Girly Geek Of The Week: Marisa Hambleton

Welcome Marisa Hambleton – Girly Geek of the Week!

Prepare to be inspired! Meet Marisa! She is a #SuperMom to 3 children, an Entrepreneur turned Slalom Consultant (yes another amazing WIT who works there lol), a #Super Multiple User Group Leader who has fantastic advice! Seriously, scroll down and read about Chris Duarte 🙂 I didn’t even know Chris had a blog!

Me: How & when did you start working with Salesforce?

Marisa: It was 2009 when I said “Sure, what have I got to lose?!” My husband and I had worked together for many years at several companies, we were laid off on the same day. I was soon introduced to @DataDiva by a neighbor whose wife’s sister used to work with her. She was looking for help on a new Salesforce implementation. I’ve been a user and enthusiast ever since! It changed the course of my life and created an accidental entrepreneur. My background in project management, software, and IT was a perfect fit as I started out offering Salesforce Administrator on-demand support. Within a couple of years, I had signed on as a Salesforce partner and was implementing new instances. I even helped one client publish an app on the AppExchange!

I’ve been a geek for as long as I can remember, and have always had an insatiable hunger for knowledge. Seeing Peter Coffee speak at a lecture pretty much sealed it for me. 2009 was also the year I decided to return to school to earn a graduate degree at Arizona State University. I dove in head first and have had my head in the cloud ever since. Congrats on your degree and your amazing Salesforce success! 🙂

Me: What is your current role working with Salesforce?

Marisa: I am a Consultant at Slalom in Phoenix. It’s been an amazing month and a half! I joined in January, after managing my own firm for almost 7 years. Another congrats on the new job!

Me: What is your favorite thing to do in Salesforce and why?

Marisa: The whole platform! I have the most fun with custom Force.com solutions, but like showing off all the cool standard features built into Sales Cloud, too. I enjoy finding the intersection of requirements, strategy and function, and then getting creative around designing solutions. Now that is the best answer so far in the series lol! “The whole platform!” 😀

Me: Are you currently certified? And if so what certifications do you hold?

Marisa: I am Administrator (201), Developer (401) certified, and am a PMI Project Management Professional. ❤

Me: What are some of your aspirations and/or goals when it comes to Salesforce?

Marisa: 2016 is my year for kicking up the certifications! I plan to tackle Sales Cloud, the App Builder Transition, and then Service Cloud. I’m excited about all the new certifications and look forward to working my way through each. Keeping up with releases is a fun challenge, and I’m looking to get back on Trailhead as part of my certification study. Good Luck on your certs! 🙂

Me: Do you have any advice for women working with Salesforce?

Marisa: Education really is the key to success. We have Trailhead, thanks to amazing people like @TheChrisDuarte. Load balance your life, so you can focus on what’s important. I just read that post and literally decided just now that Chris Duarte is my hero. Period. ❤

This is a wonderful time for women, especially those that are part of the Salesforce community! What is your compelling why? Focusing my time and Salesforce talent around what I love most is what I’ve found the most rewarding.

Me: What kinds of things are you involved in, and/or do you like to do outside of the Salesforce world?

Marisa: Life as a mother, wife, sister, daughter, cousin, friend and community member keeps life interesting. I have three children, a husband, a very close extended family, lots of friends and have many varied interests! I am passionate about communities, culture, and the arts. I serve on the board of a local dance troupe, Ballet Folklorico Ollin Yoliztli, volunteer behind the scenes with my local PTA/PTSO. I am a bit of a busy body who loves to read, camp, and have been known to become one with the recliner for a good movie!

What a beautiful Family! ❤

Me: Are you part of a WIT Chapter?

Marisa: I joined the Phoenix User Group in 2009 and it quickly became a place to get my fill of social interaction. Most days were filled working remotely on projects and the user group provided me with the human connection I needed.

I received the baton for the Phoenix User Group in 2013, and in 2014 founded the Phoenix Developer Group and Phoenix Girly Geeks (now Women In Tech) in 2014. After an explosion in attendance, I passed the WIT baton. The Salesforce community is a beautiful thing, and a wonderful place to find your geeky groove! YOU GO Marisa!! and what a great turnout for your user group! 🙂