When Culture Comes to Life

This year’s Salesforce Witness Success Conference was held in Nashville, Tennessee, the place where I first started my career and my entrepreneurial journey. I was glad to be back but what really amazed me was the transformation that Nashville seems to have undergone in the last few years, changing from the somewhat sleepy city I remember to a party city, full of life and vibrancy, filled with positivity and enthusiasm!

The word enthusiasm was etched in my mind as I got on the plane after the conference as it not only aptly described the city of Nashville but all the Trailblazers that I met at the #WITConf19 as well. Everyone I spoke to was keen to share their stories and willing to help motivate others along their growth journey. They were also eager to hear me out and actively seek to ask what they can do to help. I have always experienced the Salesforce Ohana spirit but this conference just served to exemplify what happens when a group of like-minded people come together with a singular purpose of making positive change.

The Salesforce culture is one which embodies the spirit of communities, where members of the community take care of and help one another. Seeing this culture come to life was an eye-opening experience and in this vein, I wanted to call out the communities that left an impression on me:

Community of Allies

I participated in the first ever #Equality4All Demo Jam, speaking about how Mom Relaunch is helping women to get back into the workforce through the Salesforce Ecosystem. After my presentation, I spoke with a representative from a large company who also participated in the demo jam, who incidentally said she was just coming to talk to me too, about how her company can partner with Mom Relaunch. I was touched by how many people, men and women alike, came forward to find out more about our launchpad program and offer help in various capacities.

After the conference, the outpour of support we had on social media was tremendous (thank you @Marc Benioff for the retweets!). @Erica Kuhl from Salesforce described it as ‘sparking a movement’ and I would like to think that this is a start of mindset change, that employers will be willing to take a chance on the incredible talent that our moms have. We cannot go about making change alone; change can only happen when communities band together and form a culture of allies.

Women Supporting Women

I was very impressed by how well executed the whole event was and the level of support that we got from the WIT organizers. Kudos to the all women team for giving us an audience to hear us out on how we help moms relaunch. Meeting with various Salesforce Women In Tech user group members and leaders throughout the conference and Allies dinner was a key highlight for me.

The Strength of Moms

Due to a schedule conflict, I was not able to attend a panel session “Advice From The Other Side: Mommy Track Paths” as much as I wanted to. I am, however, glad that this panel session was included in the conference and hope to be able to see more of these in other Salesforce events!

There are so many inspirational stories from Salesforce moms, from stay at home moms who reignited their careers through Salesforce, to moms who simultaneously juggle career and family. Being in a position where I help the former, I am constantly amazed at the power of moms and what they can achieve once they set their minds on it. I love hearing from these women and look forward to hearing even more women come out to speak about their experiences of being a working mom.

What’s Next?

I’m looking forward to attending Dreamforce’19 and continuing to ‘spark the movement’ with supportive Trailblazers.

If you would like to support our relaunchers – as a mentor, partner, trainer, employer, or any capacity – I would absolutely love to connect with you!

Reena is the founder of Mom Relaunch and a mom of two teenage kids. Connect with Reena on https://www.linkedin.com/in/regupta/