January 24, 2024 • 52 mins
Have you ever felt like you're faking it, waiting for the moment when everyone discovers you're not as skilled as they think? Megan Tuano joins the show to unravel the often-unspoken complexities of imposter syndrome in the Salesforce ecosystem. Megan's leap from ed tech into the realm of a Salesforce business analyst and YouTube influencer offers not just an inspiring narrative, but also practical approaches for tackling self-doubt head-on. Her story is a testament to the power of perseverance, the value of community, and the extraordinary results of sharing one's journey with authenticity.
The path to overcoming the inner critic isn't walked alone; it's about cultivating support that weaves through personal and professional life. Our conversation highlights how her networks have been instrumental in shaping careers and buffering against the isolating effects of imposter syndrome. We probe into effective communication strategies for new admins, emphasizing the significance of service-level experiences and the art of asking the right questions to foster understanding and build trust within the tech space.
Wrapping up, we spotlight the necessity of community and the courage to be authentic in a field where solitude can be the norm. We share our insights into networking, the creation of genuine content, and the importance of stepping out of comfort zones. So, if you're ready to journey through the highs and lows of personal growth and professional development, this episode is for you—rich with stories and strategies for navigating the tech world with confidence and true self-expression.
Megan is currently a Salesforce Business Analyst and content creator in the ecosystem. From working at Salesforce Ben to being on YouTube, she is known for her work in helping others navigate and excel in the tech industry, particularly Salesforce. Her goal is to continue sharing her journey in hopes to inspire others through the process.
linkedin.com/in/megantuano/
salesforcewithmegan.com
https://www.youtube.com/c/SalesforcewithMegan
Latinas in Salesforce Group - https://www.linkedin.com/groups/12813203/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Good morning and good afternoon.
My name is Jacob Catalano andwelcome to another episode of
Admins of Tomorrow.
Where three weeks end at 2024and it feels like it's already
been two months, when time justdoesn't seem to be going by fast
enough, it's really easy forthoughts of doubt or stress to
overwhelm your day to day.
When I start spiraling likethat, it's easy for me to feel
(00:35):
like either I'm not good enoughor I'm just not doing a good
enough job in or out of work.
So in this week's episode wetalked through how admins
overcome the feeling of impostersyndrome.
Now, I know this feels like areally buzzwordy topic, but I
personally feel that in theSalesforce ecosystem, the things
we do is unique.
It's a unique career pathoverall, one that really puts
(00:57):
people in situations where theyhave to know everything about
Salesforce for an entire companyand that can be really
overwhelming.
So today we sit down with MeganTewano to talk through her
journey in the ecosystem and howshe's overcome imposter
syndrome as an admin in theworkplace.
Megan is a tech consultant andhas a YouTube and blog,
(01:18):
salesforce for Megan, where thewhole premise is around how we
explore different areas of tech,but also how we navigate the
crazy world of Salesforce andthe crazy world of being in tech
and how these real lifeexperiences can help other
people grow.
So, without further ado, let'smeet Megan.
Megan is currently a Salesforcebusiness analyst and content
(01:41):
creator in the ecosystem.
From working at Salesforce Bento being on YouTube, she is
known for her work in helpingothers navigate and excel in the
tech industry, particularlySalesforce.
Her goal is to continue sharingher journey in hopes to inspire
others through the process.
So let's not waste any more timeand dive on in Phrases.
(02:13):
We'll hear on stage from anactor often, but I really do
appreciate it.
I really do appreciate you forjumping in, diving in with me to
kind of talk about yourexperience in the ecosystem as
well as kind of the topic ofthis week's episode being
imposter syndrome and kind ofhow we find that balance and how
we deal with perceptions frompeople who are higher up over us
(02:36):
or people who are equals, andwhat people are going to think
about how we engage in theecosystem, the content we put in
the ecosystem, how we holdourselves in the ecosystem.
So very excited to talk withyou about all of this today.
So before we dive into theactual topic, I always want
people to kind of get abackground, share their story of
(02:57):
how they got involved with thework that we do within
Salesforce.
So I'd love if you could take alittle bit kind of introduce
yourself and kind of share yourbackground from getting into the
ecosystem.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Yeah, definitely, so I'm really excited to be here
and really excited to talk tothe audience as well.
It's a topic that I deal with alot, so really excited for it.
But I started Salesforce,ironically, after I graduated in
2011,.
I had an undergraduate workedin the study abroad department
(03:31):
and for the graduate school andat that time I had no idea what
I wanted to do.
So my co-worker at the timefound a job working in the ed
tech space and that companyironically used Salesforce, but
Salesforce classic.
I was not a fan but, of course,didn't know any other
difference until later on.
(03:53):
But, just worked there.
For about four years I workedfor Syracuse University and then
also for UC Berkeley with thedata science programs and that's
when data science was like thathot new topic and that really
gave me the introduction to liketech and I think that data
science was so popular.
It's like, oh, I have a financebackground or a project
management background and itjust intertwined really well.
(04:14):
So a little bit later on Ithink I got really inspired by
the students.
I mean, working with UCBerkeley students was just
incredible.
You just get to hear abouteverything that they're doing at
their companies and it'sinspirational really.
At that time my uncle worked atCapgemini and he said well,
(04:36):
you're using Salesforce now whydon't you go ahead and just kind
of learn it?
Like learn about the backend.
You're making reports, you'redoing things and I'm going to
hence on was very limited accessback then.
So reports was all reports andlist views.
There's the only thing that wecould really do.
But I think I mean, like manyand really why, I started my
(04:58):
YouTube channel, which I'll talkabout in a few minutes, but I
took a little while tounderstand what Salesforce
really was.
Go ahead was a great platform,but I think for different type
of users.
Like you just need a little bitmore focus or somebody to help
you.
So it did take me quite a fewmonths to get certified in three
(05:19):
fails later but got certifiedIronically, started just finding
Facebook groups and it was justbecoming really popular and I
ended up volunteering at OxfordUniversity with two other people
globally and we were helpingthe main consultant like row,
the Salesforce org, there.
So that really gave me likethat volunteer experience where
(05:42):
I eventually fully made thecareer transition from working
at UC Berkeley to going to asmaller consultancy firm called
Torrent Consultant.
Absolutely loved the firm.
They have a huge office withinGuatemala and, being Hispanic,
latina and tech, it was huge forme.
(06:02):
They were just company basedand I think the really big thing
there was just finally makingthat pivot into tech.
I finally felt like I was oneof my students.
So fast forward a little bitlater I really enjoyed
Salesforce.
But at that time there weren'tYouTube videos or weren't really
many, and during COVID, only myhusband to talk to.
(06:27):
I decided to start a YouTubechannel.
I always joke so much talkingyou can do between each other
caught on YouTube started thechannel ended up working for
focus on force Now also work forSalesforce.
Ben is an expert authordelivering like career based
content, which is pretty cool.
(06:47):
Love working for them.
But it's been a journey and Ithink that taking the skills
from working at a call centerand study abroad departments and
just being very people focusedand then sharing that journey
online, like whether it'sYouTube or LinkedIn, it's just,
it's been.
(07:07):
I'm grateful, I'm grateful forwhere it is and it's been a lot
of fun.
So, yeah, that's a littlebackground.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
That's fantastic and to kind of find that medium that
makes the most sense for youand to make a difference, make a
positive difference for peopleout there is really really
awesome Knowing that yourcontent was kind of more focused
around kind of your journey.
(07:34):
I want to get an idea of whatkind of again translating that
back to the topic at hand forimposter syndrome.
Going from working at theuniversity you transition.
Just because I've linked andstalked you to Slalom and just
knowing the work you've donethrough those companies, at what
(07:58):
point do you kind of realize amI worthy, am I good enough to
be doing this?
Should I be the one to begiving back in this mindset?
When did that imposter syndromekind of click for you and you
had to start realizing somethings need a change?
Speaker 2 (08:14):
I think from the moment that I posted my first
YouTube video, I think I startedto post like four or five times
and I deleted it.
I think that every time I gofrom just either creating
something like I've startedpodcasts or YouTube channel or
Discord servers, I don't know Ihave this trait in my
(08:34):
personality where it's like justdo it or you're going to regret
it, and it does take me a fewtimes to like get there.
But I think what really helpedin the long run was like yes,
I'm not posting techy relatedcontent, what people are kind of
used to seeing and I would deemthat as, of course, more
helpful like how to solvevalidation rules or build this
(08:56):
flow, and that's just not me,and I think I just needed to
stick true to A what brought mejoy and to what I thought would
help others.
I actually did end up taking aLinkedIn course because I was
curious about the platform Ifeel like I was there but not
really there and I took thisfour week course with 20 other
(09:17):
people on it from all over theworld.
It was so cool.
Everybody just kind of wantedto learn about LinkedIn but also
kind of post more about theirindividual kind of job and what
they did.
So that instructor actuallytaught me that 1% of people post
every day on LinkedInespecially, and you'll find
you're kind of like people whowant to see your content and I
(09:39):
think if you're delivering withjust a positive intent, with
being who you are, stayingauthentic to who you are, people
can tell that.
But people really enjoy it.
So there's not a day to kind ofrewind back, that I don't get
nervous about posting with myimposter syndrome.
Are people going to like this?
Is this worth reading?
(10:00):
Are they going to think it'stoo personal?
Where is the line with LinkedIn?
I think sometimes, or even onYouTube, I've made the pivot so
many times from going from likestaying super techie to don't go
out of that bubble to doingmore lifestyle blogs and I think
along the way, people are goingto like your content or not and
I think that's the reality ofthe internet and that's okay.
(10:22):
As long as I'm making thingsthat bring me joy and I can tell
bring others joy, I'm going tokeep kind of delivering that
content.
Imposter syndrome never goesaway.
I'm dealing with it right nowwith an upcoming post.
But, I think you just kind ofgot to close your eyes and just
go boom done.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Yeah, and I very much can relate to that especially.
I've talked about in previousepisodes just even for me and my
kind of similar situation ofjust putting this podcast out
there.
I had started episodes, I hadstarted the designing for things
of what I wanted for this,probably half a dozen times, and
(11:02):
after three years I finallyjust bit the bullet and said
we're going to make this happen,we're going to put it out there
For admins just getting started, for folks who are kind of on
that fence to you to your earlypoint, you had a relative kind
of say you work in the ecosystem, why not just take that step,
take that jump For you when youwere first getting started in
(11:24):
that regard?
Did you have any kind ofsituations in a similar regard,
kind of somewhat on thetechnical side, but just on the
hey, you're now the subjectmatter expert, you're the person
who's supposed to know all thestuff about this, get stuff done
.
Was there a time in that kindof period of your career where
you were kind of thinking whatdo I need to do to not feel like
(11:45):
I shouldn't be here, Ishouldn't have a seat at this
table?
