Princeton, NJ, United States
Meet Gina, 3x certified Salesforce Admin, leader of the NJ Trailblazer Community group, and our lucky millionth badger
I accidentally earned the 1 millionth badge on Trailhead! It was a total surprise and such a fantastic moment!
How did you become a Salesforce admin?
I became an accidental admin in 2014 when the Salesforce admin at my company moved on. I originally had a business analyst background. The admin job landed on my lap and I hit the ground running to learn the ropes. When I needed help, I just reached out on the Trailblazer Community and googled my way to an answer. That’s how I found Trailhead!
How has Trailhead helped you? What was one of the best things you've learned?
Learning about Process Builder has been invaluable. Other products could only go so far, but now I can setup external integrations with Salesforce. Given my business analyst background, workflows and formulas come easily to me, but security and network stuff is not really my forte. Recently we ran a health check of our org and didn’t score as high as we’d like. I went straight to Trailhead to learn about security and have already started implementing some meaningful changes. That’s what I love about Salesforce, there’s always something more to learn. The funny thing is that Security Basics turned out to be the millionth badge earned since Trailhead’s launch. So I was the lucky millionth badger! Oh and my husband is a cat fan, so I made him do the Catter module. I’m feline pretty proud of that too.
How do you make time for Trailhead?
It’s hard to find quiet space in my open office at work, so I hide away in a conference room to buckle down and absorb something new.
What is your dream job? [Updated]
I’d love to be a strict Salesforce admin. I still admin a lot of other apps at my company, but I’d like to focus on Salesforce 100%. I love the product, the Community, and the help you can get from incredible people. It’s been an awesome experience unlike anything I’ve ever seen in a software ecosystem. [Update! I am now a strict Salesforce admin as of June 2018!]
I love the product, the community, and the help you can get from incredible people. It’s been an awesome experience unlike anything I’ve ever seen in a software ecosystem.
If you could master one skill, what would it be?
I know I’m not alone, but I’d love to master time management—balancing my work and career goals. Carving out time to learn is hard. I was listening to an episode of the ButtonClick Admin podcast where Mike Gerholdt said you need to carve out time for yourself, even if it's an only hour a week. I’m going to start blocking out time on my calendar for professional development.
How do you use your skills to give back to your community?
I lead the New Jersey Trailblazer Community Group which is such a rewarding way to give back to the Community. We host events and workshops and make sure everyone is learning, networking, and having fun!
What advice do you have for new Trailblazers?
Trailhead is a resource that you can take with you no matter what direction your career path leads. Make sure that you don’t only focus on learning skills that serve your day-to-day goals, but also the skills that will take you to the next level in your career.
