Dan Darcy & Shonnah Hughes 36 min

The Value of Mentorship


Meet Shonnah Hughes, Global Product Growth & Innovation Evangelist at GetFeedback, winner of the Equality Trailblazer award and thought leader in the Salesforce ecosystem



0:00

(upbeat music)

0:02

- Welcome to Inside the Oana.

0:07

I'm Dan Darcy, Chief Customer Officer at Qualified.

0:10

And today I'm joined by my friend, Shawna Hughes.

0:14

Shawna, how are you?

0:15

- Hey Dan, it is going great on the side of the planet for me.

0:20

I am so happy to be here with you today.

0:22

And thank you so much for, you know,

0:25

thinking about me and having me join you.

0:28

I'm excited to get started and bring out

0:30

all the fun that we're about to have.

0:32

So I wanna dive right into our first segment,

0:35

Oana Origins.

0:37

So going back to 14 years earlier,

0:40

tell me how you discovered Salesforce.

0:42

- I was working for a large DME Home Infusion Company.

0:46

DME is durable medical equipment in the healthcare space.

0:50

And I worked in what we would consider a call center.

0:54

They call it their patient contact center.

0:56

And within that patient contact center,

0:59

I became like the default trainer.

1:02

So then they kind of promoted me

1:05

to their revenue support trainer.

1:08

And then one day they were like,

1:10

"Yeah, so we've been on this, you know,

1:13

DOS-based system for quite some time.

1:15

And we really want to upgrade and do something different."

1:19

And what they chose was Salesforce,

1:21

which it was pretty crazy for those times, right?

1:25

Like a patient intake system on Salesforce.

1:29

Salesforce back then was really known as a sales tool.

1:32

Like it wasn't known to help you

1:34

with your patient intake process.

1:36

However, our management team had foresight

1:41

and seen that the technology was great.

1:44

They decided to then implement Salesforce

1:46

across 250 branches and three large COEs.

1:51

And they asked me to come along for the ride.

1:55

So I worked with Accenture at the time

1:58

was their implementation partner and I worked with them.

2:01

And that's how I started learning all about Salesforce.

2:05

- So, Shauna, I want the viewers and the listeners

2:08

to get to know you a little bit.

2:10

And, you know, you're a trailblazer.

2:12

And I want, it's time for you to brag a little

2:14

because you've had some incredible success

2:17

with Salesforce over the years

2:18

from earning the Equality Trailblazer Award

2:21

to end a golden hoodie, to signing the White House's pledge

2:25

to America's workforce along with Mark Benioff.

2:29

What would you say is the biggest success you've had

2:32

at Salesforce and with Salesforce

2:35

or something that you're most proud of?

2:36

- Yeah, what I'm most proud of or the biggest success

2:39

that I have was really me being able to use

2:44

my platform to help others really, you know,

2:50

realize their potential in the tech space,

2:52

especially those who have been historically excluded

2:56

or underrepresented in the tech ecosystem.

3:00

You know, I had the honor and the privilege

3:03

to work with Christina Jones,

3:05

to work with Mark Benioff to highlight a nonprofit

3:10

that I helped found.

3:12

And we were able to be on the Dreamforce stage

3:15

and had a lot of support from people like Suzanne DiBianca,

3:19

a lot of support from different departments

3:21

within the Salesforce organization.

3:23

It's just been amazing to take part in.

3:27

- That's awesome.

3:27

And I love hearing that.

3:28

And obviously I've witnessed that firsthand with you

3:31

and you are an inspiration to many out there.

3:34

So just thank you for all the work that you've done

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and are continuing to do for everyone out there.

3:39

So on the opposite side of the spectrum,

3:42

what would you say is your biggest lesson learned?

3:44

- Yeah.

3:46

So back when I came into the Salesforce ecosystem,

3:49

you know, 2004, I think it was 2003, it's been a while.

3:56

You know, it wasn't like it is today.

4:01

There wasn't a lot of social platforms

4:05

where you can connect with other trailblazers,

4:09

but they did have user groups.

