Presentation Skills To Boost Your Confidence and Own the Room (with Natalie Forkin)

What happens when an accidental Salesforce admin turns a career opportunity into a mission to help other people build careers of their own? In this episode of the Mums on Cloud Nine podcast, I'm joined by Gaspar Rodriguez, Founder and CEO of Blue Road Academy and a Salesforce Golden Hoodie recipient whose work has helped refugees build skills, confidence and long-term careers in technology. Gaspar's Salesforce story began in 2010 when, with a background in anthropology and no plans for a career in tech, he found himself working with Salesforce from the client side. He quickly saw the possibilities of the platform and went on to progress from admin to consultant and architect. Creating Opportunities Through RefugeeForce As Gaspar's own career developed, he began thinking about people who had far fewer opportunities to enter the technology sector. That thinking led to RefugeeForce, an initiative created to help refugees learn technology skills, gain professional development support and connect with employers. The work earned Gaspar a Salesforce Golden Hoodie in November 2020, during a virtual Dreamforce held in the middle of the pandemic. His experience was slightly unusual. Salesforce sent a mystery package to his home with strict instructions that he could only open it during the recording. The impact of RefugeeForce continued long after Gaspar received his own recognition. Two years later, alumna Sima went from knowing nothing about Salesforce to receiving her own Golden Hoodie on stage with Marc Benioff and building a career as a developer at Capgemini. Building A Career That Can Keep Changing Gaspar also shares what 16 years in the Salesforce ecosystem have taught him about career development. As the platform has expanded, keeping up with every product, certification and opportunity has become increasingly difficult. His advice is to develop a specialist area while understanding how Salesforce connects with the wider technology environment. Today, professionals may find themselves working across Salesforce, AWS, ServiceNow, MuleSoft and other enterprise platforms during the course of their careers. Gaspar also believes communication, leadership and teamwork will carry growing weight as AI becomes part of everyday technology work. Technical knowledge can help someone enter the profession, while the ability to work with people, understand business problems and contribute within diverse teams can help them progress. What Does AI Mean For Tech Careers? The conversation also turns to the anxiety surrounding AI, Agentforce and the future of entry-level technology roles. Gaspar remains optimistic, although he recognizes why people entering the profession may feel uncertain when they hear about automation, outsourcing and AI agents performing work previously completed by humans. For Gaspar, the response is continued learning. He believes people should understand how AI fits into their work, build experience across connected technologies and develop the human skills that help them contribute beyond technical execution. His own career shows how unexpected opportunities can lead somewhere very different from the original plan. From anthropology graduate and accidental admin to architect, entrepreneur and Golden Hoodie winner, Gaspar has built a career around learning while creating opportunities for others to do the same. About Supermums Founded by Heather Black, a Salesforce Golden Hoodie winner, Supermums helps relaunchers and seasoned Salesforce professionals accelerate their careers in tech through expert training, career coaching and recruitment support. Whether someone is returning to work, pivoting into a new role, or ready to step up in the Salesforce ecosystem, Supermums provides practical training, mentoring and access to job opportunities to help them build confidence, sharpen their skills and progress faster. Alongside its career development programmes, Supermums partners with employers to connect them

