Spotlight Series: Matthew Morris

We’re really excited to introduce you to an English gentleman who always has our back – MVP and London Admin User Group leader Matthew Morris. You may know him from his Pluralsight Play-by-Play on diagramming; if you don’t and you’re on your #JourneyToCTA, please watch it – it will help.

Matt has such a fab style of describing himself that we’ll just dive straight in!

Who is Matt Morris?

“I’m actually quite shy and private, so I get uncomfortable when I have to reply to these things. I’ve cringed in the past when I’ve had to write a “fun fact” to introduce myself at training courses. Particularly whilst I was at McKinsey with Olympic medalists, Guiness World Record holders and polar explorers.

“Ok, all this is padding to help me dodge the questions!

“I’ve lived in Bristol for the past decade. It’s a beautiful part of the U.K. with lots of scenery, history and culture. We have a house close to the historic harbour and it really lifts my spirits to walk around the corner and look out on the wide expanse of water with the city skyline and green fields beyond.

“I’ve never read a great number of fiction books. When I do start one I find that it totally consumes me and I’m up until the small hours of the night hooked on ‘just one more chapter’. I remember reading the novel Atonement back in the early 2000s when it came out and I was deeply moved by the plot twist in the end, so I do enjoy fiction. More recently I read some of the science-fiction books by William Gibson. He was the author that introduced the term ‘cyberspace’ into popular culture back in the 1980s and who is also known for his remark, ‘the future is already here, it’s just not evenly distributed’ in relation to virtual reality technology in the mid-nineties. This is a phrase which resonates with me when looking at technology today. I actually got directed to the writings of William Gibson in one of my first podcast interviews with Salesforce’s Peter Coffee, he is always a great source of quotes, thoughts and ideas. For anyone who’s interested, Gibson’s novel Neuromancer is a thought-provoking read as it has has many ideas on the social and moral impact of technology.

“These days most of my reading is done to me by Audible. I’m currently recommending the audiobook of The Inevitable by Kevin Kelly, founding editor of Wired magazine. If you’re interested in where technology is taking society there are some more great ideas in here.

“Shall we save film and TV for another time? There’s a lot of Disney in our house at the moment.”

Tell us how you heard about Ladies Be Architects?

“Some bird named Gemma told me!”

What feelings did Ladies Be Architects inspire within you?

“My initial reaction was ‘Hell yeah!’

“Then I thought it should be’ “Ladies Are Architects”, and then, ‘Ladies make better architects’

“In my IT career, which dates back to 1994, I have been lucky to work with some fantastic role-models, many of whom happen to have been women. I’ve reflected on my experiences as I have worked to develop my architect skills and I have come to the conclusion that the women I worked with were superior developers/testers/analysts/architects because they exhibited better communication skills, were well organised, had a lot less ego than many of their male colleagues. I include myself as one of these comparable males. Their technical skills were as good or better, and technical skills can always be learned and improved far easier than the soft skills of listening and communication.

“With the huge growth in Salesforce projects, both in terms of quantity and complexity the world is crying out for more good quality architects to keep the projects out of the ditch. I need help! I don’t care where the architects come from, just as long as they are organised, communicative and knowledgeable.

“Today I read the name of your movement as an instruction, ‘Ladies [you are needed to] Be Architects’ Step up!

Tell us about your experience with CTA – what have you learned and why is it important to you?

“As far back as 2014 I thought ‘I could do that! I’m an architect! I can be a CTA!’. So my interest and involvement has been almost 5 years!

“The whole series of events which have taken place for me is a very long story and something for another time and place, probably late evening over cocktails!

“I have learnt so much, including how much I didn’t know and how much I still don’t know!

“The central lesson for me is: in the architect role, having detailed knowledge and facts in your head which you can bring into use during a discussion with clients builds trust. For example, I have been able to use my knowledge of OAuth 2.0 authentication flows (which I worked hard to learn and UNDERSTAND during CTA study!) to prevent an inaccurate choice being selected by the client which could have wasted valuable time on the project. It’s situations like this where the architect role is key to the decision making process, and why as an architect you should insist on attending meetings involving decision makes. When the opportunity arises it is very rewarding to be able to stand up and show the audience how the solution needs to be built and to field their questions and challenges. On days like that I feel like I made a difference to the outcome of the project.”

