Talent Hub Talk

Steve Baines on his entrepreneurial journey, mergers, acquisitions and lessons along the way

In today's episode, we are joined by Steve Baines, a Salesforce CTA and Vice President with Apps Associates in the US.

In the episode, we explore a little bit about Steve's early career, how he started in IT and then found his way into the Salesforce ecosystem. Then we focus on Steve's entrepreneurial journey, where his entrepreneurial spirit comes from and the realities of being a business owner with a family.

We discuss why Steve has been driven to start new businesses after previous exits, what some of the key factors are behind business success and explore how he balanced being a business leader with being a technical leader in the Salesforce ecosystem and staying on top of the technology.

The last couple of years have been busy and exciting for Steve, so he shares the story around merging his business with another company, and then talks about how they were then acquired by Apps Associates. Steve also discussed what the whole experience was like in the middle of a pandemic, when meeting people face to face was impossible.

Make sure you are following Steve on Linkedin.

We hope you enjoy the episode as much as we enjoyed recording it.

Dylan McGough O’Reilly on the UK and European Salesforce markets, plus building a purpose led recruitment business

Dylan is a UK-based Salesforce Recruiter and Recruitment business owner. We have been connected for a while and have helped each other with a few referrals over the years, so it was great to have him on the show.

We discuss the UK and European Salesforce markets, covering contract/permanent vacancy splits, in-demand skills sets, hiring hubs, team sizes and visas. We also cover Dylan's recruitment business, WeEngage Group and why they are passionate about working with certain companies and giving back.

If you aren't already following Dylan, you can connect with him on Linkedin .

Jodi Hrbek on the role of a Salesforce Administrator, tips for success and managing overwhelm

In today's episode we are excited to be joined by Jodi Hrbek, a vastly experienced Salesforce professional and the author of a new book called Rock your role as a Salesforce Admin.

Jodi shares her Salesforce career journey, how she got into this space and the roles she has held. We discuss how the role of a Salesforce Administrator has changed over the years, look at the emergence of the Platform Manager and Product Owner roles and cover how companies can work out the skills and experience they need from their Salesforce Administrator.

Jodi is passionate about helping Salesforce Administrators over-deliver without overwhelm, so she shares some tips for success when starting in a new role and business, explains the Salesforce Administrator conundrum and talks through the value that people will get from her book.

Follow Jodi on Linkedin 

Find out more about the Rock your role as a Salesforce Admin here. 

Nisar Sultan Khan on his journey from Doctor to Salesforce Solution Architect

In today's episode we are delighted to be joined by Nisar Sultan Khan. Nisar has a unique and fascinating career story.

He is a qualified Physician, practiced medicine for several years but found opportunities hard to come by when he first moved to Australia.

He talks through how this led him into the Salesforce ecosystem and how he is now able to combine his passions for Salesforce and Healthcare in the role of Salesforce Solution Architect.

This is an episode not to be missed and I really hope you enjoy the conversation.

 

You can find out more about Nisar by connecting with him on Linkedin 

Maxime Rebibo on Salesforce B2C Commerce

In today's episode we are joined by Maxime Rebibo, a Salesforce B2C Commerce Cloud Specialist based in France.

We discuss what first attracted Maxime to working with Demandware, prior to their acquisition by Salesorce and then explore whether or not he saw the acquisition as a positive.

We go over the differences between the B2C and B2B offerings by Salesforce as well as looking at the skills required to work on B2C and how the development on this platform differs from coding on the core Salesforce platform.

Maxime explains the types of companies he regularly sees opting for Salesforce B2C Commerce, what makes a project complex and how Salesforce have built on and expanded the Demandware platform.  Finally, Maxime talks about the challenges people face with trying to gain Commerce Cloud experience, but offers some resources that people may find useful.

Make sure you are following Maxime on Linkedin where he regularly shares Commerce Cloud related content. We hope you enjoy the episode.

