I echo what Mark said. I had been working in nonprofit operations for a long time when I discovered Salesforce. Like a (surprising!) number of nonprofit Salesforce folks, I had spent some time implementing and using ticketing systems at arts organizations -- which gave me some background in how relational databases work.

I encountered Salesforce for the first time when I was working in higher ed (woohoo!) in charge of administering a pro bono program at a law school. I realized it would solve some problems for us, and started to build a pilot project as a proof of concept. I became really captivated by what this technology could do, and soon decided I wanted to spend all day every day harnessing it for nonprofits and higher ed.

That's when I found the community! And I am so glad I did. I could not have imagined the way Salesforce would change my whole career, and I have made so many honest-to-goodness friends along the way. I am so grateful for the MANY people (including SO MANY of the MVPs here in the Hub) who helped me make this career a reality for me, and I am so excited about the opportunity to continue to make space for the next generation of folks who care about doing this work!!