What happens to careers in the Salesforce ecosystem when AI starts changing how work gets done? In this episode of Mums on Cloud Nine, we continue our Golden Hoodie series with Keir Bowden, who received his Golden Hoodie at Dreamforce 2024 after nearly two decades of contributing to the Salesforce community. Keir began his career as a Java developer before moving into Salesforce, where answering questions on the original Force.com discussion boards led to blogging, public speaking, community leadership and writing books for fellow Salesforce professionals. From Community Contributor to Golden Hoodie Keir shares how giving back to the community became a major part of his career, from helping people online to supporting developer groups, speaking at Salesforce events and helping new speakers find the confidence to share their own experiences. We also hear how becoming self-employed has given Keir greater freedom to choose the projects, conferences and technical subjects that interest him. What Does AI Mean for Salesforce Careers? Keir offers a thoughtful perspective on the uncertainty surrounding AI and employment. He questions predictions that junior roles will disappear and asks an important question: if companies stop hiring juniors today, where will tomorrow's senior professionals come from? He also explains why governance, compliance, business analysis and human oversight continue to create opportunities for people who understand how Salesforce systems actually work. Working With Agentforce Having worked with the technology that eventually became Agentforce, Keir discusses where he sees genuine value today. From customer service and sentiment analysis to helping admins diagnose Salesforce issues, Keir sees opportunities for AI to save people time. He also explains why handing entire processes to autonomous agents can introduce new problems when organizations lose sight of how decisions are being made. Building Your Confidence in the Salesforce Community Keir finishes with practical advice for anyone considering public speaking. His message is simple: start with community groups, talk about something you know from your own experience and stop assuming everybody in the audience knows more than you. Your story and experience can help somebody else, regardless of where you currently are in your Salesforce career. Mums on Cloud Nine is your go-to destination for inspiring content that empowers women to build a life and career they love. Each week, we share expert advice, personal stories, and practical tips across a range of topics, from health and mindset to money and career growth. Check out our website at www.mumsoncloudnine.co.uk and subscribe for weekly tips to elevate your mindset. What could you share with the Salesforce community that somebody else might need to hear? What Is the Salesforce Golden Hoodie? "The Salesforce Golden Hoodie is a special recognition and token of appreciation bestowed upon individuals who have shared their stories of doing well by doing good. These Trailblazers range from relatively new to the ecosystem to seasoned community change-makers – Source". Check out the definitive guide to Salesforce Golden Hoodie Winners here https://supermums.org/golden-hoodie-winners-the-definitive-guide-to-salesforces-most-inspiring-trailblazers/ About Supermums Founded by Heather Black, a Salesforce Golden Hoodie winner, Supermums helps relaunchers and seasoned Salesforce professionals accelerate their careers in tech through expert training, career coaching and recruitment support. Whether someone is returning to work, pivoting into a new role, or ready to step up in the Salesforce ecosystem, Supermums provides practical training, mentoring and access to job opportunities to help them build confidence, sharpen their skills and progress faster. Alongside its career development programmes, Supermums partners with employers to connect them with talented Salesforce professionals who

What happens when an accidental step into marketing automation becomes a career, a global community and a Salesforce Golden Hoodie?

What if the next step in your career came from simply showing up, helping someone else and being willing to say yes? In this episode of the Mums on Cloud Nine podcast, I'm joined by Salesforce Golden Hoodie recipient Karmel James, whose career took her from studying chemistry to becoming a self-taught Salesforce professional, consultant and passionate member of the Salesforce community. From Chemistry to Salesforce Karmel never planned a career in Salesforce. After graduating with a chemistry degree, she joined a nonprofit and found herself helping with a Salesforce implementation when her manager left the organization. With the consultants gone and a platform she barely knew suddenly becoming her responsibility, Karmel turned to Trailhead and her scientific background. She knew how to research a problem, test possible solutions and keep learning until things made sense. Salesforce soon became something she wanted to pursue as a career. Why Showing Up Can Change Your Career Karmel began attending Salesforce Saturdays, user groups, developer meetups and community events, including sessions where she initially felt outside her comfort zone. Those rooms created opportunities she could never have planned. During one Salesforce Saturday, Karmel helped another attendee work through a business problem on a whiteboard. Someone from a consulting company happened to be watching and later asked whether she had considered becoming a consultant. Three interviews later, Karmel had a new job. Her experience offers a useful lesson for anyone building or relaunching a career. People get to see how you think, communicate and help others when you participate in communities. Sometimes your next opportunity starts before you even know somebody is watching. Creating Spaces Where People Feel They Belong Karmel also shares the story behind receiving her Salesforce Golden Hoodie in Washington, DC, in December 2022. At community events, she made a habit of spotting people sitting alone or looking uncomfortable. She would introduce herself, invite them to sit beside her and help them feel part of the group. Her philosophy is wonderfully simple: if somebody has made the effort to enter the room, they deserve to feel they belong there. That approach eventually caught the attention of Salesforce's Gilda Hilaire, who saw how consistently Karmel supported people across the community. Karmel was eventually invited to speak at World Tour DC, unaware that Salesforce had another surprise waiting for her. After telling her story on stage, she was called back up and presented with a Golden Hoodie. Becoming a "General Surgeon" of Salesforce Rather than defining herself through one industry, Karmel describes herself as a "general surgeon of Salesforce." Her career has taken her through nonprofits, SaaS, associations, private equity, healthcare and financial services. Her confidence comes from understanding the Salesforce platform and developing strong business analysis skills, then learning the business behind each new role. For women worried that they lack experience in a particular sector, her story shows why transferable skills, curiosity and the ability to understand business problems can open unexpected doors. Why Mums Already Have Transferable Skills Towards the end of our conversation, Karmel makes a powerful observation about mums returning to work. She sees mums as CEOs of their families. Managing budgets, solving problems, negotiating with children, organizing competing priorities and making decisions are genuine transferable skills. Karmel argues that women returning to work should recognize the experience they already possess rather than discounting it because it happened outside a traditional workplace. We also discuss AI, why Karmel prefers to understand how something works before relying on technology to provide an answer, and why human judgment remains important as AI becomes part of everyday work. Mums on Cloud Nine is you

