PepUpTech Admin Stories

Today on the Salesforce Admins Podcast we’re speaking with Nicolas Grant, a graduate of the PepUp Tech Salesforce Boot Camp. Join us to hear about how he went from signing up for an internship knowing nothing about Salesforce to speaking at Midwest Dreaming, with the help of a program called PepUp Tech, and how you can take Salesforce things to Twitter. You should  subscribe for the full episode, but here are a few takeaways from our conversation with Nicolas Grant. The PepUp Tech Salesforce Bootcamp Nicolas got into Salesforce through the PepUp Tech Salesforce Bootcamp at Monroe College. Alum Selina Suarez is one of the founders (along with Amy Buccifero, Rebe De La Paz, Shonnah Hughes, and Stephanie Herrera), so she came back to do a organize it there last year. “On the flier the professor handed out to me it said outstanding students get an internship so I said, ‘Well, I’ve just got to be outstanding.’” When Nicolas was volunteering for Meals on Wheels in New Rochelle doing their website, he heard that one of the things they wanted was a database. Since he had just learned Salesforce, he volunteered to build it for them, with help from Selena as his mentor. From there, Selena introduced Nicolas to David Giller, the owner of Brainiate Consulting, where he was able to work as an intern on several different projects. “I learned a lot about the ecosystem and the different roles there are as a Salesforce professional.” He graduated from college on August 3rd, and passed his certification test the next day. From Jamaica to Chicago Nicolas was born and raised in Jamaica, and came to the US for school on an F1 visa. “I googled Salesforce because I had never heard of it,” and after doing some research he decided “it was big, it was fast, it was innovative, and I knew I wanted to get in there.” There was a bit of hesitation, however: “I was afraid that I didn’t know the right people because of my background.” Instead, Nicolas found a vibrant community waiting to help him grow and learn. From a young age, Nicolas was drawn to problem solving. He wanted to be a design engineer when he was growing up, because he wanted to figure out solutions that would make everyone’s life better. “For me, it’s understanding, before I can go in and solve I have to understand the problem,” Nicolas says, “you need to know what you don’t know so you know what you need to learn.” When it comes to Salesforce, Nicolas knows he’s aiming to be a Dev: “I have a passion for development, but I really want to start off as a Salesforce Admin.” Nicolas is looking ahead to what’s next, and he’d like to go to a consulting firm and “drink from the firehose.” He’s trying to get as much experience as he can on the platform, because he wants to still be client-facing even as a Dev. How You Can Make a Difference Mike and Gillian are meeting Nicolas live at Midwest Dreaming, at the Palmer House in Chicago, but it’s not his first Salesforce event. Beyond User Groups, he’s been to World Tour in New York twice already, and he spoke on diversity in tech with Mary Scotten and Selina. If you’re looking to help a Nicolas near you, PepUp tech is trying to expand their reach and they need your help. There’s a lot of ways to get involved, and you can really make a big impact on someone. You can reach out to Amy Buccifero (@ifitfloats), Rebe De La Paz (@rabedela), Shonnah Hughes (@SaaSy_Sistah), Stephanie Herrera (@steph_herrera_), and Selina Suarez (@selinaSFDC) on Twitter or through the Success Community. This is the second PepUp Tech Boot Camp, and they’re also adding a summer camp where they teach kids to code. Nicolas volunteers there, and his sisters are going there too. For more insights, make sure to follow Nicolas on Twitter (@versatgrant) We want to get your suggestions for guests on the podcast, and we need your help! So tweet your guest suggestions, support, etc. to @SalesforceAdmns to help us get...

