Description
Join Carla Wishart, Director of Client Operations, as she shares her insights on building a thriving Salesforce DevOps career. In this webinar, you’ll learn about:
- Carla’s DevOps career journey: how she navigated from a non-technical background to become a leader in the Salesforce DevOps space.
- Essential skills and tools: discover the technical and soft skills you need to excel in Salesforce DevOps.
- Harnessing your strengths: how to apply your personal strengths to enhance your Salesforce DevOps career journey.
- The future of DevOps: Get Carla’s expert predictions on the latest trends and technologies that will shape the future of DevOps.
Want to learn more?
Transcript
Hey, everybody.
Hello to all of you that are joining us nice and promptly.
This is awesome. Thank you so much for joining us today for our very first careers in DevOps webinar, that we're gonna be getting started very, very shortly.
If you would like to use the chat, you absolutely can do, and I totally encourage that. Let us know where you are tuning in from and what part of the world you are in.
Myself, for context, I am in just outside of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, where it is unfortunately very cold and gray, despite it's supposed to be spring already, but, but there we are. But it's an absolute pleasure to have you. We're gonna be getting started in just one minute. The q and a function is also available. So if you have any questions for myself or my lovely guest, Carla, who we're gonna hear a lot more from very shortly, then please feel free to use the q and a, here as well.
We will do our best to get to some of those questions in the q and a. We've got a lot of content to go through, and Carla has so much great insight that she's gonna share with us, and we hope to get to your questions as well.
And hello, hello to everybody. Hello, Abenash in London.
Missy in Ohio, Israel in Mexico.
It's a pleasure to have you joining us today.
Cool. I have just mentioned that we do have a lot to a lot to get through. So we're just gonna go ahead and dive right in and get into it. So, welcome to careers in DevOps launch DevOps careers in DevOps DevOps launchpad webinar, the very first one, that we have run. And I'm very, very excited and very honored to be joined by Carla Wishart today. Carla, hello.
Hi, Jack. Thank you so much. It's a pleasure to be here.
It is the pleasure is all all ours. I can I can promise you? I've so enjoyed talking to you and getting to know you over the past few weeks as we've been preparing for this webinar. But to give all our lovely attendees a little bit of context, tell us a little bit about you.
Yeah. So my name is Carla Weishardt, and I'm the director of client operations at Subsplash.
I work with multiple cross functional teams internally with a goal of bridging the gap between development and operations teams to streamline the software development process and manage many of our core business development systems.
And what does Subsplash do? Subsplash is a SaaS b two b platform that is designed to help churches connect with their audience more easily and foster growth through better digital engagement.
We provide tools for building custom mobile apps, websites, media management, AI, and online giving solutions to name just a few. It's been so fun over the years seeing the incredible innovation our teams have built.
So Amazing.
And she said the magic buzzword AI as well in there and mentioned a innovation in the same sentence.
So Oh my gosh.
That's the most recent addition, Pulpit AI. It's incredible. It it literally does the work of multiple full time people. So very excited about that.
Yeah. Amazing role that you have now, obviously, at Subsplash, in your role as director there. But, obviously, this is careers webinar. Tell me a little bit about your career and where you started.
Yeah. So it's been a a fun, interesting journey. It's been a mix of business, finance, and entrepreneurship, which has helped shape the way I approach tech. I started in business and accounting, then took on various roles of working in banking and as an auditor for the government doing fraud investigation.
All of these experiences taught me to think strategically, adapt quickly, and lead with both the creative and analytical mindset, which fortunately comes in handy every day in the tech industry. I've also discovered over the years that I enjoy problem solving. And as an Enneagram five wing six, the troubleshooter, I naturally gravitate toward understanding complex issues and finding innovative solutions.
But I also truly enjoy being creative as well, and creativity in DevOps is crucial for finding effective solutions which that this was such a delight to discover. I didn't expect that creativity in our field could be so valuable.
Yeah. Absolutely.
There there is always a creative solution in Salesforce and, creative solution solution to any problem. Is there is there any kind of surprises from, you know I myself have a very nontechnical background before I entered Salesforce, and there's definitely some unexpected things that I encountered being useful, in a tech career. Are there any for you that spring to mind?
