February 11, 2025 • 30 mins
Discover the secrets of building powerful, global tech communities with Mariana Lemus, a community expert hailing from Latin America. Mariana shares her fascinating journey, transitioning from finance to marketing at MuleSoft, where she played a pivotal role in nurturing a vibrant community of developers. Her story is a testament to the importance of understanding diverse cultures and the dedication required to cultivate successful tech ecosystems. Mariana paints a vivid picture of the early days of MuleSoft in Argentina, offering valuable insights for anyone interested in nearshoring and community building.
Join us as we explore the world of tech community building through Mariana's experiences across multiple countries. From the heartwarming tale of a developer ambassador from Bahia Blanca, Argentina, venturing to San Francisco, to the unique challenges and opportunities of working in big tech from Latin America, this episode is rich with cultural insights. Mariana emphasizes the importance of overcoming imposter syndrome and staying positive while celebrating the richness of cultural differences—from language and work culture to the comforting joy of culinary traditions like homemade arepas. This conversation promises to inspire and enlighten anyone passionate about global collaboration and community building.
🔗🔗Connect with Mariana Lemus 🔗🔗
Linkedin: Mariana Lemus | LinkedIn
Company: Salesforce: Overview | LinkedIn
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
We'll see you next time.
Welcome everyone to anotherepisode of the Nearshore Cafe
podcast.
We've got a real treat ifyou're interested in building
community.
And that's the biggest thing onpeople's mind as they think
about nearshoring is how do Iget in touch with the right
(00:53):
people and build the rightcommunity?
I'm going to introduce ourguests in a second.
First, let me thank our sponsor, plug Technologies PLUGGtech
great way to connect all thetalent from Latin America to
growing US companies.
Let me welcome Mariana Lamus, acommunity expert for Latin
(01:16):
America.
So great to have you.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Oh, thank you.
It's a pleasure to be here andan honor.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Thank you, and where in the world are you today,
mariana?
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Querétaro in Mexico.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
All right, all right.
How long have you been therefor?
Speaker 2 (01:28):
A few months since last year, we came here and we
love it.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Cool, and where were you prior?
Speaker 2 (01:34):
So I'm Venezuelan.
I was based in Argentina forfive years, then we moved to
Mexico City and stayed there forfour years, and now we are in
Querétaro.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
So yeah, and if I, if I remember right, you had some
time in Canada too oh yeah, um.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
after I graduated from from my university, I had
the opportunity to to to live inCanada for a few months to
study English, so that was abeautiful experience as well.
Many friends I have based inthere.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
You really had a chance to be all over the
Americas, so this will be anexciting perspective.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Even in Australia.
I went to Australia for onemonth to work, so I'm lucky.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Yeah, absolutely, absolutely Well, as I mentioned
in the intro to the show.
Absolutely, absolutely Well.
(02:40):
As I mentioned in the intro tothe show, community is a huge
part.
You know as the of CFOs, hrleaders, ceos, you know where do
I get the right talent.
So I think a lot of mistakesthese companies might make is
they kind of rush into LatinAmerica without a strategy of
(03:02):
how to access the right people.
And, as you as the communityexpert, I think we're going to
really dive into that today.
So first, maybe let me justeven ask, like, what is the role
of the community manager inLatin America?
(03:22):
Big tech, what does that evenmean?
What are you responsible for?
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Well, essentially my role was global, but it requires
a lot, because when you arebuilding a global community, you
need to understand your peoplethat are based in all over the
world, and it was beautiful aswell because you get to know the
(03:48):
different cultures.
So I essentially grow the LatinAmerica, the Latin America
community.
But it was not only that.
Like I was, I had theexperience to work with people
from India, from Asia, fromEurope and Latin America, and I
speak like I'm Venezuelan, basedin Mexico.
(04:11):
I know the people in Argentina,but I had friends now in Brazil
as well, like small cities inBrazil that are truly, in that
case, were truly meals ofexperts that wanted to to
interact in a community.
So it was not a matter of wedidn't have borders there.
It was all welcome.
(04:32):
If you know the tool, if youwant to interact, if you want to
share knowledge, you feelwelcome.
And that was part, essentiallypart of my job to to make them
feel like this is a safe spacewhere you can share feedback,
when we can speak your languageabout integration that not many
people like to speak about that.
But they found a place thereand that's the beauty of our
(04:56):
community.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Yeah, Now you started .
If I had it right, Mariana, youstarted your community
experience with MuleSoft.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Is that correct?
Yeah, life is.
I mean, I was in Argentina andI was looking for a job and I
told my dad like I have untilthat month before I need to come
back home for money.
So one month before that I gota job offer in a center for
(05:27):
finance, because my backgroundis economy, and another from
MuleSoft in marketing, and Isaid let's go to marketing, I
like that.
So one friend referred me tothe job and I joined and the
position was like communityoperation manager, community
operation.
It was not manager, it wascommunity operation.
(05:47):
And I was like what is that?