Learn about PepUp Tech with Nicolas Grant

Today on the Salesforce Admins Podcast we talk to Shakil Kamran, a consultant at Now It Matters and winner of the NYC World Tour 2018 Golden Hoodie. We’ll hear his incredible story and the work he’s done to help the next generation of tech innovators. Join us as we talk about how coming to Dreamforce with a learning mindset helped Shakil start his career in tech, and how he’s giving back. You should  subscribe for the full episode, but here are a few takeaways from our conversation with Shakil Kamran. Going all in on Salesforce. “As I was growing up I had various jobs in many different industries,” Shakil says, “but I knew that at the end of the day technology ran everything.” While he felt like he was expected to become a doctor or a lawyer, he knew that he wanted to work his way into the tech industry. Starting out, Shakil had skipped college and went straight to work. He was in retail management for three years, “but I knew it was more of a job than a career.” He decided to pick up his education where he left off, and happened to attend a boot camp during his first year at Monroe College. The boot camp was hosted by none other than Selina Suarez, who created an organization called PepUp Tech (People Empowering People Up Through Technology). “My entire life changed after I met Selina,” Shakil says. After the four day session, he was able to transition into an internship, which took him to Dreamforce and Midwest Dreamin’. At the time Shakil was still working his retail job, 50-60 hours a week, on top of being a full-time student, husband, and father. He would come home around 11 or 12 o’clock and hop on Trailhead to get more experience. “Before I left for Dreamforce last year, my company gave me an ultimatum,” he says, “if you leave you can’t come back.” Ultimately, he decided that he had to take a leap of faith and trust that eventually it would work out. How Dreamforce changed everything for Shakil. At Dreamforce, Shakil met Tim Lockie, the founder of Now It Matters. “He believed in me,” Shakil says. He told his story of what it took for him to make it to San Francisco, and Tim decided to take a chance. But that’s simplifying a lot of hard work, and a lot of uncertainty. “It hit me more when I landed: I’m in San Francisco and I don’t know what I’m doing here.” “I just basically spoke to as many people as I could,” Shakil says, and he decided to focus on learning more about Salesforce. He was at a Women in Tech event at Dreamforce when he met Tim and was able to focus on the value he brought with his background in sales and marketing. In other words, it’s not just about what you can get from the community but what you can give back as well. The importance of giving back. “I want to inspire the next generation of change leaders and thought leaders that are coming behind me,” Shakil says, and so he set to work creating a partnership between PepUp Tech and the City University of New York, the third-largest university system in the country. For him, it was a moral obligation. Because a Salesforce career isn’t like a traditional one (like a doctor or a lawyer), it’s important to help folks from all backgrounds understand what’s out there. “When you’re on the other side of the door, you’re like, ‘Wow, I didn’t know this role even existed,’” he says, and taking that type of knowledge back to the community can change people’s lives. “Where I come from, we were taught that nothing is free,” Shakil says, so sharing the incredible resources that are Trailhead, PepUp Tech, and the Salesforce Ohana is key to helping people see themselves in tech. “Everyone wants to see you succeed here, everyone wants to see you move up and do great things in life,” he says. “If you do have an opportunity in front of you,” he says, “just do it and figure out the rest later.” Resources  PepUp Tech: https://www.pepuptech.org/ Trailhead: Build Your Career...

Shakil Kamran Says Just Do It

Today on the Salesforce Admins Podcast we’ve got Marciana Davis, a Project Analyst at Yurgosky. She came to Salesforce through PepUp Tech and has done a lot of work to give back to the community and help others get into the ecosystem. Join us as we talk about Marciana’s job breaking things as a QA analyst, how giving back can help you grow, and the key qualities of an Awesome Admin. You should  subscribe for the full episode, but here are a few takeaways from our conversation with Marciana Davis. How PepUp Tech got Marciana hooked on Salesforce. Marciana started out studying development at school. When she got to Monroe College, she was still set on that path, but it didn’t quite seem right. She approached her professor and said, “Listen, I love computers but I’ve really found a niche for databases,” which led the professor to recommend an upcoming Salesforce bootcamp put on by PepUp Tech. What attracted Marciana to databases in the first place was “the way that you can easily manipulate them to get information that you need.” As Marciana says, “I’ve been a scatterbrain since birth,” so the ability to organize and sort information in so many different ways while still working on one thing was amazing to her. The amazing community that made Marciana feel welcome. At the boot camp, there’s a lot of information to take in over the four days, “but as you gain more experience on the platform and go into user group meetings—that definitely solidified my career path into Salesforce,” Marciana says. When she finally got a chance to free up her calendar and go to one, the people that she met and the passion they had for the platform was life-changing. “The meeting I went to was about inclusion,” Marciana says, “and I felt that for a long time in my past I haven’t been included as much as everyone else.” It struck a chord with her that the Salesforce Ohana makes it a priority and holds it as a core value. Breaking things, professionally. In Marciana’s job as a Project Analyst in the QA department at Yurgosky Consulting, “I basically break things and make sure that the engineers are fixing it.” That involves a lot of creativity, trying to do the same thing as many ways as she can think of to make sure that everything’s working. “All of this is clicking, folks, there’s no coding involved,” she says. For Marciana, the key to being an Awesome Admin is attention to detail: “You have to make sure you know what the client wants and how they want it.” At the same time, you need to cultivate patience, “because clients tend to change their minds,” she says. Finally, being a problem solver is key because of all the troubleshooting and learning you need to do as part of the job. How giving back can help you grow. Looking forward, Marciana is focused on giving back to the community by volunteering for PepUp Tech. She’s worked for the virtual boot camp course and is looking to volunteer in person. “Like my mom said, you didn’t get here alone and giving back is a way of saying thank you,” she says. She’s been helping students for the past couple weeks, and when they tell her what a blessing she’s been in their lives she says, “No, you’re a blessing because you’re helping me study for the certification.” Resources  Trailmix by Alex Slack:  BA &amp; QA Training  Social  Marciana: @traveling_dev Gillian: @gilliankbruce Salesforce Admins: @SalesforceAdmns  Love our podcasts? Subscribe today or  review us on iTunes! Full Show Transcript Gillian Bruce:&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Welcome to the Salesforce Admins Podcast, where we talk about product, community, and careers to help you become a more awesome Salesforce Admin. I'm Gillian Bruce. This week, we've got another great pep up tech story coming for you. We're talking to Marciana Davis. She's a project analyst at Yugorski, and she also learned about Salesforce...

