One Epic Salesforce Plushie Collection: Here’s The Inside Story
As Director of Portfolio Services Leaders at Salesforce.org, Carla Silvado leads a team of solution consultants that support nonprofit, higher education, and public sector customers. She also owns 37 Salesforce plushies ranging from Rainbow Astro to Ruth the Architect.
Carla joined a chat with me from her home office in Atlanta, GA., far from her original home of Brazil. She moved to the U.S. in 2007 and naturally transitioned into the work-from-home lifestyle. Since joining Salesforce, she’s worked remotely except for customer meetings on site.
How did your Salesforce journey start?
Carla: I learned about Salesforce back in 2006. I was still living in Brazil, and Salesforce was very new to the Brazilian market. My CEO at the time wanted to, ‘try this new wild thing that he heard in a conference in the US,’ and I was moved into that project, which was a Salesforce implementation. That is when I started my journey with Salesforce.
There was no Trailhead back then, so I did a lot of reading. I had a physical, printed, book that the U.S. office shipped to Brazil. There were no partners in Brazil, either. If I knew then what I know now, I would do that implementation very differently. But I did the best that I could at the time.
How did your Salesforce experience grow to the point of working at Salesforce?
Carla: After that project, I was hooked and have been working with Salesforce since then. I earned certifications, did in-person training, and worked for different customers, such as Cox Automotive, and a partner, Bluewolf. In these past 16 years, I’ve worked with a range of large Salesforce customers, the biggest one being a very ambitious project where we had to consolidate 27 Salesforce orgs into one! I’ve always wanted to join Salesforce but never thought I could do it. So I collected years of experience before attempting to join.
You do a lot of nonprofit work at Salesforce. Can you tell us more about that?
Carla: I was always interested in volunteering locally in my personal time, so after joining Salesforce, Salesforce.org was the perfect combination of my two passions. I am now able to use my technical skills to help organizations further their mission.
We have incredible nonprofit customers who are leveraging Salesforce to make the world a better place. Technology can be used for good and I see it every single day. These nonprofits are all mission-driven and Salesforce can truly make them more efficient and successful in achieving their mission. That is so inspiring!
Let’s talk about your post on LinkedIn that included a photo of your daughter amongst your incredible plushie collection.
Carla: I have been in this ecosystem for a while, so the plushies just accumulated over time. I attended Dreamforce for 10 years as a customer, and I would bring extra luggage just to pack the goodies and swag for the ride home. Each of my plushies have it’s own story, it was either a prize for one of the Trailhead Quests or a go-live gift from my AE. Once I received a plushie at my baby shower from a Customer Success Manager. The only one I purchased was Ruth because she represents the architects, and that’s my team. They all have a special meaning to me. I am very proud to work at Salesforce. This collection represents how Salesforce helped me succeed as a woman in tech.
Do family members try to take some of your collection?
Carla: My kids are allowed to play with them, but they cannot take them out of my office. (That’s my daughter in the feature photo). Once my dog took one, and he got in trouble. I am very protective of my collection.
How many do you have and which one is your favorite?
Carla: I never counted before, but I did for this interview and I have 37. Some of them are in my husband’s office now, because he joined Salesforce and wanted a better background.
Ruth represents the architects, and I am a Salesforce architect. That is the role I identify with the most. With Ruth, I feel represented.
As an AppExchange fan myself, I hope you like Appy as well.
Carla: I love them all but I like how Appy represents the ecosystem and the strong women who made AppExchange what it is today. And Appy is my daughter’s favorite.
Speaking of AppExchange, you mentioned that you worked at a partner company. What experience do you have with AppExchange and the ecosystem?
Carla: I don’t believe we could use Salesforce as successfully without this ecosystem. The magic is truly leaning on AppExchange. As an architect today, AppExchange is my first recommendation. Let’s not start from scratch, right? Look at the AppExchange to establish a starting point.
Let’s say my customer is looking for a recruiting tool. I’ll use AppExchange to help them assess features and comparisons. Nonprofits specifically like to run lean. Sometimes they cannot spare the time to pilot tools, but with AppExchange, in a few clicks, they can have the app up and running to show their leadership. That expedites things, especially when you are a very lean organization.
When I was a customer on the commercial side, we used paid apps on AppExchange, as a true extension. However, I also see that free apps are life-changing, especially for smaller organizations that cannot spin up something new.
What are some apps that you see installed often by customers and what is the use case?
Carla: I help customers from the implementation stage, so Salesforce Adoption Dashboards is a great start. Then, Trail Tracker helps you skill up and improve adoption. There are a lot of apps we recommend just to get customers up and running.
What apps do you recommend from there?
Carla: It depends on the use case. First-time customers should install apps into their Sandbox and play around. They can learn how to customize and scale apps to their needs. AppExchange gives them that comfort, no matter how big the app or opportunity.
Sounds like plushies do a great job of representing your love of Salesforce, your career, and your journey. Why not something else?
Carla: There are people with tattoos. I didn’t go that far. I’ll stick to the plushies for now!
That’s probably a safe bet, Carla. Thank you for your time and congrats on your career success. Check out Salesforce Adoption Dashboards and Trail Tracker on AppExchange.
