Women’s History Month Spotlight Series: Geraldine Gray

Geraldine Gray is the CEO of Endiem, a Salesforce practice based in Houston. Endiem works with organizations to align their strategic goals with their Salesforce options alongside their other cloud products and services (AWS, ERP, etc). Geraldine is a 9x Dreamforce Speaker, and has been a Salesforce MVP since 2011. An expert in the Salesforce Ecosystem refers to Geraldine and Endiem as “the definition of a customer company. [Geraldine’s] professionalism, engaging personality and dedication to customer success keeps her at the top of my list for Salesforce partners. She has an innate ability to command a room and can speak effectively to all levels of management.” We were lucky enough to connect with Geraldine briefly over her time in the Salesforce Community, and as a female leader:

Can you tell me a bit about what you do in the Salesforce Community and what your role is?

• I am a huge champion of the power of business communities and the impact they have in building careers. The Salesforce Community is a fantastic example of this, and I feel very proud to have taken my place as an MVP for the last 10 years. Before I was an MVP, however, rewind all the way to 2010, and I was already blazing the trail for female tech networks as the founder of Salesforce’s Girly Geeks (now the global community, Salesforce Women In Tech).

As a female leader, what has been the most significant barrier in your career?

• Even though I have 20 years' of Salesforce experience and have grown a multi-million-dollar, self-funded business, I often look around the room while on projects and wonder when I am going to be uncovered as not smart enough. My bravado covers up my wonder at being where I am today. My advice to women just starting their careers is to realize that you don't need to be 100% perfect, no one else is, so don't let that be a barrier to advancement in your career. Work hard, have courage and be nice to people.

Who inspires/inspired you and why?

• Our incredible customers at Endiem inspire me every day. I was lucky enough to work with Dulce Borjas, CIO of ENGIE North America for a couple of years - she has a magical way of getting the best out of her team while giving them encouragement, responsibilities, and her time. She’s always ready with a smile or joke and she’s never intimidated by being the only woman in the room.

What are some of the characteristics of a good leader?

• Taking Dulce Borjas as an example of a great leader, and my view is that listening, giving encouragement, having high expectations, giving responsibility, and being brave are all important in the leadership toolkit. Beyond that, I would also say, be fun, be authentic and be generous.

What advice would you give to the next generation of female leaders?

• All of the above! And when you take on leadership, be generous about bringing up the next generation right behind you.

What is your proudest accomplishment?

• Self-funded from Day One, I am proud that I have grown Endiem from a one-woman-at-her desk to the largest independent Salesforce Consulting Partner in Houston. I am also very proud that 90% of Endiem’s customers are direct referrals from existing customers who stay loyal because my team continues to do good work.

• Of course, I am also very proud to have survived being a new mom to twins, and now have two confident, happy, and (usually) polite 5-year-olds to show for it.

Where will we find you on a Saturday morning at 10 a.m.?

• We're either lounging around in our PJs eating cereal and watching too much TV or the complete opposite. The children LOVE to be outside either running wild at the park; on an adventure that involves muddy puddles and knee-deep running water; or, zooming up and down the running trail on their scooters negotiating ice cream for (second) breakfast!

Women’s History Month Spotlight Series: Jackie Travieso

Jackie Travieso is an 8x Salesforce MVP, Charlotte Community Group Leader, Co-organizer of Dreamforce2YOU Florida, Co-host of MVP Office Hours (US), and a Community Mentor. On top of the many hats she wears, Jackie is a 15-year professional Salesforce consultant experienced at bridging gaps between business process, requirements, and Salesforce functionality for deployment and integration management. A previous colleague of Jackie’s notes that “most folks spend a lot of time on professionalism, leadership skills and communication skills all this is a natural for Jackie and she does it all well.” We were lucky enough to connect with Jackie briefly over her time in the Salesforce Community, and as a female leader:

Can you tell me a bit about what you do in the Salesforce Community and what your role is?

• My involvement with the community, now an entire ecosystem, actually began in 2007, a year or two prior to User Groups being a formalized program and now a worldwide opportunity. I co-led the Tampa Bay User Group for six years. I currently lead the Charlotte Administrators Group and have been fortunate to bring people together monthly over the last five years who enjoy both learning and sharing their experiences in a plethora of Salesforce areas. In addition to our monthly content meeting, we host a monthly Office Hours where we give everyone an opportunity to talk about their wins, challenges, new discoveries, or simply chat about anything on their mind. In my day-to-day role as a community contributor, one of my favorite things is making introductions. I learned from a mentor years ago that bringing people together is what grows the world.