Sovan Bin and Olivier Rachon on the complexities of data and the problems they solve at Odaseva

In today's episode we are delighted to be joined by Sovan Bin and Olivier Rachon from Odaseva. Sovan is the Founder and CEO and Olivier recently joined the business as their Country Manager and Head of Expert Services.

We discuss how they first met and where their paths initially crossed. We then look at where the idea for Odaseva came from, what problem they were solving initially and how Sovan got the business up and running. We look at why Olivier is so passionate about the data space and the work he has done so far in his career that has led him to joining Odaseva.

Sovan explains how Odaseva have had to adapt and innovate over the years, to keep up with the changes that we are seeing with data security and regulations. We discuss what makes data complex and whether there is more to it than purely volume, and also explore the Odaseva platform and why it is so much more than data protection.

Sovan and Olivier are both highly respected Salesforce CTA's so we explore the role of a CTA and what Sovan feels a CTA should be focusing their time on and the value they can add. Finally, we hear more about the Data Innovation Forums that Odaseva runs and what they are hoping to deliver in the event later this year.

We hope you enjoy the episode.

Is the Australian Salesforce market still buoyant?

In today's episode Ben shares a quick update on the market and what he has seen in the last 6-12 months. He touches on skills that have been in demand, the broader economy and the impact he has seen on the Australian Salesforce market, the growth achieved from some Salesforce partners, whether their is an appetite to sponsor visas and hopes for the next financial year.

We hope you enjoy the episode.

Andrew Davis on Salesforce DevOps success

In today's episode, we are joined by Andrew Davis, Senior Director of Methodology from Copado.

Andrew has an extremely interesting background so he talks us through what life was like before he joined the Salesforce ecosystem, how he approached securing his first role and what his early Salesforce roles entailed.

Andrew shares the reasons he first became interested in DevOps, how he has seen the space grow and why companies have a strategy even if they may not know it. He explains some of the misconceptions that still exist about DevOps and talks us through the differences between Salesforce DevOps when compared to traditional DevOps.

Finally, Andrew shares some tips for DevOps success talks through some of the challenges that are holding companies back and explains his view on teams and responsibilities.

We really enjoyed hearing all of the knowledge that Andrew shared in this episode, and we recommend following him on Linkedin and his website. If you are not already aware of Copado's tools and capabilities then we also suggest checking out copado.com.

We hope you enjoy the episode.

Stephano Rose on bootstrapping a Salesforce Consulting practice and putting Mauritius on the map

In today's episode we are delighted to be joined by Stephano Rose, the Founder of Nexavenu.

Stephano talks about his education, why he decided to study Software Engineering and some major obstacles he had to overcome when he first started his degree. He explains why he chose Accenture when he first joined the workforce and runs though the exposure he gained working in their Mauritian office, servicing European and North American clients.

Stephano then explains why he started Nexavenu and where his entrepreneurial spirit comes from. He describes the challenges he has faced since starting the business and the skills that he has had to learn along the way. Stephano talks openly about the difficulties that arise from bootstrapping a business, why he is honest with potential new employees about his expectations from them and the non glamorous side of consulting they may face, and he also shares some tips on how others may be able to get started with their own consulting business.

Finally we talk about his plans for the future, how he aims to put Mauritius on the map and further expand his business into Africa and beyond.

You can connect with Stephano on Linkedin and find his company website here.

Sharayu Sable and Emily McCowan on balancing projects and parenthood

In today's episode, we are delighted to be joined by Sharayu Sable and Emily McCowan, two experienced Salesforce Architects working with Salesforce partners based in Melbourne.

Sharayu is a Salesforce Certified Technical Architect and Emily is currently on her journey to CTA, studying and preparing for the review board. Sharayu and Emily are both parents, and as a new parent himself, Ben was keen to understand how they balance their busy work and demanding project schedules with their family life. We talk about consulting, boundaries, guilt,  prioritisation and sacrifices. 

Make sure you are following Emily on Twitter and Sharayu on LinkedIn. We hope you enjoy the episode.