Talent Hub Talk

Aidan Flynn on a Salesforce career that has taken him across the globe, the Latin American Salesforce market, and the growth of CPQ

In today's episode, we're joined by Colombian based owner and Founder of Twilo, a Salesforce Partner with expertise in CPQ and Billing projects that have disrupted the model of Salesforce offshoring.

Aidan's extensive Salesforce career has enabled him to relocate initially from London to Sydney, before launching his own business in Latin America, and working closely with the US markets.

We talk to him about his career before Salesforce, the early days of Salesforce projects in London, and the differences not only between the regions but the evolution of the Salesforce market that he's seen over the years.

Having built a team in Colombia with Twilo, Aidan explains his preferred model for growing the business, the strategy for uncovering talent in Colombia, and the approach he takes to training and upskilling.

As specialists in CPQ and Billing, with extensive experience in Field Service Lightning, we talk to Aidan about the size and frequency of Twilo's projects in the US, and best practices for companies undertaking CPQ projects of their own to be aware of.

An insightful episode and we recommend that you follow Aidan and Twilo on LinkedIn and that you check out the Twilo website for further reading.

We hope that you enjoy the episode!

Susannah St-Germain on Salesforce data and a recovery strategy

Today's episode is a rebroadcast from a LinkedIn Live that we did with Boston-based Salesforce Technical Architect and MVP, Susannah St-Germain.

Salesforce are soon to retire their Data Recovery Service, and we went through in detail what this will mean for companies, who really needs to be aware, and why.

Susannah explains the people who should be involved in bedding down a strategy, what a strategy actually looks like within a business, and how to start that conversation. Recovery and back up within a business has limitations and a number of factors to consider, and so a plan of how it would be executed if ever required is key.

This is a really insightful discussion, and Susannah regularly publishes updates on LinkedIn and Twitter, so make sure you're following her for further insights. You can also check out references to Odaseva and their services.

We hope you enjoy the chat!

Brad Riley on deciding to pursue CTA and helping other people on the journey

In today's episode, we're joined by New Zealand based Certified Technical Architect, Brad Riley, to talk about his technology career before Salesforce and the story of how he initially became involved with the platform.

We talk about how his life in Consulting opened up the world of Salesforce certifications, and how he was inspired to pursue the Salesforce CTA, by one moment in particular. Brad gives insight into not only how he prepared for the Review Board, but also how he sees his responsibility as a CTA having made the achievement, and what it has meant for him in his life.

Brad talks us through the work he does with the Davanti Consulting internal Architecture capability within his role, giving him the chance to support upcoming Architects to help them on their own journeys.

This is a really insightful episode, we hope you enjoy it, and we recommend that you follow Brad on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradri/.

This episode is sponsored by FlowRepublic, the Elite Salesforce Academy.

David Dawson on growing your Salesforce career from development into technical leadership

In today's episode, we're joined by Salesforce Engineering Manager, David Dawson, and this chat is a must-listen for anyone coming down the Developer track. Crucially, we talk to David about his own journey down the lesser travelled path of management and technical leadership, as an alternative to the architecture route that many Salesforce Developers pursue. David has accelerated his career in recent years by driving his Salesforce career in this direction, and we discuss with him his early days in development and the transitions he's worked through to get to the point of where he is today. We talk about his experiences working for a technology business, how his learning is amplified when working alongside high calibre Engineers, and how his principles and mindset were challenged to think differently, particularly when moving from smaller projects into enterprise-level projects. We delve into how David interviews for his own team, what he looks for, and the tips and advice that he shares for others who find themselves at a similar fork in their own career path, from Salesforce Developer, with several routes to consider. Make sure you're following David at https://www.linkedin.com/in/daviddawson90/ and we hope you enjoy the episode!

Shane Williams on engagement and performance in distributed Salesforce teams

In this episode, we're rebroadcasting a LinkedIn Live discussion with Shane Williams focusing on engagement and performance in distributed Salesforce teams, including leading dispersed teams and how to tackle the challenges, as well as the biggest differences between leading face to face, and remotely. We talked about building positive, results-driven cultures in remote Salesforce teams, managing performance, and working towards the same vision in what could be a ‘new normal’ way of working from 2020 onwards. We reference the survey which we conducted in the midst of COVID-19, the results of which will be published in very soon, in June 2020

BONUS Q&A: Virtual Dreamin 16-17 May 2020 - 7 must-watch sessions with FlowRepublic Founder, Sebastian Wagner

In today’s bonus episode, we’re joined by the Founder of Salesforce Architect Academy, FlowRepublic, Sebastian Wagner, to talk about the world’s first Virtual Dreamin conference. Virtual Dreamin is a two-day Salesforce event over the weekend of 16-17 May 2020, and is available online no matter where in the world you are located. We talk with Sebastian about the seven particular sessions that he recommends you attend, no matter your individual career goals and interests, as they are jam-packed with rich content and insights. Find out how you can get involved by visiting the Virtual Dreamin site. Make sure you’re following Sebastian on LinkedIn for more CTA related content. We hope you enjoy the episode!