But I love because I'm apeople's person, I love to chat,
I love to connect with peopleand it was essentially that for
a type of people that it wasdevelopers and I had the
experience to meet them, tounderstand their personalities,
the way they like to be managedand and I spend there for seven
(06:12):
years.
So quite a lot and a lot ofexperience now.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
I don't know if I had ever shared this with you,
mariana, but I had done a littlebit of work for MuleSoft way
back in 2012.
So I just picked up like acontract recruiting opportunity.
For a few months I was workingin their San Francisco office
and, if I remember the yearsright, they were just starting
(06:40):
to get Argentina off the ground.
Around that I think it was likethe first couple of engineers.
So I guess your careertrajectory we're like 40, maybe
six years, so this is like 2017,2018 is when you were at
Microsoft.
What did their Argentinapresence look like when you
(07:01):
started?
Like do they have an office?
How many engineers?
Can you tell us more about that?
Speaker 2 (07:07):
So the headquarter was in San Francisco.
However, the biggest officewere in Argentina.
So you can imagine, in PuertoMadero, like I don't know, the
biggest team were the engineers.
So it was like the main productdevelopment were there and I.
(07:30):
You are used to developers, soyou know developers they take
their time, but you can see themat 7 pm at night.
You're like all tired and theyare like coding and talking, and
so I was there like and and itwas beautiful.
Now we speak about Salesforcebig, big, big company.
(07:53):
But I started with MuleSoftthat it was a smaller company
focused on tech.
The founder is a developers aswell, so so they put a lot of
money, a lot of effort in hiringthe best skilled people and I
remember going to launches withall the developers talking about
(08:14):
the integration and I was like,yeah, how's life?
Nice, I'm not tech, but I wasin the middle of that and I'm
grateful because when I moved toMexico, it was kind of
different.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
The Mexico office was most focusing on sales,
business development, nothingrelated to high-tech developer
environment that I was part of.
If you remember um about howmany, so it was the biggest
office for MuleSoft.
Could you recall like bestguess about how many engineers
were working in that Puerto?
Speaker 2 (08:53):
Madera office.
We were huge, like yeah, I don'tknow, let's say 100 wow okay,
yeah, because I'm telling you interms of general, like all type
of developer, kua, frontend,all types and the director of
engineering, he loved to speakabout that.
(09:16):
Like I remember, like if theywere walking to the office like
hi, mariano, and he's a big guy,you know, and how are you?
Yeah, we were developing dates,this tool, and and I'm so
stressed and and he said, but,but my wife is mad because I
should go home.
So I said, yeah, let's go.
(09:38):
You know you need to balance,but it was beautiful to be
inside of that mind.
It's different now.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
Now MuleSoft is a tool that is used, you know,
kind of widely in theengineering world.
So was your job more focusedinternally or externally?
Speaker 2 (09:57):
good question?
Uh, no, I.
I, my job was mostly to workwith partners, customers, mostly
externally.
So I needed to open the bridgebetween the product management,
the product manager, and thepartners who use the tool, who
(10:20):
test.
So the community wasessentially that to make them
feel welcome, to share knowledge, to do webinars, to do meetups,
to be virtual, in person, tocome into our conference and
speak about the product.
So we have different type ofroles, like community meetup
(10:41):
leaders, mentors and ambassadors, and ambassadors were the truly
advocates of the product.
So when you started theconversation, that you say to me
or to us the community has alot of impact in business is
true, because, let's say, it'sindirect sales, like those
(11:03):
people, the developers.
Maybe they are not the peoplewho make the business decision,
but they are the people who areusing the tool.
So they are going to say to youif it's work or is a disaster.
And the thing is that in bigcompanies like MuleSoft and then
Salesforce and the thing isthat in big companies like
(11:23):
MuleSoft and then Salesforce,it's really hard to get to those
people, the community members,to speak with CIO levels or
executive levels.
So the community gives them avoice to say let's speak about
the truth.
This is working, this is notworking, and they are really
(11:47):
honest.
So part of my job was to clearthe air and say, okay, I'm
listening to you, let me seewhat I can do.
And also to speak with the PMsand with the director of
engineering and say you need tofind time to speak with your
community, because it's not onlya matter of money, it's a
(12:09):
matter of this is working, thisis not working.
Go with that route.
So we have that cave code andthen see what happens.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
But the constant communication.
Keep talking to your customers.
Keep talking to your partners,gather feedback, but that's not
something that maybe is likeintuitively part of their
personality, so they needsomeone like you to bring it all
together.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
And the good thing is that I didn't tell you.
But we were a team of four onlyworking in this global
community and I speak Spanish.
So people in Latin Americatends to be shy and they are
never going to say anything to abig executive based in San
Francisco who are any Teton Vicexecutive based in San Francisco
(13:15):
who are?
So that was part of my job tosay let's speak.
How are you?
Do you feel good?
What do you need from us?
I don't know, mariana, I don't.
I mean, we should have morecontent in Spanish.
Or I know people like women.
I know people like women basedin Colombia who are a contractor
(13:36):
.
How are you?