• Some of my other contributions have included co-hosting MVP Office Hours, co-organizing the first-ever Community Event; Dreamforce to YOU - Florida (years two and three), and participating in a number of Salesforce-related events that enable our community to excel and expand their knowledge. I also help Community Group Leaders organize their groups and excel as leaders in the community. I've had a number of one-on-one conversations with Ohana who are looking to find their first consultant job, negotiate a job change, seek their first Salesforce certification, or simply chat about frustrations they are experiencing and discussions about how to get past the bottleneck. I guess you could say, I have an open (virtual) door to anyone looking for guidance. These and other community contributions have led me to the honor of Salesforce MVP for the past eight years. I never dreamed my path of helping others would be recognized by those around me in a formal spotlight such as the MVP Program. I am grateful.

As a female leader, what has been the most significant barrier in your career?

• I think my most significant barrier is self-doubt. If we could simply remove those burdensome thoughts of not being able to execute an action item, hit a goal, or achieve a milestone, we’d find ourselves halfway to the endpoint before we even started.  This is why it’s so important for female leaders to lift up young women in the workforce who they recognize as self-doubters. They will thrive if someone will tell them, “they can do it” and then support them in their journey.

Who inspires/inspired you and why?

• I’ve had two amazing female mentors in my life. At the time I didn’t recognize them as mentors, but grew to understand as I got older that these amazing women played that role without ever muttering the words mentor. Frances Borzi was the first person in my professional career who said, “Jackie, you can do this, I know you can. I believe in you.” While I don’t remember the project she laid out before me, I remember her words and they’ve stuck with me through the years. My second mentor, Kathleen Dennett, was pivotal in my Salesforce career. She said, “You do what you need to do, I’m just here to remove your roadblocks.” 

• I’ve tried to model my behavior after these two selfless women who knew the importance of elevating others.

What are some of the characteristics of a good leader?

• Great leaders have a natural attitude for seeing people succeed and excel at whatever they attempt. They simply remove roadblocks. They empower others to do what they need to in order to achieve their goals and clear the path to success. Great leaders are always the first to attribute success to their team members and put their impacts in the spotlight for others to acknowledge.

What advice would you give to the next generation of female leaders?

• Be the leader you want to see in others. Put your focus on what your team needs rather than solely on their output. Be vulnerable, openly look to your colleagues to teach you new things. It’s how we grow and it’s a great way to allow others to gain confidence in their skills as subject matter experts.

What is your proudest accomplishment?

• I am most proud of taking a leap into the world of Salesforce, saying goodbye to the corporate world, and establishing my own small Salesforce consultant business where we focus on Sales Cloud. I’m now a company of two, three if you count the cat who occasionally makes appearances during conference calls, and we are enjoying every minute of helping businesses implement or enhance their Salesforce orgs with streamlined business processes or automation that ensures better data and a friendly user experience.

Where will we find you on a Saturday morning at 10 a.m.?

• If it’s the second Saturday, you’ll find me at Salesforce Saturday in Charlotte via Zoom. Any other time you might find me in any number of places or simply still snoozing with the cat.

Women’s History Month Spotlight Series: Joy Shutters-Helbing

Joy Shutters-Helbing is well known in the Salesforce Community with varying titles from Community Group Co-Leader to #AwesomeAdmin Trailblazer. There is one thing Joy is best known for, and that’s support. Joy is someone who is always looking to support someone’s career in the Salesforce ecosystem, whether they’re tenured or just beginning. A previous colleague of Joy amplifies this by sharing that “Joy not only patiently explained anything [they] needed to know, but made sure that [they] knew it. From reporting to fields to eventually an entire data migration, Joy happily passed along an expert Salesforce knowledge base that most can only dream of. Any request or issue that was beyond my knowledge was expertly addressed right away. And on top of all that, [they] learned a lot about what it means to be a smart and accomplished woman in the tech world.” We were lucky enough to connect with Joy briefly over her time in the Salesforce Community, and as a female leader:

Can you tell me a bit about what you do in the Salesforce Community and what your role is?

• I have four titles in the Salesforce Community: Chicago Community Group Co-Leader, MVP Office Hours Co-Host, Salesforce MVP, #AwesomeAdmin Trailblazer (aka GoldenHoodie Award). I work to connect people and their aspirations to others and to job opportunities in the community. Additionally, I enjoy helping others rise above their own challenges and overcome hurdles.

As a female leader, what has been the most significant barrier in your career? 

• Not being taken seriously and my experience being dismissed.

Who inspires/inspired you and why?

• I'm inspired by many, by actions that send ripples through a network or opens doors for others.

What are some of the characteristics of a good leader?

• A Good Leader promotes growth, supports strengths, gives credit, inspires excellence.

What advice would you give to the next generation of female leaders?