Speaker 2 (11:49):
Yeah, and I think even now, being a senior
business analyst, I work withthe team of men and I think as a
again Latina in tech and onlywomen in the room sometimes I
think that imposter syndrome inmy career hits very much.
So I think that I just need toor what I guess I usually do is
(12:18):
I try and establishrelationships with each of my
team members so they can knowthat I'm like actually here.
I think establishingrelationships with people is a
really big part in me and themtrusting each other.
But I also think I play my ownmusic in the back, like if I get
a little insecure, there's asong playlist that I have of
like hey, you're there, you'vemade it this far, like you
(12:40):
represent somebody in the roomthat people eventually are
looking up to.
But I think just the feeling ofjust feeling like you don't
belong, sometimes being a littlebit younger in a room of older
people, which is kind of what Iexperienced now working at my
company we work on a governmentlevel, so people range in all
ages I feel like you just haveto stay confident and I have to
(13:04):
remind myself all the time likeyou've done the studying, you've
passed the exams, you know whatyou're talking about and if you
don't, you'll come back and letthem know you don't and figure
it out.
But just saying I got this andif I don't got this, I have a
team that can back me up with it, I think you just repeat, it's
repeating of that.
And I think on the outside ofyour career, you also have to do
things that build you up, likeworking out, like competing
(13:26):
against yourself and stuff likethat.
You have to make sure thatcareer physical and then outside
hobbies that you're there onall three levels.
That's really important.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
No, I absolutely love that and I think it's something
we don't touch enough about ofhow do you, how does your
non-work activities affect your,what you're dealing with at
your day to day?
So, diving into you mentioned,you have your group, your team
that you work with and you'vebuilt those relationships.
(13:58):
I absolutely adore that becausethat kind of drives home the
point of community and findingthat support system.
I'm curious for outside of yourwork, or maybe and maybe it's
not outside of your work, maybeit's at the job but what are you
actively doing to kind of buildup that support system to find
(14:20):
those folks at your job Withinthe community, whether it's a
user group or it's just a groupof people you go grab a beer
with after work's over?
But, like, what are you doingand how are you relying on that
support system to help kind ofvent but also get the positive
feedback you need to know that?
No, I do know.
I think that's a great question.
(14:47):
So I think at the beginning,when I even started my YouTube
channel, I was very adamantabout, like, finding a mentor.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
But then when I started and I launched the
Salesforce Professionals Discordserver, it was more of just hey
, I need a team, I need somebodythat doesn't know what or does
know what I know or don't know,but somebody that could fill in
the gaps somewhere.
And I think that my communityquickly went from like oh, I
(15:26):
need to find one mentor, and onementor only, to having an
abundance of friends.
And that's how I built myecosystem.
That kind of went from runningthe group running the Salesforce
Discord server with eightpeople developers, architects,
people who wanted to run thebook club and I think that
allowed me to find differentpeople who specialize in
(15:46):
different things.
And another thing that reallyhelped was working with
Salesforce Ben.
I get to have the privilege ofcreating articles just based off
my ideas and they allow me tofreely go with that.
But I've been able to mostrecently create an article for
(16:08):
military veteran woman and thenalso military spouse.
So I've been able to open upfive new doors just by
interviewing people.
And I think by doing thingslike this, like podcasts and
posting and sharing youropinions and your thoughts and
your progression, I think thatopens up the door for people to
number one, feel morecomfortable coming to you and be
like hey, jake, you're going tobe a great mentor.
(16:30):
Hey, jacob, I don't understandproject management.
Can you tell me what this isabout?
And I think opening up the doorin the most genuine way, where
you're approachable, is theeasiest thing that you can do,
instead of trying to find, likethat, one person that knows one
thing, but the reality iseverybody knows something else,
and then you'll help them there.
So that's really been my key isjust to be friends and kind of
(16:54):
put that professional thingaside, that relationship where
it's like, like you said, go geta beer.
Like let's get to know eachother on a different level where
we can kind of like vent andtalk, and that's opened up some
pretty big doors.
Especially in the recent layoffthat I had, we were able to
talk about salary, we were ableto talk about like the realities
(17:15):
of what we should expect whenmoving to a new company, and
those are things that you don'treally get to get when it's like
that serious mentorship call,like if I can just have a
friendly conversation about therealities of the ecosystem or
about this career, and that thathelps you and me in a long run,
a long way.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
No, I absolutely love that Pivoting a little bit back
to what you were mentioningearlier.
With you you have the team andreally relying on that team for
kind of getting through the dayto day.
One thing I'm curious aboutrealistically knowing that a lot
of times, for in the consultingworld, in the kind of
(17:55):
enterprise, large scale businessworld, you're gonna have
management who don't necessarilyknow the technical, who don't
necessarily know all of the softskills and things you're having
to do and be conscientiousabout on a day to day basis and
sometimes those individuals willkind of either talk down to you
(18:15):
or they are gonna over questioneverything you do because they
don't fully understand the scopeof what we do as admins.
I definitely know from myexperience that has played into
why my imposter syndrome isextremely large.
But I'm curious from yourperspective how has that
affected you, if at all?
(18:35):
And if so, what are some thingsyou're doing outside of just
venting with the team to helpcombat that?
Speaker 2 (18:43):
Yeah.
So I think actually since Istarted Salesforce, the first
and only company well, the firstcompany was mid-size, but the
rest of the companies thecentral federal services and
Solom they've all been biggercompanies that we've been
partnered with and as seniorbusiness analysts.
Now I am one of the only peopleon the team outside of our
(19:07):
development team that understandSalesforce.
So I think because of myexperience doing YouTube and
teaching people and taking thatjust understanding, even from
working at the call center,really I think the service level
jobs have been the most helpfulwhere it's like I used to work
at Ponefinness and we had to gothrough the things, the tiers
(19:31):
that they could be signing upfor, and it's like be just being
very specific and I think, justbreaking the barrier of
Salesforce and talking to themone-on-one, human, from a
service agent perspective ifwe're implementing something, or
from a non-sales forceperspective, why this would be
good for the agent.
I think that's the firstapproach I usually take and
sometimes I'll do process mapsor just give them the visual,
(19:54):
because people react really goodwith that.
But the second thing is justhaving a real conversation,
being like asking them why dothey think something different
than me, why do they think that?
And then number three is justhaving that open conversation of
okay, well, perhaps you thinksomething's better and we'll go
with that, and then, if not,there's option B.
I think it's having or feelingcomfortable enough where you can
(20:17):
have those candid conversations.
And I think, if you continue togo down the long run, even with
difficult people, right, Ithink that you have to find
level ground and that'ssomething that I actually
learned from my previous managerat Solom.
She was just very good at likeasking those why questions and
like getting into the what yourthought process is, and then
(20:38):
just kind of be like okay, well,I heard you, you heard me,
let's go with what we think isbest right now.
It's always coming the level,middle ground and then just
making that choice.
From there, I think you justhave to have those open, open,
honored conversations.
You gotta get your voice outthere.
I think sometimes you got it oryou're gonna regret it.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
That makes complete sense and I think that's
probably the hardest thing thatwe as admins kind of forget.
I said it on one of theepisodes recently.
It's just that the easiest ofadvice that gives you that kind
of clicking aha moment and notrealizing that we're not
reinventing the wheel, but someof these soft skills are so
(21:19):
uncomfortable to have.
So being willing to openyourself up, feel a little
uncomfortable to have thoseconversations, I guess I'm
curious in your experience withyou had the background at the
call center and kind of.
That definitely I can imaginehelped a lot.
But for admins who are juststarting out, they may have gone
(21:41):
through a career change, maybethey'll find their accidental
admin path, like I did, whoknows?
But kind of what would be someof the tips, recommendations you
would give to an admin to getout of that comfort zone, to get
out of their way, to maybestart a conversation like that?
Because I only have my ownexperience to go off of, to kind
(22:03):
of relate to, and for me it wasalways absolutely terrifying to
have those conversations.
I knew I needed to have to letit happen, but I would wait, I
would get nervous, I would getanxious and then all of a sudden
, we're one week before thedeadline and people are saying
why didn't you have this sooner?
Well, imposter syndrome,anxiety, yada, yada, yada.
(22:23):
What would be something youwould recommend to that new
admin to avoid that outcome?
Speaker 2 (22:29):
Yeah, that's a great question.
I think that I've been veryfortunate from working at
Torrent Consulting and thenSolom and then bringing that
characteristic into essentialfederal services.
I think one of the biggestthings that helped me is these
companies.
Tech companies are known forkind of like mentorship or buddy
(22:49):
systems, but I think notsiloing yourself is really key.
I think finding that one or twopeople that relate to you like
for me, for my new company, Ifound another woman who's like
in this area and she's the sameage and we kind of talk the same
way where we're able to likebalance professional and both
(23:09):
personal and I think having thatone or two people, however many
it may, be being able to belike hey, can I run this through
you really quick, I need totalk to you about this.
I think when you can talk tosomebody and then they give you
your thoughts or their thoughtsand you can kind of be like do
you think this is worth bringingup, I feel like really
passionate about it.
I think that's the way leadersare kind of born as well, and if
(23:34):
you want to move forward withyour career, you have to like
work to find that voice andagain, I think it doesn't only
go with finding one or twopeople inside of the company.
I also think that it's valuingyourself outside of your career.
So for, like me and my husband,for example, like we really
like working out and that givesme a sense of power the music
I'm like okay, I can come and Ican have this conversation with
(23:56):
my manager and be like look so,and so we have something to talk
about.
And I think at the end of theday, you're voicing your
thoughts and your opinions.
There's so many times where I'min meetings and it's like hello,
anybody there.
But when you can kind of bethat one person to kind of start
raising your voice, you'regonna see kind of a pattern with
(24:17):
yourself and self-happiness.
And I'm a huge believer in justsay it now, say it now whenever
you can.
So that would be my advice Findsomebody in the company that
you can talk to, somebody in theecosystem that you can talk to.
Kind of run things off.
Find multiple people Is thisworth talking about?
And then kind of project it ina way that is, you want it to be
(24:38):
projected and understood.
So that's my piece of advice.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
That's great.
That's really really well put.
It all really comes down towords of encouragement.
You have to find that supportsystem is kind of the theme I'm
getting from this.
All which makes absolute sense.
We've talked about in previousepisodes where folks just
weren't feeling happy in general, so they had to find a
(25:03):
different support system, adifferent community to connect
with, because the one they werecurrently in was not what they
wanted it to be, especiallyduring COVID, to make them feel
like they can keep pushingforward.
How would you recommend someonego about finding that next
support system?
We're just finding that firstsupport system you mentioned for
(25:24):
you.
You found a colleague at workwho you two kind of gelled and
clicked.