Speaker 1 (13:43):
You know that kind of connection, human connection
was part of my job and the mostpart of my job that I enjoy Give
them a voice.
Yeah, I'd like to dive a littlemore into that.
I think you're onto somethingthat being able to communicate
in your first language peopleare much more comfortable,
authentic, at ease.
You kind of hear the wholestory, not the best foot forward
(14:05):
story, right?
Is there maybe an example youcan think of or like a little
story about?
Speaker 2 (14:12):
We were a community in the past, only local.
But then the pandemic hit andwe started doing, ok, let's do
for virtual and all kinds ofevents, and we were like
competing each other frombetween communities or just the
attention Right, or just theattention right.
So we started doing like, let'sorganize a conference?
Okay, and we organized aconference based first in
(14:40):
languages, languages andlocation.
So it was beautiful because weget together people from LATAM,
let's do a MUSE of conferenceLATAM.
And we had Brazil, we haveMexico, we have Buenos Aires,
peru, all kind of content basedin their language, in our
(15:04):
language, which is Spanish,talking about big, high
integration in Spanish that arenot usual.
Let's be clear, they are notusual.
But then we didn't stop there.
We did a conference in Europetalking about in Italian, in
Portuguese, in Spanish as well.
We did French, but it was notso great, not many people attend
(15:31):
.
But we offered that we wantedto feel the community members
that they can speak their ownlanguage and learn the tool and
thanks to that kind ofconference that we did, we
create local-based groups thatthey can teach their language.
And, if I can make an example,women who Mule.
(15:52):
It was a group created, it wasglobal, but then we split Women
who Mule LATAM, women who MuleEMEA, women who Mule JPEG and it
was good because it waspresented in their time zone, in
their language and with theirown type of content that they
(16:13):
want to present.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
The language is obviously a common barrier and
also a way to bring peopletogether, but I think lumping
all of Latin America into onegroup is also a mistake.
Can you talk about how youthought about integrating people
(16:37):
from Peru with people inArgentina and Chile and Mexico?
We'll maybe put Brazil to theside for a second because
they're Portuguese, but justbecause they all speak Spanish
doesn't mean that they all seethe world the same way.
How did you think about that?
Speaker 2 (16:52):
First, speaking their language, talking in Spanish.
Second, not obligate them to bepart of everything, just giving
them the freedom.
Like you want to do an event at6 pm on Wednesday, it's okay
(17:16):
for you, just do it Likewhatever it was for you.
And also I would like to sharea story that one developer
ambassador really high-tech,based in Bahia Blanca, like a
small place in Argentina.
We were in a big conference,yearly conference, three days of
workshop, a lot of keynotes, alot of information.
(17:37):
So we were there and I say, hey, hello, how are you?
You come here, you came here tolearn and you know.
And he said, no, mariana, Iinvest, I put my money to come
here to San Francisco to meetthe community.
Because, yeah, because I wantto meet them in person.
(17:57):
We have been working for a longtime.
We have projects together.
We have those people people anddevelopers in Peru attend to
their meetup virtually and speakin their meetup in Bahia Blanca
, in Buenos Aires, and they metthanks to the community.
When he say that, I thought likeI did everything, like that's
(18:19):
it.
You know, that kind ofinteraction and and it's not
only to be part is be part ofsomething is it's essentially
that it's not the bigcorporation self or some mules
of noise, it's a matter of you.
Have an interest that I like,let's talk, you know.
(18:41):
And other example that I cantell you, and it's not in Latam
but it's beautiful, the level ofconnection is one developer,
two developers wrote a book andone developer was based in India
(19:04):
and the other was based inHouston and they met thanks to
the community.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
So not all the time I can be, because I tend to be a
person to you ask me and I say,yes, you know I spoil people and
we cannot spoil all the peoplein Latin America if they cannot,
but they essentially make agood relationship globally,
let's say I also want to ask you, mariana, just because you've
(19:32):
had the chance to, to live in somany different places, and
especially you know, mexico,argentina, and you know, as
you've traveled, what are, um,what are some of the like, the
interesting differences that youthat maybe you could, you could
point out?
Speaker 2 (19:50):
well words in.
I mean, we speak spanish, butit's different spanish.
I'm super, venezuelan, super,and if you ask me in argentina,
they say learn to speak spanish.
And I'm not going to learn tospeak Spanish because I learn, I
know my Spanish.
(20:10):
So, yeah, that's languagebarrier.
Even in Spanish, the culturalstyle is different.
Like in Mexico, the spicy food,the all kind of different food
that you can taste is way toodifferent.
(20:31):
Kind of different food that youcan taste is way too different,
for example, in a warenvironment.
In Argentina, I remember, likein Venezuela, like people go to
their jobs here too in Mexico, 7pm and work, work, work and
then go back traffic, super welldressed and and everything is
(20:54):
like what is your last name?
What are you, what do you?
Do you know?
Status in Argentina is yourbrain.
Like I'm going to go with sportshoes, sport clothing in summer
, but I'm going to stay thereuntil I can develop, I can fit
(21:15):
that box that I have and itdoesn't matter where you study
anything.
