Salesforce Women in Tech Group: A Day in the Life of our Associate Consultants
We were delighted to welcome Anja and Papya to the Inardua team earlier this year as part of our Associate Consultant training programme.
This week they attended the brilliant Salesforce Women in Tech Group in London, and we wanted to share Anja and Papya’s thoughts on the day and their experiences with the Salesforce world so far!
Anja
Wow, where do I begin?
I just had the best work day I have ever had, and it's only 6 short weeks into my time here.
But let's backtrack a little...
My journey with Salesforce began as an end user in 2014 and I recognised immediately the different level it was on compared to other CRM systems I had worked with before. Long story short, I worked my way into the IT team of the VAT Consultancy I worked at. There we exclusively developed on Salesforce and I became QA Manager testing our solutions and improving their UX.
In 2020 I was made redundant, and after some CPD and encouragement from a friend/ex-colleague I took the plunge applying for Salesforce Admin roles knowing what I really wanted to do was build solutions! But it was a way in and I felt I needed to know the basics so I persisted.
At some point another former colleague brought Inardua's Associate Consultant Programme to my attention and it just felt perfect for me. I wanted to learn by doing and figure out my path within Salesforce. Luckily I got the job, and I still feel like this every day - lucky!
From the moment I started I felt like I belonged, like this was where I was meant to be, and everything leading up to this was literally that - leading me here. Now every week is a challenge but I can't wait for Mondays to come around because the learning is so rewarding.
I wouldn't really call myself an extrovert and I LOVE working remotely but I guess because I feel so at home I wanted to meet some of my new colleagues in person as soon as possible.
For ages I'd wanted to attend the Salesforce Women in Tech Group London meet-up but couldn't make it in time from Brighton so I had the idea to make a work day out of it. It was the perfect opportunity to organise a meet-up with our London-based colleagues. This month's event was even held at Salesforce HQ so as the cherry on top we even had a room booked in the building!
I think my jaw literally dropped when I walked into the Heron Tower in the morning and saw the huge fish tank. I felt like such a tourist and/or excited toddler, and of course completely out of place... I think I had a little dance on the spot then composed myself and cooly walked to check in.
From there on out the day was just a dream, to meet my new colleagues in such a snazzy (I said it!) space somehow made it more real that my dream was coming true and it was just amazing to connect in person. We took the time to get to know eachother better and got a chance to troubleshoot some things which would've been tricky on screen. It was a simultaneously productive and relaxed day.
After work we didn't have to go very far for my first ever Salesforce WiT event which was just upstairs. I was happy I wasn't by myself as generally these events can be awkward, you know they can! Not this one though. I would've happily attended that meet-up by myself because I wouldn't have stayed that way for very long. We already made friends in the queue for registration and this just continued throughout the event.
We heard a very interesting panel discussion about cultural differences and how we may navigate these to have a fulfilling international career.
We were encouraged to "brag" because we're not lucky to end up where we do, we are capable and deserving!
We laughed, shared and applauded each other.
So why did I have the best work day ever?
...because I met some of my new colleagues.
...because I felt the power of women championing women.
...because Salesforce is more than a CRM, it's a CRCOMMUNITY.
Anja, Andy, Wesley, Papya, and Eddie at Salesforce Tower
Papya
On 28th Feb we had our first work day with our colleagues Eddie, Anja, Wesley and Andy in the Salesforce Tower. It was lovely to see colleagues in person, have a tea or coffee, catch up and go for lunch. We even managed to fit in some shadowing so that we could see the amazing work they were doing with the businesses we work with.
My fellow Associate Salesforce Consultant, Anja and I stayed on until the evening to revel in the Salesforce Women in Tech (WIT) monthly meet, network and munchies. It was full of inspiring women about to start working or already successfully leading a Salesforce career.
After grabbing a couple of sandwiches and a drink, whilst chatting to women from various businesses, we were asked to get seated after the charismatic organiser Louise Locke led the evening.
She warmly greeted us, shared future meeting dates as well as key Salesforce events in the next couple of months. A key moment of the evening is when we are encouraged to share good news like if you were promoted, got a new job or learned/gained a new certification. A communal celebration of each others achievements, something I've not seen done anywhere else.
We were then led into a panelist of three other women by Stefanie Bialas who highlighted the key moments from her career and working within different cultures and what she had learned from those experiences.
Rochelle Allen, Steph Stylianou and Fiona Gao talked through examples of working in different countries and how they were treated and how they learned to adapt and feed into those cultures. They elaborated on gaining feedback and how feedback can be interpreted in cultures from around the world. It was extremely insightful to learn about their international careers and what it is like to work in global teams.
We ended the evening on a high by playing duck races and random card picker for some fluffy swag.
I came away high on the thought that such support and community groups are essential, as is the importance to create safe, inclusive and educational spaces for all.
