Overcoming Imposter Syndrome: Embracing Authenticity

When I start spiraling like that , it's easy for me to feel like either I'm not good enough or I'm just not doing a good enough job in or out of work . So in this week's episode we talked through how admins overcome the feeling of imposter syndrome .

Now , I know this feels like a really buzzwordy topic , but I personally feel that in the Salesforce ecosystem , the things we do is unique . It's a unique career path overall , one that really puts people in situations where they have to know everything about Salesforce for an entire company and that can be really overwhelming .

So today we sit down with Megan Tewano to talk through her journey in the ecosystem and how she's overcome imposter syndrome as an admin in the workplace .

Megan is a tech consultant and has a YouTube and blog , salesforce for Megan , where the whole premise is around how we explore different areas of tech , but also how we navigate the crazy world of Salesforce and the crazy world of being in tech and how these real life experiences can help other people grow . So , without further ado , let's meet Megan .

Megan is currently a Salesforce business analyst and content creator in the ecosystem . From working at Salesforce Ben to being on YouTube , she is known for her work in helping others navigate and excel in the tech industry , particularly Salesforce . Her goal is to continue sharing her journey in hopes to inspire others through the process .

So let's not waste any more time and dive on in Phrases . We'll hear on stage from an actor often , but I really do appreciate it .

I really do appreciate you for jumping in , diving in with me to kind of talk about your experience in the ecosystem as well as kind of the topic of this week's episode being imposter syndrome and kind of how we find that balance and how we deal with perceptions from people who are higher up over us or people who are equals , and what people are going to think

about how we engage in the ecosystem , the content we put in the ecosystem , how we hold ourselves in the ecosystem . So very excited to talk with you about all of this today . So before we dive into the actual topic , I always want people to kind of get a background , share their story of how they got involved with the work that we do within Salesforce .

So I'd love if you could take a little bit kind of introduce yourself and kind of share your background from getting into the ecosystem .

I had an undergraduate worked in the study abroad department and for the graduate school and at that time I had no idea what I wanted to do . So my co-worker at the time found a job working in the ed tech space and that company ironically used Salesforce , but Salesforce classic .

I was not a fan but , of course , didn't know any other difference until later on . But , just worked there .

For about four years I worked for Syracuse University and then also for UC Berkeley with the data science programs and that's when data science was like that hot new topic and that really gave me the introduction to like tech and I think that data science was so popular .

It's like , oh , I have a finance background or a project management background and it just intertwined really well . So a little bit later on I think I got really inspired by the students . I mean , working with UC Berkeley students was just incredible . You just get to hear about everything that they're doing at their companies and it's inspirational really .

At that time my uncle worked at Capgemini and he said well , you're using Salesforce now why don't you go ahead and just kind of learn it ? Like learn about the backend . You're making reports , you're doing things and I'm going to hence on was very limited access back then . So reports was all reports and list views .

There's the only thing that we could really do . But I think I mean , like many and really why , I started my YouTube channel , which I'll talk about in a few minutes , but I took a little while to understand what Salesforce really was . Go ahead was a great platform , but I think for different type of users .

Like you just need a little bit more focus or somebody to help you .

So it did take me quite a few months to get certified in three fails later but got certified Ironically , started just finding Facebook groups and it was just becoming really popular and I ended up volunteering at Oxford University with two other people globally and we were helping the main consultant like row , the Salesforce org , there .

So that really gave me like that volunteer experience where I eventually fully made the career transition from working at UC Berkeley to going to a smaller consultancy firm called Torrent Consultant . Absolutely loved the firm . They have a huge office within Guatemala and , being Hispanic , latina and tech , it was huge for me .

They were just company based and I think the really big thing there was just finally making that pivot into tech . I finally felt like I was one of my students . So fast forward a little bit later I really enjoyed Salesforce . But at that time there weren't YouTube videos or weren't really many , and during COVID , only my husband to talk to .