It's a matter of the person,that who you are and the things
that you can bring, and that isbeautiful and I think that I'm
super proud to say that I cantake the best part of everything
, and and and say in thispodcast you know that it's
(21:39):
worldwide and it's public.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
That is beautiful just a uh fun question for you,
mariana.
Uh, where can you find the bestarepas in argentina?
Speaker 2 (21:49):
well in Argentina and everywhere in my home.
Yeah, I like to cook.
It's funny because I went outof my hometown, home country in
2016, so many years.
But I always tell my family, myfriends, that I'm based all
(22:14):
over the world, but I alwayswill be Venezuelan and buy my
arepas and cook.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
Same, I mean anything like Mexican will say I make a
good chilaquiles, you know, Imake a good chilaquiles, you
know I also wanted to ask you,mariana, about just working in
big tech.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
It wasn't long after you joined MuleSoft that
Salesforce acquired, so you kindof went from like fast growing
startup MuleSoft to big techSalesforce and then spent a lot
of your career with Salesforce.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
What does it feel like to work in big tech, but
from Latin America?
Kind of tricky, because smallcompanies have their touch and
big companies have their budget.
I was just starting in Mulesoftwhen the acquisition started
and we all were scared because,okay, maybe they are going to
(23:25):
fire us or what is going tohappen.
But then everything went normalor okay and being part of a big
tech community like tech, acompany like Salesforce, is
life-changing.
And now that I'm not part ofthat, I get.
(23:48):
I have the structure becauseit's normal to me, like I like
things organized.
I know the jargon of marketing,I know I love the opportunity
to travel abroad, to go to SanFrancisco a couple of times a
(24:09):
year, new York, and it has thegood things and it has things.
That is not so good, but it wasa beautiful experience and I
get to say that mostly peoplethink about that.
It's a lifetime experience,like we can compare with google,
with amazon, with big techcompanies if you were to give
(24:30):
advice.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
Let's say you were speaking to your community and
they asked for advice on um.
As someone from latin america,it's my first time ever working
for a tech startup.
What should I know?
And then maybe the samequestion it's my first time
working for a big tech.
What should I know?
Could you give some advice topeople that might be listening?
Speaker 2 (24:51):
Don't have the imposter syndrome, and I'm
telling you that because, likeyou can work in a small company,
in a medium and big company,and it's a matter of the right
attitude that you have.
I was in a room with peoplethat studied universities like
(25:14):
Berkeley, like Yale, I don'tknow huge university.
If you ask my university, it'ssmall, didn't have English so,
but I was there and no one willtell you like, oh you're.
Maybe they will tell you youare doing amazing.
But if you believe that you aredoing amazing, that you deserve
(25:36):
to be there, you can goeverywhere.
Like, have the right attitude,be a good listener, learn from
others and if you know, don'tknow something and you are shy
to ask, maybe ask a friend likewhat does that mean?
You know, but don't be shy,don't be shy, don't be shy.
(25:58):
You are going to make mistakesand they are human too, you know
.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
And then Mariana um uh, we talked a lot about
building community today.
If you were to maybe summarizewith like your top one or two
most important pieces of advicefor especially tech companies
that want to grow theircommunities in Latin America we
(26:22):
hear teams, talent, networks,users, things like that what are
like your top one or two piecesof advice for them?
Speaker 2 (26:33):
If they want to grow in Latin America.
I would say first, know theculture.
Take your time to at leastvisit once, especially the
directors who make the decision.
Know who you are working or atleast hire a good country
manager in the place to get toknow.
But essentially it's know yourpeople, because the people that
(26:56):
are members in community theyare doing a volunteer job, they
are not being paid to be there.
So if you know theirpersonality, their location,
what do they want?
For example, in the communitythat I develop, they could share
(27:17):
knowledge in different ways,like even either writing blogs,
presenting in videos, presentingin events.
So if you know theirpersonalities, you can offer
them.
Hey, if you would like to buildyour brand, you should do that.
And essentially for companieswho would like to establish in
Latin America, the people inPeru is not the same people in
(27:42):
Brazil.
They like different styles.
Or in Argentina it's differentthan in Mexico.
It's important that you traveland I know, brian, that you know
that because you took the timeto travel there to meet us and
it's different, it's different.
(28:03):
So this will be that one advice.
And second is respond quickly.
If you don't know the answer,maybe say I don't know.
Yet I'm going to follow you ina couple of days.
Allow me to have that.
And other advice that I can sayis give some incentives, like
(28:28):
it's not only money that we want, it's mostly that.
Don't make us feel like anumber.
Make us feel that, if we are adeveloper, give us a
certification voucher to use togrow our professional.
(28:48):
Some swag or a message sayinghey, I know from our manager,
hey, I know that you have beenworking extra hours or something
well done.
You know something to be humantouch, that in this world, ai,
(29:08):
everything is fast, everythingis now.
