Shared Passion Ignites

Posted on July 25, 2017 by Nana

I haven’t always had the same views politically as I do now. I grew up in a small town (under 10K people) in Texas and can confirm that locale matters when it comes to public opinion and forming of political views.

However I had a set of parents that were outspoken and encouraged me to be the same. They had been places outside of that small town and experienced different things and knew there was so much more to our society and world as a whole. And they talked about what they saw on the news with my sister and I frequently. And their views evolved over time as well.

As I’ve gotten older, moved to a more metropolitan area, changed jobs and friends and economic status, my views have morphed and grown with me.

And as a proud member of the Salesforce Ohana, I have learned to embrace diversity, equality, and tolerance. I’ve learned that through the example that Salesforce as a company sets but more importantly through my social interactions with the broader Ohana community.

We come from all over the world. We come from different backgrounds. We are different in every way possible, but we are the same in that we realize it is those differences and our ability to communicate and interact despite those differences which makes us all better.

We listen to one another, debate issues, learn from one another, help one another and laugh together.

hands

It doesn’t matter if we are black, brown, white, male, female, trans, gay, speak English, Japanese, Indian, are a developer or an admin, are a college graduate or a HS dropout, are a parent, or single, live in a mansion or share a flat. None of those things matter. Our SHARED PASSION for the jobs that we do and the tools that we use to do those jobs is more than the sum of all of those differences I mentioned above.

That makes for an awesome community.

But not everyone has experienced a community, an Ohana, like this one. This is painfully obvious to me these days as I watch what is happening politically in my country. I worry about the huge divide I see on a daily basis. The inability for So. Many. People. to look past themselves and realize it is that same type of shared passion that will make our country great.

That it isn’t about my agenda, or your agenda. That it isn’t about what I’m comfortable with or what you are comfortable with. And it is most certainly not about a political party.

It is about working together because of our shared passion for this country. About listening to one another, debating issues, learning from one another, helping one another and laughing together.

This is what I believe our government was meant to be.

A great community (or Ohana if you will) of people with a shared passion for our country and the people in it.

ALL of the people in it. It doesn’t matter if we are black, brown, white, male, female, trans, gay, speak English, Japanese, Indian, are a developer or an admin, are a college graduate or a HS dropout, are a parent, or single, live in a mansion or share a flat. None of those things matter.

We are Ohana.

Share your passion.

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An open letter to Marc Benioff and Parker Harris.

Posted on June 28, 2017 by Nana

Thank you.

Such a simple phrase. These two little words are completely inadequate to convey the emotions they are bursting with when uttered by a member of the Salesforce Ohana.

In 1999 you set out to build a company. A company to offer software as a service.

Now here we are in 2017 and your company is changing lives and the shaping the world around us.

My story is much like the ones we’ve heard before. Accidental Admin with no degree or tech training, but with a drive to learn. When I started a decade ago, the Community was still using training wheels but gaining ground. As a new Salesforce Administrator I wanted (needed) to learn all I could so I scoured the internet for help. Some of the standouts to me from the early days were names everyone knows like SteveMo, Cheryl Feldman and Brian “The Wizard” Kwong. They didn’t live anywhere near me but were always answering questions and helping others in the community by sharing knowledge.

At the time I never would have dreamed the impact this Ohana would have on the lives of me and my family.

I’ll fast-forward through a few years and pick it up in 2012. My first Dreamforce. The A-Ha moment for me where I was inspired to do and be more. I got to meet my Ohana idols mentioned above along with others and walked away from that event with a passion and a drive to give back like they had done for me.

I threw myself into both the Success Community and the community on Twitter and surrounded myself (virtually) with Ohana around the globe where we forged bonds like no other. Started a blog, co-hosted a Salesforce-themed podcast, spoke at Dreamforce, sang in a Salesforce Community band and was invited to join the ranks of the illustrious Salesforce MVPs.

Those things in themselves were life-changing.

But they don’t hold a candle to what happened next.

On December 26th, 2015 around dinnertime the tornado sirens blew in my little suburb of Dallas. As my family took shelter I posted a pic on twitter (because that’s what we do). Minutes later our house was struck by an F4 tornado.

In a flash, our lives changed. You hear about it happening but never really expect it to happen to you.

When you think about moments of tragedy, there are people you know will be there for you. You’ll have family, friends, co-workers and neighbors come together to help.

What I didn’t expect, but was blown away by, was the power and strength of this Ohana that you built.

Within a few hours of the destruction of our home, a community came together. A community that spans oceans and borders. People I’d never met in real life. People who speak different languages. While we were still standing in front of our ruined home in the rain trying to figure out what to do next, the Ohana were putting out a call to action to help us.

It is this Ohana that kept me from falling. Who lifted me (and my family) up through their prayers, calls, cards, donations and by just being there. Checking in on me. Being there for me.

You set out to build a company to deliver software as a service. Which you have done. And done well.

Ohana

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But the best thing you built, the thing that moves mountains, is the Salesforce Ohana.

This Ohana that you built is not just a group of software administrators or developers. It is a culture of people who hold out their arms to lift up others. You’ve embedded this culture into the very foundation of your company along with everything and everyone connected to it. You’ve lined that foundation with gems by  hiring like-minded people who embody and exude the culture, people like Erica Kuhl, Chris Duarte, Holly Firestone, Adam Seligman, Charlie Isaacs, and too many others to list here.

I will never be able to adequately say thank you for what you’ve built.