Yeah. I would say, for me, creativity was the biggest one, truly. That thing not realizing that my career in DevOps could be a creative outlet for me, and that that, because there's always so many solutions that you can go through, but the creative, channeling your creativity to find the best scalable solution is is so fun, and I feel so blessed.
Yeah. Especially as you're an anagram five wing six as a troubleshooter as well. That's a it's, like, perfect perfect blend.
Perfect blend.
It's fun. Yeah. So so, you have progressed quite a bit in your tech career since then. That was the start of your career. Tell me a little bit about the the last ten years.
Yeah. So, just over ten years ago, I had the opportunity to join a tech startup where I took on various roles in sales, billing, support, HR, and operations and systems. It was in operations and systems that I discovered my true passion for systems and development.
From the beginning, I had the opportunity to work on diverse systems and projects with some amazing people, which, helped me to gain valuable experience along the way. But I feel like taking on the various roles of, you know, sales support billing, etcetera, provided me with a deeper understanding of the challenges the different teams face, which sparked my passion for achieving, sustainable scalability through DevOps and automation.
So, yeah, it's, I love having the different views. I think it's been really valuable.
Yeah. Those differing experience, I think, if we I was actually having this conversation with, somebody else recently, on another on another show that I do, and their backgrounds in customer customer service is really helpful to them when they're now building customer service systems.
That must be Yes.
Must ring true for you as well.
Completely. Yeah. Just, going through the different roles, filling the pain points, just sparks my passion for helping to bridge the gaps that people and the pain points people experience in different, roles. So yeah.
Absolutely. Absolutely. Are there any any pivot points would you say that were significant in your career journey and really kinda shaped or really drove you towards where you have ended up at?
Yeah. I would say my kind of big pivot point was at our startup when I started in the systems arena, which I definitely fell into this role, so to speak, because our company needed assistance transitioning to a new system. And with limited resources and personnel, I was designated to begin working on this and other systems.
It was then that I discovered my deep passion for this type of work and then harnessing my love of creativity and problem solving to dive into this new role, with taking over a new system. So, yeah, that was for sure a pivotal moment for me.
Yeah. The the the fall into Salesforce role or fall into systems role, I think, is is one that a lot of us, a lot of us resonate with for sure.
Especially especially now, even maybe more so, teams are having to do more with less, I think, is the phrase that that's being banded out quite a lot these days as well. So I think that's something something that's resonant. Is do you feel still feel that pressure, or is that kind of experience in the start up having to do more with less or just dive in and and learn it something that kinda helps you now?
Yeah. I I that's a great question. So many layers to that. I would say it's to me, it's not pressure.
It's opportunity. And it's exciting getting to solve for those challenges. And definitely at the start up, that was super key because very small teams, you know, things were falling through the cracks and needing to use our systems to bridge those gaps. And, even now in my current role, though, there's just so many opportunities for building systems that support people.
And so it's just it's an opportunity, I would say, not a pressure as much.
Yeah. For sure. For sure. And before we start talk talk about some of the DevOps things, like, this is a celebration of some amazing people's careers in technology and in Salesforce. So I'm gonna try and embarrass you a little bit and ask you to shout it out. Shout shout shout about yourself here a little bit. Are there any milestones or purse for personal achievements that you're particularly proud of, in your tech career?
Well, thanks, Jack. Okay. So yes. We'll embarrass, but I'll I'll yes.
I've been honored with several industry recognitions, including nominations for LeanData's ops star of the year in twenty twenty three, most cutting edge, ops programmer of the year in twenty twenty four, and then, of course, the incredible honor of being named gearset DevOps leader for twenty twenty five.
Additionally, I've successfully completed numerous large internal projects that have significantly contributed to scalability and growth within multiple organizations.
And each milestone and project has been meaningful to me, because it motivates me to keep learning and growing, And I'm just really thankful to contribute to innovation, collaboration, and positive results in every role that I've had.
That's amazing. That is awesome. I feel feel like we should we should all all give some props and some some cheers. So I think I I wish, these Zoom webinars had, you know, the celebration emojis like GMeet did so that everybody could throw throw some of those at you. That's awesome.
And and and one of those things as well is, you know, our success, our success is naturally guided by a bunch of other people as well. Is there anybody in your circle that has mentored you, influenced you, personally, or from the wider community?