Some human touch would makeeven this, like recording this
postcard with you like it's thehigh love of my day, because I
said, like Ryan is in Hawaii,I'm in Mexico, but we're
connected with something youknow.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
I appreciate that you know this has been such a fun
experience.
Thank you so much, mariana, forsharing all this great advice
about building community and bigtech working across borders.
A lot of great takeaways today.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (29:40):
Well, this is the Nearshore Cafe podcast.
I'm Brian Sampson, your host,our great guest Mariana Lamouse,
and this podcast is sponsoredby Plug Technologies.
Pluggtech great way to connecttalent all over Latin America
with growing US companies.
Thanks for listening and we'llsee you next time.
We'll see you next time.
Welcome everyone to anotherepisode of the Nearshore Cafe
podcast.
We've got a real treat ifyou're interested in building
community.
And that's the biggest thing onpeople's mind as they think
about nearshoring is how do Iget in touch with the right
(00:53):
people and build the rightcommunity?
I'm going to introduce ourguests in a second.
First, let me thank our sponsor, plug Technologies PLUGGtech
great way to connect all thetalent from Latin America to
growing US companies.
Let me welcome Mariana Lamus, acommunity expert for Latin
(01:16):
America.
So great to have you.
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Oh, thank you.
It's a pleasure to be here andan honor.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Thank you, and where in the world are you today,
mariana?
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Querétaro in Mexico.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
All right, all right.
How long have you been therefor?
Speaker 2 (01:28):
A few months since last year, we came here and we
love it.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
Cool, and where were you prior?
Speaker 2 (01:34):
So I'm Venezuelan.
I was based in Argentina forfive years, then we moved to
Mexico City and stayed there forfour years, and now we are in
Querétaro.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
So yeah, and if I, if I remember right, you had some
time in Canada too oh yeah, um.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
after I graduated from from my university, I had
the opportunity to to to live inCanada for a few months to
study English, so that was abeautiful experience as well.
Many friends I have based inthere.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
You really had a chance to be all over the
Americas, so this will be anexciting perspective.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Even in Australia.
I went to Australia for onemonth to work, so I'm lucky.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Yeah, absolutely, absolutely Well, as I mentioned
in the intro to the show.
Absolutely, absolutely Well.
(02:40):
As I mentioned in the intro tothe show, community is a huge
part.
You know as the of CFOs, hrleaders, ceos, you know where do
I get the right talent.
So I think a lot of mistakesthese companies might make is
they kind of rush into LatinAmerica without a strategy of
(03:02):
how to access the right people.
And, as you as the communityexpert, I think we're going to
really dive into that today.
So first, maybe let me justeven ask, like, what is the role
of the community manager inLatin America?
(03:22):
Big tech, what does that evenmean?
What are you responsible for?
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Well, essentially my role was global, but it requires
a lot, because when you arebuilding a global community, you
need to understand your peoplethat are based in all over the
world, and it was beautiful aswell because you get to know the
(03:48):
different cultures.
So I essentially grow the LatinAmerica, the Latin America
community.
But it was not only that.
Like I was, I had theexperience to work with people
from India, from Asia, fromEurope and Latin America, and I
speak like I'm Venezuelan, basedin Mexico.
(04:11):
I know the people in Argentina,but I had friends now in Brazil
as well, like small cities inBrazil that are truly, in that
case, were truly meals ofexperts that wanted to to
interact in a community.
So it was not a matter of wedidn't have borders there.
It was all welcome.
(04:32):
If you know the tool, if youwant to interact, if you want to
share knowledge, you feelwelcome.
And that was part, essentiallypart of my job to to make them
feel like this is a safe spacewhere you can share feedback,
when we can speak your languageabout integration that not many
people like to speak about that.
But they found a place thereand that's the beauty of our
(04:56):
community.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Yeah, Now you started .
If I had it right, Mariana, youstarted your community
experience with MuleSoft.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
Is that correct?
Yeah, life is.
I mean, I was in Argentina andI was looking for a job and I
told my dad like I have untilthat month before I need to come
back home for money.
So one month before that I gota job offer in a center for
(05:27):
finance, because my backgroundis economy, and another from
MuleSoft in marketing, and Isaid let's go to marketing, I
like that.
So one friend referred me tothe job and I joined and the
position was like communityoperation manager, community
operation.
It was not manager, it wascommunity operation.
(05:47):
And I was like what is that?
But I love because I'm apeople's person, I love to chat,
I love to connect with peopleand it was essentially that for
a type of people that it wasdevelopers and I had the
experience to meet them, tounderstand their personalities,
the way they like to be managedand and I spend there for seven
(06:12):
years.
So quite a lot and a lot ofexperience now.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
I don't know if I had ever shared this with you,
mariana, but I had done a littlebit of work for MuleSoft way
back in 2012.
So I just picked up like acontract recruiting opportunity.
For a few months I was workingin their San Francisco office
and, if I remember the yearsright, they were just starting
(06:40):
to get Argentina off the ground.
Around that I think it was likethe first couple of engineers.
So I guess your careertrajectory we're like 40, maybe
six years, so this is like 2017,2018 is when you were at
Microsoft.