4:11

And I didn't find out about user groups

4:13

until I was well into the platform itself.

4:17

I wish I would have found those user groups earlier.

4:21

But when I did find it, I was here locally

4:24

in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

4:27

It's called the Twin Cities User Groups at that time.

4:29

We had so many individuals in our user group.

4:34

I think at that time we were considered one of the largest.

4:38

I think Erica Kool said that she was the leader

4:40

of the trailblazer community at the time.

4:42

And, you know, I went into the meeting

4:47

and I didn't feel like it was a place for me.

4:52

You know, there was no other people of color in the room.

4:57

I felt so out of place.

4:58

And so, you know, I would have to say vulnerable

5:01

in that moment.

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However, when I walked in,

5:07

I was looking for somewhere to sit,

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I was welcome so warmly that I just,

5:15

you know, I never stopped going.

5:20

From that point on, you know, Laina Hofer,

5:25

she was one of the user group leaders, Dory Spar.

5:29

There was a slew of MVPs that, you know,

5:33

were in this community and just had me sit at their table

5:37

and welcomed me with open arms.

5:39

And that just made me feel like I had found my place.

5:44

- And I mean, you mentioned MVP.

5:46

Why don't you explain that for the listeners?

5:48

What's an MVP?

5:49

- You have tremendous product knowledge,

5:51

but you're passionate about not just that product,

5:54

not just the organization, but you're passionate about

5:56

helping others understand what, you know, this product

6:01

and the service offerings can do.

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But your number one goal is to help people.

6:07

And you're doing that without, let's say,

6:12

buying for recognition to be a part of this program.

6:17

It's core or it's centered to who you are

6:20

and what you do on a day-to-day basis.

6:23

So it's not even something that you're not doing every day.

6:27

It's something that you're already doing.

6:29

But Salesforce has taken that and said,

6:31

since you're doing this, let's recognize you.

6:35

Let's give you, you know, some additional benefits.

6:37

Like, let's give you a larger platform.

6:40

So then that way you can do more

6:42

for those that you're trying to help.

6:44

- Yeah, and I thank you for that explanation

6:47

because, you know, for the listener out there,

6:51

Trailblazer was not the term from the very beginning.

6:54

You know, it was always a customer hero.

6:57

And you all were on the front lines,

7:01

making the product successful by the implementations,

7:04

the configurations that you built inside of Salesforce.

7:07

So with these user groups and the MVPs,

7:11

that's why I think it was always such a great thing

7:16

that Salesforce did with our customers is really make,

7:19

you guys are making the product come to life.

7:21

And it makes me, I get the chills actually,

7:25

thinking about, you know,

7:27

Laina and the crew making you feel welcome.

7:30

And I think, I mean, that's just part of who we are.

7:32

It's like, you know, and explaining

7:35

what is special about Salesforce and the O'Hanna.

7:39

And that's where I wanna go to next, you know.

7:42

So, you know, I talk about the meaning of O'Hanna

7:45

to a lot of folks, but it's different for everyone.

7:48

And I asked this of all my guests

7:51

and everyone describes it a little bit differently.

7:53

But I'm curious, how would you describe the O'Hanna

7:56

and what does it mean to you?

7:57

- I know it's cliche, but for me,

7:59

it truly does mean family for me.

8:04

And it's not cliche, it's not a buzzword,

8:08

it's not some type of marketing gimmick.

8:11

It is 100% authentic.

8:14

The majority of my adult friends that I currently have

8:17

right now that I consider family,

8:19

that I call a sister, that we fly to see each other

8:23

when things aren't going right,

8:25

that we call and have, you know,

8:26

conference call to make sure that

8:28

we're all doing well is individuals

8:31

that I found inside of the O'Hanna,

8:35

that I found because of my career within Salesforce,

8:39

I didn't have that nucleus before,

8:42

I didn't have that support system before, and now I do.