What happens when curiosity, community and a willingness to keep learning turn a career in technology into a Golden Hoodie story? In this episode of the Mums on Cloud Nine podcast, I'm joined by John Lay, who became the second person to receive a Salesforce Golden Hoodie when he was recognized at Dreamforce in 2017. John's story starts long before Salesforce. Growing up on a small farm in Tennessee, he originally planned to become a veterinarian before discovering an unexpected interest in data processing and computer science. That discovery led to a career centered around databases, customer data, and solving complex business problems through technology. John shares how his Salesforce journey began while working at Camping World and Good Sam, where he faced the challenge of bringing together customer data spread across 14 operational systems. Starting with just 50 Service Cloud licenses, John helped prove what Salesforce could achieve before expanding into Sales Cloud and building a much broader CRM environment. Much of what John needed to know, he had to learn quickly. He talks about attending Dreamforce, speaking to other Salesforce professionals wherever he could, and becoming an active member of the Trailblazer community. By learning from others and sharing his own experiences in return, John became part of the community that would eventually recognize his contribution with a Golden Hoodie. We also hear how a chance conversation on a flight helped shape the next chapter of his career. After retiring from Camping World, John realized he wasn't ready to stop working and joined Alternative Solutions, where he now leads its CRM practice and works as a CRM architect across Salesforce and other platforms. Our conversation also turns to AI and what it means for admins, consultants and technology professionals today. John shares a simple analogy for working with AI: treat it like a talented junior colleague. Give it good information, clear direction and appropriate guardrails, then remain responsible for checking the output. John also shares how he uses tools including ChatGPT, Otter.ai and Salesforce Agentforce Vibe in his own work, including an interesting approach where he uses ChatGPT to develop and refine prompts before taking them into Salesforce tools that have access to the relevant metadata. John's career is a great example of where curiosity and continuous learning can take you. From discovering data processing almost by accident to tackling complex CRM challenges, receiving a Golden Hoodie and now experimenting with the latest AI development tools, he has continued to learn throughout every stage of his career. What could you achieve in your own career by staying curious, asking questions and continuing to learn? Listen to the episode and share your thoughts with us. About Supermums Founded by Heather Black, a Salesforce Golden Hoodie winner, Supermums helps relaunchers and seasoned Salesforce professionals accelerate their careers in tech through expert training, career coaching and recruitment support. Whether someone is returning to work, pivoting into a new role, or ready to step up in the Salesforce ecosystem, Supermums provides practical training, mentoring and access to job opportunities to help them build confidence, sharpen their skills and progress faster. Alongside its career development programmes, Supermums partners with employers to connect them with talented Salesforce professionals who are ready to make an impact. Find out more here https://supermums.org/podcast-intro About our Sponsor, Hubbl Technologies Hubbl gives Salesforce teams the clarity they need to move faster. By connecting technical metadata with real business processes, Hubbl reveals what is happening inside your Salesforce org — from security and access risks to process gaps, tech debt, and AI readiness. The result: less guesswork, faster audits, better documentation, and smarter decisions for teams who want