You were the same age Forsomeone who doesn't have that at
the office, they are just anadmin of one.
They are me, myself and I.
What's something you would sayyou should go?
Do X, y, z or maybe trysomething out, try a different
tactic out.
(25:44):
What would you kind of suggestin that regard?
Speaker 2 (25:48):
Yeah, and I think that's a great question because
what you said is true.
If you're an admin, you justhave yourself sometimes.
So what do you do?
And I think when you're inconsultancies like Solom, like
Deloitte, those bigger companies, you have an abundance of
people sometimes and it's easierto make connections and it's
easier to have thoseconversations especially
(26:10):
companies like Solom they woulddo a lot of lunch and learn.
So, even if you're not in a podor a project with somebody, you
had an opportunity to meetsomebody.
So I'll start with that Ifyou're not an admin and if you
are in a consultancy, definitelyraise your hands for lunch and
learns, like offer to do them,partner with somebody, attend
them, talk to the people after,I think that's great.
(26:32):
If you're working at biggerconsultancies ERGs, women in
tech, hispanic in tech, allthese other options that you
have Now, going down to thepeople who are working as
independent, like if they'refreelancers or if they're admins
, developers that's gonna beharder, right?
So I think that's when you haveto really lean on the community
(26:54):
and be present.
On LinkedIn, I always sayLinkedIn first because that's
probably the best place whereyou can see all the events and
stuff, but that the Discordcommunity servers.
There's Slack servers, there'sSlack servers.
But I think the best that I'veexperienced is probably Jacob,
where you and I even met is thein-person events.
(27:17):
There's nothing like them.
And shout out to Fort WorthDallas Live Events.
They've been the best, bringingin hundreds of people and guest
speakers, and I think youreally have to find that place.
Now, if you're in a state thatdoesn't have it, then you just
kind of got to go to onlineevents and not discrediting them
they're also awesome, but youjust kind of got to find you
(27:38):
really have to find your people.
You cannot in this career, intech, you cannot isolate
yourself.
If that's what you choose to do, then awesome, that's fine.
But if you want people andadvice and to learn and to
progress, you may not be anadmin forever.
If you want to do a consultancy, you run your own consultancy
one day.
You have to learn and grow.
So you have to put yourself ina spot where you're listening to
(28:01):
podcasts like this, you'rereaching out to the people that
are speaking, the guest speakers.
You got to push.
If you're not uncomfortable,you got to be uncomfortable to
grow.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
Yes, we've said it on the podcast a few different
times but you got to hustle.
You were past a point in theworld of tech to where, if you
want to just follow the careerpath and you get lucky with the
company you're at, that'sfantastic and that kind of is
option A.
But if you want to find thatgrowth on your own, you want to
(28:35):
find that network, find thatpeople that you don't work with
on a day to day.
You have to seek it out.
You have to put yourself inthose uncomfortable situations
Pivoting slightly Still on thesame topic of imposter syndrome
and finding ways to feelcomfortable and embrace that
authentic you In your use case.
(28:58):
You created an amazing YouTubechannel.
You have an amazing blog.
You've created all this content, not as much on the technical
side, albeit, but it's aboutbeing in the world of tech.
You are taking your experienceand putting it out there High
level.
What is that like?
To just kind of take that leapof faith, put that content out
(29:21):
there.
But then also, what was thething you didn't expect from
audiences when they reacted toyour content?
Speaker 2 (29:30):
You know, like I said , when I first started the
YouTube channel, I reallydebated between being like super
tech and if you look back in myvideos you can see it being how
to get started on Trailhead,how to do this and, granted, I
learned so much myself and youreally do learn when you teach
yourself and then you teachothers but I just had a feeling
(29:53):
in me that this is not thecontent that I'm passionate
about, and if I'm not passionate, my audience is going to tell
and it's just like everythingwill just go.
So I think there's been so manytimes where I think I was like,
is this right?
Is this right, is this right?
And I think, at the end of theday, you got to follow your
heart.
So, kind of going with theYouTube channels and you can see
it progress over time.
(30:13):
It's like starting my ownbusiness, showing like a
photography session and thengoing from day in the life of a
consultant and that's like whatI feel like the audience really
wants to see, and I've gotten ahuge response Like, yes, the
videos of how to start Trailheaddid fantastic, but also the day
(30:36):
in the life of a consultant,like what do you really do?
Like what helps you.
I found that my audience likedthat content more and I like
that content more where they'relike, oh, I'm not going to be
drowning in work every day orthis is what I would really do.
So I found that when it's notsuper techy content and it's
(30:56):
just staying true to myself andsharing my experiences, I think
that goes a long way just tokind of end.
But the layoff that I recentlyhad I was applying to jobs
literally the moment that thelayoff happened, within five
minutes, I posted on LinkedInLike help, but fortunately got a
(31:18):
lot of interviews, but it justdidn't feel right inside and I
just decided to book a two weektrip to Japan and just to kind
of reset.
Yeah, it was awesome, it was socool.
People have not solo traveled.
You must, it's a must, butthat's what I'm working on.
Sharing right now is like goingfrom tech layoffs to thinking
(31:38):
like what did I do wrong?
Why is my coworker still there?
All these questions whereyou're self-doubting yourself.
And I think that by sharingthat experience of just going
abroad and totally resettingdefines who you are and you know
so much better what you want.
So that's what I'm hoping topost in the next blog post slash
YouTube video and I can seethat there's a lot of people
(32:01):
that really like it and enjoy it.
So I think sharing there'sgreat things, of sharing tech
and how to build ABCND, butthere's also a great side of
with the audience.
I've seen that, just likehearing stories, just like this.
So that's kind of where I'm at.
Speaker 1 (32:15):
Oh, I really, really like the just openness of the
not being afraid to just takethat leap of faith.
I could never do a solo travel.
That's just my own personalthing, unless it's like I'll go
solo travel for work events,when I know I'm going to have a
(32:35):
community.
But I just had that.
Just gives me chilling anxiety,tingles to think of oh, I'm
going to go to a very, very newplace.
No one knows me, I don't knowanyone.
The language barrier on top ofthat's probably got to be
intense for maybe for you, maybeI'm assuming incorrectly, but I
(32:56):
know there's also that level ofit too.
So I mean, what pushes you thento take that leap of faith?
Because there's the leap offaith of just hey, I'm going to
step out of my comfort zone andjust go to a user group meetup.
But then there's a huge leap offaith of solo traveling to find
(33:17):
yourself.
For you, what is giving youthat click to say I know myself
enough, I've done enoughself-reflection to know just
going to a user group isn'tgoing to be enough, I have to
take that extra step.
What was that moment?
Or how did that click for you?
Speaker 2 (33:34):
I love life and my dad.
I was adopted in Costa Rica,but my dad worked for the State
Department and we lived in sevendifferent countries growing up,
so travel and people andculture is in my blood.
Almost it's something that Iadore and I think that I learn
the most from people.
I've even contemplated going toget a customer service job
(33:57):
again at this point, becauseworking in tech is fantastic,
but I think I miss the people.
I feel like you learn most fromthings like this, like podcasts
, and just listening to people'sstory and, I think, from other
people's story.
It inspires you.
But I also think pushingyourself in an environment where
it's like whoa I've never seentemples like this in Japan or
food like this and people Ithink that motivates me and I
(34:22):
just don't want to be.
I don't want to feel like I'mjust wasting my life.
There is this quote that I readand it's like if we live for 70
years, that should be enoughtime or something along the
lines of that, and I was like,was 70 years enough?
Is it really?
But then I started sitting downfor an hour I mean for a week
(34:44):
and not really doing anything.
I'm like, well dang, I guess 70years really is enough if you
play the cards right.
So I'm just a lover of life, alover of people, stories, really
anything, and I think thatthat's the best way that you can
grow and, at the end of the day, that's how I want to live.
My life is in exploration mode.
So go travel, travel solo Imean anybody listening.
(35:09):
Go for it, it's so much fun.
Japan is a great place to start, and so is London.
Speaker 1 (35:14):
I've heard wonderful things about Japan.
I've been to London a few timesand absolutely adored it.
It was the perfect balance ofhistory and sightseeing, food.
I'm a huge theater person, asI've said on the podcast, so,
like the West End was amazingfor me, bringing it towards the
(35:34):
end because we are nearing theend the idea of taking those
leaps of faith, finding ways toimprove yourself, to live life.
I kind of want to take it back alittle bit to the YouTube side
of things.
You've done a lot of greatcontent in that regard.
For me, imposter syndrome andjust being able to overcome and
(35:58):
feel like I have a seat at thetable what's helped me is
helping other people and you'vecreated the YouTube channel to
help the other people.
What would your kind ofmentality, what's your opinion
about admins building up otheradmins and like is it an
obligation for folks to giveback if they have dealt with
imposter syndrome?
(36:19):
What is your opinion or adviceon how other admins should be
giving back to the community tohelp others out when they've
experienced imposter syndrome ornot known answers to problems?
Speaker 2 (36:35):
Yeah, and I think that's a really interesting
question because I've met somany people where they're more
on their reserved and quieterside but they have fantastic
advice and they're more thanwilling to help.
I work with a lot of veteransand I've seen that and a lot of
including my husband where theykind of are like well, I'm not
(36:57):
at that point.
I'm not at that point, I'm notready to be a mentor, I'm not
really to hop on veterinary,which is like a veteran helping
services, and I've also beenwith people that do have
imposter syndrome.
They're like but I've only hadtwo years.
What do I have to help?
And then, you know, I've seenpeople that are like I'm
learning this first chapter, I'mready to teach people, and I
think that there's such a rangeof people where you have to.
(37:18):
There's two things you have tofeel comfortable, but don't
overanalyze it and don't saylike tomorrow, tomorrow,
tomorrow, tomorrow.
I've met so many people whereyou know, I haven't been ready
sometimes to do things and myfingers just kind of go and
leaves.
One thing leads to another.
But I think the biggest thingthat you can do is sometimes
(37:38):
start, have enough.
If you're one of those peoplethat need information to start
before you go.
That's fine, but start.
The worst thing that you can dofor yourself is to not start
something.
So for the admins that want togive back, I don't think it's
necessarily necessary all thetime.
If you feel like you haveinformation and you want to
(38:00):
share it and if you feel morecomfortable like going
one-on-one to somebody, I thinkthat's great.
But there's been times whereI've interviewed people and
pushed them in certain placesand they'll say, yes, I want to,
and they end up really enjoyingit and stepping out of their
comfort zone.
I've running the Latinas andSalesforce group that I've had.
I've had a few people come ondo little sessions for us and
(38:23):
you know some of them are likebut I don't have this credential
or that credential, and thereality is you have something
that somebody else hasn't doneyet and somebody else probably
wants to hear your story.