Yes. And okay. I just love this question, by the way. So love to there's definitely been several people that have had, huge impacts on my journey, and I've been really fortunate to have incredible mentors and managers who've encouraged and motivated me.
So first, special shout out to Pancho, the CEO from our previous startup who took a chance on me and whose leadership played a huge role in shaping my career and pushing me to grow. And even right now, my current manager, Quentin, he's the VP of client services and operations, whose trust and guidance have been invaluable in helping me grow professionally and tackling new challenges with confidence.
He continues to support and inspire me to keep getting better.
Another shout out to David. He's another key mentor in my life. He's a contractor I've worked with, for over five years now, and I continue to work with him. I love the dynamic that we have, as he's been a great mentor to teach me so much within the Salesforce, DevOps ecosystem, offering valuable guidance, challenging my ideas, and kind of pushing for best practices in the DevOps space.
Like, we just have an awesome dynamic, I would say. And then finally, I'd like to give a heartfelt shout out to my husband, Craig, who first introduced me to this field. His unwavering belief in me has been a constant source of strength, helping me to discover and fully embrace my skills. Over the years, our roles have often overlapped.
So I'm not just shouting him out because he's my husband. Actually, our roles have overlapped in operations and technical areas, and we've built a great camaraderie, always bouncing ideas off of each other and complementing each other's strengths. So early on, we were working on, a billing system and automating our collections process, at the start up. And, that's was just, you know, such a fun memory and, getting to work together and just kind of pull our skills.
But I think the synergy and balance between our work and personal responsibilities, is easier to manage as we both understand each other's pressures and support each other's growth.
So yeah.
Amazing. Thank you. Yeah. The great great mentors and great relationships will absolutely do drive, our careers, and, that's that's so awesome, about your husband too. And, like, being in the same ecosystem, I I'm I'm in a similar position myself. My partner is in the Salesforce ecosystem too, and we both learn a lot from each other continuously. So it's, a unique thing that I can certainly appreciate too.
To move on to a bit of a bit of the dev DevOps side of things and and DevOps DevOps more specifically, what gives you most enjoyment out of your DevOps role and the part that DevOps plays, in in your career right now?
Probably number one, is gonna be I'm passionate about problem solving, taking the challenges and turning them into scalable solutions using a variety of tools. I love building automations and integrating different systems to achieve it. And I love that in DevOps, it's a process of continuous learning with systems that we're we're familiar with. And when things don't go as planned, those moments are valuable opportunities to deepen our understanding and grow.
And so just identifying your strengths, I I would say, no matter your industry is key to harness them because the beauty of DevOps lies in the wide range of skills that it requires. So I think it's about finding where your strengths align and how they can guide you along your DevOps journey.
Yeah. Yeah. For sure. What are so what are some of those some of those skills and some of those strengths that are useful in your DevOps career that other people should be thinking about?
Yeah. So technical skills, I would, say is the experience in Salesforce, automation, system management, and related tools, softer skills such as collaboration, communication, and problem solving.
Adaptability and time management definitely help navigate the constant evolving environment.
While leadership and mentorship abilities support team growth and the adoption of the DevOps culture, these skills together ensure success in the DevOps field. The great thing is that there are so many online resources available to keep your skills sharp and continue to grow them. As long as you're committed to learning, you're set.
Yeah. Yeah. That that commitment to learning is obviously why so many people have tuned in today and maybe maybe tuning back as well to listen. So, I commend everybody for for tuning in to the webinar and and advancing that and hearing you advocate for that, Carlo, is is really awesome.
On the just on the technical skill side of things, are there any particular technical areas of DevOps that you find the most useful or the most useful recommendations for someone someone somewhere to start learning?
Yes. I would say, for sure, Trailhead is like a baseline.
And, there's so many other different resources online, Udemy. There's, so many different ones, but, definitely Trailhead. Get into Trailhead. There's so much, wealth of knowledge there to begin. And, definitely having mentorship relationships is also huge.
So, yeah, definitely. There's, it's a whole new world with our online resources.
Yeah. Absolute. Absolute. Absolutely. It is like the the I I will always whenever anybody mentions Trailhead, I always try and give them their props because the the team that has put Trailhead started Trailhead and the way that that platform has continued to grow has has been amazing.