What did their Argentinapresence look like when you
(07:01):
started?
Like do they have an office?
How many engineers?
Can you tell us more about that?
Speaker 2 (07:07):
So the headquarter was in San Francisco.
However, the biggest officewere in Argentina.
So you can imagine, in PuertoMadero, like I don't know, the
biggest team were the engineers.
So it was like the main productdevelopment were there and I.
(07:30):
You are used to developers, soyou know developers they take
their time, but you can see themat 7 pm at night.
You're like all tired and theyare like coding and talking, and
so I was there like and and itwas beautiful.
Now we speak about Salesforcebig, big, big company.
(07:53):
But I started with MuleSoftthat it was a smaller company
focused on tech.
The founder is a developers aswell, so so they put a lot of
money, a lot of effort in hiringthe best skilled people and I
remember going to launches withall the developers talking about
(08:14):
the integration and I was like,yeah, how's life?
Nice, I'm not tech, but I wasin the middle of that and I'm
grateful because when I moved toMexico, it was kind of
different.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
The Mexico office was most focusing on sales,
business development, nothingrelated to high-tech developer
environment that I was part of.
If you remember um about howmany, so it was the biggest
office for MuleSoft.
Could you recall like bestguess about how many engineers
were working in that Puerto?
Speaker 2 (08:53):
Madera office.
We were huge, like yeah, I don'tknow, let's say 100 wow okay,
yeah, because I'm telling you interms of general, like all type
of developer, kua, frontend,all types and the director of
engineering, he loved to speakabout that.
(09:16):
Like I remember, like if theywere walking to the office like
hi, mariano, and he's a big guy,you know, and how are you?
Yeah, we were developing dates,this tool, and and I'm so
stressed and and he said, but,but my wife is mad because I
should go home.
So I said, yeah, let's go.
(09:38):
You know you need to balance,but it was beautiful to be
inside of that mind.
It's different now.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
Now MuleSoft is a tool that is used, you know,
kind of widely in theengineering world.
So was your job more focusedinternally or externally?
Speaker 2 (09:57):
good question?
Uh, no, I.
I, my job was mostly to workwith partners, customers, mostly
externally.
So I needed to open the bridgebetween the product management,
the product manager, and thepartners who use the tool, who
(10:20):
test.
So the community wasessentially that to make them
feel welcome, to share knowledge, to do webinars, to do meetups,
to be virtual, in person, tocome into our conference and
speak about the product.
So we have different type ofroles, like community meetup
(10:41):
leaders, mentors and ambassadors, and ambassadors were the truly
advocates of the product.
So when you started theconversation, that you say to me
or to us the community has alot of impact in business is
true, because, let's say, it'sindirect sales, like those
(11:03):
people, the developers.
Maybe they are not the peoplewho make the business decision,
but they are the people who areusing the tool.
So they are going to say to youif it's work or is a disaster.
And the thing is that in bigcompanies like MuleSoft and then
Salesforce and the thing isthat in big companies like
(11:23):
MuleSoft and then Salesforce,it's really hard to get to those
people, the community members,to speak with CIO levels or
executive levels.
So the community gives them avoice to say let's speak about
the truth.
This is working, this is notworking, and they are really
(11:47):
honest.
So part of my job was to clearthe air and say, okay, I'm
listening to you, let me seewhat I can do.
And also to speak with the PMsand with the director of
engineering and say you need tofind time to speak with your
community, because it's not onlya matter of money, it's a
(12:09):
matter of this is working, thisis not working.
Go with that route.
So we have that cave code andthen see what happens.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
But the constant communication.
Keep talking to your customers.
Keep talking to your partners,gather feedback, but that's not
something that maybe is likeintuitively part of their
personality, so they needsomeone like you to bring it all
together.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
And the good thing is that I didn't tell you.
But we were a team of four onlyworking in this global
community and I speak Spanish.
So people in Latin Americatends to be shy and they are
never going to say anything to abig executive based in San
Francisco who are any Teton Vicexecutive based in San Francisco
(13:15):
who are?
So that was part of my job tosay let's speak.
How are you?
Do you feel good?
What do you need from us?
I don't know, mariana, I don't.
I mean, we should have morecontent in Spanish.
Or I know people like women.
I know people like women basedin Colombia who are a contractor
(13:36):
.
How are you?
Speaker 1 (13:43):
You know that kind of connection, human connection
was part of my job and the mostpart of my job that I enjoy Give
them a voice.
Yeah, I'd like to dive a littlemore into that.
I think you're onto somethingthat being able to communicate
in your first language peopleare much more comfortable,
authentic, at ease.
You kind of hear the wholestory, not the best foot forward
(14:05):
story, right?
Is there maybe an example youcan think of or like a little
story about?
Speaker 2 (14:12):
We were a community in the past, only local.
But then the pandemic hit andwe started doing, ok, let's do
for virtual and all kinds ofevents, and we were like
competing each other frombetween communities or just the
attention Right, or just theattention right.
