Meet Vanessa – our always positive, chocolate-chip-cookie-baking Salesforce superstar & client relations specialist!
Tell us a little about your Salesforce journey so far.
My Salesforce journey began during the pandemic. I was working remotely as a contractor for a retail company at the time, and my brother told me I should think about switching careers and trying Salesforce.
At first, I thought working with Salesforce meant I had to “do sales” — which did not sound interesting at all. But when I did a little research and found out about all the ways Salesforce helps companies, I was intrigued and decided to go for it.
I took some courses, studied hard, and earned my Salesforce Admin Certification in 2021. I’ve been adding certifications and building my Salesforce career ever since!
How long have you been part of the Platinum Cubed team?
Let’s see … I first joined Platinum Cubed as part of a 3 – month fellowship program in February 2022. The fellowship went well, and I officially joined the team as a full-time Junior Consultant in May 2022. So counting the fellowship, I’ve been at P3 for a little over 18 months.
What kind of work do you do as a Consultant at Platinum Cubed?
As a Junior Consultant, I did a lot of configuration work and user training while I continued to learn and build my skills.
Now that I’ve earned my Platform App Builder certification and been promoted to Consultant, I’ve taken on more responsibility such as project management.
On smaller projects for new clients who are just transitioning to Salesforce, I handle project management, client communication, and technical work like configuration testing.
For some of our bigger Financial Services Cloud projects, I work as part of a team with our Functional Consultants and Project Specialists. In those situations, I mostly focus on project management and making sure we’re exceeding client expectations. I also help out with technical work if the team gets bogged down and needs extra help to get things done.
What’s your favorite part of the projects you work on?
That’s a tough question, but I think I can narrow it down to two favorites: client communication and configuration. They’re totally different activities, but I love them both.
I really enjoy talking to clients to understand what they need and making sure they stay updated on the status of the project. I get a lot of satisfaction from making sure our team and our clients are on the same page and everyone has the info they need to stay on track and avoid confusion.
On the configuration side, I really enjoy using my technical skills to create layouts, testing scripts, rules & formulas and making sure what I deliver matches what the client wants.
What do you think makes Platinum Cubed a great place to work?
One of my favorite things about P3 is that I’ve been able to work with different people on different projects. Everyone does things a little differently, so I’ve learned a lot in a short time. I’ve learned different ways to configure — and to talk to clients based on how much they know about Salesforce or how technical they are.
Platinum Cubed is also a really supportive team. I’ve had great mentors and my more senior co-workers are always happy to answer my questions and help me learn new things. And my delivery managers have been great — they recognize when I’m doing things well and grant my requests to take on new challenges like project management.
The remote work set up is pretty great, too. I love working from home and not commuting to an office every day, and I have lots of flexibility around when I do most of my work.
What do you like to do when you’re not working?
Mostly I like to spend time with my friends and family. I also love to bake. My specialty is chocolate chip cookies, but they’re not your average chocolate chip cookies. I put all the chips in them — dark chocolate, milk chocolate, white chocolate, plus walnuts & pecans — and they’re delicious!
If I’m not hanging out with family or baking, I enjoy curling up with a good book, watching movies, and going shopping.
What advice do you have for people considering a career as a Salesforce Consultant?
I’ve always liked technology and been willing to take risks and branch out to learn new things. Both of those are really important traits for Consultants.
You also need to embrace being client-facing. Being personable and taking the time to connect with clients is just as important as having good technical skills.
And don’t be afraid to bring your unique experiences and skills to your work as a consultant. As an example, my retail background helps me manage client interactions and build strong relationships — that has huge value for my team. My teammates really appreciate how well I deal with difficult clients and diffuse potentially tricky situations.
Finally, what’s next for you in your Salesforce career?
There’s so much to learn! I won’t tell you which ones because I don’t want to jinx anything, but I’m studying for more Salesforce certifications and hoping to test soon. I’m also working on becoming a Certified Scrum Master.