I Do QA (I Break Things) with Marciana Davis

Today on the Salesforce Admins Podcast we have another great PepUp Tech story from Sasha Manford, Salesforce Admin at Carl Marks Advisors. We get a chance to hear her amazing career story and how she moved from a power user to a full-blown admin. Join us as we talk about building your career, Selina Suarez’s amazing mentorship, and the entrepreneurial spirit you need to be a great Salesforce admin. You should  subscribe for the full episode, but here are a few takeaways from our conversation with Sasha Manford. The Salesforce Princess. Like many admins, “my journey to Salesforce started accidentally,” Sasha says. She was working at a company that really invested in employee training and happened to use Salesforce to keep track of everything. “I remember the first day of orientation I was so enamored with the platform,” she says. She took to it quickly as a user, and when the previous admin left she took over the role. It came with a great new nickname: the Salesforce Princess. As a new admin, Sasha needed a lot of help to get started, “but that’s the great thing about the Salesforce ecosystem—everybody wants to help you out,” she says. Between Trailhead and user groups, she felt fully supported by the community as she grew into her new role. Her company had major struggles with Salesforce, however, so after about a year, she had to leave her position. Before that, however, Sasha attended a Women in Tech User Group meeting where she met Selina Suarez. The amazing mentorship of Selina Suarez and PepUp Tech. As soon as Sasha told Selina her story, “she immediately was like, ‘Here’s my number, text me, come to the Word Tour and find me.’” When she went to that event (on her birthday!), Selina took her around and introduced her to just about everybody. “It was the most magical day of my life,” she says, and just like that Sasha was signed up for the Spring semester of the PepUp Tech Bootcamp. Sasha actually got a job before class had even begun, in part thanks to a book Selina recommended called Knock ‘em Dead. Even though she had a Salesforce position, the bootcamp was super valuable. “I was able to learn a lot of stuff I never knew I was able to do on the platform,” she says. Currently, Sasha is a Salesforce admin at Carl Marks Advisors, a financial services firm. When she was interviewing, she was nervous because she only had a year of admin experience under her belt. Throughout the process, however, Selina was like a guiding angel. “I told Selina that they’re wary of me because I don’t have my certification,” she says, “and Selina was like, ‘Who cares? Read the book, study up on the company, and knock ‘em dead.’” The keys to being an awesome admin (it’s not just your tech skills). “Being a Salesforce admin I feel like I’ve grown so much—it’s helped me have a voice,” Sasha says. “Being an admin, you really have to have an entrepreneurial spirit,” she says, “you’re in charge of the platform, you are the guru, you are the expert.” Because of that, you’re in charge of your own work and responsible for your own growth. “People look to me for help, and to me, that’s the biggest achievement ever,” she says. After getting the job, Sasha started immediately looking for problems that needed to be solved to prove that they hired the right person. She fixed her company’s Box integration, created custom dashboards for a user, and generated a timeline to clean up their instance. Moving forward, Sasha is focusing on the finer points of being a great admin. “A lot of people think that being an admin is technical; it’s technical but you also have to have really great people skills,” she says. “You’re going to be dealing with a lot of people who have different personalities who don’t want to use the platform, and you have to persuade them.” It’s challenging, but it also means that there’s something to look forward to every day at work....