8:46

And it's not just those people that I talk to

8:49

on a day-to-day basis that I call sisters,

8:52

it's the extended O'Hanna as well

8:55

that I can reach out to if I'm having problems

8:58

or if I'm experiencing some type of challenge

9:01

that welcomes me with open arms,

9:03

that tells me periodically, you know,

9:07

like that I'm making a difference,

9:09

that I'm having an impact.

9:11

It means so much to me,

9:13

'cause being someone who didn't, you know,

9:17

like grow up in tech or, you know,

9:20

have this four-year college degree

9:23

or looked at as someone that, you know,

9:27

traditionally can provide value.

9:29

The Salesforce community has made sure

9:34

that that is not the narrative

9:36

that they give to individuals who come from a background,

9:40

that was not traditionally tech-focused,

9:42

who identifies as someone who's been historically, you know,

9:47

excluded from these opportunities,

9:50

they're welcoming you with open arms,

9:51

they're saying that you can do it,

9:54

and they're saying that we are here to help you

9:57

along this journey.

9:58

- I love hearing that.

9:59

And if there are any special stories

10:02

or are there any O'Hanna moments, if you will,

10:04

that's really a little behind the scenes

10:06

that you may wanna share that really describes

10:09

that meaning of O'Hanna to you.

10:10

Do you have a story?

10:12

- I have so many stories, Dan.

10:15

(laughs)

10:17

There are so many stories, you know,

10:20

and maybe this is one of the stories

10:22

that's going to be publicized.

10:25

I know, you know, they have the new Trailblazer marketing series

10:30

that Leah and another individual started.

10:35

And I know they just released Aaron's episode

10:37

on Salesforce Plus, but with his story,

10:41

he came into the Salesforce ecosystem.

10:43

He had no, you know, tech experience.

10:47

He had found out about, you know, this ecosystem,

10:50

and he, I think one of his cousins was involved

10:55

and she told him, "Hey, Chicago user group

10:59

is having, you know, like a regional meeting.

11:01

You should definitely attend."

11:03

And of course, you know all about the dream and events.

11:05

You've spoken at several of them.

11:08

And the dream and events are amazing, you know,

11:12

I would say facilitators of people who wanna know more

11:16

but don't want to, you know, let's say go to a dream force

11:20

or a world tour where, you know, this,

11:22

it just seems overwhelming.

11:24

These are regional community events

11:26

where they welcome everyone

11:28

and you can learn in bite-sized pieces.

11:31

So his cousin, she knew like a nucleus

11:36

of the Salesforce MVPs and community leaders.

11:39

And she reached out to us and said,

11:41

"Hey, my cousin is coming.

11:43

I would really like for him to learn more."

11:45

And so we are like, "Yeah, okay, sure.

11:47

We gonna make sure he get in, welcome him with open arms,

11:52

et cetera, et cetera."

11:53

So he comes to Midwest Dreamin'

11:57

and it's me, Toya and Revey.

12:01

And we're like, you know, like where's this guy at?

12:04

You know, we wanna make sure he gets a warm welcome.

12:07

And, you know, from my understanding,

12:10

Toya found him first.

12:12

(laughs)

12:14

I love how you guys all wanna claim that, right?

12:16

- Exactly. (laughs)

12:18

- We're like, that's my win, that's my win.

12:21

I'm sorry.

12:22

So Toya grabbed him and was like, you know,

12:27

you in here now, you're not going nowhere.

12:30

Type of scenario.

12:32

And, you know, every since then, you know,

12:35

welcoming him in, trying to be a support system for him

12:39

and making sure that, you know,

12:42

like he has the right connections, et cetera.

12:45

You know, he's now a Golden Hoodie winner.

12:48

He, you know, he has an amazing job

12:52

and you can, I don't wanna spoil this series,

12:55

but you can hear all about it on Salesforce Plus,

12:58

but it was just, it's just one of those stories

13:00

where you're like, that is the heart of the community.

13:05

And that, you will hear that story over and over and over again

13:09

where it's like these, you know, individuals,

13:12

they welcomed me and they wanted nothing from me.

13:17

They just wanted me to succeed.

