Hey everyone, and welcome back to Inside the Salesforce Ecosystem! The podcast where we dive into the people, partnerships, and stories that make this ecosystem so unique.
Today’s episode is a special one. You might’ve seen her speaking at Dreamin’ events, come across her on LinkedIn, or maybe even caught her in one of our Community Spotlights a while back. We’re joined by Talia Johnson.
Talia recently joined PDF Butler as an Account Executive, and today we’re going to chat about her journey through the ecosystem, the power of community, and what it’s like moving from being a partner to joining the team.
Let’s jump in!
Q: For those who don’t know you yet, can you tell us a bit about yourself and how you got into the Salesforce ecosystem?
Talia: I got into the ecosystem after the pandemic. What I was doing at the time was somewhat design related. I had started my own photo booth business, and it was a lot of fun.
So a little voice in my head says, ‘Go check out that thing you’d heard about on a podcast with Bradley Rice.’ And he had at that time started a career development program for Salesforce professionals, which eventually became Talent Stacker. I also did Super Mums. I was just like throwing everything at the wall trying to get into this ecosystem.
And I eventually saw that there was an opportunity to work for PDF Butler. PDF Butler had caught my eye at events. The people like you, Luke, Jeremy, and Mark, they just really felt like the right kind of people to work with. And I believe that the product had untapped potential in the United States. So being a North American account executive felt really great.
Q: You’ve built quite a presence with over 11,000 followers on LinkedIn. Has that been intentional, or did it grow naturally with your involvement in the community?
Talia: Some people say that I’m obsessed with LinkedIn, and they might be right.
I really found that it was an opportunity for me to express myself and to be creative. A lot of people are very shy about sharing things on social media. I kind of tried to be as noticeable as possible.
And so that really has fed into my interest in making little videos or even singing and rapping and just making fun stuff for people to consume. But at the same time, having a little bit of a message or having some kind of opportunity to talk about something important.
Q: Has the community ever played a key role in your career growth or opened unexpected doors? What does the community mean to you?
Talia: My first taste of the community came through the Talent Stacker program.
I always tell people 80% or more of the value of that program is the community that’s built there and that we lean on each other. We’re always helping each other, giving back to that community, and offering opportunities. And that kind of extends to the wider community, which I’ve gotten to know more and more as I go to events like Dreamforce and TDX.
At some point I realized I wanted to speak at events. The first opportunity I had was something I co-presented with someone, and that was really helpful to me because it wasn’t just me on a stage. It was with someone else who maybe had a little bit more to get on that stage.
I’ve encouraged people ever since to do the same thing, to really find a way to find their voice and find opportunities. There are so many different ways that you can get started, whether it’s with a small local event or a virtual event.
Q: What would you say to someone new in the ecosystem who’s unsure how to get involved?
Talia: I would start with getting on LinkedIn and experiencing the community virtually.
If you’re not ready to go to an event, start finding people on there who ought to follow. You can sign up for Trailhead and follow the trail to get your first certification. I recommend the admin certification no matter what path you end up going on. I’m not an admin right now, but I have an admin certification, and I think that it’s a good foundation for lots of different paths, but starting to develop your branding there.
Talent Stacker has a free resource on your LinkedIn branding. You download that, follow the steps, and actually do them and try to get over your fear of posting. It may be to no one at first, whether you’re posting on LinkedIn because no one’s following you. You’re not really connected to anybody, but you’re kind of building that muscle of posting and talking about what you’re learning, what you’re interested in, and a little bit about yourself.
Q: Not long ago, you joined PDF Butler as an account executive. What made you say “yes” to the role? How has the transition been so far?
Talia: As I said, I don’t have a long sales background, but I did do some sales with my photo booth business.
I had to talk to potential clients, explain my offerings, talk about price, and explain to them what would be a good idea and a bad idea for their event. Also my BA background also kind of plays into this role. So there are a lot of things that have helped me, but there are a lot of things that are new to me, like the terminology of sales. And I’m learning all that as I go.
I really enjoy helping people in the discovery calls. That’s like my favorite part, talking about their use case. And I think that people can really feel that I’m excited about what they’re trying to accomplish.
Q: What’s your favorite Salesforce event memory?
Talia: It was just before the New York World Tour.
I had gone to the New York Salesforce User Group meeting. We walked into the bar, and I walked up to my friend, and I leaned over this high table, and greeting him, someone on the other side of the table at some point said, “Your hair’s on fire!!” My hair is on fire right over here. It’s a very dark bar, and I’m batting it down like crazy, and I get it to go out.
But yeah, it was really weird. I was a little freaked out that I was going to be bald somehow. My first day with my team, with PDF Butler—that was my first week on the job.
Q: One person in the ecosystem you think everyone should follow?
Talia: I’m going to say Bradley Rice.
He’s always very real with his advice. And sometimes it’s just a positive message for the day and to stay because a lot of people are disheartened by the difficulty and challenges of finding a job right now.
I love Vanessa Grant. She’s also very real. She has opportunities; she’s always in events, in virtual events. She speaks at conferences as well. But those virtual opportunities with her and Pei Mun Lim as well. They run a user group together.
So Pei Mun Lim, she’s amazing. She will kind of make you feel something inside because she’s always kind of talking about those deeper, you know, connections that people need to make when they’re communicating, whether it’s through discovery or through coworkers or whatever it is. Soft skills as a consultant are extremely important.
🔥 Fire-rapid Questions
- Virtual events or in-person meetups? In person, of course
- Big conference energy or local community vibes? I’m going to say local.
- Supermums or Talent Stacker? I love that Supermums exists, but I must say Talent Stacker because the community was next level.
- Content planning or spontaneous posting? Oh, spontaneous. I definitely don’t plan.
- Golden Hoodie or Salesforce MVP? I think the MVP. It’s a very different thing. It’s like it’s hard to compare, but really the people are sometimes confused about what the Golden Hood is about. And it’s really about an inspiring story. But the MVP is about someone who’s dedicated a lot of time and energy to giving back to the community.
Thank you, Talia, for joining us and for the great conversation!
