Julie Isgrigg, a sales rep of the year nominee two years running, loves the variety of her work at Hachette. “No day is ever the same,” Isgrigg says, whether she’s introducing herself to a startup, troubleshooting a POS system, or checking details with a long-established account in her territory of Maryland, Virginia, the Carolinas, and Washington, D.C.

“I’m in regular touch with more than 100 active accounts,” she says. “I treasure getting to know them, whether we talk on the phone, meet in person, or just exchange chatty emails.”

Laura Shinn, manager at Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, N.C., calls Isgrigg “the queen of the sales reps.” “She consistently pulls through for us on tight deadlines and helps us support our teachers” for school programs, Shinn says. Quail Ridge bookseller Emma Sidoli concurs, calling Isgrigg a “go-to for event ordering and B2B assistance.” And Angie Tally, children’s buyer at the Country Bookshop in Southern Pines, N.C., says Isgrigg “truly cares for me, my coworkers, and my customers.”

With around 900 titles per season, Isgrigg finds something for everyone. She says she’s noticed “a real hunger right now for any book that’s an intersection of nature, spirituality, and wonder,” and anticipates pitching scientist Alan Townsend’s forthcoming memoir This Ordinary Stardust (Grand Central, June). She also notes strong interest in Treehouse Town by Gideon Sterer, illustrated by Charlie Mylie (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers).

Last fall, she and a colleague staged a friendly competition to see who could sell the most copies of Maybell Eequay’s The Little Frog’s Guide to Self-Care (Octopus). “Most stores displayed healthy stacks where impulse purchases are made,” Isgrigg says. “I sold well over 1,000 copies in a few months.”

Having worked in merchandising at Borders and sales at Baker and Taylor, Isgrigg calls herself a “technology junkie” who likes to help people “untie knots” in day-to-day operations. “The books are why I’m here,” Isgrigg says, “but if I can help businesses be more successful, then I’m more successful, and Hachette’s more successful too.”