13:20

- I honestly am choked up hearing that

13:23

just because, I mean, you did this in the very beginning,

13:27

you know, way back in the early days,

13:29

you didn't feel, you know, a part of it

13:33

but then you were there to help mentor

13:35

and drive that with other folks.

13:36

So, that's amazing.

13:38

- It's important, right? - That's amazing.

13:39

- Dan, it's important to, you know,

13:42

give back in any possible way that you can.

13:45

I mean, personally, like, I didn't get to where I am

13:49

by myself.

13:50

I got here because of people that were invested in me,

13:55

not just, you know, as, you know, a colleague

14:01

but as an individual, like, they saw something in me

14:04

and helped me through that.

14:05

I mean, Dan, you're one of those people.

14:07

Chris Landy is one of those people.

14:09

Mark Benney, office is one of those people, you know,

14:12

like, there's so many people that you will meet

14:15

in this ecosystem that you have no idea the impact

14:19

they're gonna have on your journey.

14:22

- So, let's get into our next segment called "What's Cooking?"

14:26

So, Shauna, you are the global product growth

14:30

and innovation evangelist at Get Feedback.

14:32

Talk about how you got to where you are now

14:35

and what your journey has been like

14:37

to get to your current role.

14:38

- Honestly, you know, it's amazing.

14:40

I always say like, I don't know how I got here.

14:43

(laughs)

14:45

But it's an accumulation, right?

14:48

Like you said, putting in the work,

14:49

just knowing product,

14:53

knowing how to position product and understanding

14:57

the Salesforce, you know, ecosystem overall,

15:01

is I think, you know, one of the main reasons

15:04

are the main kind of like things that attracted Get Feedback

15:09

to me as an individual.

15:12

I would have to attribute me being introduced

15:16

to Get Feedback to Layla Seica,

15:20

who is an amazing mentor of mine

15:22

and excels for its executive.

15:24

- And a one too as well, all the progress.

15:28

- Exactly.

15:29

You're like, I'm claiming her as well.

15:31

(laughs)

15:33

- My mentor.

15:34

- My mentor.

15:35

(laughs)

15:36

- My win.

15:37

So, you know, she was an amazing mentor

15:40

and she was doing consulting for a while.

15:44

So after I came out of, you know,

15:47

my first job in the Salesforce ecosystem,

15:51

I went into a little bit of a different area

15:55

with thin serve to, you know, medical tech.

16:00

It was like, you know, just kind of all over the place.

16:03

But I was still doing work on the Salesforce platform

16:07

and I was telling Layla, you know,

16:11

like I'm looking for something different.

16:13

I'm not sure what that is right now,

16:17

but I love the Salesforce ecosystem.

16:19

I want to stay there.

16:20

I want to be able to essentially evangelize, you know,

16:25

that product within the, you know,

16:27

that product and the community in and outside

16:30

of the ecosystem.

16:31

And she essentially told me to write down some things,

16:36

kind of like, you know, that I'm passionate about.

16:39

And then all of a sudden I get a, you know,

16:42

a phone call essentially

16:44

and was asked to interview for a position

16:48

that I had no idea about.

16:50

(laughs)

16:52

So, went through the whole interview process.

16:56

You know, Craig Scholl.

16:57

Craig Scholl was CEO of Get Feedback

17:01

and also a great mentor of mine.

17:03

He is not your avatar.

17:07

- Oh, really quick.

17:09

I'm going to say he's my mentee.

17:10

So, like-- - So,

17:12

- My mentee. - By proxy.

17:14

I'm your mentee. (laughs)

17:17

All in all, it ended up to be, you know,

17:23

a very great process and they decided to bring me on staff.

17:27

And ever since then, it's just been an amazing partnership

17:32

between Get Feedback and Salesforce

17:34

and being able to not just evangelize the Get Feedback product,

17:39

which is what they pay me for. (laughs)

17:43

But also evangelize the Salesforce product

17:45

within my organization as well.

17:48

- So, tell us a little bit more about that.

17:50

The evangelization of Get Feedback and Salesforce,

17:53

I mean, tell us a little, maybe give me a little pitch

17:56

for the viewers and the listeners.