What’s the next step for you on your Journey to CTA?

“Sharpen my Salesforce solutioning skills. I was not hands-on daily with Salesforce for several years during my past couple of jobs. Now I’m back on an implementation project it’s time to brush up on all the changes and new features.

Do you have any concerns or doubts about the architect credentials?

“In my experience, the architect credentials are the most relevant and the supporting learning resources are the most comprehensive. I encourage everyone to partake of them, even if they do not aspire to the architect role or for the CTA certification.

“The only concern I have is that the leap from passing all the architect certs to being able to apply the skills and knowledge in front of the Review Board is very big. More support is needed for people who desire to pass the Review Board so that they have the time and opportunity to develop their architect style and confidence.

How can men help women to achieve success in the architect programme?

“Women don’t need men mansplaining anything to them.

“All people need challenges and opportunities to be available for them to develop. Looking out for the development needs of other people is something I think has a great impact.

Spotlight Series: Eric Dreshfield

This is Eric Dreshfield – Advocacy Manager at Apttus, a Salesforce MVP, the Founder & Event Chair for Midwest Dreamin’ and South Indiana’s Salesforce User Group Leader.

He’s also a friend and supporter of Ladies Be Architects. Eric lives in southwestern Indiana, in a little map-dot town of about 400 people. He’s 20 minutes outside of Evansville, Indiana, which puts him 2.5 hours to Nashville, TN, Louisville, KY, and St. Louis, MO, as well as 3 hours to Indianapolis, IN.

Tell us about yourself, Eric!

“I’m married to a wonderful woman, the love of my life, Cindy. We met online in 1999, back before dating sites existed. It was a chat room where all you saw was a screen name and the text a person was typing. The time period between our first online conversation to when we got married was only 4 months!

“Between the 2 of us, we have a 37 year old, a 30 year old and a 16 year old – all daughters. We have also been blessed with 2 granddaughters, 19 and 16 years old. Family life has been really interesting, as during most of our nearly 20 years together, all but the 30 year old lived with us – in addition to Cindy’s parents for a few years. I started using Salesforce in 2009, when I was promoted from a call center agent to a business analyst at a software company. I knew nothing about Salesforce when I got the promotion. In fact, I had never even heard of it until that job interview! The VP of the call center needed someone to help her roll out the Service Cloud to the call center and felt I had the skills she needed.”

Tell us how you heard about Ladies Be Architects?

“I think I first heard about Ladies Be Architects on Twitter. With so many women in my family, I tend to gravitate towards anything women in tech related – hoping that maybe I can convince one of my younger ladies at home to pursue a career in technology.”

What feelings did Ladies Be Architects inspire within you?

“Just being an observer and watching all the conversations around Ladies Be Architects, watching and learning about all the amazing things getting accomplished, give me a great sense of pride for all the Ladies doing those things. I’m always excited to learn when someone gets a new certification, takes a new job somewhere, etc. And it always helps me stay grounded in the fact that I know very little about what the Salesforce Platform really can do. I’m never the smartest one in the room when hanging out with my LBA friends…and I’m totally fine with that!”

Tell us what you’ve learned about CTA?

“To be perfectly honest, all I know about the CTA designation is that there are very few people who hold it, most of them are men, and it takes quite a lot of effort to achieve the title. I’m thrilled that LBA is out there helping ladies push the envelope of equality. I’ve always been a firm believer that anyone can do anything they put their mind to, and it doesn’t matter if they are male, female, or non-binary. I think everyone should get the same opportunities in life, no matter what.”

What’s the next step for you on your Journey to CTA?

“My next step on my journey to CTA, would actually be the very first step! I’ve tried the Administrator certification 3 times in my career so far, and haven’t passed it once. I will be the first to admit that I probably didn’t put in as much study and practice time as I should have, especially since I’ve never been “The Admin” for a Salesforce org. I guess I’m still trying to figure out what I want to do when I grow up – although I know no matter what, it will be inside the Salesforce Ecosystem.”