So we started doing like, let'sorganize a conference?
Okay, and we organized aconference based first in
(14:40):
languages, languages andlocation.
So it was beautiful because weget together people from LATAM,
let's do a MUSE of conferenceLATAM.
And we had Brazil, we haveMexico, we have Buenos Aires,
peru, all kind of content basedin their language, in our
(15:04):
language, which is Spanish,talking about big, high
integration in Spanish that arenot usual.
Let's be clear, they are notusual.
But then we didn't stop there.
We did a conference in Europetalking about in Italian, in
Portuguese, in Spanish as well.
We did French, but it was notso great, not many people attend
(15:31):
.
But we offered that we wantedto feel the community members
that they can speak their ownlanguage and learn the tool and
thanks to that kind ofconference that we did, we
create local-based groups thatthey can teach their language.
And, if I can make an example,women who Mule.
(15:52):
It was a group created, it wasglobal, but then we split Women
who Mule LATAM, women who MuleEMEA, women who Mule JPEG and it
was good because it waspresented in their time zone, in
their language and with theirown type of content that they
(16:13):
want to present.
Speaker 1 (16:15):
The language is obviously a common barrier and
also a way to bring peopletogether, but I think lumping
all of Latin America into onegroup is also a mistake.
Can you talk about how youthought about integrating people
(16:37):
from Peru with people inArgentina and Chile and Mexico?
We'll maybe put Brazil to theside for a second because
they're Portuguese, but justbecause they all speak Spanish
doesn't mean that they all seethe world the same way.
How did you think about that?
Speaker 2 (16:52):
First, speaking their language, talking in Spanish.
Second, not obligate them to bepart of everything, just giving
them the freedom.
Like you want to do an event at6 pm on Wednesday, it's okay
(17:16):
for you, just do it Likewhatever it was for you.
And also I would like to sharea story that one developer
ambassador really high-tech,based in Bahia Blanca, like a
small place in Argentina.
We were in a big conference,yearly conference, three days of
workshop, a lot of keynotes, alot of information.
(17:37):
So we were there and I say, hey, hello, how are you?
You come here, you came here tolearn and you know.
And he said, no, mariana, Iinvest, I put my money to come
here to San Francisco to meetthe community.
Because, yeah, because I wantto meet them in person.
(17:57):
We have been working for a longtime.
We have projects together.
We have those people people anddevelopers in Peru attend to
their meetup virtually and speakin their meetup in Bahia Blanca
, in Buenos Aires, and they metthanks to the community.
When he say that, I thought likeI did everything, like that's
(18:19):
it.
You know, that kind ofinteraction and and it's not
only to be part is be part ofsomething is it's essentially
that it's not the bigcorporation self or some mules
of noise, it's a matter of you.
Have an interest that I like,let's talk, you know.
(18:41):
And other example that I cantell you, and it's not in Latam
but it's beautiful, the level ofconnection is one developer,
two developers wrote a book andone developer was based in India
(19:04):
and the other was based inHouston and they met thanks to
the community.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
So not all the time I can be, because I tend to be a
person to you ask me and I say,yes, you know I spoil people and
we cannot spoil all the peoplein Latin America if they cannot,
but they essentially make agood relationship globally,
let's say I also want to ask you, mariana, just because you've
(19:32):
had the chance to, to live in somany different places, and
especially you know, mexico,argentina, and you know, as
you've traveled, what are, um,what are some of the like, the
interesting differences that youthat maybe you could, you could
point out?
Speaker 2 (19:50):
well words in.
I mean, we speak spanish, butit's different spanish.
I'm super, venezuelan, super,and if you ask me in argentina,
they say learn to speak spanish.
And I'm not going to learn tospeak Spanish because I learn, I
know my Spanish.
(20:10):
So, yeah, that's languagebarrier.
Even in Spanish, the culturalstyle is different.
Like in Mexico, the spicy food,the all kind of different food
that you can taste is way toodifferent.
(20:31):
Kind of different food that youcan taste is way too different,
for example, in a warenvironment.
In Argentina, I remember, likein Venezuela, like people go to
their jobs here too in Mexico, 7pm and work, work, work and
then go back traffic, super welldressed and and everything is
(20:54):
like what is your last name?
What are you, what do you?
Do you know?
Status in Argentina is yourbrain.
Like I'm going to go with sportshoes, sport clothing in summer
, but I'm going to stay thereuntil I can develop, I can fit
(21:15):
that box that I have and itdoesn't matter where you study
anything.
It's a matter of the person,that who you are and the things
that you can bring, and that isbeautiful and I think that I'm
super proud to say that I cantake the best part of everything
, and and and say in thispodcast you know that it's
(21:39):
worldwide and it's public.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
That is beautiful just a uh fun question for you,
mariana.
Uh, where can you find the bestarepas in argentina?
Speaker 2 (21:49):
well in Argentina and everywhere in my home.
Yeah, I like to cook.
It's funny because I went outof my hometown, home country in
2016, so many years.