17:57

- So, if you think about customer experience

18:00

and your voice to the customer initiatives,

18:02

you're going to think about Get Feedback

18:04

as the tool that's going to integrate into Salesforce

18:07

to then allow you to be able to, you know,

18:10

collect the insights that are most important to you

18:13

from your customers.

18:14

And then when you think about Salesforce,

18:16

we use Salesforce as our, you know,

18:19

mostly our automation engine.

18:21

And we don't want your data.

18:23

So, feedback, you know, that's a lot of data.

18:26

We don't want to keep that.

18:27

We don't want to house that.

18:28

That's what differentiates us between Qualtrics

18:31

and Medallion, other partners, such as that.

18:34

We want your data to live in your system of truth,

18:37

your source of truth, which is Salesforce, your CRM.

18:40

And we leverage Salesforce because of its vast array

18:45

of tech stack and automation and analytics, et cetera.

18:50

We utilize that platform to then,

18:54

I would say enhance our platform

18:56

and make our service offerings better as well.

18:59

- I love it.

19:00

I'm sold.

19:01

- Ah, yay!

19:01

(laughs)

19:03

- So what challenges are you seeing now?

19:06

And how are you applying what you learned

19:09

at Salesforce to these challenges?

19:11

- In our community, we see a lot of challenges

19:13

when it comes to, you know, integration and/or,

19:19

you know, being able to, you know, it's like,

19:22

what do we do now?

19:23

You know, like we have all this data,

19:26

we have this information.

19:27

How do we take action?

19:28

What's the next step?

19:29

What do we do?

19:30

And what I have the privilege and the ability to do

19:37

is not only learn more about, you know,

19:41

what it means to take action and to really take control,

19:44

but also how to do that.

19:46

And Salesforce provides you with the tools

19:50

to be able to take action,

19:53

but also do it in real time, right?

19:57

So you don't have to wait to give your customers

20:01

that experience that, you know, you wanna give them.

20:04

You don't have to wait to follow up, you know,

20:06

with a phone call.

20:07

This information can be automated.

20:09

That information can be used by Einstein Analytics

20:13

to drive, you know, that conversation forward as well.

20:18

I've learned that not one solution

20:24

is going to fix all your problems.

20:29

So, you know, everybody says Salesforce, Salesforce,

20:30

Salesforce, and of course, I say Salesforce,

20:33

but I say Salesforce in the term of utilizing Salesforce

20:37

as your core CRM.

20:39

Salesforce also believes this

20:42

because that's the reason why they have

20:44

the whole partner ecosystem.

20:46

They know they can't do everything

20:48

and they know they don't do everything well.

20:50

So they rely on their partners that focus

20:53

on those areas of expertise to do it well.

20:57

And they bet the partners, you know,

21:00

they have to go through security reviews and et cetera.

21:03

So relying on Salesforce as your CRM

21:08

and, you know, maybe other service and sales tools,

21:11

marketing tools that may be available,

21:13

but also reaching out into the partner network

21:16

to say, "Hey, I need help."

21:17

Now, that is a lesson learned,

21:20

not just in tech, but in life.

21:22

Like you can't be everything for everyone

21:25

and everyone needs help.

21:27

You know, I think we've all realized that as humans

21:31

through this pandemic, that we need other people.

21:35

Being alone is not good.

21:37

(laughs)

21:39

So within get feedback,

21:42

but also think about it in the ecosystem.

21:44

What's next for you and how are you shaping the future?

21:48

- I always wanna have a tie back

21:50

into the Salesforce community.

21:53

Some ways, somehow that's what I want.

21:55

I see myself pivoting more into the customer experience space

22:01

just because that's what I'm finding myself

22:05

more and more passionate about.

22:07

How people experience product and their services.

22:11

How can I really help inform those decisions

22:15

and create those experiences?

22:19

And I see that not only in, you know, my career,

22:22

but my nonprofit as well.

