#SalesforcePrincess

Looking back at the Salesforce Princess realm in review, 2016 was a year of change.

To kick off the year I passed my Advanced Admin Certification. This gave me such a rush to hit the ground running for 2016. Getting this certification solidified for me that I am in deed a princess of power!

I moved to a new company. LifeLock feels like home. I’ve only been here since August, but I feels like it’s been years. I love the culture and I’m no longer a solo admin. It was so nice to take a couple days of vacation and not worry about the realm while I was away. I’m sure there will always be exciting opportunities and more changes to come in 2017.

Dreamforce 2016 was a totally different experience for me. It was the first time I didn’t have an agenda packed with sessions and HOTs. I spent my time with other Salesforce rockstars this year. I enjoyed cheering on my follow Phoenicians in their speaking sessions, volunteering at the admin meadow, and attending some amazing meetups with other user group leaders and MVPs.  It was nice to connect with community members that I chat with online and meet new fast friends. Don’t forget seeing U2 with 100,000 of my closest friends.

I finally became a Trailblazer with getting over 100 Trailhead badges! I loved refreshing my memory and challenging myself with some of the beginner developer badges. I learned tips and tricks to help with the Phoenix Women In Tech user group, career planning and story telling.

We added a co-leader to the Phoenix Women In Tech user group. Gloria Gutierrez @Msgsquared joined me to help with the group. As we plan meetings for the group, it is so exciting to have her perspective.

I spoke on my first customer panel for Salesforce this year. Sharing my story of career path with a live audience allowed me to check off an item on my bucket list. I plan to push myself further outside my comfort zone and come up with a topic to submit to Dreamforce 2017.

Salesforce goals for 2017:

• Add certifications to my bag of tricks (Join me at Destination Success in March. Vegas Baby!)
• Continue to grow the Phoenix WIT user group
• Get more Trailhead badges
• Continue to push myself to connect more with the Salesforce Community
• Help rock the 1st WITness Success conference with all the amazing Women in Tech. #WITConf17

I feel like Shera Princess of Power this week! I finally passed the Advance Admin certification!

Phew… what a load off of my mind.  The moment I passed I wanted to jump up and scream “YES! Take that!” but I maintained my composer and calmly walked out of the room with my 3 sheets of paper and pencil to check out.

How in the world did I do it? 15 weeks of Deepa Patel’s  Salesforce Certification Study Group with Tami Esling as my instructor plus weeks of Salesforce TrailHead and the support of my family and Salesforce User Group. I loved the study group. You are with your peers learning together. The instructor provides an assignment each week that really tests your knowledge. TrailHead is a similar path, but what I found valuable were the challenge questions. The questions are in the same voice as the cert exam questions. I also enjoyed the videos provided.

My pro tip for you is to use your 3 sheets of paper. I know that someone somewhere in my Salesforce life told me to use the 3 sheets of paper before, but they never said why or how. Well with a little help from the study group I found out the best use for this magical paper.

I’m a high anxiety, the bar is too high person; one that should probably not drink coffee but does. I’m really good at worrying myself into a hole of doubt and lack of confidence. To help with this Tami Esling shared a very valuable tip in the last session of our study group: use the magical paper!

Here is how: number from 1-60 in columns on the first sheet of paper. As you work through the exam mark the numbers.

• X out the number if you know your answer is correct. This will help you to gauge how many you have correct on your first pass.
• Circle the number if you don’t know the answer and mark it for review in the exam.
• If you have an idea of the answers that are not correct for a number write them down and cross them out. You can also mark the answers that you think are correct.  Mark the question for review in the exam.

Once you have done your first pass, count the numbers you have X’ed out. You have to get 40 correct to pass the exam. If you are well passed that you can review your marked for review and you are all set!

In addition to the first piece of paper, I used the other paper to write down the order of operations and some of the service console and knowledge items that I knew I needed to remember. This let me feel at ease that I had the info handy if I need it and could let that part out of my mind.