Even if it's five people when Ipost my YouTube videos, they
might get five views, they mayget whatever amount, but if it
helps one person and it helps meI think self therapy too if it
(38:44):
helps you and it helps somebodyelse, at the end of the day, if
you're doing something that'shappy to you, I think that's the
only thing that matters.
If you're happy doing something, somebody else will listen, and
it would kind of be like a,like a, it goes from there, so
yeah.
Speaker 1 (39:00):
This is why I need to start this podcast with a
YouTube channel, because I'mjust nodding my head with a jank
on my face and no one on the noone listening, can listen along
Like I love that answer of youjust have to be willing.
You can't let the fear guide youand I know we've talked about
that a lot, but it's just kindof you have to lean into the
uncomfortable, honestly.
So, keeping the topic similar,but on a slightly different end
(39:28):
of the admin ecosystemperspective, you mentioned
before that you are a part of aLatinas and tech Latinas and
Salesforce user group.
I'm curious, if you're okaytalking about it, to kind of go
through a little bit what doesimposter syndrome look like for
those groups?
I know for me it's.
(39:50):
I have my own interpretation ofwhat imposter syndrome means to
me, but I know that for othergroups in the ecosystem it's
going to mean something verydifferent.
So I'm curious you're kind oftake your interpretation on what
does imposter syndrome looklike for women in tech Latinas
and Salesforce?
Speaker 2 (40:10):
Yeah, definitely.
So I actually started theLatinas and Salesforce group
because there was a Latinas andtech group that I really admired
.
But every time I tried to go tothe event it was either like
sold out or just some topicsthat I wasn't totally interested
in, and I said, okay, there's alot of Latinas in Salesforce.
(40:30):
Why don't we just have a groupwhere Latinas can come together,
not just in the United Statesbut globally, and share their
experiences?
And I think I really gotpassionate from it when I
actually interviewed my formercoworker, michelle, and it was
just she gave me such anenlightening view into Latinas
(40:52):
abroad where she said that inGuatemala, women typically don't
go into tech.
They go into call centers andit's usually frowned upon when
women do.
I think this is a perspectivefrom somebody that lives abroad,
but then, versus in the UnitedStates, it's similar but very
different.
For them, expectations aredifferent, but for here in the
United States, I think that it'singrained in some cultures
(41:16):
where Hispanic people,especially Latinas, they don't
say much.
You know, like they're not likehey, I can say this.
Or I can say that I grew up ina white family.
I guess I'll put it like that.
I was adopted into a whitefamily.
So I think that my voice.
That's why it's so much easierfor me to say ABC and D versus
(41:40):
my colleagues who run theLatinas and Salesforce group,
who are Dominican and Mexican.
They're a little bit moreoutspoken, but the people that
have joined our group arequieter, you know, and the thing
number one thing that I'veheard them say is I feel nervous
talking in public or in usergroups because it's ingrained in
our culture and for me, beingLatina, like you know, we have
(42:06):
such an ability to break intowhatever industry that we want
here in the United States and Iwanted to share her story but
also hear what is life like forother Latinas globally.
So I did more like podcast notpodcasts, but YouTube videos
along the way Like I haveanother video with six other
Latinas from all over where weshare that there's a pay
(42:30):
decrease, like we don't get paidas much here and there, we have
to fight for this or that and Ithought that that was a really
important topic and we needed tohave more important discussions
like that.
So that's why I created Latinasand Salesforce, I believe in
November of October of 2023.
So super recent, and I had noidea how to run it and I brought
two other Latinos on board andthey were super passionate.
(42:53):
One's a military spouse andanother one runs a body wasn't
tech group, which she had asmaller group but she wanted to
make it bigger.
So, like, how do we scale?
And I think, through thesessions that we've done, more
women have, or more Latinas havecome to these sessions, where
they see it.
They may not be able to attendyet, but they come to these
(43:13):
sessions and they'll come justto listen and when they come to
listen, they hear stories thatreflect their history, their
life, whether it be too shy totalk in a room or raise their
voice or post things, and bytalking and hearing other
people's stories and just beingavailable resources for them to
(43:33):
reach out to, it's reallybrought up like more people.
And what I've seen in the pastmonth is people that are not
only in the Salesforce ecosystem, people who are like product
managers, project managers,people from Discord.
I'm starting to get likerequests to join the group from
all different type of techgroups, because that's a type of
groups and kind of things thatare needed, these discussions.
(43:57):
We made the group private atfirst, but then we made it
public because we want morepeople to hear about it and
there's a lot of people who arecoming that are not Latinas,
that are in support.
Dreaming in Color also justlaunched, which means dreaming,
of course, dreaming in Color inSpanish.
But the group is starting togrow and I think it's really
important to have this space forLatinas, because sometimes
(44:22):
they're a little bit quieter ornot, as I've spoken, or we don't
really know what to say orpeople to reach out to who kind
of look like us or sound like usor have the same upbringing.
I've been the only Latina in acompany of 18 before and it was
just kind of like oh, who do Italk to here?
So it's how to navigate thatand we're an available resource
(44:44):
out there and I just reallyloved the community that we've
put and I think it's importantto have that type of space and
we don't only just do Salesforcecontent, we do, like how to get
into project management, how totalk about salaries, like those
conversations where it's like Idon't know how to navigate this
, but we're going to figure outhow to do it because people need
it.
So, yeah, that's been thereally cool part.
(45:05):
We have some upcoming sessionsfor 2024 plans Sonando Angolores
coming up, so really excitedabout it.
Speaker 1 (45:13):
That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (45:14):
And.
Speaker 1 (45:15):
I always say I really love working in Salesforce.
But like hearing stuff likethat makes me really really love
working within Salesforce,because it's not in every single
job.
You have this extremely largeand global community where you
can.
If you don't have those people,you can just build your own
(45:35):
group and then people over timecan come.
I mean, if you're like you said, you're working at a company of
18 and there's no one else whois talking like you, sounding
like you, emoting like you, andyou get that with Salesforce you
can create that group, you cancreate that medium.
We said it earlier you have tohustle, you have to find the
(45:58):
support group, and I love howyou've created multiple support
groups and helped so many, somany other people.
So I really really love hearingstuff like that and think that
it's great that y'all are tryingto help Others get into the
ecosystem but also evolve andgrow.
The content doesn't always haveto be super technical You're
(46:21):
talking about.
I love the kind of focus onproject management, because that
is such an underappreciatedsoft skill to be a successful
admin.
So I love that.
Those are some of the thingsyou are diving into with that.
Speaker 2 (46:34):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (46:35):
I definitely will be plugging all of that as well.
So we are nearing the end.
I've really enjoyed all thethings we've talked about and
hearing your story and kind ofseeing your path go from start
to finish.
I always end the podcast withthese one or two questions.
And I think they have value forthat next generation of admins.
(46:57):
So the main one is you've had awonderful journey.
It's taken you from 2011 to nowwe're 2023 going through a lot
of stuff.
What would be for a new adminor sorry, I want to rephrase
that for when you were goingthrough your journey?
You 2011, to where we are nowin 2024.
(47:21):
Now, knowing the journey you'vetaken, what would be your one
regret that you wish you diddifferently?
That you could maybe help otheradmins out who are going
through similar journeys, outand not make the same not
mistake, but same choices.
Speaker 2 (47:40):
Yeah.
So I think what took me so longto get certified was that I was
just on show head and I wasjust watching tutorials on
LinkedIn, and it can beespecially during the pandemic,
and I think, in a world ofremote and obligate not
obligations, but like things todo if you're a parent and all
these things and you haveobligations with your family,
(48:00):
whatever it may be, I think it'snot doing things alone.
I think that so many times wesilo ourselves, especially
working from home.
Go out and see the world, bringthat back, bring your
inspiration, come in, refresh,join the user groups, listen to
podcasts.
And I will also say one thingthat I wish I would have done a
(48:22):
little bit different is not justSalesforce related content.
I think that there's a lot ofvalue in like project management
and seeing what's going on inthe other tech industries.
Along the way you might changeyour career, like I've gone from
Salesforce consultant to seniorbusiness analyst and I might
want to go into projectmanagement.
So like taking courses, like Ijust enrolled at UC Berkeley's
(48:45):
project management extensioncourse.
But it's like, yeah, and thoseare the cool things.
It's like knowing that yourcareer will not only be
Salesforce.
There's so many otherpossibilities.
So like don't close that door.
Always know what's going on intech.
It's really important.
Just see what's out there, seewhat you're possible like, what
you can do.
You might want to be a PM, abusiness analyst, in a different
(49:07):
sector one day, who knows?
Don't close a door to justSalesforce.
Be curious about everythingelse in the tech space and don't
do it alone.
Those are my two biggest piecesof advice.
Speaker 1 (49:20):
That's fantastic.
That is absolutely fantastic.
I love the don't close doorsbecause I feel like where I'm at
right now, we are a marketingcloud slash engagement, account
engagement, Parodod MarketingCloud, whatever you want to call
it nowadays but we doconsulting on that regard and so
(49:41):
often I sometimes will forgetthat.
Oh no, I used to specialize inHubSpot.
I used to be someone thatHubSpot people would call and
say like, hey, do you want tojump on this prospect and sell
them on this?
Not closing doors and not beingjust saying, well, I'm 100%
Salesforce.
I want to be a little bit, justbecause that's the premise of
(50:02):
this podcast, but that's also myjob.
At the same time, it's like notlimiting, like being okay with,
like learning all of thecontent from all the different
solutions and then from theremaking decisions, just so you
have the insight, Because I'llgive HubSpot this their training
resources for some of theirinbound marketing things.
I'm a marketer.
(50:22):
It's really, really goodcontent.
Salesforce has equally goodcontent, but I mean, it's a
different perspective on things.
Speaker 2 (50:27):
So I love that recommendation.
Speaker 1 (50:33):
Well, I really appreciate you taking the time,
I really appreciate you divinginto this conversation, diving
into this journey with me.
I definitely will be reachingout to you for advice in the
future about Japan, because Idefinitely want to go there now,
but I also just reallyappreciate the insights on this
and we'll definitely be keepingin touch.
Speaker 2 (50:54):
That sounds great.
Thank you so much, jacob, andthank you to everybody that was
listening.
Feel free to reach out whenever.
Thanks everybody.
Speaker 1 (51:11):
And that concludes another episode of Admins of
Tomorrow.
A special thanks to our guest,megan, for being on the show.
I really appreciated theinsights she shared of really
being strategic and finding yourcommunity.
Like she said, it can be a usergroup, your coworkers, or a
community you create from theground up.
It doesn't matter how you findit, but having that group of
(51:31):
people is so important to notfeel like you shouldn't be where
you are.
So if anyone's interested, youcan subscribe to Megan's YouTube
channel at MeganTuanoh or visither website,
salesforcewithmagancom.