I decided to start a YouTube channel . I always joke so much talking you can do between each other caught on YouTube started the channel ended up working for focus on force Now also work for Salesforce . Ben is an expert author delivering like career based content , which is pretty cool . Love working for them .

But it's been a journey and I think that taking the skills from working at a call center and study abroad departments and just being very people focused and then sharing that journey online , like whether it's YouTube or LinkedIn , it's just , it's been . I'm grateful , I'm grateful for where it is and it's been a lot of fun .

So , yeah , that's a little background .

I want to get an idea of what kind of again translating that back to the topic at hand for imposter syndrome . Going from working at the university you transition .

Just because I've linked and stalked you to Slalom and just knowing the work you've done through those companies , at what point do you kind of realize am I worthy , am I good enough to be doing this ? Should I be the one to be giving back in this mindset ?

When did that imposter syndrome kind of click for you and you had to start realizing some things need a change ?

I think that every time I go from just either creating something like I've started podcasts or YouTube channel or Discord servers , I don't know I have this trait in my personality where it's like just do it or you're going to regret it , and it does take me a few times to like get there .

But I think what really helped in the long run was like yes , I'm not posting techy related content , what people are kind of used to seeing and I would deem that as , of course , more helpful like how to solve validation rules or build this flow , and that's just not me , and I think I just needed to stick true to A what brought me joy and to what I

thought would help others . I actually did end up taking a LinkedIn course because I was curious about the platform I feel like I was there but not really there and I took this four week course with 20 other people on it from all over the world . It was so cool .

Everybody just kind of wanted to learn about LinkedIn but also kind of post more about their individual kind of job and what they did .

So that instructor actually taught me that 1% of people post every day on LinkedIn especially , and you'll find you're kind of like people who want to see your content and I think if you're delivering with just a positive intent , with being who you are , staying authentic to who you are , people can tell that . But people really enjoy it .

So there's not a day to kind of rewind back , that I don't get nervous about posting with my imposter syndrome . Are people going to like this ? Is this worth reading ? Are they going to think it's too personal ? Where is the line with LinkedIn ?

I think sometimes , or even on YouTube , I've made the pivot so many times from going from like staying super techie to don't go out of that bubble to doing more lifestyle blogs and I think along the way , people are going to like your content or not and I think that's the reality of the internet and that's okay .

As long as I'm making things that bring me joy and I can tell bring others joy , I'm going to keep kind of delivering that content . Imposter syndrome never goes away . I'm dealing with it right now with an upcoming post . But , I think you just kind of got to close your eyes and just go boom done .

I had started episodes , I had started the designing for things of what I wanted for this , probably half a dozen times , and after three years I finally just bit the bullet and said we're going to make this happen , we're going to put it out there For admins just getting started , for folks who are kind of on that fence to you to your early point , you had a

relative kind of say you work in the ecosystem , why not just take that step , take that jump For you when you were first getting started in that regard ?

Did you have any kind of situations in a similar regard , kind of somewhat on the technical side , but just on the hey , you're now the subject matter expert , you're the person who's supposed to know all the stuff about this , get stuff done .

Was there a time in that kind of period of your career where you were kind of thinking what do I need to do to not feel like I shouldn't be here , I shouldn't have a seat at this table ?

So I think that I just need to or what I guess I usually do is I try and establish relationships with each of my team members so they can know that I'm like actually here . I think establishing relationships with people is a really big part in me and them trusting each other .

But I also think I play my own music in the back , like if I get a little insecure , there's a song playlist that I have of like hey , you're there , you've made it this far , like you represent somebody in the room that people eventually are looking up to .

But I think just the feeling of just feeling like you don't belong , sometimes being a little bit younger in a room of older people , which is kind of what I experienced now working at my company we work on a government level , so people range in all ages I feel like you just have to stay confident and I have to remind myself all the time like you've done

the studying , you've passed the exams , you know what you're talking about and if you don't , you'll come back and let them know you don't and figure it out . But just saying I got this and if I don't got this , I have a team that can back me up with it , I think you just repeat , it's repeating of that .