Yes. Even all of their new AI courses and content, I feel, is really nicely balanced as as well. So absolutely totally agree with you. Something interesting that you said there is, about the the the soft skills, like the collaboration, the communication. And for me, communication in a DevOps team is really, really integral to its success. Is there an example of a time where, great listening and communication skills have really paid off for you, when creating those creative solutions that that you like to noodle on?
Yeah. Great question. I'd say the one that stands out was very early on, the one I was speaking where, my husband and I working worked on building out our billing and past due collection system.
And so it's actually a really fun memory.
My husband and I were in the process of a larger renovation on our home. So we were sitting in camping chairs in our garage each day working together on this.
And the project began because we were hearing about the challenges from different teams around past due balances falling through the cracks, which was becoming a big financial hit to our company.
And one of the major roadblocks we encountered during this process was retrieving the specific data points once the invoice failed and completed the dunning process.
We didn't wanna trigger it too soon while the dunning process was still underway, but when the system was no longer actively trying to collect the funds. The goal was to have it trigger and start sequences with communications to help resolve the past due. And it was such a joy when we got all the key data points aligned. The systems were up and running, and we saw it just running really well. As with any project, there were challenges we worked through, but it really highlighted for me the power of collaboration and listening. And because of our collaboration, we were able to solve for a major loss of revenue, which was an incredibly huge win. But teamwork makes the dream work as they say.
It absolutely does. And and it's also, I imagine, very helpful when you have Grace sat there next to you in that camping chair.
I know. It's it's so funny. I never thought when we were in there, and we're like, oh, man. We're working in the garage, but, like, it's such a fun memory, like, in one of the earliest ones. So it's it's so fun.
Yeah. For sure. And what's what's interesting to me as well is you you mentioned about the impact that this project has on multiple kind of stakeholders and, you know, saving the company revenues is one thing.
But understanding and communicating with different people and navigating the politics internally is one of those one of those things that many many do find challenging, especially in new organizations, but or in organizations that they may be be embedded in for ten years or so.
And things have changed, but they need a new way to approach that.
Is there any recommendations you have for navigating those types of politics and maybe conflicting business interests?
Yeah. Yeah. Everybody has, I would say, big ideas about what they want to accomplish, but it's about understanding the goals first and foremost and then breaking them down into the minimum viable product based on timelines and creating a road map for ongoing deliverables. I mean, if we use the past due collections process as an example, leadership saw it, as a way to improve cash flow and reduce revenue loss.
The finance team prioritized a streamlined process that minimized overdue accounts, ensuring timely payments. Our customer service teams looked at it as a way to manage overdue accounts while without disrupting customer relationships and just, focusing on retention as well. And from the IT DevOps perspective, the goal is to integrate the collection system with our existing tools and automate the workflow. So despite all of these varying perspectives, the overall goal is to create a system that improved collections while minimizing loss and maintaining efficiency and customer satisfaction across the organization.
So the goal in this case is framed in a way that DevOps must understand it from all perspectives and be able to articulate it in a manner that aligns with all stakeholders.
So and also not good to be developing in a vacuum, I would say. So Yeah.
And I totally to totally agree there. It's it's examples like that that really highlight the importance of like, you mentioned DevOps. DevOps needs to understand and the better understanding that you have of how organizations work and, ultimately, the the end goal is a better system that improves a better customer experience. Like, if you and your DevOps team understand actually what you're doing and can articulate that back to the business in the way that they understand, I. E. We're gonna save ourselves money and protect revenue.
Then you can focus on that a little bit better, would you say?
Oh, yeah. Totally. I think that's a great call out too. And I feel like in every project from then on even until now, that whole process of collaboration makes the end result so much better. The perspectives that other people have, add so much value to what you're building that I mean, I myself couldn't build that. I wouldn't think of all of the things. The the perspectives shape it in such a great way.
It's so much better. Better together for sure.
Yeah. Yeah. That that perspectives that's such a lovely little sound bite pres perspectives shape things. I guess It's beautiful.
So now I'm gonna steal that and use that, and sort of some of those.
It does in every, Oh my gosh. It does in every project, and I love that part of it. It's like those kind of moments that they're like, hey. What about this? And you're like, oh, I never thought of that. And it happens so much. It's it's awesome.
Yeah. And you need that and and you don't understand that unless you're communicating, which we've already spoken about quite quite heavily.
