Welcome Kelly Leslie – Girly Geek of the Week!
It is just impossible for me not to be impressed every time I get to know another amazing woman in the Salesforce Community! Kelly is driven, a total go getter and is kickin’ some serious A$$ with the Midwest Salesforce women! #AwesomeGirlyGeek 🙂 Is it just me or are there some heavy hitters in the Midwest?? Where the heck are my East Coast Peeps!! East Coast Dreamin anyone??
Me: How & when did you start working with Salesforce?
Kelly: In 2010, I was asked to lead a project to re-design and implement Salesforce.com for 100 Sales Users. I was really excited for this opportunity to showcase my Project Management skills and knowledge. When I asked, “who are my resources”, Vice President of Sales and Sales Operations laughed at me stating, … “you are the resource.” From that point forward, I dove in. I made it my personal challenge to get my seasoned Sales Representatives using and loving Salesforce. It was a success. The Sales Reps began to see the value of using the tool and began to provide me input / feedback. LOL this is an all too familiar response from the business for new projects –> “What resources?” Awesome you made the best of it!
Me: What is your current role working with Salesforce?
Kelly: After learning as much as I could about Salesforce at that company, I realized how efficient, effective and easy it was for any business to use Salesforce. I reached a point in my career, that I wanted to help other companies utilize Salesforce to reap the return on investment and continue learning about all the different modules available. Today, I am working at Radial Web (Salesforce Partner) consulting and helping clients with Admin support, reporting, data cleansing, implementing and training other System Admins and end Users. Congrats on #MakingMoves! Readers, you can’t be afraid to make moves, moves help you grow!
Me: What is your favorite thing to do in Salesforce and why?
Kelly: I have two favorite things relating to Salesforce… My favorite feature in Salesforce, hands down…Dashboards. I enjoy how dashboards paint a picture and tell a story quickly about the data available in Salesforce. My second favorite thing about Salesforce is discovering a Client’s business process and their response when the process is implemented in Salesforce. Being part of the Client’s “Oh … ah yah!” moment is priceless. Totally agree! It feels really empowering! 🙂
Me: Are you currently certified? And if so what certifications do you hold?
Kelly: Yes… certified Salesforce Administrator. I am currently, working towards receiving my Sales Cloud Consultant Certification. I am participating in the Sales Cloud Study Group on the Success Community learning and loving the experience. Along side this, I have coordinated a face-to-face study group for us to review homework and help keep us accountable. Awesome!
Me: What are some of your aspirations and/or goals when it comes to Salesforce?
Kelly: I would like companies to be aware that Salesforce Administration can be full-time job. Instead of having one person wear multiple hats (one hat being a Salesforce Admin), really invest in the Salesforce tool and dedicate a resource (or two). That resource can identify and streamline business processes and implement them into Salesforce. Grow your return on investment, it does not just happen. I could not agree with you more! Great point! I think there needs to be a better way to really educate AND make new Customers “believe” that a dedicated admin is necessary. Even the really small implementations need someone dedicated to some extent because without fail, the business realizes very quickly how much can be done without realizing how much time it takes. We Consultants end up having to break the news 
Me: Do you have any advice for women working with Salesforce?
Kelly: Get involved. Network. Ask Questions. If you don’t ask you will never know the outcome. Worse case is you receive a NO, move on and ask again later.
Me: Are you part of a Girly Geeks Chapter?
Kelly: Dreamforce 13’ I met up with fellow Girly Geeks @Geraldine Gray @Maria Belli and others during a lunch. At that moment forward, I was inspired to start WI Girly Geek chapter. YAY!
SaaSin’ it up!
In 2014, WI Girly Geek chapter, a “phunfessional” group of women came together. We have hands-on sessions and presenters on Salesforce topics, personal growth and owning your expertise. We meet the second Tuesday of each month. AND our meetings always include laughter, beverages and food. I admire this dedicated group of women and I am honored to work with such talent and expertise.
Having a blast working along side Midwest Girly Geek Leaders @Jocelyn Fennewald @Erin Gilbert @Michell Enke on Girly Geeks projects.
Girly Geeks rocking Salesforce Chicago Tour #AwesomeAdmin
- Midwest Girly Geeks Leaders will be hosting a booth at the Midwest Dreamin’15 Chicago event in July. Come by, we would love to meet you.
- Together, we are extending the community to the Midwest Region to promote Girly Geeks and build a greater sense of community, hosting and coordinating “Midwest Girly Geeks’ Thirsty Thursday” webinar series. Thirsty Thursday webinars are relaxed, educational with a fun and professional format offered 3-4 times a year. Next Thirsty Thursday topic is on “Networking” in August.
- Global Girly Geek Chapter map. The map will pin every Girly Geek Chapter created so far. Once it is complete, I will make sure post it in the Success Community and my blog!
I LOVE ALL OF THIS GIRLY GEEKINESS GOING ON IN THE MIDWEST!! 😀
It was a pleasure getting to know you Kelly and thank you very much for sharing! You are definitely an inspiration!
For those of you that want to follow Kelly, here are her links:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellyleslie608
Twitter handle: @chattyadmn
Sfdc Community link: https://success.salesforce.com/_ui/core/userprofile/UserProfilePage?u=0053000000970Xc&tab=sfdc.ProfilePlatformFeed
SaaSyForce.com 