But I always tell my family, myfriends, that I'm based all
(22:14):
over the world, but I alwayswill be Venezuelan and buy my
arepas and cook.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
Same, I mean anything like Mexican will say I make a
good chilaquiles, you know, Imake a good chilaquiles, you
know I also wanted to ask you,mariana, about just working in
big tech.
Speaker 1 (22:43):
It wasn't long after you joined MuleSoft that
Salesforce acquired, so you kindof went from like fast growing
startup MuleSoft to big techSalesforce and then spent a lot
of your career with Salesforce.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
What does it feel like to work in big tech, but
from Latin America?
Kind of tricky, because smallcompanies have their touch and
big companies have their budget.
I was just starting in Mulesoftwhen the acquisition started
and we all were scared because,okay, maybe they are going to
(23:25):
fire us or what is going tohappen.
But then everything went normalor okay and being part of a big
tech community like tech, acompany like Salesforce, is
life-changing.
And now that I'm not part ofthat, I get.
(23:48):
I have the structure becauseit's normal to me, like I like
things organized.
I know the jargon of marketing,I know I love the opportunity
to travel abroad, to go to SanFrancisco a couple of times a
(24:09):
year, new York, and it has thegood things and it has things.
That is not so good, but it wasa beautiful experience and I
get to say that mostly peoplethink about that.
It's a lifetime experience,like we can compare with google,
with amazon, with big techcompanies if you were to give
(24:30):
advice.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
Let's say you were speaking to your community and
they asked for advice on um.
As someone from latin america,it's my first time ever working
for a tech startup.
What should I know?
And then maybe the samequestion it's my first time
working for a big tech.
What should I know?
Could you give some advice topeople that might be listening?
Speaker 2 (24:51):
Don't have the imposter syndrome, and I'm
telling you that because, likeyou can work in a small company,
in a medium and big company,and it's a matter of the right
attitude that you have.
I was in a room with peoplethat studied universities like
(25:14):
Berkeley, like Yale, I don'tknow huge university.
If you ask my university, it'ssmall, didn't have English so,
but I was there and no one willtell you like, oh you're.
Maybe they will tell you youare doing amazing.
But if you believe that you aredoing amazing, that you deserve
(25:36):
to be there, you can goeverywhere.
Like, have the right attitude,be a good listener, learn from
others and if you know, don'tknow something and you are shy
to ask, maybe ask a friend likewhat does that mean?
You know, but don't be shy,don't be shy, don't be shy.
(25:58):
You are going to make mistakesand they are human too, you know
.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
And then Mariana um uh, we talked a lot about
building community today.
If you were to maybe summarizewith like your top one or two
most important pieces of advicefor especially tech companies
that want to grow theircommunities in Latin America we
(26:22):
hear teams, talent, networks,users, things like that what are
like your top one or two piecesof advice for them?
Speaker 2 (26:33):
If they want to grow in Latin America.
I would say first, know theculture.
Take your time to at leastvisit once, especially the
directors who make the decision.
Know who you are working or atleast hire a good country
manager in the place to get toknow.
But essentially it's know yourpeople, because the people that
(26:56):
are members in community theyare doing a volunteer job, they
are not being paid to be there.
So if you know theirpersonality, their location,
what do they want?
For example, in the communitythat I develop, they could share
(27:17):
knowledge in different ways,like even either writing blogs,
presenting in videos, presentingin events.
So if you know theirpersonalities, you can offer
them.
Hey, if you would like to buildyour brand, you should do that.
And essentially for companieswho would like to establish in
Latin America, the people inPeru is not the same people in
(27:42):
Brazil.
They like different styles.
Or in Argentina it's differentthan in Mexico.
It's important that you traveland I know, brian, that you know
that because you took the timeto travel there to meet us and
it's different, it's different.
(28:03):
So this will be that one advice.
And second is respond quickly.
If you don't know the answer,maybe say I don't know.
Yet I'm going to follow you ina couple of days.
Allow me to have that.
And other advice that I can sayis give some incentives, like
(28:28):
it's not only money that we want, it's mostly that.
Don't make us feel like anumber.
Make us feel that, if we are adeveloper, give us a
certification voucher to use togrow our professional.
(28:48):
Some swag or a message sayinghey, I know from our manager,
hey, I know that you have beenworking extra hours or something
well done.
You know something to be humantouch, that in this world, ai,
(29:08):
everything is fast, everythingis now.
Some human touch would makeeven this, like recording this
postcard with you like it's thehigh love of my day, because I
said, like Ryan is in Hawaii,I'm in Mexico, but we're
connected with something youknow.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
I appreciate that you know this has been such a fun
experience.
Thank you so much, mariana, forsharing all this great advice
about building community and bigtech working across borders.
A lot of great takeaways today.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (29:40):
Well, this is the Nearshore Cafe podcast.
I'm Brian Sampson, your host,our great guest Mariana Lamouse,
and this podcast is sponsoredby Plug Technologies.
Pluggtech great way to connecttalent all over Latin America
with growing US companies.
Thanks for listening and we'llsee you next time.
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