After I majored in mechanical engineering, I joined USE, a company with a history in SI, as a programmer. After five years, I plunged into the position of planning sales hoping to solve user issues from the upstream process. I first came across Salesforce because it was the in-house sales support system. I was honestly surprised to find out that Salesforce could do so much without programming.

I always check Trailhead before the release test of a new function to avoid meaningless rework. Other than that, I was an instructor for employee training this year and I used Trailhead to assess the new employees aiming to be engineers. Trailhead has been a great employee training tool since users can test their work in a Trailhead Playground. I’ve also found that as each badge is obtained the employees begin to feel more confident and encouraged in their abilities.

I pushed myself to acquire 100 badges this past June. I utilized my commute time to work on any badges that were mobile-friendly. These are the multiple choice badges which review concepts - perfect for a train ride. I would also use this time to favorite any badges I found interesting and wanted to review later. Using my commute time got me hooked on the joy you experience as you start to earn badges and learn more.

When I found out from the Salesforce user group community that Salesforce was seeking pro-bono supporters I applied right away. I was able to serve as a Salesforce consultant to an international development non-profit organization. This experience really expanded my worldview.

Yes! The Salesforce community has had a powerful impact on my life. I’m the leader of the “W Power Group” which was established in 2013 to create a “community for women to work with ease.” In the first meeting we held, other women shared inspiring stories about raising children while building their careers. However, because all the women were working moms, when it came to selecting a leader everyone felt too busy to take on the responsibility. I accepted the role of leader even though I was the youngest, in my 20’s. I didn’t want to the group to end then and there!

On Trailhead I’ve learned so much about workplace development, at work I’ve gained experience training employees with Trailhead, and through the community I’ve worked with women in the W Power Group. All of this has lead me towards an interest in working on issues of hiring, training, and employee welfare. Because of these experiences, I made a relocation request to the personnel department, which although completely different from my education and department at the time, was approved. I want to further utilize Salesforce to achieve data-driven personnel recruitment which benefits and supports women in the workforce. Salesforce, Trailhead, and the user group community have brought me to a new and exciting career stage.

For me being a Trailblazer is more than being a technological pioneer it’s about bringing new ideas of all kinds into your business and life. One of the many advantages of Trailhead is that you not only learn technology, but also business thinking from the management perspective. The soft-skill badges on Trailhead, such as Business Value of Equality and Organizational Alignment (V2MOM) allow you to grow in your understanding of business management. Through these modules, I was able to learn strategies to promote in-house equality and how to create consensus in the office place. As a woman in business, I find the these topics to be incredibly important. As we seek to climb to the top of our careers, mastering the technology will not be enough, we must also understand management.