I know I am just one of many stories. Stories that describe lives changed because of your vision and guidance.

And on behalf of myself and all of those yet untold stories, Thank you.

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Valentine’s Day

Posted on February 14, 2017 by Nana

When I was about 2 months old, my parents opened up their own Flower Shop. They had purchased a plot of land with two houses on it, converted one to the flower shop and we lived in the other.

thehutch

All of my memories growing up revolve around the shop – from just hanging out there, to using the work tables to make school projects, to helping out on holidays and weekends and more.

For our family, Valentine’s Day was a huge undertaking. Definitely not a holiday for us, but instead, several weeks of planning and prepping and hard work.

I remember lots of late nights prepping buckets for flower deliveries, unpacking/displaying stuffed animals, wiring roses, writing cards, making bows – oh the endless bow-making!

Dad would create some nifty holders for the car – for bud vases and arrangements to ride safely during deliveries. We had city maps on the wall and at the ready and would carefully plot each delivery run to ensure everything got where it needed to be.

Family members and friends and boyfriends and eventually husbands would be drafted to help out – answering the never-ending phone calls, taking orders, driving the delivery truck, and running the deliveries to the door.

And at the end of the day we would all collapse, exhausted. With torn-up hands from the water and rose thorns. With the endless sound of phantom phones ringing in our ears. With just enough energy to order a pizza for dinner.

It was always a day where we got to be a part of spreading joy.

I’ll forever be grateful for growing up as part of a family and business that was there for our community. For their beginnings, for their endings, for their joys and for their sorrows.

I will always miss the frantic pace, smell of floral foam, roses and carnations, the cramped hands and tired feet at the end of a productive holiday. But especially the smile when someone would open the door and realize that delivery is for them.

Priceless!

<Support your local family-owned businesses>

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Make a Ripple

Posted on February 8, 2017 by Nana

Nevertheless,
She Persisted.

And so becomes the battle cry. And it certainly does feel like we are in a battle. A battle for our children and our children’s children. A battle for their eventual partners and spouses. A battle for our neighbors and a battle for those who don’t have the means or strength to battle themselves. A battle for our ancestors. A battle for our country.

These last 3 weeks have been painful. Painful to watch. Painful to explain to my children. Painful to realize that people you know have biases and prejudices and (sometimes) a blind willingness to only see an issue as black or white and seemingly ignore the grey in-betweens.

These last 3 weeks have also been enlightening. Enlightening to see so many people stand up for what is right. Enlightening to see that so many people are not concerned with “What’s In It For Me?”, but instead focused on what our duties are to to those less fortunate (whether from within our country or without).

These last 3 weeks have highlighted that it is not enough to sit back and let our politicians speak for us. We MUST be active and vocal. Or things go all to hell in a hand basket like they are now.

We are all to blame. For being complacent. For ignoring what we learned in political science class. For assuming that our voices and wishes aren’t enough to make a ripple in this political pond.

Because all it takes is a single voice, backed with enough strength and willpower, to create a disturbance. To shift the wave. To Make A Difference.

#RESISTANCE

takes

#PERSISTANCE

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Frayed

Posted on September 26, 2016 by Nana

Hear them calling
Frayed ends of sanity
Hear them calling
Hear them calling me
– Metallica, The Frayed Ends of Sanity, 1988

Nine months today.

I never anticipated that we would still be in a state of flux nine months after that damn tornado!

And this week will likely be one of the most difficult since those initial days after the storm. I don’t know that I’ve ever experienced this much anxiety. Here’s the current scoop:

  • Tomorrow we have one of the final inspections scheduled. The final mechanical, electrical and plumbing inspection (MEP). If it fails anything then we have to fix issues and reschedule.
  • When the final MEP inspection passes, we can call for the Certificate of Occupancy (CO) inspection. Which at the earliest would happen on Wednesday, if the city is quick about turning it around and getting it scheduled.
  • We’ve got furniture scheduled to deliver on Thursday. If we don’t have that CO yet, they can deliver but not unwrap/unpack. It cannot look like anyone is potentially living there without the CO.
  • Our lease is up and keys are due Friday. Apartment has already got someone lined up to move in and won’t extend anymore.
  • We can’t move anything from the apartment into the house until we have the CO. So we’ve got movers on standby for Friday. If we get the CO we’ll move stuff in. If not we’ll probably park a uhaul behind the house and move stuff from the apartment into the uhaul.
  • If we don’t get the CO by Friday we’ll be hotel-ing it over the weekend and until that CO can be obtained.
  • I leave for San Francisco for a week on Monday for a conference. I’m scheduled to speak at 4 different sessions so it’s not something I can cancel.

It’s all like a set of dominoes stacked up in a line. If they are spaced correctly and fall as expected we’ll get to where we need to be. If not, the process comes to a halt.

I’m not exactly what you would call a control freak, but I am a planner. I’m habitually early when I need to be somewhere and like to have my ducks in a row. So this ‘not knowing’ is a huge challenge for me. Not knowing whether we’ll have a place to move our things. Not knowing where we’ll lay our heads Friday night. Not knowing if when I leave on my business trip that Don and the kids will be settled in our home.

Needless to say the rope holding my sanity has been on a slow burn for the past few weeks.

lose-my-mind

If you see me over the next few days and I look or act like a rabid, snarling dog, now you know why. I’ll apologize in advance. There’s only so much a girl can take. I feel like these nine months have aged me by at least a decade.

Sorry for the downer post – hopefully the next post will be filled with joy at finally getting our home back!

 

 

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