We recently asked Vickie to join the Ladies Be Architects team as an ambassador, spreading the word in the Land Down Under, and we were thrilled when she said yes! Here’s her story!
Vickie’s background is in IT Administration and Management. She’s worked in the IT world for the past 20 years, starting in systems and network administration before moving into management and strategy positions.
She inherited Salesforce during a company merger in 2011 and hasn’t looked back. The depth and flexibility of the product and the ability to build quickly and dynamically feed her need to be creative, and the Salesforce Ohana has been pure magic.
Currently, Vickie’s role is Business Technology Manager for Ausure Pty Ltd, an insurance broking group, based in Brisbane, Australia. This role encompasses everything IT and Systems, including IT management, strategy, systems analysis and architecture, heading a small team that maintains, develops and supports 2 Salesforce orgs, Customer Community, Platform Analytics and a number of other non-Salesforce products.
Vickie also co-leads the Brisbane Salesforce User/Administrator Group, co-leads Trailhead Tuesdays in Brisbane and a virtual Community Cloud group aimed at Australia and New Zealand Community Cloud users. Helping others get into the Salesforce ecosystem and assist with their learning journeys is her passion.
Tell us how you heard about Ladies Be Architects?
“I had followed Gemma Blezard on Twitter after seeing re-tweets from others and started to watch the study group recordings on the LBA website and then attended the LBA session at the last Dreamforce.”
What feelings did Ladies Be Architects inspire within you?
“Until I discovered Ladies Be Architects, I really believed that becoming a CTA was out of my league, even though my job includes CRM architecture. So when I discovered LBA and heard other people’s stories, I realised it wasn’t such an unattainable goal and I really should believe in myself. So, it was a mixture of hope and empowerment!”
Tell us why the CTA journey is important to you...
“Apart from wanting to increase the number of women CTAs, I love the learning journey. Even though I’ve been in the Salesforce ecosystem for 8 years, there is still so much to learn. I enjoy the sense of empowerment that comes along with a deep understanding of the product and with passing certifications. It keeps me motivated to continue to learn more and to share that learning with the community around me.”
What’s the next step for you on your Journey to CTA?
“I’m at the beginning of my journey, having passed Platform App Builder last year. Code is fairly foreign to me so I’ve spent quite a bit of this year trying to learn as much as I can with LBA, SFDC99, Path to Code and hoping to get into the next round of RAD Women Code. I’ve failed Platform Developer 1 once, so will retake it once I feel more comfortable. I’m also studying towards Sharing and Visibility Designer, so these will be my next two certs.”