And I think on the outside of your career , you also have to do things that build you up , like working out , like competing against yourself and stuff like that . You have to make sure that career physical and then outside hobbies that you're there on all three levels . That's really important .

I absolutely adore that because that kind of drives home the point of community and finding that support system .

I'm curious for outside of your work , or maybe and maybe it's not outside of your work , maybe it's at the job but what are you actively doing to kind of build up that support system to find those folks at your job Within the community , whether it's a user group or it's just a group of people you go grab a beer with after work's over ?

But , like , what are you doing and how are you relying on that support system to help kind of vent but also get the positive feedback you need to know that ? No , I do know . I think that's a great question . So I think at the beginning , when I even started my YouTube channel , I was very adamant about , like , finding a mentor .

And I think that my community quickly went from like oh , I need to find one mentor , and one mentor only , to having an abundance of friends . And that's how I built my ecosystem .

That kind of went from running the group running the Salesforce Discord server with eight people developers , architects , people who wanted to run the book club and I think that allowed me to find different people who specialize in different things . And another thing that really helped was working with Salesforce Ben .

I get to have the privilege of creating articles just based off my ideas and they allow me to freely go with that . But I've been able to most recently create an article for military veteran woman and then also military spouse . So I've been able to open up five new doors just by interviewing people .

And I think by doing things like this , like podcasts and posting and sharing your opinions and your thoughts and your progression , I think that opens up the door for people to number one , feel more comfortable coming to you and be like hey , jake , you're going to be a great mentor . Hey , jacob , I don't understand project management .

Can you tell me what this is about ? And I think opening up the door in the most genuine way , where you're approachable , is the easiest thing that you can do , instead of trying to find , like that , one person that knows one thing , but the reality is everybody knows something else , and then you'll help them there .

So that's really been my key is just to be friends and kind of put that professional thing aside , that relationship where it's like , like you said , go get a beer . Like let's get to know each other on a different level where we can kind of like vent and talk , and that's opened up some pretty big doors .

Especially in the recent layoff that I had , we were able to talk about salary , we were able to talk about like the realities of what we should expect when moving to a new company , and those are things that you don't really get to get when it's like that serious mentorship call , like if I can just have a friendly conversation about the realities of the

ecosystem or about this career , and that that helps you and me in a long run , a long way .

One thing I'm curious about realistically knowing that a lot of times , for in the consulting world , in the kind of enterprise , large scale business world , you're gonna have management who don't necessarily know the technical , who don't necessarily know all of the soft skills and things you're having to do and be conscientious about on a day to day basis and sometimes

those individuals will kind of either talk down to you or they are gonna over question everything you do because they don't fully understand the scope of what we do as admins . I definitely know from my experience that has played into why my imposter syndrome is extremely large . But I'm curious from your perspective how has that affected you , if at all ?

And if so , what are some things you're doing outside of just venting with the team to help combat that ?

Now I am one of the only people on the team outside of our development team that understand Salesforce .

So I think because of my experience doing YouTube and teaching people and taking that just understanding , even from working at the call center , really I think the service level jobs have been the most helpful where it's like I used to work at Ponefinness and we had to go through the things , the tiers that they could be signing up for , and it's like be just

being very specific and I think , just breaking the barrier of Salesforce and talking to them one-on-one , human , from a service agent perspective if we're implementing something , or from a non-sales force perspective , why this would be good for the agent .

I think that's the first approach I usually take and sometimes I'll do process maps or just give them the visual , because people react really good with that . But the second thing is just having a real conversation , being like asking them why do they think something different than me , why do they think that ?

And then number three is just having that open conversation of okay , well , perhaps you think something's better and we'll go with that , and then , if not , there's option B . I think it's having or feeling comfortable enough where you can have those candid conversations .

