Meet Tanya Krawford
Could you pass your Salesforce Admin Certification if you were registered blind? The amazing Tanya Krawford chats to Get Force Certified about how we helped her boost her confidence and have ‘Ah-Ha’ moments.
Sometimes in life, there are just people that inspire, Meet Tanya Krawford, a wonderful member of the 2024 Get Force Certified Salesforce Admin Academy, registered as legally blind, Tanya decided she wanted to do something and get back into work and heard about Salesforce
This is her incredible story.
Hi Tanya, can you share a little about yourself with our readers?
I am a Certified Salesforce Administrator, I live in Michigan, I am currently an apprentice at the Blind Institute of Technology, I’m married, I have three kids and three dogs and left my previous job due to my sight loss which meant I couldn’t do my old job at the time.
Can you share a little about your Salesforce background, and how you found out about Salesforce?
I’d been out of work for about seven years due to accessibility challenges with my former employer’s new platform which wasn’t suitable for someone like me with sight loss. I was unsure of career opportunities available for me, but motivated to rejoin the workforce, I contacted Michigan’s Bureau of Services For Blind Persons and expressed my desire to work again. My counsellor introduced me to Salesforce and the Blind Institute of Technology. I signed up for the course, and the following March, I achieved my Salesforce Admin Certification within a year. However, I still felt uncertain about my proficiency as an end-user. I wanted to feel really confident in my abilities and learn from other users as I am hugely driven and have so much energy to put into a role as a Salesforce Admin.
How did you find out about Get Force Certified?
Akasia Perran, Director of the BIT Academy invited amazing guest speakers, like Dave Massey to talk about his experience and he was kind enough to come and share his knowledge about Salesforce. There are so many people at The Blind Institute of Technology who are fully blind, low vision, like me, and more and can build and use Salesforce, so having someone like Dave come in with such a kind heart and funny personality was such a blessing, we learnt so much from him, and I found it so inspiring!
It was then that I found out about the Get Certified Salesforce Admin Academy, even though I had my admin cert, I didn’t feel as confident as I wanted, and I decided to pluck up the courage and apply for the course, which luckily Dave accepted me on – I was so happy as the academy teaches you everything, not just Salesforce, but the tools on how to learn, how to actually work on projects, how to understand what customers want, how to work with other Salesforce users, it’s amazing and I can’t thank Dave enough!”
Thanks for sharing that Tanya, we’d love to know how you felt before you started on the Get Force Certified Admin Academy?
Before I joined the Admin Academy, my confidence was low. Dave changed all of that for me. He taught me how to learn Salesforce in depth and how to learn and feel good doing it. He has amazing methodology, and at the start of every session, he’d play music to get us in an upbeat spirit. For me, this was amazing.
He knows how to teach Salesforce, how to put everything into real-life context, how to help people pass their exams, but above all, and above all enable you to enjoy what you do and work alongside amazing fellow students on projects.
How would you describe the course?
“Exciting – Rewarding – Humbling!”
I have met so many amazing people on this course, we all have Zoom calls to discuss our progress, projects and ideas, and we are like a family! Dave’s methods and personality make it so enjoyable that I look forward to every session, he is funny and engaging but really knows how to tailor his message to everyone on the course so everyone understands.
I have so much more confidence now. I love doing the projects, which are real-life examples of how to apply your Salesforce Admin cert to projects, rather than having to imagine in my mind, which made me confused. Dave goes out of his way to make sure everything is as accessible as possible, which for me has been brilliant!
Tanya, Is there anything else that pops out for you as I can see how excited you are sharing all of these insights!
I also absolutely love the quizzes which we take using an mobile app or browser where we each have a secret name on the quiz, and are competing against one another. We get tested on our knowledge, which is really fun and engaging!
What are the best parts of GFC?
So many things! I love how so much thought has been put into how this course has been designed, that when you sign up for The Admin Academy, you get access to all of Dave’s courses, and online materials so you can use those too. He starts off by guiding everyone through The Salesforce Associate Exam, and teaching the basics, and gradually builds up so that everyone can pass their Admin Cert with confidence, with so many tips, tricks and deep knowledge sessions to get you bubbling with confidence.
As I said before, from an energy level, as someone who is so driven to give my absolute best, I am a high-energy person, and I love how Dave has music, short yet critical instructional videos, group sessions, and reading materials – so we have a real mix of teaching.
How would you describe your confidence now, you said you had really low confidence despite being a certified admin earlier in our chat.
Thanks to Get Force Certified my confidence is growing all the time, I’m having a lot of ‘A-Ha’ moments like: ‘I knew this, but I didn’t understand it deeply’ in context, so I’m getting a lot of those moments in Dave’s course. But my confidence is risen, definitely higher. And we’re now starting to work directly on the admin portion of the course. This course makes it so easy to understand, and I am also enjoying seeing my co-students get excited by Salesforce, there is a mix of people from all over the world. One lady I speak to a lot is an ‘Accidental Admin’, working a job where she was given responsibility of Salesforce, and it’s been amazing to hear her confidence grow too, we speak a lot as a group which means so much to me!
What do you want to do next in your Salesforce Career?
I’m currently in my second year of Apprenticeship at The Blind Institute of Technology, but having had so much additional training I’m now confident to take on a paid role in a nonprofit or business, to help them with their Salesforce admin needs, I am looking forward to working with an organisation which is really in need of some additional Salesforce support, so if anyone is reading this, feel free to add me on LinkedIn and we can chat.
Thank you so much Tanya for sharing your story, where can people find you to connect with you?
It’s been brilliant connecting with you and working with Dave so far, thank you for everything! People can connect with me on LinkedIn as I love messaging with people on there, and reading about what is new in the world of Salesforce while I look for my next role.
The Get Force Certified Team want to thank Tanya for boldly telling her story of change coming on the Admin Academy course, hugely inspiring wouldn’t you say? What a story of determination to be the best you can be in the Salesforce eco-system. We are so proud of you Tanya!
For more information on the Admin Academy run by our Founder, Dave Massey click here to see when the next one is, as we would love to help more people find their dream career in Salesforce, build your confidence, and do amazing things.