This is the eighth post in my blog series in which I will feature people I know from the community: Salesforce employees, MVPs, User Group Leaders, Partners, and honestly, anyone who I’m connected with who is willing to share with me the answers to five simple questions. I hoping that this blog series will help everyone out in the community get better connected to others who are either like them, can help them, are nothing like them, can’t help them, or are simply people they haven’t met yet! After all, a stranger is simply a friend you don’t know yet.
For me, one of the greatest strengths of the Salesforce Ecosystem is its people and the connections that are shared.
So, if you are brave enough, even if you’ve never met me in person, fill out this form and I’ll feature you in an upcoming post. (In case I have confused anyone, the questions on the form about our relationship refers to you, the reader, and me, the author, Eric Dreshfield, and not the featured person in this post.) Just beware, by completing the form, you are giving me permission to use that information in a future post, as well as allowing me to interject some of my own thoughts into your responses!
And now I introduce Jocelyn Fennewald, co-leader of the Chicago Women In Technology Group.
What’s your job title? Managing Partner, OpMentors.
What does that mean you do? My job is a mult-hat one. I am co-owner of my company, OpMentors. We are a Salesforce SI partner, as well as partnering with FinancialForce and Apttus on thier X-Author for Excel tool. Most of my day is working as a consultant and system admin. Working with clients to push their platforms to the next level is a absolute thrill for me. On any given day I can be working with the client’s system admin to solve an issue, conduct end user training or working through their implementation or optimization of Salesforce or FinancialForce. Being able to wear so many hats keeps it fun and interesting. Since I love problem solving so much, this type of work will always keep pushing my knowledge of the platform.
(EFD – Who doesn’t wear more than one hat on the job these days? And WOW…I do love Apttus X-Author for Excel!!))
How long have you been involved with Salesforce.com (as a customer and/or an employee)? 2.5 years as a customer, and now 1.5 years as a partner for a total of 4 fun-filled years. (EFD – Congrats, you made the jump! Why am I now thinking about the movie “Speed”? https://youtu.be/AmOBTB4Py-Q)
Bacon or sausage? Can’t I have both? Don’t make me decide!
What’s more important: Who you know, or what you know? I think it’s what you know about who you know. I always love to surround myself with the most amazing people because that pushes me to be better. If the people you know (like the great Salesforce community) are strong in all different areas then by knowing them and learning from them you will innately become more well rounded and have the communal knowledge to solve any problem. No one person can know everything about Salesforce so having the community is the most valuable part of Salesforce. (EFD – Wow…I couldn’t have said it better myself!)
How did our relationship start, and when? After Midwest Dreamin’ 2014 I started following you on Twitter. (EFD – Midwest Dreamin’? What’s that? 😉 I know a thing or two about Midwest Dreamin’. If you don’t, check it out! It’s coming back to Chicago on July 21 & 22, 2016!)
And now the bonus question – What’s one fact about you that few people know, that will surprise me and my blog readers? I am a drummer. I have just been playing for over a year but I LOVE it! I learning all different types of musical styles but can play rock music the best. (EFD – There’s a lot of musicians who are great Salesforce Admins & Developers. Perhaps we should get a band together!)
You can find Jocelyn on Twitter.