Discover Your Admin Voice with Sasha Manford

This week on the Salesforce Admins Podcast, we’ve got Taisha Inesti, Business Manager at AHRC New York City and PepUp Tech alum. We come to you live from a bar in the NYC Finacial District to talk about her journey into the Salesforce ecosystem who is just getting started. Join us as we talk about how she became a liaison between the tech and people parts of her organization, her experience in PepUp Tech, and how she’s approaching breaking into a Salesforce career. You should  subscribe for the full episode, but here are a few takeaways from our conversation with Taisha Inesti. Working to make a difference. Taisha, who goes by Tai, originally wanted to be a lawyer. However, like most of our guests on the pod, life happened and she ended up on a different road that led her to tech. For Tai, it was becoming a single mother at nineteen. She needed to get to work to support her family, so she started at a nonprofit that provides behavioral health services to patients with disabilities. First, she provided direct care, eventually moving into admin and eventually became the Systems Manager. “That’s when my love for systems and technology came into play,” she says. At her agency, Tai is trying to overhaul the systems that are being used, but it’s tough to get momentum, especially when critical day-to-day operations depend upon them. “They’re not using enterprise systems, they’re not even electronic medical records,” she says, “we’re recording on the backend to basically make a bill.” Tai is in charge of making sure they have clean data to make sure everything’s running smoothly, and that they can satisfy their reporting requirements. Translating from IT gruff talk to human. As Tai got more involved in the data side of her nonprofit, she started working with the IT department, which at first fulfilled the stereotype of being a bit rough around the edges. She was a fast study and wasn’t afraid to speak up when trainings had the wrong tone. People took notice, and so she was able to pick up some coding. Eventually, they had a special position created specifically for her to help IT with training. “A lot of people, when they’re learning, they’re learning without understanding why things happen the way they happen,” Tai says, “but when you understand the way something works it’s a lot easier for you to be able to help another person understand that too.” She had a talent for understanding the Why behind a thing, and communicating that clearly to the actual people who needed to execute that task. When Salesforce entered the picture (Selina Suarez strikes again). During this time, Tai also went back and finished her degree in Public Affairs and Legal Studies. She got to design her own major, so she focused on IT, and project management, supplementing that with Khan Academy courses in Java and more to feed her curiosity. “I just wanted to keep learning, and I wish I had heard about Salesforce back then because I would have been a Trailhead master,” she says. So how did Tai get to Salesforce? A childhood friend of 25 years who happens to be Selina Suarez. As Selina was learning Salesforce and getting more involved, she kept telling Tai to come along for the ride. When Selina started PepUp Tech, naturally, Tai got involved. She went to her first Dreamforce this year, and the experience was amazing. “I cried so many times, I was overwhelmed by the love and community that exists within the Salesforce ecosystem,” she says. Tai was particularly moved by Marc Benioff’s discussion of “inclusive capitalism,” the idea that business can help make social change real and achievable. “I think that Salesforce is breaking generational curses, that it’s making the world a better place,” she says. “People who would have been overlooked—they’re in the ecosystem and they’re building and they’re thriving,” she says. Resources  Trailhead:  Build Your Career in the Salesforce Ecosystem...

Aspire to be an Admin with Taisha Inesti

This week on the Salesforce Admins Podcast, we talk to Saray Rosales, Associate Consultant at Now It Matters, with another great PepUp Tech alumni story. We learn how she first met Salesforce as an end user and now is building her career in the platform. Join us as we talk about how she got started with PepUp Tech, and what she’s learned as a new Salesforce admin to help herself and help herself and help others. You should  subscribe for the full episode, but here are a few takeaways from our conversation with Saray Rosales. Driven to help other people. When she was growing up, Saray really just wanted to help other people: “I wanted to impact people and do something big for others.” In her new role at Now It Matters, she gets to do just that. “Every day is a new day, something challenging and something new and I love it.” Saray didn’t necessarily know off the bat that Salesforce would be the way to do what she dreamed of, but the company she was working for happened to use the platform, so she encountered it as an end user. “I wanted to learn more about Salesforce, so I went to the World Tour where I met Selena Suarez, the founder of PepUp Tech,” she says. She did the boot camp program and it changed everything: “I fell in love with Salesforce. I fell in love with the company, the inclusion that it represents, and I really look forward to learning more about it.” How Saray relies on her community. So how did Saray end up going to World Tour when she was really just an end user at that point? “We didn’t have an admin at the company back then, so I was feeling like we didn’t know what to do with this amazing tool that we had,” she says. She took the boot camp to learn more about the backend in order to do more with the platform. “The boot camp was amazing,” Saray says, “I got to meet amazing people that I’m still friends with and very close with. I tell them that they are my Ohana, my family here, my support system, they opened so many doors for me. They actually changed my life for the better.” As studied more, Saray quickly saw why the admin role was so important to the platform. “I’m learning how you can make things better for your users. How can you make everything more efficient for them and easier for them?” she says. “You see the backend of things, and you analyze all the processes and figure out a way to make things better.” In other words, you help other people do their jobs better. Proving herself in a new role. At Now It Matters, Saray is learning something new every day. “My coworkers are amazing, they’re very patient with me, and they take the time to teach me things because there’s always something you can learn and do better,” she says. When she started out she was on a two-week trial which was understandably a little nerve-wracking, so she reached out to the PepUp Tech community to ask for advice. “They said, ‘Just take a step back and look at the big picture of things, don’t get overwhelmed,’” she says, “‘look at the small pieces and put it all together.’” From the start, Saray faced some tough challenges. She needed to solve a problem related to finance, but she had no idea what to do because it wasn’t in her background. However, she realized that she could use it as an opportunity to prove that she can learn quickly and take on new problems, so she took a deep breath and dove in. “I read a lot and reached out to people that I know who could help me,” she says, and it ended up being a big win for her. “There are so many things that you don’t know as a new admin,” she says, “and that’s why you’ve got to take a step back and relax.” Resources  Trailhead:   Build Your Admin Career on Salesforce Trailmix Discover Salesforce Career Paths   PepUp Tech  Social  Salesforce Admins: @SalesforceAdmns Saray: @SarayKRosales Gillian: @gilliankbruce  Love our podcasts? Subscribe today or  review us on iTunes! Full Show Transcript