• Share your story, document your successes, build your network, keep that resume fresh, drive improvement in yourself and others whatever your role.

What is your proudest accomplishment?

• Being a mom and mentor.

Where will we find you on a Saturday morning at 10 a.m.?

• Most likely walking our dog Taco.

Women’s History Month Spotlight Series: Shonnah Hughes

Shonnah Hughes is the Global Product Growth & Innovation Evangelist for GetFeedback, a WiT Diversity User Group Leader and a Salesforce MVP. Shonnah is an enthusiastic, supportive leader offering 10+ years of proven accomplishments across Salesforce Administration, customer service improvements, project management, and training & development. Shonnah is best known as a diversity and inclusion strategist focused on improving organization and community learning, relationships, and reputation. We were lucky enough to connect with Shonnah briefly over her time in the Salesforce Community, and as a female leader:

Can you tell me a bit about what you do in the Salesforce Community and what your role is?

• I have multiple roles in the Salesforce community. I am the global product growth and innovation evangelist with GetFeedback by SurveyMonkey and we are a customer and a partner, so I am responsible to nurture and grow our relationship with the Salesforce organization and the Salesforce customer and partner Trailblazer community. I am a co-lead of the Women in Tech Diversity community group as well as a Salesforce MVP.

As a female leader, what has been the most significant barrier in your career?

• Being a Black woman who doesn't apologize for taking up space.

Who inspires/inspired you and why?

• I draw inspiration from everyone I meet. I truly believe that we can learn something from every interaction we encounter, good or bad. I draw strength, wisdom, and knowledge from these interactions, and they, in turn, inspire me in a multitude of ways. If I had to choose just one person though I would choose my older sister Meya, she was always unapologetically herself.

What are some of the characteristics of a good leader?

• Emotional Intelligence, Empathy, Authenticity, Honesty, active listening, knowledge seeker

What advice would you give to the next generation of female leaders?

• “Raise up your voice not so that you can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard.” Never apologize for being a powerful woman. We cannot succeed when half of us are being held back. So, acknowledge and own the privilege that you have so you can use it to influence change and in doing so invite others to do the same!

What is your proudest accomplishment?

• Being a mother

Where will we find you on a Saturday morning at 10 a.m.?

• Saturday at 10 am hopefully I'm sound asleep lol

Women’s History Month Spotlight Series: Melissa Hill Dees

Melissa Hill Dees is an integrator, a collaborator, and an innovator. Melissa is the Founding Partner and VP of HandsOn Connect - a best-in-class, single-platform volunteer and donor engagement software that will expand your ability to manage, track and report on people, programs and projects in real time. Melissa is known as someone who is “truly committed to her work, the mission, and never satisfied with just getting by rather, she always pushed to expand her skills and leave the organizations and volunteers she worked with in a better place!” We were lucky enough to connect with Melissa briefly over her time in the Salesforce Community, and as a female leader:

Can you tell me a bit about what you do in the Salesforce Community and what your role is?

○      As a founding partner at HandsOn Connect Cloud Solutions, my role has been more of the "founder", i.e. whatever it takes to get the job done, during our startup years. As we are moving into the next phase, I am focusing more on customer success, strategic alliances, and innovation.

As a female leader, what has been the most significant barrier in your career?

○      Barriers come in all shapes and sizes and sometimes we don't even recognize them. The most significant barrier for me, in recent years, has been unconscious bias--something I didn't even know existed until I started sharing my "Am I on Mute?" story.

Who inspires/inspired you and why?

○      Inspiration has come from a variety of places. My mother always told me I could be whatever I wanted to be. My father was my first ally. My spiritual mentor helped me realize my value. Gemma Blezard made me understand that I could be an architect. Sallie Krawcheck confirmed my suspicions about women's strengths. Rather than one person's huge influence, the right inspiration seems to appear just as I need it.

What are some of the characteristics of a good leader?

○      Top of my list for characteristics of good leaders are empathy, active listening, and fairness. These are characteristics that I am working to improve in my own interactions.

What advice would you give to the next generation of female leaders?

○      My advice for the next generation of female leaders is to truly bring your whole self to your work. You have brilliant qualities that are critical to the success of your career, a company, or a project. Embrace your unique strengths. Be confident that you are valuable.

What is your proudest accomplishment?

○      My proudest accomplishment is a journey:  scaling my ability to create more good in the world. This is a goal that I have worked on, specifically and definitively, since 2015. It's made up of many smaller pieces and continues to grow.

Where will we find you on a Saturday morning at 10 a.m.?

○      On a Saturday morning at 10 am, I may still be in bed! Or, I might be doing something fun with my daughter. Sometimes I'm visiting a Salesforce Saturday. Variety is the spice of life.