Thank you all again for takingthe time to listen and support
our podcast.
If you have any feedback,questions or topic suggestions,
we'd love to hear from you.
So please don't hesitate toconnect with us on LinkedIn or
(51:54):
Twitter or email us atinfoatadminsoftomorrowcom.
Also, if you or someone youknow would like to be on the
podcast or would like to givesomeone a shout out, please go
to our website,adminsoftomorrowcom.
Forward slash, share yourthoughts and fill out our form
to be on the show or givesomeone a shout out.
If you enjoyed this episode,don't forget to subscribe, leave
(52:14):
a review and share it with yourfellow Trailblazers.
Every listen and every reviewmeans the world to us and helps
us grow, so please keep sharingthe show.
Once again, I'm Jacob Catalano,your host signing off.
We appreciate you for listeningto Admins of Tomorrow
Trailblazing the next generation.
Good morning and good afternoon.
My name is Jacob Catalano andwelcome to another episode of
Admins of Tomorrow.
Where three weeks end at 2024and it feels like it's already
been two months, when time justdoesn't seem to be going by fast
enough, it's really easy forthoughts of doubt or stress to
overwhelm your day to day.
When I start spiraling likethat, it's easy for me to feel
(00:35):
like either I'm not good enoughor I'm just not doing a good
enough job in or out of work.
So in this week's episode wetalked through how admins
overcome the feeling of impostersyndrome.
Now, I know this feels like areally buzzwordy topic, but I
personally feel that in theSalesforce ecosystem, the things
we do is unique.
It's a unique career pathoverall, one that really puts
(00:57):
people in situations where theyhave to know everything about
Salesforce for an entire companyand that can be really
overwhelming.
So today we sit down with MeganTewano to talk through her
journey in the ecosystem and howshe's overcome imposter
syndrome as an admin in theworkplace.
Megan is a tech consultant andhas a YouTube and blog,
(01:18):
salesforce for Megan, where thewhole premise is around how we
explore different areas of tech,but also how we navigate the
crazy world of Salesforce andthe crazy world of being in tech
and how these real lifeexperiences can help other
people grow.
So, without further ado, let'smeet Megan.
Megan is currently a Salesforcebusiness analyst and content
(01:41):
creator in the ecosystem.
From working at Salesforce Bento being on YouTube, she is
known for her work in helpingothers navigate and excel in the
tech industry, particularlySalesforce.
Her goal is to continue sharingher journey in hopes to inspire
others through the process.
So let's not waste any more timeand dive on in Phrases.
(02:13):
We'll hear on stage from anactor often, but I really do
appreciate it.
I really do appreciate you forjumping in, diving in with me to
kind of talk about yourexperience in the ecosystem as
well as kind of the topic ofthis week's episode being
imposter syndrome and kind ofhow we find that balance and how
we deal with perceptions frompeople who are higher up over us
(02:36):
or people who are equals, andwhat people are going to think
about how we engage in theecosystem, the content we put in
the ecosystem, how we holdourselves in the ecosystem.
So very excited to talk withyou about all of this today.
So before we dive into theactual topic, I always want
people to kind of get abackground, share their story of
(02:57):
how they got involved with thework that we do within
Salesforce.
So I'd love if you could take alittle bit kind of introduce
yourself and kind of share yourbackground from getting into the
ecosystem.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Yeah, definitely, so I'm really excited to be here
and really excited to talk tothe audience as well.
It's a topic that I deal with alot, so really excited for it.
But I started Salesforce,ironically, after I graduated in
2011,.
I had an undergraduate workedin the study abroad department
(03:31):
and for the graduate school andat that time I had no idea what
I wanted to do.
So my co-worker at the timefound a job working in the ed
tech space and that companyironically used Salesforce, but
Salesforce classic.
I was not a fan but, of course,didn't know any other
difference until later on.
(03:53):
But, just worked there.
For about four years I workedfor Syracuse University and then
also for UC Berkeley with thedata science programs and that's
when data science was like thathot new topic and that really
gave me the introduction to liketech and I think that data
science was so popular.
It's like, oh, I have a financebackground or a project
management background and itjust intertwined really well.
(04:14):
So a little bit later on Ithink I got really inspired by
the students.
I mean, working with UCBerkeley students was just
incredible.
You just get to hear abouteverything that they're doing at
their companies and it'sinspirational really.
At that time my uncle worked atCapgemini and he said well,
(04:36):
you're using Salesforce now whydon't you go ahead and just kind
of learn it?
Like learn about the backend.
You're making reports, you'redoing things and I'm going to
hence on was very limited accessback then.
So reports was all reports andlist views.
There's the only thing that wecould really do.
But I think I mean, like manyand really why, I started my
(04:58):
YouTube channel, which I'll talkabout in a few minutes, but I
took a little while tounderstand what Salesforce
really was.
Go ahead was a great platform,but I think for different type
of users.
Like you just need a little bitmore focus or somebody to help
you.
So it did take me quite a fewmonths to get certified in three
(05:19):
fails later but got certifiedIronically, started just finding
Facebook groups and it was justbecoming really popular and I
ended up volunteering at OxfordUniversity with two other people
globally and we were helpingthe main consultant like row,
the Salesforce org, there.
So that really gave me likethat volunteer experience where
(05:42):
I eventually fully made thecareer transition from working
at UC Berkeley to going to asmaller consultancy firm called
Torrent Consultant.
Absolutely loved the firm.
They have a huge office withinGuatemala and, being Hispanic,
latina and tech, it was huge forme.
(06:02):
They were just company basedand I think the really big thing
there was just finally makingthat pivot into tech.
I finally felt like I was oneof my students.
So fast forward a little bitlater I really enjoyed
Salesforce.
But at that time there weren'tYouTube videos or weren't really
many, and during COVID, only myhusband to talk to.
(06:27):
I decided to start a YouTubechannel.
I always joke so much talkingyou can do between each other
caught on YouTube started thechannel ended up working for
focus on force Now also work forSalesforce.
Ben is an expert authordelivering like career based
content, which is pretty cool.
(06:47):
Love working for them.
But it's been a journey and Ithink that taking the skills
from working at a call centerand study abroad departments and
just being very people focusedand then sharing that journey
online, like whether it'sYouTube or LinkedIn, it's just,
it's been.
(07:07):
I'm grateful, I'm grateful forwhere it is and it's been a lot
of fun.
So, yeah, that's a littlebackground.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
That's fantastic and to kind of find that medium that
makes the most sense for youand to make a difference, make a
positive difference for peopleout there is really really
awesome Knowing that yourcontent was kind of more focused
around kind of your journey.
(07:34):
I want to get an idea of whatkind of again translating that
back to the topic at hand forimposter syndrome.
Going from working at theuniversity you transition.
Just because I've linked andstalked you to Slalom and just
knowing the work you've donethrough those companies, at what
(07:58):
point do you kind of realize amI worthy, am I good enough to
be doing this?
Should I be the one to begiving back in this mindset?
When did that imposter syndromekind of click for you and you
had to start realizing somethings need a change?
Speaker 2 (08:14):
I think from the moment that I posted my first
YouTube video, I think I startedto post like four or five times
and I deleted it.
I think that every time I gofrom just either creating
something like I've startedpodcasts or YouTube channel or
Discord servers, I don't know Ihave this trait in my
(08:34):
personality where it's like justdo it or you're going to regret
it, and it does take me a fewtimes to like get there.
But I think what really helpedin the long run was like yes,
I'm not posting techy relatedcontent, what people are kind of
used to seeing and I would deemthat as, of course, more
helpful like how to solvevalidation rules or build this
(08:56):
flow, and that's just not me,and I think I just needed to
stick true to A what brought mejoy and to what I thought would
help others.
I actually did end up taking aLinkedIn course because I was
curious about the platform Ifeel like I was there but not
really there and I took thisfour week course with 20 other
(09:17):
people on it from all over theworld.
It was so cool.
Everybody just kind of wantedto learn about LinkedIn but also
kind of post more about theirindividual kind of job and what
they did.
So that instructor actuallytaught me that 1% of people post
every day on LinkedInespecially, and you'll find
you're kind of like people whowant to see your content and I
(09:39):
think if you're delivering withjust a positive intent, with
being who you are, stayingauthentic to who you are, people
can tell that.
But people really enjoy it.
So there's not a day to kind ofrewind back, that I don't get
nervous about posting with myimposter syndrome.
Are people going to like this?
Is this worth reading?
(10:00):
Are they going to think it'stoo personal?
Where is the line with LinkedIn?
I think sometimes, or even onYouTube, I've made the pivot so
many times from going from likestaying super techie to don't go
out of that bubble to doingmore lifestyle blogs and I think
along the way, people are goingto like your content or not and
I think that's the reality ofthe internet and that's okay.
(10:22):
As long as I'm making thingsthat bring me joy and I can tell
bring others joy, I'm going tokeep kind of delivering that
content.
Imposter syndrome never goesaway.
I'm dealing with it right nowwith an upcoming post.
But, I think you just kind ofgot to close your eyes and just
go boom done.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
Yeah, and I very much can relate to that especially.
I've talked about in previousepisodes just even for me and my
kind of similar situation ofjust putting this podcast out
there.
I had started episodes, I hadstarted the designing for things
of what I wanted for this,probably half a dozen times, and
(11:02):
after three years I finallyjust bit the bullet and said
we're going to make this happen,we're going to put it out there
For admins just getting started, for folks who are kind of on
that fence to you to your earlypoint, you had a relative kind
of say you work in the ecosystem, why not just take that step,
take that jump For you when youwere first getting started in
(11:24):
that regard?
Did you have any kind ofsituations in a similar regard,
kind of somewhat on thetechnical side, but just on the
hey, you're now the subjectmatter expert, you're the person
who's supposed to know all thestuff about this, get stuff done
.
Was there a time in that kindof period of your career where
you were kind of thinking whatdo I need to do to not feel like
(11:45):
I shouldn't be here, Ishouldn't have a seat at this
table?
Speaker 2 (11:49):
Yeah, and I think even now, being a senior
business analyst, I work withthe team of men and I think as a
again Latina in tech and onlywomen in the room sometimes I
think that imposter syndrome inmy career hits very much.
So I think that I just need toor what I guess I usually do is
(12:18):
I try and establishrelationships with each of my
team members so they can knowthat I'm like actually here.
I think establishingrelationships with people is a
really big part in me and themtrusting each other.
But I also think I play my ownmusic in the back, like if I get
a little insecure, there's asong playlist that I have of
like hey, you're there, you'vemade it this far, like you
(12:40):
represent somebody in the roomthat people eventually are
looking up to.
