WITness Success with Jean Velonis

By

Today on the Salesforce Admins Podcast we’re speaking with Jean Velonis, Senior Salesforce Admin and Women in Tech (WIT) Leader. Jean has over ten years of experience as an Admin and recently has joined the planning team for WITness Success, a conference for women, by women.

Join us to hear about Jean’s experiences transitioning from marketing into an Admin role, and how that led to a unique process of trial and error. We discuss the importance of learning to code, the difference between being on an Admin team vs. going at it solo, and Jean’s plans for the upcoming WITness Success conference.

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

Love at first login.

Jean came to the Salesforce Admin world as a marketer, originally working with leads for a finance company. As Jean puts it, “I fell in love at first login with Salesforce back in 2006.” Opportunity knocked when Jean got to move into a more technical role by taking over Salesforce reporting, opening up a whole new world of possibilities.

The difference Trailhead makes.

Jean and Mike met at Dreamforce 2009, which brought up the difference between learning Salesforce pre-Trailhead compared to learning it today. There was no certification test, everything was self-taught, and you couldn’t Google everything.

In order to troubleshoot, you had to sift through documentation and try to patch together a solution on your own. Luckily, things have come a long way since the days of the tiny help box in the corner.

Learn something new every day.

At the end of the day, being a Salesforce Admin means connecting people, not just in your business organization, but in your community to help each other out. “Where I work, we’re lucky enough to have an internal development team. I work with the agents downstairs, the sales reps upstairs, the engineers are on my floor, the product team’s there. So it’s about connecting all those people and being able to build out something really awesome.”

Jean’s goal is to learn something new every day. A new challenge for her for this year is learning to code, or at least to better understand how to copy and paste.

Jean has a lot of experience as a solo admin, including a company with over 800 users and overseas vendors. Recently she’s had the opportunity to be part of a team, saying, “it’s nice to have somebody who understands the trials and tribulations of being an Admin.”

Empower women in technology.

Jean is on the steering committee for the the WITness Success Conference, a one-day event coming soon to Chicago. “It gives ladies an opportunity to learn, network, grow, and get inspired, possibly find a mentor if that’s something that they’re looking for. We just want to be able to help all of the women in tech, in Salesforce excel at their careers and be recognized for what they do.”

If you want to find out more information about Women in Tech and WITness Success, you can visit their website, follow them on Twitter, or follow the core planning team: Jean, Kyla Longe, Jocelyn Fennewald, Melinda Smith, and Melissa Hill-Dees.

For more insights, make sure to follow Jean on Twitter (@jeanvelonis)

We want to get your suggestions for guests on the podcast, and we need your help! So tweet your guest suggestions, support, etc. to @SalesforceAdmns to help us get more Awesome Admins on the podcast.

We want to remind you that if you love what you hear, or even if you don’t head on over to iTunes and give us a review. It’s super easy to do, and it helps more Admins find the podcast. Plus, we would really appreciate it.

Love our podcasts?

Subscribe today on iTunes, Google Play, Sound Cloud and Spotify!

Promo for Salesforce Admins Podcast featuring Ella Marks and a cartoon goat with a smartphone and presentation board.

Create Content for Impactful Presentations with Ella Marks

Today on the Salesforce Admins Podcast, we talk to Ella Marks, Senior Marketing Manager at Salesforce. Join us as we chat about the keys to creating a great presentation, how to prep, and how to always nail your ending. You should subscribe for the full episode, but here are a few takeaways from our conversation […]

READ MORE
Anna Szabo talks about never giving up on her dreams

Never Give Up on Your Dreams with Anna Szabo

Today on the Salesforce Admins Podcast, we talk to Anna Szabo, ISV Platform Expert at Salesforce. Join us as we chat about getting started with Trailhead, how to decide which certifications to go for, and why we all need to embrace failure. You should subscribe for the full episode, but here are a few takeaways […]

READ MORE

Replay: Project Management with Emma Keeling

Today on the Salesforce Admins Podcast, we’re revisiting our episode with Emma Keeling, Salesforce Consultant and Nonprofit Community Group Leader. Join us as we chat about the skill of project management and some best practices to help you keep things organized. You should subscribe for the full episode, but here are a few takeaways from […]

READ MORE