Something's just wanted to come back on the communication side of things, obviously.
You had you had Craig sitting there next to you, but you work in a remotely distributed team now, don't you? What's kind of the key to communicating for you across a remotely distributed team? I think many of us find ourselves in those those situations.
Yeah. Great question. I think with the remote teams, staying aligned through, meetings. You have to be a lot more intentional in a remote environment.
So having the stand ups and I know, you know, it can be controversial, but and it depends on the cadence of stand ups. But stand ups and, probably more frequent meetings than you would if you were just on-site.
And also with my team, by the way, I'm not sure Kyle and Veronica if they're on here shouting you out. But, we have a living document in Confluence, so we put our updates there. And, we do stand ups three times a week, and our off days, we will put our updates in our document. And, that's been for me a game changer because communication, not just when you're doing projects with stakeholders, is key, but it's also key within your own team. Because, our team is supporting so many other teams within our org that, I wanna make always an effort to let my team know, hey. This is what I'm working on, and I wanna know all the things they're working on so that we can better serve, internal teams.
Hundred percent. Great advice. Great advice. What are some of your current pain points in DevOps, and where do you where do you go when you need help solving those challenges?
Yeah. Great question. I would say aligning business requirements with best practices. I I feel like that can be sometimes running intention with each other, but also striving for simplicity.
These priorities definitely don't always align perfectly. And, but staying curious and understanding goals and outcomes often do help find that simpler path forward and, where to get help. So to tackle challenges, I'll frequently research online, explore forums, watch videos, and use other resources.
Depending on the situation, discussions with peers, your team, and mentors can also be incredibly value valuable. Working smarter, not harder is definitely an important thing.
Yeah. Work smarter, not harder. Definitely a a very popular, a popular phrase in any fast growing business or or a or high pay high paced business. That's so interesting what you say about aligning the business requirements with best practices. I think that's one of those one of those things that I've certainly seen in my career in DevOps specifically when teams want to adopt the best practices, but it often requires a little bit of a slowdown before you need things need things will get slower before they get infinitely faster, and trying to get over that hurdle can be quite challenging sometimes with business stakeholders.
Definitely. That's a great call out too. And understanding that that's the natural progression is important.
You definitely need to slow down and so you can, move forward intentionally and with the right too.
Best practice is always driving for that.
For sure. For sure. Speaking of, speaking of progression, what's kind of your predictions for the next big developments in DevOps, this year, next year maybe?
Yeah. I think the next big developments in DevOps are likely to focus on enhancing automation, scalability, and security with a beg a big emphasis on, AI and machine learning integration. As AI and machine learning evolve, DevOps will increasingly leverage these technologies for predictive analytics, anomaly detection, and even automating code quality checks, deployment decisions, leading to smarter, more efficient processes.
AI is so powerful in harnessing this in our field. And, I mean, every field really is a game changer.
And fun fact, we've just, like I mentioned earlier, integrated an amazing AI tool into our platform at Subsplash, which is Pulpit AI. And it really does, multiply and amplify our sermon content, which helps our clients reach audience across multiple platforms with so much less effort. And that that really goes back to the working smarter, not harder.
Yeah. Yes. It's such an interesting conversation, like, a the whole AI piece and what people are trying to do do with it. I think one of the things for me is is if agent force is gonna take off and, you know, I have I I have my opinions on on it doing doing just that, we need the tools that are gonna help us deploy these AI applications and AI agents and agent force, etcetera, and be able to incorporate those into our usual work streams when it's technology that we're not familiar with. We don't really know how to test it and make sure it's carrying on working and observe it in its natural environment and live environment. I think that's such an interesting, dichotomy between do our AI applications like Pulpit AI actually work in server purse versus where do we use AI in the delivery process itself is Right.
Whole whole thing.
It is a whole thing. Yeah. We are in a whole new world with AI in so many areas.
And, yeah, definitely wanna make, the best use out of it to lighten our loads for sure.
Yeah. Also, just gotta throw a little keeping in mind, security. Just have to throw that in there. So Yeah.
So Yeah.
We don't need any data breaches, and we don't, we don't want any issues.
Right. Right. And it's always learning, especially the free tools, so just gotta be careful there.