But I think just the feeling ofjust feeling like you don't
belong, sometimes being a littlebit younger in a room of older
people, which is kind of what Iexperienced now working at my
company we work on a governmentlevel, so people range in all
ages I feel like you just haveto stay confident and I have to
(13:04):
remind myself all the time likeyou've done the studying, you've
passed the exams, you know whatyou're talking about and if you
don't, you'll come back and letthem know you don't and figure
it out.
But just saying I got this andif I don't got this, I have a
team that can back me up with it, I think you just repeat, it's
repeating of that.
And I think on the outside ofyour career, you also have to do
things that build you up, likeworking out, like competing
(13:26):
against yourself and stuff likethat.
You have to make sure thatcareer physical and then outside
hobbies that you're there onall three levels.
That's really important.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
No, I absolutely love that and I think it's something
we don't touch enough about ofhow do you, how does your
non-work activities affect your,what you're dealing with at
your day to day?
So, diving into you mentioned,you have your group, your team
that you work with and you'vebuilt those relationships.
(13:58):
I absolutely adore that becausethat kind of drives home the
point of community and findingthat support system.
I'm curious for outside of yourwork, or maybe and maybe it's
not outside of your work, maybeit's at the job but what are you
actively doing to kind of buildup that support system to find
(14:20):
those folks at your job Withinthe community, whether it's a
user group or it's just a groupof people you go grab a beer
with after work's over?
But, like, what are you doingand how are you relying on that
support system to help kind ofvent but also get the positive
feedback you need to know that?
No, I do know.
I think that's a great question.
(14:47):
So I think at the beginning,when I even started my YouTube
channel, I was very adamantabout, like, finding a mentor.
Speaker 2 (15:05):
But then when I started and I launched the
Salesforce Professionals Discordserver, it was more of just hey
, I need a team, I need somebodythat doesn't know what or does
know what I know or don't know,but somebody that could fill in
the gaps somewhere.
And I think that my communityquickly went from like oh, I
(15:26):
need to find one mentor, and onementor only, to having an
abundance of friends.
And that's how I built myecosystem.
That kind of went from runningthe group running the Salesforce
Discord server with eightpeople developers, architects,
people who wanted to run thebook club and I think that
allowed me to find differentpeople who specialize in
(15:46):
different things.
And another thing that reallyhelped was working with
Salesforce Ben.
I get to have the privilege ofcreating articles just based off
my ideas and they allow me tofreely go with that.
But I've been able to mostrecently create an article for
(16:08):
military veteran woman and thenalso military spouse.
So I've been able to open upfive new doors just by
interviewing people.
And I think by doing thingslike this, like podcasts and
posting and sharing youropinions and your thoughts and
your progression, I think thatopens up the door for people to
number one, feel morecomfortable coming to you and be
like hey, jake, you're going tobe a great mentor.
(16:30):
Hey, jacob, I don't understandproject management.
Can you tell me what this isabout?
And I think opening up the doorin the most genuine way, where
you're approachable, is theeasiest thing that you can do,
instead of trying to find, likethat, one person that knows one
thing, but the reality iseverybody knows something else,
and then you'll help them there.
So that's really been my key isjust to be friends and kind of
(16:54):
put that professional thingaside, that relationship where
it's like, like you said, go geta beer.
Like let's get to know eachother on a different level where
we can kind of like vent andtalk, and that's opened up some
pretty big doors.
Especially in the recent layoffthat I had, we were able to
talk about salary, we were ableto talk about like the realities
(17:15):
of what we should expect whenmoving to a new company, and
those are things that you don'treally get to get when it's like
that serious mentorship call,like if I can just have a
friendly conversation about therealities of the ecosystem or
about this career, and that thathelps you and me in a long run,
a long way.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
No, I absolutely love that Pivoting a little bit back
to what you were mentioningearlier.
With you you have the team andreally relying on that team for
kind of getting through the dayto day.
One thing I'm curious aboutrealistically knowing that a lot
of times, for in the consultingworld, in the kind of
(17:55):
enterprise, large scale businessworld, you're gonna have
management who don't necessarilyknow the technical, who don't
necessarily know all of the softskills and things you're having
to do and be conscientiousabout on a day to day basis and
sometimes those individuals willkind of either talk down to you
(18:15):
or they are gonna over questioneverything you do because they
don't fully understand the scopeof what we do as admins.
I definitely know from myexperience that has played into
why my imposter syndrome isextremely large.
But I'm curious from yourperspective how has that
affected you, if at all?
(18:35):
And if so, what are some thingsyou're doing outside of just
venting with the team to helpcombat that?
Speaker 2 (18:43):
Yeah.
So I think actually since Istarted Salesforce, the first
and only company well, the firstcompany was mid-size, but the
rest of the companies thecentral federal services and
Solom they've all been biggercompanies that we've been
partnered with and as seniorbusiness analysts.
Now I am one of the only peopleon the team outside of our
(19:07):
development team that understandSalesforce.
So I think because of myexperience doing YouTube and
teaching people and taking thatjust understanding, even from
working at the call center,really I think the service level
jobs have been the most helpfulwhere it's like I used to work
at Ponefinness and we had to gothrough the things, the tiers
(19:31):
that they could be signing upfor, and it's like be just being
very specific and I think, justbreaking the barrier of
Salesforce and talking to themone-on-one, human, from a
service agent perspective ifwe're implementing something, or
from a non-sales forceperspective, why this would be
good for the agent.
I think that's the firstapproach I usually take and
sometimes I'll do process mapsor just give them the visual,
(19:54):
because people react really goodwith that.
But the second thing is justhaving a real conversation,
being like asking them why dothey think something different
than me, why do they think that?
And then number three is justhaving that open conversation of
okay, well, perhaps you thinksomething's better and we'll go
with that, and then, if not,there's option B.
I think it's having or feelingcomfortable enough where you can
(20:17):
have those candid conversations.
And I think, if you continue togo down the long run, even with
difficult people, right, Ithink that you have to find
level ground and that'ssomething that I actually
learned from my previous managerat Solom.
She was just very good at likeasking those why questions and
like getting into the what yourthought process is, and then
(20:38):
just kind of be like okay, well,I heard you, you heard me,
let's go with what we think isbest right now.
It's always coming the level,middle ground and then just
making that choice.
From there, I think you justhave to have those open, open,
honored conversations.
You gotta get your voice outthere.
I think sometimes you got it oryou're gonna regret it.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
That makes complete sense and I think that's
probably the hardest thing thatwe as admins kind of forget.
I said it on one of theepisodes recently.
It's just that the easiest ofadvice that gives you that kind
of clicking aha moment and notrealizing that we're not
reinventing the wheel, but someof these soft skills are so
(21:19):
uncomfortable to have.
So being willing to openyourself up, feel a little
uncomfortable to have thoseconversations, I guess I'm
curious in your experience withyou had the background at the
call center and kind of.
That definitely I can imaginehelped a lot.
But for admins who are juststarting out, they may have gone
(21:41):
through a career change, maybethey'll find their accidental
admin path, like I did, whoknows?
But kind of what would be someof the tips, recommendations you
would give to an admin to getout of that comfort zone, to get
out of their way, to maybestart a conversation like that?
Because I only have my ownexperience to go off of, to kind
(22:03):
of relate to, and for me it wasalways absolutely terrifying to
have those conversations.
I knew I needed to have to letit happen, but I would wait, I
would get nervous, I would getanxious and then all of a sudden
, we're one week before thedeadline and people are saying
why didn't you have this sooner?
Well, imposter syndrome,anxiety, yada, yada, yada.
(22:23):
What would be something youwould recommend to that new
admin to avoid that outcome?
Speaker 2 (22:29):
Yeah, that's a great question.
I think that I've been veryfortunate from working at
Torrent Consulting and thenSolom and then bringing that
characteristic into essentialfederal services.
I think one of the biggestthings that helped me is these
companies.
Tech companies are known forkind of like mentorship or buddy
(22:49):
systems, but I think notsiloing yourself is really key.
I think finding that one or twopeople that relate to you like
for me, for my new company, Ifound another woman who's like
in this area and she's the sameage and we kind of talk the same
way where we're able to likebalance professional and both
(23:09):
personal and I think having thatone or two people, however many
it may, be being able to belike hey, can I run this through
you really quick, I need totalk to you about this.
I think when you can talk tosomebody and then they give you
your thoughts or their thoughtsand you can kind of be like do
you think this is worth bringingup, I feel like really
passionate about it.
I think that's the way leadersare kind of born as well, and if
(23:34):
you want to move forward withyour career, you have to like
work to find that voice andagain, I think it doesn't only
go with finding one or twopeople inside of the company.
I also think that it's valuingyourself outside of your career.
So for, like me and my husband,for example, like we really
like working out and that givesme a sense of power the music
I'm like okay, I can come and Ican have this conversation with
(23:56):
my manager and be like look so,and so we have something to talk
about.
And I think at the end of theday, you're voicing your
thoughts and your opinions.
There's so many times where I'min meetings and it's like hello,
anybody there.
But when you can kind of bethat one person to kind of start
raising your voice, you'regonna see kind of a pattern with
(24:17):
yourself and self-happiness.
And I'm a huge believer in justsay it now, say it now whenever
you can.
So that would be my advice Findsomebody in the company that
you can talk to, somebody in theecosystem that you can talk to.
Kind of run things off.
Find multiple people Is thisworth talking about?
And then kind of project it ina way that is, you want it to be
(24:38):
projected and understood.
So that's my piece of advice.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
That's great.
That's really really well put.
It all really comes down towords of encouragement.
You have to find that supportsystem is kind of the theme I'm
getting from this.
All which makes absolute sense.
We've talked about in previousepisodes where folks just
weren't feeling happy in general, so they had to find a
(25:03):
different support system, adifferent community to connect
with, because the one they werecurrently in was not what they
wanted it to be, especiallyduring COVID, to make them feel
like they can keep pushingforward.
How would you recommend someonego about finding that next
support system?
We're just finding that firstsupport system you mentioned for
(25:24):
you.
You found a colleague at workwho you two kind of gelled and
clicked.
You were the same age Forsomeone who doesn't have that at
the office, they are just anadmin of one.
They are me, myself and I.
What's something you would sayyou should go?
Do X, y, z or maybe trysomething out, try a different
tactic out.
(25:44):
What would you kind of suggestin that regard?
Speaker 2 (25:48):
Yeah, and I think that's a great question because
what you said is true.
If you're an admin, you justhave yourself sometimes.
So what do you do?
And I think when you're inconsultancies like Solom, like
Deloitte, those bigger companies, you have an abundance of
people sometimes and it's easierto make connections and it's
easier to have thoseconversations especially
(26:10):
companies like Solom they woulddo a lot of lunch and learn.
So, even if you're not in a podor a project with somebody, you
had an opportunity to meetsomebody.
So I'll start with that Ifyou're not an admin and if you
are in a consultancy, definitelyraise your hands for lunch and
learns, like offer to do them,partner with somebody, attend
them, talk to the people after,I think that's great.