22:24

So I'm going to always be the person

22:28

that will look for ways to help others improve

22:33

upon their life, circumstances, et cetera,

22:37

in any way that I can.

22:39

So the nonprofit that I'm running now

22:41

is called Teen Tech Titans.

22:42

It is something that's near and dear to my heart.

22:46

It's something that I built locally

22:48

and help individuals really realize their potential.

22:52

Just go to teentechtitans.org

22:54

and you'll be able to, you know,

22:56

look and read all about the programs, et cetera,

22:59

and ways that you can help.

23:01

And a lot of people don't realize like, you know,

23:05

of course I want revenue and donations,

23:08

but that's just, that's not the only way that you can help.

23:11

You can help with your knowledge, expertise, skills,

23:13

you know, connections, et cetera.

23:16

So if there's something,

23:18

if you know someone that has an organization

23:20

that wants to give back, that has BTO hours to give,

23:24

you know, let me know.

23:26

I'm always open to partnering, et cetera,

23:28

with other organizations.

23:30

So let's get into our final segment, Future Forecast.

23:35

So Shana, what do you envision

23:37

as the future of the Salesforce ecosystem?

23:40

- It's already gone through an evolution, right?

23:43

The Salesforce ecosystem has, you know,

23:45

we had Erica Cool, that was the founder and builder

23:48

of the ecosystem since its inception.

23:51

And then a few years ago,

23:53

that baton was handed over to Leah McGowan-Hair,

23:57

who is a fantastic, just,

24:01

I don't know, like there's no words to describe her.

24:05

(laughs)

24:07

She's incredible, her spirit, her energy.

24:12

She's a big ball of light for me.

24:18

You know, going back to my early days of Salesforce,

24:20

and I'm just gonna say this, I wasn't certified.

24:24

I knew about the platform, I can configure the platform.

24:27

I didn't see a need for certification.

24:29

I'm like, why do I need to be so hard?

24:30

You know what I'm doing?

24:31

I've been doing it for years, mwah, mwah.

24:33

And Leah was the first person to say,

24:38

"Go get your butt certified now."

24:40

And she really helped me along that process,

24:44

and I'm indebted to her, and I'm grateful

24:47

that she was able to help me see the value in that,

24:52

because it did help advance my career in some aspects.

24:55

So I really appreciate that,

24:57

but the evolution of the community,

24:59

I can see with her in charge,

25:01

I would see it being a lot of focus

25:03

around education and community.

25:07

So not, you know, it won't be just a focus

25:10

on community building, but it'll be a focus

25:12

on incorporating some type of education in there as well.

25:16

- And I think also finding talent.

25:19

- Yes, 100%, 100%.

25:22

- So can you give us a prediction

25:23

of where you think the tech or cloud industries

25:25

have in the future?

25:27

- Yeah, that's interesting.

25:29

You know, I have a bit of a love-hate relationship

25:36

with technology, of course,

25:39

especially being, you know, a black woman in tech.

25:41

And I know a lot of people say,

25:43

"Oh, why do you always talk about, you know,

25:45

like these things?

25:46

And why do we always have to hear about these things?"

25:48

It's because these specific things impact,

25:51

they have real impact on people like me.

25:54

And it's not a cliche.

25:57

And the reason why, you know, it really,

26:01

I have that love-hate relationship

26:04

is because tech has done so much for me

26:07

and the generational wealth that I've been able to build

26:09

for my family, but it also has such a long way to go.

26:14

In terms of that, and, you know, we've seen that after,

26:18

you know, the murderous, you know, summer,

26:23

with George Floyd's death and, you know,

26:27

all the other killings, the mod, Aubrey,

26:29

we've seen a lot of organizations step up

26:31

and take a pledge or, you know, a speak out, et cetera, et cetera.

26:36

But we have yet to see the real tangible results

26:39

of those efforts.

26:41

So I'm hoping, you know, that in the near future

26:46

that we will start seeing some of those tangible efforts

26:49

because if you look at everyone's DEI scores,

26:53

most of them haven't moved.

26:54

They haven't budged.

