Ask & Listen with Willard Monroe

Today on the Salesforce Admins Podcast we’re with Willard Monroe, Industry Solutions Senior Director at Salesforce to hear about his amazing podcast, Ask & Listen.

Join us as we talk about the Salesforce internal (for now) podcast that he hosts interviewing different folks who are traditionally underrepresented in the tech industry to find out how they got where they are today.

You should subscribe for the full episode, but here are a few takeaways from our conversation with Willard Monroe.

Working your way up.

We asked Willard our favorite getting-to-know-you question, what did you want to be when you grew up? His answer was a little unusual (and we’ve heard a few): a criminal psychologist. “I was always fascinated with why people do the things that they do,” Willard says, “I got my BA in psychology but then pivoted a little bit after graduation and went into sales.”

At Salesforce, Willard is in Sales Strategy. He leads the pipeline programs, analyzing Salesforce’s coverage areas and looking for ways to bring marketing and sales together. He started as a Business Development Representative (BDR), essentially cold-calling companies to try and get them to implement Salesforce. “I wanted to get my foot in the door in tech,” Willard says, “so I came in as a BDR to work my way up.”

Ask and Listen.

“I’ve had a lot of great mentors along the way,” Willard says, and providing support for other people looking to grow their careers was a major reason that he started his podcast project, Ask & Listen. His experience as a black person in tech made him wonder about other people who are underrepresented in the industry, and the podcast was a way to sit folks down and hear their stories.

From starting the project, the guests grew through word of mouth. Talking to one person about their story would inevitably bring up another person and their background. Sharing both successes and struggles is so important because “when you are going through something in your life and you don’t see a lot of people that are like you, sometimes you feel alone,” Willard says. Those shared stories, both the highs and the lows, create a stronger community.

Why it’s important to have the conversation.

Creating a place where people can open up and share their stories is easier said than done. “First off, you need to create a safe place,” Willard says, “you need to talk to them beforehand to get them comfortable and acknowledge and know that these conversations are uncharted water in our industry. Five years from now, this conversation will evolve immensely and won’t be as hard to have.”

For now, the best thing to do is to know that these are uncharted waters for our industry, “so be open with how you’re listening because it’s really about asking the question and listening, there’s no action that needs to be taken right away,” Willard says. Having the conversation is an action in and of itself.

Join us for the Salesforce Admins Keynote at Dreamforce!

Tuesday, September 25th at 11am PDT: Parker Harris, Mike Gerholdt, Mary Scotton, Gillian Bruce & special guests will share amazing admin stories, incredible demos, and fun surprises. Join us live in Moscone West or watch online. Bookmark now! http://sforce.co/df18adminkeynote

Resources

• Cultivate Equality at Work trail on Trailhead: https://trailhead.salesforce.com/en/trails/champion_workplace_equality
• Salesforce Ohana Culture module on Trailhead: https://trailhead.salesforce.com/en/modules/manage_the_sfdc_way_ohana

Social

• Willard on the Trailblazer Community: https://success.salesforce.com/_ui/core/userprofile/UserProfilePage?u=0053000000BMRY5&tab=sfdc.ProfilePlatformFeed
• Willard on Twitter: @Willard_Monroe
• Gillian: @gilliankbruce
• Salesforce Admins: @SalesforceAdmns