(26:32):
If you're working at biggerconsultancies ERGs, women in
tech, hispanic in tech, allthese other options that you
have Now, going down to thepeople who are working as
independent, like if they'refreelancers or if they're admins
, developers that's gonna beharder, right?
So I think that's when you haveto really lean on the community
(26:54):
and be present.
On LinkedIn, I always sayLinkedIn first because that's
probably the best place whereyou can see all the events and
stuff, but that the Discordcommunity servers.
There's Slack servers, there'sSlack servers.
But I think the best that I'veexperienced is probably Jacob,
where you and I even met is thein-person events.
(27:17):
There's nothing like them.
And shout out to Fort WorthDallas Live Events.
They've been the best, bringingin hundreds of people and guest
speakers, and I think youreally have to find that place.
Now, if you're in a state thatdoesn't have it, then you just
kind of got to go to onlineevents and not discrediting them
they're also awesome, but youjust kind of got to find you
(27:38):
really have to find your people.
You cannot in this career, intech, you cannot isolate
yourself.
If that's what you choose to do, then awesome, that's fine.
But if you want people andadvice and to learn and to
progress, you may not be anadmin forever.
If you want to do a consultancy, you run your own consultancy
one day.
You have to learn and grow.
So you have to put yourself ina spot where you're listening to
(28:01):
podcasts like this, you'rereaching out to the people that
are speaking, the guest speakers.
You got to push.
If you're not uncomfortable,you got to be uncomfortable to
grow.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
Yes, we've said it on the podcast a few different
times but you got to hustle.
You were past a point in theworld of tech to where, if you
want to just follow the careerpath and you get lucky with the
company you're at, that'sfantastic and that kind of is
option A.
But if you want to find thatgrowth on your own, you want to
(28:35):
find that network, find thatpeople that you don't work with
on a day to day.
You have to seek it out.
You have to put yourself inthose uncomfortable situations
Pivoting slightly Still on thesame topic of imposter syndrome
and finding ways to feelcomfortable and embrace that
authentic you In your use case.
(28:58):
You created an amazing YouTubechannel.
You have an amazing blog.
You've created all this content, not as much on the technical
side, albeit, but it's aboutbeing in the world of tech.
You are taking your experienceand putting it out there High
level.
What is that like?
To just kind of take that leapof faith, put that content out
(29:21):
there.
But then also, what was thething you didn't expect from
audiences when they reacted toyour content?
Speaker 2 (29:30):
You know, like I said , when I first started the
YouTube channel, I reallydebated between being like super
tech and if you look back in myvideos you can see it being how
to get started on Trailhead,how to do this and, granted, I
learned so much myself and youreally do learn when you teach
yourself and then you teachothers but I just had a feeling
(29:53):
in me that this is not thecontent that I'm passionate
about, and if I'm not passionate, my audience is going to tell
and it's just like everythingwill just go.
So I think there's been so manytimes where I think I was like,
is this right?
Is this right, is this right?
And I think, at the end of theday, you got to follow your
heart.
So, kind of going with theYouTube channels and you can see
it progress over time.
(30:13):
It's like starting my ownbusiness, showing like a
photography session and thengoing from day in the life of a
consultant and that's like whatI feel like the audience really
wants to see, and I've gotten ahuge response Like, yes, the
videos of how to start Trailheaddid fantastic, but also the day
(30:36):
in the life of a consultant,like what do you really do?
Like what helps you.
I found that my audience likedthat content more and I like
that content more where they'relike, oh, I'm not going to be
drowning in work every day orthis is what I would really do.
So I found that when it's notsuper techy content and it's
(30:56):
just staying true to myself andsharing my experiences, I think
that goes a long way just tokind of end.
But the layoff that I recentlyhad I was applying to jobs
literally the moment that thelayoff happened, within five
minutes, I posted on LinkedInLike help, but fortunately got a
(31:18):
lot of interviews, but it justdidn't feel right inside and I
just decided to book a two weektrip to Japan and just to kind
of reset.
Yeah, it was awesome, it was socool.
People have not solo traveled.
You must, it's a must, butthat's what I'm working on.
Sharing right now is like goingfrom tech layoffs to thinking
(31:38):
like what did I do wrong?
Why is my coworker still there?
All these questions whereyou're self-doubting yourself.
And I think that by sharingthat experience of just going
abroad and totally resettingdefines who you are and you know
so much better what you want.
So that's what I'm hoping topost in the next blog post slash
YouTube video and I can seethat there's a lot of people
(32:01):
that really like it and enjoy it.
So I think sharing there'sgreat things, of sharing tech
and how to build ABCND, butthere's also a great side of
with the audience.
I've seen that, just likehearing stories, just like this.
So that's kind of where I'm at.
Speaker 1 (32:15):
Oh, I really, really like the just openness of the
not being afraid to just takethat leap of faith.
I could never do a solo travel.
That's just my own personalthing, unless it's like I'll go
solo travel for work events,when I know I'm going to have a
(32:35):
community.
But I just had that.
Just gives me chilling anxiety,tingles to think of oh, I'm
going to go to a very, very newplace.
No one knows me, I don't knowanyone.
The language barrier on top ofthat's probably got to be
intense for maybe for you, maybeI'm assuming incorrectly, but I
(32:56):
know there's also that level ofit too.
So I mean, what pushes you thento take that leap of faith?
Because there's the leap offaith of just hey, I'm going to
step out of my comfort zone andjust go to a user group meetup.
But then there's a huge leap offaith of solo traveling to find
(33:17):
yourself.
For you, what is giving youthat click to say I know myself
enough, I've done enoughself-reflection to know just
going to a user group isn'tgoing to be enough, I have to
take that extra step.
What was that moment?
Or how did that click for you?
Speaker 2 (33:34):
I love life and my dad.
I was adopted in Costa Rica,but my dad worked for the State
Department and we lived in sevendifferent countries growing up,
so travel and people andculture is in my blood.
Almost it's something that Iadore and I think that I learn
the most from people.
I've even contemplated going toget a customer service job
(33:57):
again at this point, becauseworking in tech is fantastic,
but I think I miss the people.
I feel like you learn most fromthings like this, like podcasts
, and just listening to people'sstory and, I think, from other
people's story.
It inspires you.
But I also think pushingyourself in an environment where
it's like whoa I've never seentemples like this in Japan or
food like this and people Ithink that motivates me and I
(34:22):
just don't want to be.
I don't want to feel like I'mjust wasting my life.
There is this quote that I readand it's like if we live for 70
years, that should be enoughtime or something along the
lines of that, and I was like,was 70 years enough?
Is it really?
But then I started sitting downfor an hour I mean for a week
(34:44):
and not really doing anything.
I'm like, well dang, I guess 70years really is enough if you
play the cards right.
So I'm just a lover of life, alover of people, stories, really
anything, and I think thatthat's the best way that you can
grow and, at the end of the day, that's how I want to live.
My life is in exploration mode.
So go travel, travel solo Imean anybody listening.
(35:09):
Go for it, it's so much fun.
Japan is a great place to start, and so is London.
Speaker 1 (35:14):
I've heard wonderful things about Japan.
I've been to London a few timesand absolutely adored it.
It was the perfect balance ofhistory and sightseeing, food.
I'm a huge theater person, asI've said on the podcast, so,
like the West End was amazingfor me, bringing it towards the
(35:34):
end because we are nearing theend the idea of taking those
leaps of faith, finding ways toimprove yourself, to live life.
I kind of want to take it back alittle bit to the YouTube side
of things.
You've done a lot of greatcontent in that regard.
For me, imposter syndrome andjust being able to overcome and
(35:58):
feel like I have a seat at thetable what's helped me is
helping other people and you'vecreated the YouTube channel to
help the other people.
What would your kind ofmentality, what's your opinion
about admins building up otheradmins and like is it an
obligation for folks to giveback if they have dealt with
imposter syndrome?
(36:19):
What is your opinion or adviceon how other admins should be
giving back to the community tohelp others out when they've
experienced imposter syndrome ornot known answers to problems?
Speaker 2 (36:35):
Yeah, and I think that's a really interesting
question because I've met somany people where they're more
on their reserved and quieterside but they have fantastic
advice and they're more thanwilling to help.
I work with a lot of veteransand I've seen that and a lot of
including my husband where theykind of are like well, I'm not
(36:57):
at that point.
I'm not at that point, I'm notready to be a mentor, I'm not
really to hop on veterinary,which is like a veteran helping
services, and I've also beenwith people that do have
imposter syndrome.
They're like but I've only hadtwo years.
What do I have to help?
And then, you know, I've seenpeople that are like I'm
learning this first chapter, I'mready to teach people, and I
think that there's such a rangeof people where you have to.
(37:18):
There's two things you have tofeel comfortable, but don't
overanalyze it and don't saylike tomorrow, tomorrow,
tomorrow, tomorrow.
I've met so many people whereyou know, I haven't been ready
sometimes to do things and myfingers just kind of go and
leaves.
One thing leads to another.
But I think the biggest thingthat you can do is sometimes
(37:38):
start, have enough.
If you're one of those peoplethat need information to start
before you go.
That's fine, but start.
The worst thing that you can dofor yourself is to not start
something.
So for the admins that want togive back, I don't think it's
necessarily necessary all thetime.
If you feel like you haveinformation and you want to
(38:00):
share it and if you feel morecomfortable like going
one-on-one to somebody, I thinkthat's great.
But there's been times whereI've interviewed people and
pushed them in certain placesand they'll say, yes, I want to,
and they end up really enjoyingit and stepping out of their
comfort zone.
I've running the Latinas andSalesforce group that I've had.
I've had a few people come ondo little sessions for us and
(38:23):
you know some of them are likebut I don't have this credential
or that credential, and thereality is you have something
that somebody else hasn't doneyet and somebody else probably
wants to hear your story.
Even if it's five people when Ipost my YouTube videos, they
might get five views, they mayget whatever amount, but if it
helps one person and it helps meI think self therapy too if it
(38:44):
helps you and it helps somebodyelse, at the end of the day, if
you're doing something that'shappy to you, I think that's the
only thing that matters.
If you're happy doing something, somebody else will listen, and
it would kind of be like a,like a, it goes from there, so
yeah.
Speaker 1 (39:00):
This is why I need to start this podcast with a
YouTube channel, because I'mjust nodding my head with a jank
on my face and no one on the noone listening, can listen along
Like I love that answer of youjust have to be willing.
You can't let the fear guide youand I know we've talked about
that a lot, but it's just kindof you have to lean into the
uncomfortable, honestly.
So, keeping the topic similar,but on a slightly different end
(39:28):
of the admin ecosystemperspective, you mentioned
before that you are a part of aLatinas and tech Latinas and
Salesforce user group.