And I think , if you continue to go down the long run , even with difficult people , right , I think that you have to find level ground and that's something that I actually learned from my previous manager at Solom .

She was just very good at like asking those why questions and like getting into the what your thought process is , and then just kind of be like okay , well , I heard you , you heard me , let's go with what we think is best right now . It's always coming the level , middle ground and then just making that choice .

From there , I think you just have to have those open , open , honored conversations . You gotta get your voice out there . I think sometimes you got it or you're gonna regret it .

So being willing to open yourself up , feel a little uncomfortable to have those conversations , I guess I'm curious in your experience with you had the background at the call center and kind of . That definitely I can imagine helped a lot .

But for admins who are just starting out , they may have gone through a career change , maybe they'll find their accidental admin path , like I did , who knows ? But kind of what would be some of the tips , recommendations you would give to an admin to get out of that comfort zone , to get out of their way , to maybe start a conversation like that ?

Because I only have my own experience to go off of , to kind of relate to , and for me it was always absolutely terrifying to have those conversations .

I knew I needed to have to let it happen , but I would wait , I would get nervous , I would get anxious and then all of a sudden , we're one week before the deadline and people are saying why didn't you have this sooner ? Well , imposter syndrome , anxiety , yada , yada , yada . What would be something you would recommend to that new admin to avoid that outcome ?

Tech companies are known for kind of like mentorship or buddy systems , but I think not siloing yourself is really key .

I think finding that one or two people that relate to you like for me , for my new company , I found another woman who's like in this area and she's the same age and we kind of talk the same way where we're able to like balance professional and both personal and I think having that one or two people , however many it may , be being able to be like hey ,

can I run this through you really quick , I need to talk to you about this . I think when you can talk to somebody and then they give you your thoughts or their thoughts and you can kind of be like do you think this is worth bringing up , I feel like really passionate about it .

I think that's the way leaders are kind of born as well , and if you want to move forward with your career , you have to like work to find that voice and again , I think it doesn't only go with finding one or two people inside of the company . I also think that it's valuing yourself outside of your career .

So for , like me and my husband , for example , like we really like working out and that gives me a sense of power the music I'm like okay , I can come and I can have this conversation with my manager and be like look so , and so we have something to talk about . And I think at the end of the day , you're voicing your thoughts and your opinions .

There's so many times where I'm in meetings and it's like hello , anybody there . But when you can kind of be that one person to kind of start raising your voice , you're gonna see kind of a pattern with yourself and self-happiness . And I'm a huge believer in just say it now , say it now whenever you can .

So that would be my advice Find somebody in the company that you can talk to , somebody in the ecosystem that you can talk to . Kind of run things off . Find multiple people Is this worth talking about ? And then kind of project it in a way that is , you want it to be projected and understood . So that's my piece of advice .

We've talked about in previous episodes where folks just weren't feeling happy in general , so they had to find a different support system , a different community to connect with , because the one they were currently in was not what they wanted it to be , especially during COVID , to make them feel like they can keep pushing forward .

How would you recommend someone go about finding that next support system ? We're just finding that first support system you mentioned for you . You found a colleague at work who you two kind of gelled and clicked . You were the same age For someone who doesn't have that at the office , they are just an admin of one . They are me , myself and I .

What's something you would say you should go ? Do X , y , z or maybe try something out , try a different tactic out . What would you kind of suggest in that regard ?

true . If you're an admin , you just have yourself sometimes . So what do you do ? And I think when you're in consultancies like Solom , like Deloitte , those bigger companies , you have an abundance of people sometimes and it's easier to make connections and it's easier to have those conversations especially companies like Solom they would do a lot of lunch and learn .

So , even if you're not in a pod or a project with somebody , you had an opportunity to meet somebody . So I'll start with that If you're not an admin and if you are in a consultancy , definitely raise your hands for lunch and learns , like offer to do them , partner with somebody , attend them , talk to the people after , I think that's great .