Driven to Help People With Saray Rosales

Today on the Salesforce Admins Podcast, we’ve brought Marciana Davis back to the podcast. One thing that’s happened since the last time we spoke is that she’s started working at a new position, as Salesforce Administrator at Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. For the next 3 weeks, we have episodes recorded live from the Salesforce Worldtour in New York City. Marciana was last on the show about a year ago, so it’s fun to hear how 2019 went for her and what she’s looking forward to in 2020. Join us as we talk about how volunteering can help you stay current, why the new year is a great opportunity to set some goals, and what her resolution is for Salesforce admins. You should  subscribe for the full episode, but here are a few takeaways from our conversation with Marciana Davis. From breaking things to fixing things. The last time we had Marciana on the show, the episode was titled, “I Do QA (I Break Things).” So what’s changed since last we spoke? “I fix things now,” she says, “being the Salesforce awesome admin I’ve always dreamed of.” She works to resolve all manner of issues that may come up in her org, and she’s been loving every minute of it. She’s gotten her seventh Superbadge this year, as well as a certification as a Marketing Cloud Email Specialist.&nbsp; Marciana is, as one friend puts it, “the Evangelist of Newcomers” at PepUp Tech. “I help students with badges, Superbadges, and it keeps my awesome admin skills sharp,” she says. You always have to learn more when you’re a teacher, so she gets back just as much as she gives in the process. New year, new you. Looking back on 2019, Marciana’s advice for her past self would come down to three words: trust the process. “You’re not going to know everything, and that’s OK,” she says, “it’s a learning process, you’re going to bump your head a little bit.” The key is stick through it and trust that you’ll learn and grow and, eventually, be in the right place at the right time. The best thing to do is to keep learning, so that way when you get an opportunity you’ll be able to step up. To look ahead to 2020, Marciana is planning to do a lot more speaking events. She’s set her sights on South Florida Dreaming, so hopefully, you catch her there where she’ll share her approach to getting the most out of the learning resources available to admins. She also has a 2020 resolution to travel more, so you’ll be able to find her at Midwest Dreamin’, WITness Success, TrailheaDX, DC Worldtour, and Dreamforce. So, basically everything. “I love Salesforce so much that I can’t help it, Marciana says. If you’re having trouble thinking of your own New Year’s resolution, Marciana can help you out. “Find a senior admin and have them mentor you,” she says, “with more experience, you’ll learn a heck of a lot more than just getting certified.” Training is one thing, but getting more acquainted with the business processes she’s responsible for has been so valuable in learning how to apply her knowledge. Resources   I Do QA (I Break Things)  Trailhead: Admin Super Set   Business Administration Specialist&nbsp;  Lightning Experience Reports &amp; Dashboards Specialist  Security Specialist&nbsp;  Social  Salesforce Admins: @SalesforceAdmns&nbsp; Marciana: @traveling_dev Mike: @MikeGerholdt  Love our podcasts? Subscribe today or  review us on iTunes! Full Show Transcript Mike Gerholdt: Welcome to the Salesforce Admins Podcast where we talk about product, community, and career to help you become a more awesome Salesforce Admin. I'm Mike Gerholdt and for the next few weeks we are going to be recording live at the Salesforce World Tour here in New York city. So outside of our normal comfort zone and catching up in some instances like today with Marciana Davis who used to be at another company in the beginning of this year, not to give you a spoiler, but has moved onto a new professional career and so it's a fun time. We're...

PepUpTech Admin Stories

The Salesforce Admins Podcast