Do you have any concerns or doubts about the architect credentials? How could we help you?

“The only concern I have is – will I ever be able to learn enough to gain the CTA credential?! My personal concerns start at the very beginning levels of Salesforce knowledge, and like many people, I feel like I suffer from Impostor Syndrome. As a Salesforce MVP, many people automatically assume I know a ton of things about the platform. I don’t – I mean, at a high level, I do – I understand the capabilities of the platform, have a decent grasp of what you can do “out-of-the-box” and when you would be required to use code, instead of clicks. But I’m fast to admit to anyone asking what it takes to be an MVP, that I really have no idea! Most of the MVPs have multiple certifications, build some really amazing solutions, etc. I have 0 certifications…yep…not a single one.

“My strongest qualities are the soft skills, I’m great at gathering people together for conversations, and I know so many people in the ecosystem that if anyone has a question they need answered, I likely know who to send them to, or someone I know, knows who holds the answers.”

How can men help women to achieve success in the architect programme?

“I think the best thing that men can do to help women achieve success in the architect program (and everything else) is simply be there to support them, be the ally they need, to stand up and say something when they see something that is treating women unfairly. For the men with the knowledge and skills it takes to be a CTA, help share that knowledge by being a mentor and a sounding board when the women have questions or need advice.”

Why do you think so few women are willing to take this challenge on?

“I think life & modern society in general, as well as the tech industry specifically, has always played favorites towards men. Unfortunately, its the way things have been, historically, for a long time. Think about the leaders of the world’s greatest countries – most are men. Think about those in leadership position of many of the Fortune 500 companies – most are men. I think to get more women to take on the challenge of becoming a CTA is going to require a lot of inspiration from others.

“I think there needs to be a fundamental shift in thinking and people need to realize men aren’t superior beings to women. I say if you are a woman and thinking about attempting to become a CTA, stop thinking, and start doing! I’ll be right there with you, encouraging you all the way – just don’t ask me any technical questions about Salesforce, because I won’t have the answer! I’ll send you to one of my LBA friends because I’m awestruck by how brilliant they all are!”

Spotlight Series: Rachel Park

Rachel is a Salesforce Certified Administrator and has worked with numerous non-profits that are near & dear to her heart. A Salesforce Analyst at Slalom, with experience as an on-staff admin, Rachel is a “transplanted” New Yorker living in Los Angeles, so she misses good bagels and walking everywhere, which is why whenever Sex and the City is on, she just HAS to watch — it reminds her of her home in New York City. She recently had the incredible privilege of being the inaugural guest on the SF Campfire Stories podcast hosted by Justice Sikakane & Stacey Cogswell, sharing stories of Salesforce Trailblazers discussing their journeys with Trailhead. Rachel has quite a few other things going on besides Salesforce; she is a tie designer and triple-negative breast cancer survivor. After over a year of 15 rounds of chemotherapy, three surgeries and 32 radiation treatments, she’s thankful to have just passed three years cancer-free! During treatment, she used her sewing skills to create the ParkPuff™, a stylish chest-comforting, go-anywhere seatbelt pillow for breast cancer (and more!) patients worldwide. Ladies Be Architects founder, Gemma Emmett, had the honour of receiving one of Rachel’s ParkPuffs to aid in her recovery from a double mastectomy.

This is Rachel’s pet pug, who was instrumental in her healing process.

Tell us how you heard about Ladies Be Architects?

I started seeing the #LadiesBeArchitects thread on Twitter and wanted to learn more

What feelings did Ladies Be Architects inspire within you?

Empowerment! It’s such an encouraging and supportive group of AMAZING women.

Tell us why the CTA journey is important to you...

As a woman in tech — especially a woman of color — it’s important for me to share our underrepresented success stories in the community. Representation matters!

What’s the next step for you on your Journey to CTA?

I am currently part of an Amplify (formerly Girlforce) Platform App Builder Certification Study Group and hope to be certified soon!

As a huge introvert, that CTA Review Board sounds terrifying! That’s why it’s so great to see Gemma and Charly documenting their CTA jorneys, so it is demystified and less scary for the rest of us. Bravo, ladies!