If you're working at bigger consultancies ERGs , women in tech , hispanic in tech , all these other options that you have Now , going down to the people who are working as independent , like if they're freelancers or if they're admins , developers that's gonna be harder , right ? So I think that's when you have to really lean on the community and be present .

On LinkedIn , I always say LinkedIn first because that's probably the best place where you can see all the events and stuff , but that the Discord community servers . There's Slack servers , there's Slack servers . But I think the best that I've experienced is probably Jacob , where you and I even met is the in-person events . There's nothing like them .

And shout out to Fort Worth Dallas Live Events . They've been the best , bringing in hundreds of people and guest speakers , and I think you really have to find that place .

Now , if you're in a state that doesn't have it , then you just kind of got to go to online events and not discrediting them they're also awesome , but you just kind of got to find you really have to find your people . You cannot in this career , in tech , you cannot isolate yourself . If that's what you choose to do , then awesome , that's fine .

But if you want people and advice and to learn and to progress , you may not be an admin forever . If you want to do a consultancy , you run your own consultancy one day . You have to learn and grow . So you have to put yourself in a spot where you're listening to podcasts like this , you're reaching out to the people that are speaking , the guest speakers .

You got to push . If you're not uncomfortable , you got to be uncomfortable to grow .

But if you want to find that growth on your own , you want to find that network , find that people that you don't work with on a day to day . You have to seek it out .

You have to put yourself in those uncomfortable situations Pivoting slightly Still on the same topic of imposter syndrome and finding ways to feel comfortable and embrace that authentic you In your use case . You created an amazing YouTube channel . You have an amazing blog .

You've created all this content , not as much on the technical side , albeit , but it's about being in the world of tech . You are taking your experience and putting it out there High level . What is that like ? To just kind of take that leap of faith , put that content out there .

But then also , what was the thing you didn't expect from audiences when they reacted to your content ?

in me that this is not the content that I'm passionate about , and if I'm not passionate , my audience is going to tell and it's just like everything will just go . So I think there's been so many times where I think I was like , is this right ? Is this right , is this right ? And I think , at the end of the day , you got to follow your heart .

So , kind of going with the YouTube channels and you can see it progress over time .

It's like starting my own business , showing like a photography session and then going from day in the life of a consultant and that's like what I feel like the audience really wants to see , and I've gotten a huge response Like , yes , the videos of how to start Trailhead did fantastic , but also the day in the life of a consultant , like what do you really do ?

Like what helps you . I found that my audience liked that content more and I like that content more where they're like , oh , I'm not going to be drowning in work every day or this is what I would really do .

So I found that when it's not super techy content and it's just staying true to myself and sharing my experiences , I think that goes a long way just to kind of end .

But the layoff that I recently had I was applying to jobs literally the moment that the layoff happened , within five minutes , I posted on LinkedIn Like help , but fortunately got a lot of interviews , but it just didn't feel right inside and I just decided to book a two week trip to Japan and just to kind of reset . Yeah , it was awesome , it was so cool .

People have not solo traveled . You must , it's a must , but that's what I'm working on . Sharing right now is like going from tech layoffs to thinking like what did I do wrong ? Why is my coworker still there ? All these questions where you're self-doubting yourself .

And I think that by sharing that experience of just going abroad and totally resetting defines who you are and you know so much better what you want . So that's what I'm hoping to post in the next blog post slash YouTube video and I can see that there's a lot of people that really like it and enjoy it .

So I think sharing there's great things , of sharing tech and how to build ABCND , but there's also a great side of with the audience . I've seen that , just like hearing stories , just like this . So that's kind of where I'm at .

Just gives me chilling anxiety , tingles to think of oh , I'm going to go to a very , very new place . No one knows me , I don't know anyone . The language barrier on top of that's probably got to be intense for maybe for you , maybe I'm assuming incorrectly , but I know there's also that level of it too .

