course that didn't deliver. Despite his success, he avoids talking about ‘status’ in networking circles, preferring to discuss tactics instead. Recent challenges include finding balance between his health goals (morning runs) and his social commitments (gaming with friends). His 3-person team sees him as both mentor and coach, though he's quietly frustrated by how much time he spends 'fixing' rather than innovating.

Background & daily life

A day in their life

Terry's day starts with a 5:30AM run listening to The Diary of a CEO. By 6:45AM he's reviewing overnight sales engagement metrics while eating granola at his kitchen island. Job #1 is checking Outreach: 12 new sequences built by his team - he flags 3 for rewrites before the 9AM standup. After the team meeting, he spends the next 2 hours doing 'prospect hygiene' - reviewing HubSpot for duplicate accounts and flagging ones needing personalization. Lunch is pre-ordered Veggie Hetty from his favorite deli. The afternoon involves 1:1s where he helps his top performer prepare for a demo and coaches the junior SDR through a cold-call roleplay. At 4:30PM he joins the company-wide sync where the CEO talks 'scale' and mentions 'lead quality lagging'. By 5:15PM he's in the gym doing weighted squats. Post-workout he Skypes with his gaming squad to plan tomorrow's ranked matches while eating a Sainsbury's microwave curry.

Lifestyle

Terry rents a top-floor flat in Chorlton with blackout curtains he installed himself after his first season of competitive gaming. His routine starts with a 5:30AM run to avoid rain, followed by breakfast of Greek yogurt and granola while reviewing overnight campaign metrics from his work laptop. Weeknights are either gym sessions or 'League of Legends rank grind' with his online squad from university. Social life revolves around a tight group of fintech colleagues he meets for 'Strategy Pub Nights' where they whiteboard campaign ideas on napkins. He budgets 15% of his income to 'career acceleration' (courses, networking events) and another 15% to the City FC season ticket he won't cancel despite rising costs. His flatmate occasionally complains about his 10PM gaming headset volume, but they compromise by sharing Spotify premium for the gym.

Work life

Terry manages a team that juggles outreach to VC-backed startups in Berlin, traditional banks in India, and fintech teams in London - each needing different messaging angles. His mornings involve reviewing Outreach sequences his team built overnight, flagging inconsistencies before 9AM standups. Most afternoons are spent in 1:1s where he critiques call recordings using a shared Google Doc with standardized feedback. He's currently piloting a system where SDRs must attach 'lead research notes' to every email template they create. Pressure comes from needing to show engagement increases quarter-over-quarter while the CEO talks about 'scale' in every all-hands. His workstation has four screens: Outreach, HubSpot, CRM, and a spreadsheet tracking team's 'time to first reply' across segments.

Relationships

Terry's parents in Wakefield call weekly - his mother checks his grocery shopping habits, his dad sends fantasy football tips. He's close with his university housemates (now spread across London, Dublin, and Singapore) who meet up quarterly. His team of 3 SDRs treat him like a 'big brother' figure - he buys the coffees when they hit targets but won't let them skip metrics meetings. Online, he's part of a competitive gaming community called 'Midlife Crisis', where the average age is 32. His most trusted mentor is Mark, a sales leader at a neobank, who he met at a Manchester fintech networking event.

How they decide

Pragmatic researcher - he'll study Reddit threads, tweet polls, and compare competitors' strategies before changing a workflow. Once convinced, he implements quickly but monitors closely. Rejects 'gut feelings' but values team's acquired experience. Avoids risk when it comes to company finances, but takes calculated personal risks for career growth. Prefers A/B testing to hypotheses.

How they sound

Speaks in concise sentences with Manchester accent, uses phrases like 'alright mate' and 'that's bollocks'. Avoids corporate jargon - would say 'weekly hiccup' instead of 'operational inefficiency'. Uses sports analogies frequently ('we need to play to our strengths here'). Speaks quickly in team meetings but pauses thoughtfully when analyzing data. Uses emojis in Slack but never in client emails. Has a habit of saying 'basically' when wrapping up points. Laughs at his own sarcasm.