Inspirational Advice and Stories from Trailblazing Partners: An Interview
The Salesforce ecosystem consists of pioneers, leaders, and innovators — all of which have contributed to what the ecosystem is today. One of the key secrets to success I’ve observed over my time in tech was not what, but who helped along the way. The success stories from our peers inspire me to continue to innovate, and the stories from Salesforce partners are no different.
I asked five trailblazing partners — Jennifer Mercer of Metazoa, John Garvens of Emelar Consulting Group, Jason Lawrence of SalesFix, Pat McClellan of Proton 7 Group, and Phil Weinmeister of 7Summits — about their stories, advice, and inspirations. Here’s what they had to say.
What does being a Trailblazer mean to you?
A trailblazer is leading by example and helping others follow a path. — Jason Lawrence
A trailblazer shows commitment to the platform, commitment to the Ohana. — Pat McClellan
A trailblazer leads the way. They challenge convention, question everything, and live to make the world better. — John Garvens
A trailblazer is a strong role model for other women in tech; creating a path for others who may not have the same opportunity. They are mission-driven and focused on the community, helping others blaze their trails, and helping women to advance in leadership. — Jennifer Mercer
Being a trailblazer, to me, means being a pioneer, boldly innovating, and, most importantly, thoughtfully providing a useful example and path for others. — Phil Weinmeister
How do you continue to learn and grow?
Be an active member in the Trailblazer Community. Attend and participate in community user groups, Dreamin’ gatherings, and Salesforce events. Read, read, read…especially release notes. After getting involved and learning whatever I can, I turn that around and share it with 7Summits and the entire Salesforce community through blog posts, videos, and presentations. — Phil Weinmeister
I am passionate about continued education. The Salesforce Accelerate program aims to educate and bring partners to the next level. We’re excited to be members this year.
- Jennifer Mercer
Trailhead. I have 218 Trailhead badges, including 9 superbadges. I have embraced the learning curve of various coding languages, including new ones. Now I’m building Lightning web components. — Pat McClellan
I read voraciously and invest heavily in online and offline learning, including Trailhead trails and Trailhead Academy courses. I rely heavily on mentors, as well, to teach me lessons you cannot learn in books and courses. — John Garvens
How does your company share a mutual desire for Salesforce’s core values?
Our headcount is currently 50/50 male to female, and ‘Growth Recognition and Reward’ as well as ‘Being Adventurous’ are two of our core values. We are also a member of Pledge 1% and have been since June 2015. — Jason L.
We value our product, our partnership, and our community. It’s in our V2MOM. — Pat M.
Metazoa is committed to an inclusive workplace. Our philosophy is the key to success in creating and embracing a diverse company culture that allows its team to thrive and lead with passion, collaboration, and innovation. We’ve also partnered with PepUp Tech, a non-profit dedicated to increasing the number of underrepresented youths in tech. We have plans to hire and employ graduates of their program. They are a female founder-led company with 60% of their leadership team being women or multicultural. — Jennifer M.
7Summits fosters a culture of innovation and opportunity that is ultimately focused on driving customer success. Our mission is to create online community experiences that transform businesses and enhance people’s lives, which I believe aligns extremely closely with Salesforce’s culture and goals. — Phil W.
What are some challenges and how did you overcome them?
The biggest challenge I faced in my Salesforce career was getting it started. You see, I majored in music performance and had no background in business or technology. When I discovered Salesforce in April 2013, I knew immediately I wanted to get involved. But how? I was totally unqualified.
Thankfully, through a series of happy accidents and a handful of people willing to take a chance on someone with no experience or credentials, I got my first toehold in the Salesforce ecosystem, as a Salesforce Administrator. Then, with the help of Trailhead and Vetforce, Salesforce’s program for military veterans like me, I got the training I needed to take my Salesforce career to the next level.
Most recently, I had a thriving Salesforce career at Simplus where I advised Fortune 500 companies, taught CPQ classes for Salesforce, helped military veterans and others start and grow Salesforce careers of their own, and had a lot of fun at the same time. None of that would have been possible, however, without the help of other people. And I am eternally grateful for them.
Now, I am President of Emelar Consulting Group, a Silver Salesforce Partner. To say my Salesforce career has been a wild ride is an understatement. — John Garvens
In order to innovate, we have to push the platform to the limit. This requires close partnership with Salesforce, specifically the community product and development teams. By building relationships with these teams over the years, we’re able to gather and share input and feedback in order to deliver even better solutions to customers. — Phil W.
With no computer science education or IT background, I learned to code, learned the platform, learned SalesforceDX, got certifications and superbadges, and built AppExchange solutions. This was all due to learning from Trailhead, community groups, and the online community. — Pat M.
How has the partnership with Salesforce helped you?
Salesforce has helped us mature as a company and identify industry and regional focuses for our expansion strategy. — John Garvens
The partner program allowed Metazoa to quickly bring our product to market, leverage the AppExchange marketplace to sell into some of the largest companies in the world. We were able to grow from 0 to 75 Enterprise customers in the first year by taking advantage of AMP and other partner marketing opportunities within Salesforce. Metazoa is also heavily involved in the Salesforce community, community groups, Dreamin’ events, and Salesforce events. — Jennifer M.
The partnership with Salesforce has helped 7Summits to scale quickly, deliver top-notch products and solutions, and continuously innovate. — Phil W.
Our Salesforce Partner Manager guides us through the Salesforce organization, which is important. We look forward to working with them more in the future. — Jason L.
This company and this product wouldn’t exist without the Salesforce platform, the market of Salesforce customers, and the Ohana on which we depend for product advocacy. — Pat M.
Watching the ecosystem grow, change, and thrive is a result of the collaboration with people, especially those that go above and beyond to help others. I hope this inspires you to build and grow with Salesforce, because it inspires me every day.
If you or someone you know could be the next Trailblazing Partner, read more about the program on the Partner Community and nominate today.