26:56

And that's a problem that we need to fix.

26:59

- And, I mean, just to pull on that threat

27:02

a little bit more, I know there's no silver bullet with this.

27:05

I mean, what are some thoughts

27:07

of helping other companies out there

27:09

think about how they can go about, you know,

27:12

increasing the DEI numbers at their company?

27:15

- Yeah, and, you know, a lot of people,

27:18

and I'm gonna thank you for bringing that up

27:20

because a lot of times, you know, people will say,

27:22

oh, you know, we've hired, you know,

27:25

X amount of people that identify as underrepresented.

27:28

It's not just about hiring them.

27:31

What is your retention like?

27:33

You know, like, how are they staying?

27:35

Do they feel welcome?

27:36

Do they feel included in your organizations?

27:39

And then why not?

27:40

Are you doing those entry surveys?

27:43

Are you doing those exit surveys and understanding why,

27:47

you know, these people aren't staying,

27:49

why they, you know, don't like the culture

27:52

and/or the environment?

27:54

Don't hire for your culture.

27:56

A lot of, you know, organizations, they'll say,

27:58

we want a culture fit, right?

28:00

That's not what you want.

28:02

You want a culture ad

28:04

because you want to add to your culture.

28:07

You want to learn more about other cultures

28:10

to then make your, you know, culture more diverse

28:14

and more accepting.

28:16

I see a lot of organizations that don't think that way.

28:21

And they think that if they add to their culture,

28:25

it's going to mess up the dynamic, you know,

28:28

of the organization or it's not going to be

28:31

what they envisioned it to be.

28:33

But isn't that what innovation and evolution is?

28:37

- I agree with that a million percent

28:39

and learning from everyone is really the way

28:42

we're going to get there.

28:45

- So, slight pivot, just thinking through

28:49

the nucleus of the entire ecosystem

28:51

we're talking about, Salesforce,

28:53

what do you think the future of Salesforce looks like?

28:56

- What's interesting, you know, you know,

28:59

now that Mark announced Brett as the co-CEO,

29:02

you know, I love Brett.

29:06

Brett is an amazing individual, you know,

29:10

meeting him back in his quick days

29:12

and he is big on community,

29:15

he's big on customer, you know,

29:18

voice of the customer and customer experience,

29:21

but he has a large, you know, role and product.

29:24

So I'm hoping that there'll be a refocus or a reshift

29:31

on making the platform, you know,

29:37

what it was always intended and meant to be.

29:41

You know, a solution that is customer first,

29:46

but also, you know, easy to configure

29:49

and get lightning working to, you know,

29:53

what it was sold to be.

29:55

(laughs)

29:57

- What advice do you have

30:00

for other aspiring trailblazers out there?

30:03

- I know it's easier said than done

30:05

to put yourself out there and to be vulnerable.

30:10

You know, but go to a local user group meeting,

30:14

go to a dream event, go to a world tour.

30:18

But don't just go take that action, right?

30:21

Introduce yourself to other people, meet people,

30:24

connect with them on LinkedIn, connect with them on Twitter,

30:27

whatever social platform you're most comfortable with.

30:30

You know, join the trailblazer community.

30:33

Start having conversations in there.

30:36

You know, ask questions, you know,

30:39

that you may not be able to figure out.

30:42

You will start seeing the magic that is the trailblazer

30:45

community, you will start seeing the love

30:49

that is shared there.

30:50

And, you know, every community or every family

30:53

has its problems, right?

30:56

I mean, I don't like everybody in my family.

30:58

I know, I know you don't.

31:00

I have love for them, but I don't have to, you know,

31:03

talk to them and be around them every day.

31:07

And that's true with any community or any family.

31:10

So don't expect perfection.

31:13

But expect that there is, you know, genuine love

31:18

within this community and genuine people who just want to help.

31:25

- Love it.

31:25

Okay, before letting you go, let's have a little fun.

31:29

Are you ready for this with a quick lightning round?

31:31

- Oh shoot.

31:35

You know, I just got off of 6 a.m. flight down.

