Architect, Application Architect, Technical Architect, System Architect, Salesforce Certified Technical Architect, Salesforce Certified Application Architect, Salesforce Certified System Architect, Salesforce Certified Data Architecture and Management Designer, Salesforce Certified Identity and Access Management Designer, Salesforce Certified Marketing Cloud Email Specialist

1. My Salesforce MVP Journey
@adam17amo
AdamToArchitect.com
Adam Olshansky
Blaze Your Trail

2. My Background
Discovering
Salesforce
Salesforce
Possibilities
Blazing Your Own
Trail

4. Background
• Wanted to be a lawyer in high school
• Loved logic puzzles
• Didn’t know the difference between a Mac and
PC until 18 years old
• Took first ever programming class 1st
year of
college (C)
• Learned Java 2nd
year of college
• Graduated from college with only one job offer
(Honeywell)
Not very technical but loved puzzles

5. Make the Best of Opportunities
• First position was working as SAP Systems Analyst
• Responsible for managing inventory for servers, storage, databases
• Ran support helpdesk for Business Intelligence access
• Only person in my 20s in my dept in the building
Find Ways to Grow
• Learned I don’t like SAP
• Looked into budget and found details to save $500K
• Learned all parts of technology stack
• Learned how to work with different teams on a global scale
• Completely revamped process
• Learned how to find automation to reduce manual processes
• Learned how to navigate political landscapes
• Received mentorship from a lot of people

6. My Background
Discovering
Salesforce
Salesforce
Possibilities
Blazing Your Own
Trail

7. Steps for Success
• Have a long term goal
• Always keep learning
• Have a dream company or dream job in mind
to work toward
• Find a mentor
• Become a professional Software Engineer
• Masters in Software Engineering
• Google
• Worked closely with original hiring manager
(Susan), found someone outside reporting
structure (Chris), found external person to
emulate (David Liu)
Set some goals

8. Starting with Salesforce
• Received promotion after 2 years at Honeywell to work with new software
• Sitecore and Salesforce CRM
• Guest speaker in Cloud Computing class in grad school
• Adam Seligman, SVP Salesforce
• First ever user account created July 23, 2014
Eyes are Opened

10. Dreamforce Takeaways
• Declarative development is straightforward
• Based on logic and underlying relational database
• Apex development is VERY similar to Java and SQL
• Logic based, seemed very familiar
• David Liu, self taught Salesforce developer at Google
• Started as a non-coding email spammer
• Tremendous camaraderie of Salesforce MVPs
• Part of a unique group, wanted to learn more
4 Main Things

11. Setting new Goals
• Need to gain hands-on experience
• Need to get certified to build up credentials
• Want to be a Salesforce MVP
Follow the leader

12. Finding Motivation
• Mayank Srivastava gets 5 certs in 6 weeks
• Scheduling first certification exam
• Glassdoor Software Developer salaries
Push to get started

13. Chart Your Strategy
• 5 certs in 6 weeks (Declarative)
• Salesforce Certified Advanced Developer
(Coding)
• Professional Salesforce Developer
• Salesforce Certified Technical Architect
One Step at a Time

14. Start Declarative
• Best way to learn Salesforce is to start with the admin side
• Security
• Automation capabilities
• When do I NOT have to code (and not have to write tests)
• Certified Admin
• Certified Force.com Developer (now Platform App Builder)
• Certified Advanced Administrator (similar to #2)
• Certified Sales Cloud Consultant (similar to #3)
• Certified Service Cloud Consultant (similar to #3)
Point and Click makes things easy!