So I mean , what pushes you then to take that leap of faith ? Because there's the leap of faith of just hey , I'm going to step out of my comfort zone and just go to a user group meetup . But then there's a huge leap of faith of solo traveling to find yourself .

For you , what is giving you that click to say I know myself enough , I've done enough self-reflection to know just going to a user group isn't going to be enough , I have to take that extra step . What was that moment ? Or how did that click for you ?

I've even contemplated going to get a customer service job again at this point , because working in tech is fantastic , but I think I miss the people . I feel like you learn most from things like this , like podcasts , and just listening to people's story and , I think , from other people's story . It inspires you .

But I also think pushing yourself in an environment where it's like whoa I've never seen temples like this in Japan or food like this and people I think that motivates me and I just don't want to be . I don't want to feel like I'm just wasting my life .

There is this quote that I read and it's like if we live for 70 years , that should be enough time or something along the lines of that , and I was like , was 70 years enough ? Is it really ? But then I started sitting down for an hour I mean for a week and not really doing anything .

I'm like , well dang , I guess 70 years really is enough if you play the cards right . So I'm just a lover of life , a lover of people , stories , really anything , and I think that that's the best way that you can grow and , at the end of the day , that's how I want to live . My life is in exploration mode .

So go travel , travel solo I mean anybody listening . Go for it , it's so much fun . Japan is a great place to start , and so is London .

I'm a huge theater person , as I've said on the podcast , so , like the West End was amazing for me , bringing it towards the end because we are nearing the end the idea of taking those leaps of faith , finding ways to improve yourself , to live life . I kind of want to take it back a little bit to the YouTube side of things .

You've done a lot of great content in that regard . For me , imposter syndrome and just being able to overcome and feel like I have a seat at the table what's helped me is helping other people and you've created the YouTube channel to help the other people .

What would your kind of mentality , what's your opinion about admins building up other admins and like is it an obligation for folks to give back if they have dealt with imposter syndrome ?

What is your opinion or advice on how other admins should be giving back to the community to help others out when they've experienced imposter syndrome or not known answers to problems ?

I work with a lot of veterans and I've seen that and a lot of including my husband where they kind of are like well , I'm not at that point . I'm not at that point , I'm not ready to be a mentor , I'm not really to hop on veterinary , which is like a veteran helping services , and I've also been with people that do have imposter syndrome .

They're like but I've only had two years . What do I have to help ? And then , you know , I've seen people that are like I'm learning this first chapter , I'm ready to teach people , and I think that there's such a range of people where you have to .

There's two things you have to feel comfortable , but don't overanalyze it and don't say like tomorrow , tomorrow , tomorrow , tomorrow . I've met so many people where you know , I haven't been ready sometimes to do things and my fingers just kind of go and leaves . One thing leads to another .

But I think the biggest thing that you can do is sometimes start , have enough . If you're one of those people that need information to start before you go . That's fine , but start . The worst thing that you can do for yourself is to not start something . So for the admins that want to give back , I don't think it's necessarily necessary all the time .

If you feel like you have information and you want to share it and if you feel more comfortable like going one-on-one to somebody , I think that's great . But there's been times where I've interviewed people and pushed them in certain places and they'll say , yes , I want to , and they end up really enjoying it and stepping out of their comfort zone .

I've running the Latinas and Salesforce group that I've had . I've had a few people come on do little sessions for us and you know some of them are like but I don't have this credential or that credential , and the reality is you have something that somebody else hasn't done yet and somebody else probably wants to hear your story .

Even if it's five people when I post my YouTube videos , they might get five views , they may get whatever amount , but if it helps one person and it helps me I think self therapy too if it helps you and it helps somebody else , at the end of the day , if you're doing something that's happy to you , I think that's the only thing that matters .

If you're happy doing something , somebody else will listen , and it would kind of be like a , like a , it goes from there , so yeah .