31:38

- Oh, I mean, I'm not gonna come at you like super fast.

31:41

Not like Salesforce lightning fast, if you will.

31:45

- You can do lightning fast, but, but.

31:48

All right.

31:51

Favorite product.

31:53

- Service club.

31:54

- Not even get me.

31:56

(laughing)

31:59

- Listen.

32:01

- Listen.

32:03

Listen, service gift feedback was built

32:07

because of the service cloud.

32:08

Listen, I know where, I know where my origins come from.

32:12

- That's true, true.

32:14

- That's okay.

32:16

- Classic or lightning.

32:17

- Cool.

32:18

- Clite-ning.

32:19

(laughing)

32:22

- All right.

32:24

Favorite Salesforce character.

32:25

- Ruth.

32:26

- Why?

32:28

- Ruth.

32:29

Okay, so Ruth is amazing.

32:33

And I was talking to Dominique,

32:36

who is the creator of all the Salesforce characters.

32:41

And she was asking about this new character called Ruth.

32:47

And we were in India of all places.

32:51

And she was like, yeah, I wanna do this new character.

32:54

What do you think?

32:55

And I literally let out a screen because it was an elephant.

32:59

And elephants are my favorite.

33:03

Like, my one dream is just to go and pet and play

33:08

with baby elephants.

33:10

Like that's my one dream.

33:11

One day it'll happen.

33:13

And she was like, yeah, she's an elephant.

33:17

And I like lost it.

33:19

And she was asking me about her clothes

33:21

and what type of accessories she should have.

33:24

And I was like, well, of course she should be sassy.

33:28

Like me, like she needs to have a nice colorful shirt

33:32

and some pearls around her neck or something

33:35

to give her some style and.

33:37

- Hold on.

33:38

I actually have.

33:39

- Yeah.

33:40

Yep.

33:41

(laughs)

33:42

Look at her.

33:43

A, she adores.

33:44

(laughs)

33:45

- Yes.

33:46

- All right, all right.

33:47

All right, back to the Salesforce lighting round.

33:50

Okay, here we go.

33:51

Favorite marketing campaign of all time.

33:54

- I would say the change makers.

33:57

Change makers, marketing thing that Christina Jones did.

34:02

There was some great stories in there.

34:08

- Favorite brand of anything besides Salesforce

34:11

or get feedback.

34:12

(laughs)

34:14

- Louboutin.

34:16

(laughs)

34:18

- Secret skill that's not on the resume.

34:22

- Not on the resume.

34:26

I can, I designed clothes before.

34:29

- That's awesome.

34:33

Okay, you just won front row seats to your dream event.

34:38

What is it?

34:39

- A private, like session with Trevor Noah.

34:47

- I love that.

34:51

All right, Shawna, this has been

34:55

so much fun.

34:56

And before I let you go, let the listeners know

34:58

where they can find you.

34:59

And is there anything else you'd like to share

35:01

or anything to plug?

35:03

- Yeah, so you can find me on Twitter at sassysasy_sys.

35:08

You can find me on Insta, the same handle.

35:17

You can find me on sassysista.com, which is my blog site.

35:24

You can find me in the Trailblazer community as well.

35:27

What else?

35:28

Anything else I wanna plug?

35:30

I would say go take a look at the new Trailblazer series

35:34

on Trailblazer Plus because there's some amazing stories

35:37

there that I think anyone would really enjoy.

35:41

I would also say I'm giving a plug in to the community,

35:46

group leaders and the dream events

35:51

because those are put on by people like you and me

35:55

who aren't Salesforce employees.

35:57

They volunteer their time on top of their already crazy

36:01

work schedule.

36:02

So please show them support, show up and show out

36:06

as I like to say.

36:07

And then also think about how you can give back as well

36:12

and what everyone has some sort of talent,

36:15

some sort of knowledge that they can share

36:18

and just think about how you can share yours.

36:20

Thank you so much, Shana, for your time.

36:22

Yeah, thank you, Dan.

36:23

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36:44

(upbeat music)

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36:49

See you later.