For sure. For sure. I'm I'm Carla, I'm just gonna ask the audience if they have any questions to pop them into the q and a now. So because we might we might have a couple of minutes to to get to them, but I'm gonna ask you one last question, for for the audience. What's one piece of advice that you'd give somebody wanting to start their career and take on more of a DevOps role in their organizations today?
Yeah. My I think my one piece of advice for someone starting their career in DevOps today is to focus on building a strong foundation in automation and collaboration.
Learn the key tools and technologies, but equally important is developing communication skills and the ability to work well with cross functional teams.
DevOps is all about breaking down silos and improving collaboration.
So being adaptable, being curious, and willing to learn from others will be just as important as your technical skills. You can be highly successful if you're resourceful and self motivated to learn because of the many online resources available. I would say be scrappy. Be scrappy.
Yeah. Just jump in and learn. Jump in headfirst.
Yeah. Be scrappy and, like, be when whenever I I always get really excited when curious as well. Yeah. I don't know if you've seen Ted Lasso. Have you seen TV show Ted Lasso on Apple TV?
No. I don't think I have.
Oh, it's a it's a it's a brilliant show about an, an American high high school or college football coach that goes and, coaches a UK soccer team. And there's this whole bit about him and about nobody's curious anymore, and curiosity will drive better results and get people to better solutions. So when when when I hear be curious, I'm just like, yes. Be curious, and you can learn so much and and do so much.
Amen. Yeah. It's it's a key, foundational point for sure.
Cool. Carla, thank you so much. I haven't seen any questions pop in, to to the q and a box, but if anybody has any right now, this is this is your chance.
Where maybe a Manti pack.
That is a good question.
Work on real world scenarios and challenges to understand better. Is there anywhere that we can get that to learn, maybe a dummy project? I don't know if any DevOps specific, dummy projects that I've come across.
Carla, looks like you're shaking your head a little bit Yeah. There as well.
The best place again is is Trailhead. I'm not sure what specific DevOps courses that they have out there. One of the from my perspective, one of the best things that you can do do to learn, is especially when it comes to comes to DevOps is with all those playgrounds that you might have or with all the developer edition orgs that you might spin up. See what you can do between those orgs by trying to deploy them from one environment to the other by, either looking at maybe using Salesforce DX in the command line or signing up to a free trial of GearSet. Of course, I'm gonna plug GearSet, because you can do that and setting up, setting up pipelines and things like that and those tools, to help. But, Carla, I don't know if you have had any other advice there.
Yeah. I would echo what you mentioned about the playground and the trailheads, the different courses for sure. And I and I love what you called out about, you know, the deployment between the orgs. There's so much that you learn when you deploy between orgs as well, which is always really interesting. So yeah. And, of course, definitely gotta plug your set. Gear set's one of my number one tools, so I love it and highly recommend it.
Yeah. And if you're if you're building things in Trailhead and doing the projects on Trailhead and things like that, then you've already got orgs that you'd built stuff in, and you can practice deploying with them as well.
Can I work with DevSecOps at Gearset? Yes. So Gearset has a lot of to a lot of tooling, to help you with the security side of things. We have a suite of observability and monitoring tooling now specifically for flows. We also have code reviews powered by Clayton as well. So, security and guardrails that you're looking to build into your DevOps process, you can achieve with Gearset.
And Kyle says, our team love Carla and Gearset. Thank you, Kyle.
Thanks, Kyle. I love you too, Veronica.
Perfect. Carla, thank you so much for your time. We're just running over here.
So we're gonna wrap up. But thank you so much for your time, and thank you so much for your experience and your wisdom. I find it really valuable, and I hope everybody that's tuned in has as well.
Thanks, Jack. This has been a truly a fun time. I love talking about this. I'm passionate about it. And I can't believe we're at time. So maybe part two. I don't know.
Yeah. May may maybe. Listen.
We just hop on the LinkedIn live or something together and and just riff on it all day.
Yeah.
Speak speaking of LinkedIn, if people wanna reach out and connect with you, they can do so on LinkedIn?
Yep. They can. Absolutely. Hit me up.
Perfect. Alright. Thank you, Carla. Thank you so much for attending. I hope you've enjoyed this very first careers in DevOps webinar with the DevOps Launchpad and Gear Set crew, and I will see you all on another edition sometime soon.
Thanks, everybody. Have a great day.
Bye bye.