You can't let the fear guide you and I know we've talked about that a lot , but it's just kind of you have to lean into the uncomfortable , honestly . So , keeping the topic similar , but on a slightly different end of the admin ecosystem perspective , you mentioned before that you are a part of a Latinas and tech Latinas and Salesforce user group .

I'm curious , if you're okay talking about it , to kind of go through a little bit what does imposter syndrome look like for those groups ? I know for me it's . I have my own interpretation of what imposter syndrome means to me , but I know that for other groups in the ecosystem it's going to mean something very different .

So I'm curious you're kind of take your interpretation on what does imposter syndrome look like for women in tech Latinas and Salesforce ?

. So I actually started the Latinas and Salesforce group because there was a Latinas and tech group that I really admired . But every time I tried to go to the event it was either like sold out or just some topics that I wasn't totally interested in , and I said , okay , there's a lot of Latinas in Salesforce .

Why don't we just have a group where Latinas can come together , not just in the United States but globally , and share their experiences ?

And I think I really got passionate from it when I actually interviewed my former coworker , michelle , and it was just she gave me such an enlightening view into Latinas abroad where she said that in Guatemala , women typically don't go into tech . They go into call centers and it's usually frowned upon when women do .

I think this is a perspective from somebody that lives abroad , but then , versus in the United States , it's similar but very different . For them , expectations are different , but for here in the United States , I think that it's ingrained in some cultures where Hispanic people , especially Latinas , they don't say much .

You know , like they're not like hey , I can say this . Or I can say that I grew up in a white family . I guess I'll put it like that . I was adopted into a white family . So I think that my voice . That's why it's so much easier for me to say ABC and D versus my colleagues who run the Latinas and Salesforce group , who are Dominican and Mexican .

They're a little bit more outspoken , but the people that have joined our group are quieter , you know , and the thing number one thing that I've heard them say is I feel nervous talking in public or in user groups because it's ingrained in our culture and for me , being Latina , like you know , we have such an ability to break into whatever industry that we want

here in the United States and I wanted to share her story but also hear what is life like for other Latinas globally .

So I did more like podcast not podcasts , but YouTube videos along the way Like I have another video with six other Latinas from all over where we share that there's a pay decrease , like we don't get paid as much here and there , we have to fight for this or that and I thought that that was a really important topic and we needed to have more important

discussions like that . So that's why I created Latinas and Salesforce , I believe in November of October of 2023 . So super recent , and I had no idea how to run it and I brought two other Latinos on board and they were super passionate .

One's a military spouse and another one runs a body wasn't tech group , which she had a smaller group but she wanted to make it bigger . So , like , how do we scale ? And I think , through the sessions that we've done , more women have , or more Latinas have come to these sessions , where they see it .

They may not be able to attend yet , but they come to these sessions and they'll come just to listen and when they come to listen , they hear stories that reflect their history , their life , whether it be too shy to talk in a room or raise their voice or post things , and by talking and hearing other people's stories and just being available resources for them to

reach out to , it's really brought up like more people . And what I've seen in the past month is people that are not only in the Salesforce ecosystem , people who are like product managers , project managers , people from Discord .

I'm starting to get like requests to join the group from all different type of tech groups , because that's a type of groups and kind of things that are needed , these discussions .

We made the group private at first , but then we made it public because we want more people to hear about it and there's a lot of people who are coming that are not Latinas , that are in support . Dreaming in Color also just launched , which means dreaming , of course , dreaming in Color in Spanish .

But the group is starting to grow and I think it's really important to have this space for Latinas , because sometimes they're a little bit quieter or not , as I've spoken , or we don't really know what to say or people to reach out to who kind of look like us or sound like us or have the same upbringing .

I've been the only Latina in a company of 18 before and it was just kind of like oh , who do I talk to here ?

So it's how to navigate that and we're an available resource out there and I just really loved the community that we've put and I think it's important to have that type of space and we don't only just do Salesforce content , we do , like how to get into project management , how to talk about salaries , like those conversations where it's like I don't know how to

navigate this , but we're going to figure out how to do it because people need it . So , yeah , that's been the really cool part . We have some upcoming sessions for 2024 plans Sonando Angolores coming up , so really excited about it .