I'm curious, if you're okaytalking about it, to kind of go
through a little bit what doesimposter syndrome look like for
those groups?
I know for me it's.
(39:50):
I have my own interpretation ofwhat imposter syndrome means to
me, but I know that for othergroups in the ecosystem it's
going to mean something verydifferent.
So I'm curious you're kind oftake your interpretation on what
does imposter syndrome looklike for women in tech Latinas
and Salesforce?
Speaker 2 (40:10):
Yeah, definitely.
So I actually started theLatinas and Salesforce group
because there was a Latinas andtech group that I really admired
.
But every time I tried to go tothe event it was either like
sold out or just some topicsthat I wasn't totally interested
in, and I said, okay, there's alot of Latinas in Salesforce.
(40:30):
Why don't we just have a groupwhere Latinas can come together,
not just in the United Statesbut globally, and share their
experiences?
And I think I really gotpassionate from it when I
actually interviewed my formercoworker, michelle, and it was
just she gave me such anenlightening view into Latinas
(40:52):
abroad where she said that inGuatemala, women typically don't
go into tech.
They go into call centers andit's usually frowned upon when
women do.
I think this is a perspectivefrom somebody that lives abroad,
but then, versus in the UnitedStates, it's similar but very
different.
For them, expectations aredifferent, but for here in the
United States, I think that it'singrained in some cultures
(41:16):
where Hispanic people,especially Latinas, they don't
say much.
You know, like they're not likehey, I can say this.
Or I can say that I grew up ina white family.
I guess I'll put it like that.
I was adopted into a whitefamily.
So I think that my voice.
That's why it's so much easierfor me to say ABC and D versus
(41:40):
my colleagues who run theLatinas and Salesforce group,
who are Dominican and Mexican.
They're a little bit moreoutspoken, but the people that
have joined our group arequieter, you know, and the thing
number one thing that I'veheard them say is I feel nervous
talking in public or in usergroups because it's ingrained in
our culture and for me, beingLatina, like you know, we have
(42:06):
such an ability to break intowhatever industry that we want
here in the United States and Iwanted to share her story but
also hear what is life like forother Latinas globally.
So I did more like podcast notpodcasts, but YouTube videos
along the way Like I haveanother video with six other
Latinas from all over where weshare that there's a pay
(42:30):
decrease, like we don't get paidas much here and there, we have
to fight for this or that and Ithought that that was a really
important topic and we needed tohave more important discussions
like that.
So that's why I created Latinasand Salesforce, I believe in
November of October of 2023.
So super recent, and I had noidea how to run it and I brought
two other Latinos on board andthey were super passionate.
(42:53):
One's a military spouse andanother one runs a body wasn't
tech group, which she had asmaller group but she wanted to
make it bigger.
So, like, how do we scale?
And I think, through thesessions that we've done, more
women have, or more Latinas havecome to these sessions, where
they see it.
They may not be able to attendyet, but they come to these
(43:13):
sessions and they'll come justto listen and when they come to
listen, they hear stories thatreflect their history, their
life, whether it be too shy totalk in a room or raise their
voice or post things, and bytalking and hearing other
people's stories and just beingavailable resources for them to
(43:33):
reach out to, it's reallybrought up like more people.
And what I've seen in the pastmonth is people that are not
only in the Salesforce ecosystem, people who are like product
managers, project managers,people from Discord.
I'm starting to get likerequests to join the group from
all different type of techgroups, because that's a type of
groups and kind of things thatare needed, these discussions.
(43:57):
We made the group private atfirst, but then we made it
public because we want morepeople to hear about it and
there's a lot of people who arecoming that are not Latinas,
that are in support.
Dreaming in Color also justlaunched, which means dreaming,
of course, dreaming in Color inSpanish.
But the group is starting togrow and I think it's really
important to have this space forLatinas, because sometimes
(44:22):
they're a little bit quieter ornot, as I've spoken, or we don't
really know what to say orpeople to reach out to who kind
of look like us or sound like usor have the same upbringing.
I've been the only Latina in acompany of 18 before and it was
just kind of like oh, who do Italk to here?
So it's how to navigate thatand we're an available resource
(44:44):
out there and I just reallyloved the community that we've
put and I think it's importantto have that type of space and
we don't only just do Salesforcecontent, we do, like how to get
into project management, how totalk about salaries, like those
conversations where it's like Idon't know how to navigate this
, but we're going to figure outhow to do it because people need
it.
So, yeah, that's been thereally cool part.
(45:05):
We have some upcoming sessionsfor 2024 plans Sonando Angolores
coming up, so really excitedabout it.
Speaker 1 (45:13):
That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (45:14):
And.
Speaker 1 (45:15):
I always say I really love working in Salesforce.
But like hearing stuff likethat makes me really really love
working within Salesforce,because it's not in every single
job.
You have this extremely largeand global community where you
can.
If you don't have those people,you can just build your own
(45:35):
group and then people over timecan come.
I mean, if you're like you said, you're working at a company of
18 and there's no one else whois talking like you, sounding
like you, emoting like you, andyou get that with Salesforce you
can create that group, you cancreate that medium.
We said it earlier you have tohustle, you have to find the
(45:58):
support group, and I love howyou've created multiple support
groups and helped so many, somany other people.
So I really really love hearingstuff like that and think that
it's great that y'all are tryingto help Others get into the
ecosystem but also evolve andgrow.
The content doesn't always haveto be super technical You're
(46:21):
talking about.
I love the kind of focus onproject management, because that
is such an underappreciatedsoft skill to be a successful
admin.
So I love that.
Those are some of the thingsyou are diving into with that.
Speaker 2 (46:34):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (46:35):
I definitely will be plugging all of that as well.
So we are nearing the end.
I've really enjoyed all thethings we've talked about and
hearing your story and kind ofseeing your path go from start
to finish.
I always end the podcast withthese one or two questions.
And I think they have value forthat next generation of admins.
(46:57):
So the main one is you've had awonderful journey.
It's taken you from 2011 to nowwe're 2023 going through a lot
of stuff.
What would be for a new adminor sorry, I want to rephrase
that for when you were goingthrough your journey?
You 2011, to where we are nowin 2024.
(47:21):
Now, knowing the journey you'vetaken, what would be your one
regret that you wish you diddifferently?
That you could maybe help otheradmins out who are going
through similar journeys, outand not make the same not
mistake, but same choices.
Speaker 2 (47:40):
Yeah.
So I think what took me so longto get certified was that I was
just on show head and I wasjust watching tutorials on
LinkedIn, and it can beespecially during the pandemic,
and I think, in a world ofremote and obligate not
obligations, but like things todo if you're a parent and all
these things and you haveobligations with your family,
(48:00):
whatever it may be, I think it'snot doing things alone.
I think that so many times wesilo ourselves, especially
working from home.
Go out and see the world, bringthat back, bring your
inspiration, come in, refresh,join the user groups, listen to
podcasts.
And I will also say one thingthat I wish I would have done a
(48:22):
little bit different is not justSalesforce related content.
I think that there's a lot ofvalue in like project management
and seeing what's going on inthe other tech industries.
Along the way you might changeyour career, like I've gone from
Salesforce consultant to seniorbusiness analyst and I might
want to go into projectmanagement.
So like taking courses, like Ijust enrolled at UC Berkeley's
(48:45):
project management extensioncourse.
But it's like, yeah, and thoseare the cool things.
It's like knowing that yourcareer will not only be
Salesforce.
There's so many otherpossibilities.
So like don't close that door.
Always know what's going on intech.
It's really important.
Just see what's out there, seewhat you're possible like, what
you can do.
You might want to be a PM, abusiness analyst, in a different
(49:07):
sector one day, who knows?
Don't close a door to justSalesforce.
Be curious about everythingelse in the tech space and don't
do it alone.
Those are my two biggest piecesof advice.
Speaker 1 (49:20):
That's fantastic.
That is absolutely fantastic.
I love the don't close doorsbecause I feel like where I'm at
right now, we are a marketingcloud slash engagement, account
engagement, Parodod MarketingCloud, whatever you want to call
it nowadays but we doconsulting on that regard and so
(49:41):
often I sometimes will forgetthat.
Oh no, I used to specialize inHubSpot.
I used to be someone thatHubSpot people would call and
say like, hey, do you want tojump on this prospect and sell
them on this?
Not closing doors and not beingjust saying, well, I'm 100%
Salesforce.
I want to be a little bit, justbecause that's the premise of
(50:02):
this podcast, but that's also myjob.
At the same time, it's like notlimiting, like being okay with,
like learning all of thecontent from all the different
solutions and then from theremaking decisions, just so you
have the insight, Because I'llgive HubSpot this their training
resources for some of theirinbound marketing things.
I'm a marketer.
(50:22):
It's really, really goodcontent.
Salesforce has equally goodcontent, but I mean, it's a
different perspective on things.
Speaker 2 (50:27):
So I love that recommendation.
Speaker 1 (50:33):
Well, I really appreciate you taking the time,
I really appreciate you divinginto this conversation, diving
into this journey with me.
I definitely will be reachingout to you for advice in the
future about Japan, because Idefinitely want to go there now,
but I also just reallyappreciate the insights on this
and we'll definitely be keepingin touch.
Speaker 2 (50:54):
That sounds great.
Thank you so much, jacob, andthank you to everybody that was
listening.
Feel free to reach out whenever.
Thanks everybody.
Speaker 1 (51:11):
And that concludes another episode of Admins of
Tomorrow.
A special thanks to our guest,megan, for being on the show.
I really appreciated theinsights she shared of really
being strategic and finding yourcommunity.
Like she said, it can be a usergroup, your coworkers, or a
community you create from theground up.
It doesn't matter how you findit, but having that group of
(51:31):
people is so important to notfeel like you shouldn't be where
you are.
So if anyone's interested, youcan subscribe to Megan's YouTube
channel at MeganTuanoh or visither website,
salesforcewithmagancom.
Thank you all again for takingthe time to listen and support
our podcast.
If you have any feedback,questions or topic suggestions,
we'd love to hear from you.
So please don't hesitate toconnect with us on LinkedIn or
(51:54):
Twitter or email us atinfoatadminsoftomorrowcom.
Also, if you or someone youknow would like to be on the
podcast or would like to givesomeone a shout out, please go
to our website,adminsoftomorrowcom.
Forward slash, share yourthoughts and fill out our form
to be on the show or givesomeone a shout out.
If you enjoyed this episode,don't forget to subscribe, leave
(52:14):
a review and share it with yourfellow Trailblazers.
Every listen and every reviewmeans the world to us and helps
us grow, so please keep sharingthe show.
Once again, I'm Jacob Catalano,your host signing off.
We appreciate you for listeningto Admins of Tomorrow
Trailblazing the next generation.
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