Doina Popa on being the first female CTA outside of the USA and becoming a new business owner in the Salesforce ecosystem

In today's episode, we're joined by Germany based CTA and Founder of InnoTrue, Doina Popa. We first met Doina over five years ago and having collaborated on a number of content pieces previously, it was great to catch up with her.

Doina has a unique perspective on the Salesforce landscape, having previously worked in a senior capacity for a broad spectrum of business types, and has a deep understanding of the nuances between ISVs, end users, consultancies, and even Salesforce themselves.

As the third female CTA in the world and the first outside of the USA, we spoke with Doina about her journey to CTA, how she prepared for the Review Board, and how her experiences and thirst for knowledge have led her to recently launching her own Salesforce Consultancy following a relocation back to Germany.

Doina is generous and inspiring with her time, and is heavily involved in a number of on and offline Salesforce initiatives, as well as being a Master Coach at Architect Training Academy, FlowRepublic.

We enjoyed hearing what excites her for the future, and her plans for the Women in Tech Community Group in Munich. Make sure you're following Doina on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/doinapopa/.

We hope you enjoy the episode!

Pia McKeown on building a diverse Salesforce team and leading successful technology delivery

In today's episode we catch up with Salesforce Manager Engineer for National Australia Bank, Pia McKeown. Pia has lived in a number of different countries and so we talked about what first brought her to Australia, her career before Salesforce, and how she has come to reach a senior role within the Salesforce ecosystem and made a life Down Under. Pia has an interesting background and perspective, having worked both in consulting and client-side, and we discuss with her how she has steered and developed her career into a leadership capacity. Pia explains that transition, why she's passionate about people management, which elements she considers to be crucial for effective leadership, and how she continues to improve daily as a leader. Diversity is an area that Pia is committed to, and her work and dedication over the past two years has led her to achieve balance within her Salesforce team to where it currently sits at over 50% female to male, which is no easy feat within the technology space. We talk about how balance and diversity is a key component to growing a strong team, the reasons for this, and the challenges that her team have faced and overcome throughout the recent COVID-19 crisis. Finally, we dive into large-scale technology transformation, agile delivery methodology within different organisations, and the impact of small, medium, and large user bases within technology delivery. Made sure you're following Pia on LinkedIn for discussion around diversity and leadership at https://www.linkedin.com/in/pia-mckeown-b735a429/ and we hope that you enjoy the episode!

Mike Wheeler on training over 110,000 students in Salesforce, and the importance of creating your own experience

In today's episode, we're joined by the creator of the Salesforce training platform that has helped over 110,000 students become Salesforce certified, Mike Wheeler. Mike, who is based in the USA, has previously held various Salesforce roles himself, before using his talents to help others and we were fascinated to hear how he first became a part of the Salesforce ecosystem, and how the idea first sparked to move specifically into Salesforce training. He shares his insight on the market, given his tenure in the ecosystem, and where he sees the most demand currently. We discuss how people can prepare themselves for roles and be well placed for success, given the growth that Salesforce is forecasting in what Mike calls, the 'grand reopening', and harness the idea of shaping an 'experience' to get ahead. Mike explains the non-technical skills that companies typically look for, and we discuss the claim that you don't need to be technical to excel at a career within the Salesforce space. Is it really true? We enjoyed hearing success stories that Mike shares on the podcast of students using his platform, and the plans he has for the future to provide even more value to students as they discover the world of Salesforce and develop further in their careers. Make sure you're following Mike on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/mikewheelermedia/ and check out https://mikewheelermedia.com/ to find out how you can benefit from his resources. We hope that you enjoy the episode!

James Neave and the growth of Salesforce in the Public Sector space

In today's episode, we're joined by CRM Practice Manager for Transport NSW, James Neave. He shares with us an overview of the work he and his teams are doing in the Public sector space, and how Salesforce has experienced exponential growth within government in recent years.

We talk about the challenges of growing an internal team and how to develop high performing teams, as well as how James uses Partners for specific pieces of work and how he models that partnership.

It was fascinating to hear about James's background, and entry into the Salesforce space, as well as the ways in which the Public sector has been able to leverage the power of Salesforce in order to support the Community, particularly in rapidly evolving times like these.

Make sure you're following James at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jneave/. We hope you enjoy the episode!