One last thing that helped me was to schedule the exam on a Monday after I could spend the weekend cramming in any last minute studying. I locked myself in the home office to re-watched videos, review my notes and research anything the I may have found challenging. The morning of my exam I did a quick pump up meditation and looked myself in the mirror, eye to eye and said “You are a ROCKSTAR! You know this, go NAIL IT!”

Best of luck to all that start this quest. You too are amazing and can be Shera Princess of Power!

In my career I’ve worked hard to climb the tower, which I will now call a jungle gym. I started out as a 19 year old looking to provide for my son and just pay the bills every month. I can now say that I more than provide for my family as the breadwinner! (Insert “Thank you wonderful husband who has my back”) But my climb is not over… I still have big goals to obtain.

In this path there have been more than a few obstacles. From being treated like a youngster that doesn’t know anything, to being judged by other females or just plain not given the chance that so many of my male co-works have because I was a female  with a child.

48 Things Women Hear In A Lifetime (That Men Just Don’t)

I pride myself in continuing to climb from vine to vine. In this climb I’ve collected a duel bachelors degree, my 201 Admin Salesforce certification and about half the badges on Trailhead. I continue my journey with my education in collecting certifications and just daily learning from great mentors and relationships that I make alone the way.

Some days, OK most days I feel like the picture below!

I’m juggling all of life’s craziness, plus work and all the needs for my family. The inevitable question hits… “How the hell do I do all of this and remain sane?!” Well truthfully you can’t… Let’s be honest people, we can’t do it all nor should we. And if by chance you do “have it all” bottle it and sell it!

Here are just a few books that have helped in along the climb. If you don’t have time to read like me, download them from the local library or Audible and listen to them in the car or while working out. AKA walking with the kids to the park! 😉

Making a plan

I started with Lean In the year the Sheryl Sandberg spoke at the Dreamforce keynote. It really didn’t hit me until a year later that I really needed to do something for myself and lean into my career. I took the first step in finding a job were I could grow.

Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead

Looking at the map

There is no easy button as much as I wish there was. Leadership and leaning into your career are hard and taxing. There are days that I want to throw in the towel. Those days I “phone a friend” or go running to just get it out of me. These 2 books helped me understand what kind of leader and map I want to follow.

Leadership BS

Unfinished Business

Asking for directions

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in my climb is to ASK! I’ve never been afraid to ask for something, just ask my mother. But it was figuring out how to ask in a way that will get the attention you are looking for. Whether the answer is yes or no at least I asked and asked in a way that I was heard.

Women Don’t Ask

Ask For It

I’ve even passed these books off to a couple of senior executives. (wink, wink)

One of my mentors shared this recently with me. I love this quote because we all need to support one another regardless if we agree or disagree.

I knew I needed more arrows in my Salesforce quiver. I have my Admin certification, but I feel like Katniss without her bow or enough arrows.

I decided at some point I needed to push myself to the next step. Advanced Admin certification here I come!

I was fortunate enough in another position that my company paid for my Admin certification. When I proposed to my manager that the next step in my career as a Salesforce Admin was to take the Advanced Admin class and test he said “Absolutely!” When it came to supporting me and getting the funds to take the class there was a huge hesitation.

So I did what any Salesforce admin would do with Premier support and watched all the videos I could get my hands on.

When that wasn’t enough, I proposed again to the same manager that the class would really help me to get that next step. He finally said, “Sure, we will pay for half the class when you pass the cert test.” Awesome… (sarcasm)

In the middle of all this life happened. I started a new position with another company and had my lovely daughter! I did end up taking the class here in Phoenix. I found it very valuable. Not only the information but the people and instructor were so helpful and supportive.

I continue to study for the Advanced Admin cert. I LOVE that Salesforce has come out with Trailhead! This tool is not only FREE but can help any level of user/admin/developer that wants to learn more about Salesforce. There are some great flash card websites out there as well. Just make sure you are checking the date they were created to ensure they are the current release. Quizlet.com has some great flashcard sets for any of the certifications. I found David Liu‘s blog a great help for pointers.

I’ve signed myself up to take the Advanced Admin certification at Dreamforce this year. Wish me luck!