I mean , if you're like you said , you're working at a company of 18 and there's no one else who is talking like you , sounding like you , emoting like you , and you get that with Salesforce you can create that group , you can create that medium .

We said it earlier you have to hustle , you have to find the support group , and I love how you've created multiple support groups and helped so many , so many other people . So I really really love hearing stuff like that and think that it's great that y'all are trying to help Others get into the ecosystem but also evolve and grow .

The content doesn't always have to be super technical You're talking about . I love the kind of focus on project management , because that is such an underappreciated soft skill to be a successful admin . So I love that . Those are some of the things you are diving into with that .

So the main one is you've had a wonderful journey . It's taken you from 2011 to now we're 2023 going through a lot of stuff . What would be for a new admin or sorry , I want to rephrase that for when you were going through your journey ? You 2011 , to where we are now in 2024 .

Now , knowing the journey you've taken , what would be your one regret that you wish you did differently ? That you could maybe help other admins out who are going through similar journeys , out and not make the same not mistake , but same choices .

So I think what took me so long to get certified was that I was just on show head and I was just watching tutorials on LinkedIn , and it can be especially during the pandemic , and I think , in a world of remote and obligate not obligations , but like things to do if you're a parent and all these things and you have obligations with your family , whatever it

may be , I think it's not doing things alone . I think that so many times we silo ourselves , especially working from home . Go out and see the world , bring that back , bring your inspiration , come in , refresh , join the user groups , listen to podcasts .

And I will also say one thing that I wish I would have done a little bit different is not just Salesforce related content . I think that there's a lot of value in like project management and seeing what's going on in the other tech industries .

Along the way you might change your career , like I've gone from Salesforce consultant to senior business analyst and I might want to go into project management . So like taking courses , like I just enrolled at UC Berkeley's project management extension course . But it's like , yeah , and those are the cool things .

It's like knowing that your career will not only be Salesforce . There's so many other possibilities . So like don't close that door . Always know what's going on in tech . It's really important . Just see what's out there , see what you're possible like , what you can do . You might want to be a PM , a business analyst , in a different sector one day , who knows ?

Don't close a door to just Salesforce . Be curious about everything else in the tech space and don't do it alone . Those are my two biggest pieces of advice .

I used to be someone that HubSpot people would call and say like , hey , do you want to jump on this prospect and sell them on this ? Not closing doors and not being just saying , well , I'm 100% Salesforce . I want to be a little bit , just because that's the premise of this podcast , but that's also my job .

At the same time , it's like not limiting , like being okay with , like learning all of the content from all the different solutions and then from there making decisions , just so you have the insight , Because I'll give HubSpot this their training resources for some of their inbound marketing things . I'm a marketer . It's really , really good content .

Salesforce has equally good content , but I mean , it's a different perspective on things .

It doesn't matter how you find it , but having that group of people is so important to not feel like you shouldn't be where you are . So if anyone's interested , you can subscribe to Megan's YouTube channel at MeganTuanoh or visit her website , salesforcewithmagancom . Thank you all again for taking the time to listen and support our podcast .

If you have any feedback , questions or topic suggestions , we'd love to hear from you . So please don't hesitate to connect with us on LinkedIn or Twitter or email us at infoatadminsoftomorrowcom . Also , if you or someone you know would like to be on the podcast or would like to give someone a shout out , please go to our website , adminsoftomorrowcom .

Forward slash , share your thoughts and fill out our form to be on the show or give someone a shout out . If you enjoyed this episode , don't forget to subscribe , leave a review and share it with your fellow Trailblazers . Every listen and every review means the world to us and helps us grow , so please keep sharing the show .

Once again , I'm Jacob Catalano , your host signing off . We appreciate you for listening to Admins of Tomorrow Trailblazing the next generation .