15. Code on Salesforce
• Salesforce Certified Advanced Developer (now Platform Developer I and II)
• Read Apex Developer’s Guide
• Read Visualforce Developer’s Guide
• Read about preparing for the certification
• Failed 3 times
Separate yourself

16. Steps for Success
• Have a long term goal
• Always keep learning
• Have a dream company or dream job in mind
to work toward
• Find a mentor
Set some goals
• Become a professional Software Engineer
• Masters in Software Engineering at Carnegie
Mellon University
• Google
• Worked closely with original hiring manager
(Susan), found someone outside reporting
structure (Chris), found external person to
emulate (David Liu)

17. Overcome Obstacles
• Only received 1 job offer out of college
• Denied a promotion at first job due to lack of experience
• Was repeatedly told I didn’t have enough Salesforce experience for experienced positions
• Failed Advanced Developer multiple choice 3 times
• Was passed over for MVP my first time nominated
Don’t Lose Focus

18. My Background
Discovering
Salesforce
Salesforce
Possibilities
Blazing Your Own
Trail

19. • Attended user group meeting in Phoenix,
Arizona March 2015 with Eric Dreshfield
• Started working with MVP Mentor, Jayvin
Arora, encouraged me to submit
Dreamforce presentation
• Moved to San Francisco and started using
Twitter June 2015
• Continued learning Salesforce on Trailhead,
reached over 100 badges in 2015
• Presented at Dreamforce 2015 (2nd
DF)
• Continued getting certifications and badges
(13 certs, 200+ badges)
• Attended regular user group meetings and
conferences (Tahoe Dreamin, Forcelandia)
• Named Salesforce MVP July 2016
Becoming a Salesforce MVP
My Trailblazer Story

20. Setting New Goals
• Need to gain hands-on experience
• Need to get certified to build up credentials
• Want to be a Salesforce MVP
Follow the leader

21. Staying a Salesforce MVP
My Trailblazer Story
• Helped run Tahoe Dreamin’ 2017
• Traveled to Uruguay, South America to
present in first ever LATAM conference
• Traveled to Bangalore, India to present
• Helped teach 2 RAD Women courses to
help teach women to code on Salesforce
• Served as mentor to veteran as part of
VetForce and helped lead him to get
Admin Certified
• Presented at Dreamforce 2016
• Continuous gaining of Trailhead badges
• Continuous attending of conferences
(Midwest Dreamin, WITness Success)
• Continuous support of Salesforce on
Twitter
• Looking for new ways to contribute in
community

22. Set More Goals
• Salesforce Certified Technical Architect
• Salesforce Application Architect
• Salesforce System Architect
• Pay it forward
• Find new ways to continue blazing my own trail
NEVER STOP LEARNING

23. Make Connections
• Attend Developer groups
• Attend conferences
• Connect with people on LinkedIn
• Got information for recruiter via LinkedIn connection that lead to my first Salesforce Software
Engineering job!
• Had never heard of SolarCity (now Tesla) before getting recruiter info
Network as much as possible!

24. Best Jobs in USA
Admin, Developer, Consultant, Founder

25. Times of India
August 1

26. My Background
Discovering
Salesforce
Salesforce
Possibilities
Blazing Your Own
Trail

27. How Do You Blaze Your Own Trail?

28. Some Tips
• Make short term goals
• Make long term goals
• Invest in yourself
• Find ways to keep growing
• Find ways to give back
• Find ways to help others

29. Most Important Tip
​GET STARTED
TODAY!

30. Tips to Grow Your Career
• Learn something new on Trailhead
• Get Certified
• Try to meet 3-5 new people at each conference
• Get involved in the community

31. Tips for Becoming a Top Community Contributor (MVP)
• Find your most comfortable way(s) to contribute
• Success Community
• Developer Forums
• Stack Exchange
• Twitter
• User Group/Dev Group
• Blog
• Podcast
• Come up with your own!
• All about helping to grow the community, find your unique way to do so
• Hint: Lightning Resources are lacking

32. THE OHANA IS WITH YOU!
Take advantage of your opportunities and help others get them as well!

33. Thank Y u

34. Q & A

35. Trivia and Prizes

36. Opportunities to Win
• #AwesomeAdmin sunglasses
• Trailblazer Mug
• Astro
• Also have 2 AppExchange shirts; 1 Small and 1 Medium, see me after
• Also have 2 Lightning Shwings for shoes, see me after

37. How Old is Salesforce?

38. • Astro
• Cloudy the Goat
• Codey the Bear
• Einstein
• Appy
• Hootie McOwlFace
• Earnie the Badger
• SaSSy
• Chatty
​9 Total
Name 5 Salesforce Mascots

39. Name 5 CTA Architect Academy Certs
​10 Total (Not including App Builder or PD I)