From pre-med to Salesforce with Rebe de la Paz

Today on the Salesforce Admins Podcast we’re speaking to Rebe de la Paz about her incredible journey to Salesforce and the amazing stories she has inspired since getting involved in the Salesforce community.

Join us as Rebe shares her journey from wanting to be a doctor to Salesforce Admin and User Group leader. You’ll hear how she taught herself Salesforce, the challenges she has faced in and outside of Salesforce, and how she’s using her experience to make a positive impact on others.

You should subscribe for the full episode, but here are a few takeaways from our conversation with Rebe de la Paz.

From pre-med to Salesforce.

As Rebe explains, her journey to Salesforce has been anything but a straight line. “I’m the lady with a million jobs. It’s been a long path to Salesforce for me,” she says.

After a variety of career and educational experiences, she graduated from the University of Massachusetts and landed a position as a Marketing Coordinator with a non-profit in the Chicago area that had just purchased Salesforce.  However, the transition to Salesforce was rocky at best. “What better way to learn Salesforce than by learning data architecture and hierarchy?” Rebe says.

However, as Rebe shares, “I taught myself Demand Tools while I was there. I knew nothing about ETL but I figured it out, and I got the system clean within a year.”

Learning Salesforce.

When she experienced a setback at that position, Rebe says, “I spent the time bettering myself, my brain and learning more Salesforce. This is pre-Trailhead. I came across a site called ButtonClick Admin and another site by a gentleman, David Liu, who chased down his dream to work at Google. I thought, if this man can do this in two years, I can too.”

So, how did Rebe begin this process? She says, “I just started to dig deep, canvas the blogs, read, and listen to podcasts. I started playing around with my own dev org and figuring things out.”

Going all in. 

When Rebe made a choice to expand her horizons, “within two weeks I found another job,” she says. “I still hadn’t participated in the Success Community yet. But once I took that new role, I made a promise to myself that I wasn’t going to let myself feel that way — like I was threatened or like my job would be taken from me — in a role again,” says Rebe.

“I made a decision, I’m going to say yes to every opportunity that comes my way, and I’m going to put myself headfirst into a Salesforce career. When I went to my new role, I joined the Salesforce Community,” explains Rebe.

Her first in-person Salesforce experience was a developer meeting during Lightning week, which she says was initially intimidating. “If you’re a woman in the tech world, there’s always going to be a lot of guys, especially at the developer meetings. I knew no one, but the thing that really got me was that everyone there was in amazement at what we saw on the screen,” says Rebe.

Getting involved in the community.

Since that moment, the Salesforce Community has continued to have a huge impact on Rebe’s career and life. “Every week, every day, I can’t believe I’m a part of this. I meet so many people. I get to participate in so many things. I’ve done so much since I’ve joined the community,” says Rebe.

One of her career milestones has been teaching Girl Develop It courses, which have allowed her to give back to the community. As she explains, “At the end of the day, I want to be able to look back and say, ‘what did I accomplish with the breath I was given?’”

Giving back with Girl Develop It.

Rebe has loved being involved with Girl Develop It. “There was a camaraderie amongst women who are passionate about Salesforce. For me, it was amazing because I gave up one Saturday. That’s all it took. Imagine if everyone gave up one day to do something for someone else?” she says.

As she points out, it all comes down to how you manage and view your time. “I have more than one day on my calendar to help others. That made me want to further my partnership and work with Girl Develop it,” says Rebe.

When she recalls one of her favorite student success stories, she says, “that little bit of time out of my year just made a major impact on another person, and that person is going to make major impacts on others.”

For more insights, make sure to follow Rebe de la Paz on Twitter (@Rabedela).

Links:

• Girl Develop It
• Dev Bootcamp
• rebedelapaz.com

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