This month we caught up with Samantha Mash, a highly driven, resourceful and proactive Salesforce Administrator with 100+ Trailhead badges, to find out how she uses her commute to complement her Salesforce learning journey.

Sam, welcome to our #AdminMastersSeries interview! We’d love to know how you got started on your Awesome Admin journey?

After a nine-year career break and three children later, I started a boutique Salesforce consultancy with my husband. After four years behind the scenes, I made the brave decision to retrain and become a client-facing Salesforce consultant. Having embarked on an amazing six-month journey with Supermum founder Heather Black and her hugely supportive team on Economic Change’s Supermum course, I am now based at an incredible nonprofit whilst still continuing to manage the needs of our Salesforce consultancy. Even with my rather busy schedule, every day’s a school day!

Most of us have a daily commute which we while away scrolling through Facebook or Instagram. Can you tell us a little bit about how you use your commute time?

Studying begins on the 45-minute commute to work. I choose to swap my newspaper or screen time for something more valuable: continued education. This involves making use of the vast amount of both complementary and subscription resources available. My own personal preference consisting of reading the latest Salesforce release notes or alternatively a freshly downloaded study guide from Focus on Force. And the study doesn’t end there, my day never ends without a bit of Trailhead! You may ask why; it’s so I can meet my own personal KPI to improve and grow.

Love it! And you’re passionate about Salesforce tools like Chatter. Any hacks to share? How do we get those high Salesforce adoption figures we all strive towards?

A key focus in my current role is around improving user adoption, and running a fortnightly training program. This begins with a live cast that’s recorded, shared via Chatter (of course), along with a user guide. Ten days later we always host a follow-up Q&A session to troubleshoot any issues users may have faced. The learning doesn’t end there, as we also have a weekly “Salesforce Clinic” best described as a walk-in doctor’s office for any ad hoc Salesforce related questions. My enthusiasm to improve and grow must be contagious. One work colleague recently asked how they could learn more about Salesforce — obviously, my response was “Trailhead Is the best place to start!” — and another work colleague, having now left the organization and successfully completed the Supermum’s course, is now working as part of Heather’s team!

I’m blown away by your passion for Salesforce. How do you keep yourself so energized?

Confession alert: even with all the studying, sometimes I get a bit stuck! My time is far too valuable to sit for hours upon end trying to figure out what’s gone wrong — and let’s be honest, we’ve all been there! In my case, it is usually either a formula, flow, or process builder involved when this happens! The remedial action I choose to take is simple: I call upon either the Salesforce Partner Community or the Trailblazers Community as both give me fast, free and easy access to MVP’s and other experts, who always have accurate solutions.

It has been fantastic to get your tips on getting the most out of your daily commute. Any last words of wisdom?

My week finishes by reading through the weekly Chatter digests of which there is always plenty of content and ideas. Why? I present you with four simple answers:

1. It acts as my weekly to-do list for the forthcoming week
2. It provides me with new development ideas (well declarative ones anyway!) to put forward to the business
3. I receive, feedback on things that I am either working on, or will be shortly!
4. It enables peer-to-peer collaboration and learning

Whilst it may be challenging at times, I am living proof that you can do anything you put your mind to, and it is very rewarding and most definitely worth the effort. Salesforce has given me the confidence and flexibility that I have always dreamed of. It allows me to have the perfect work/life balance whilst giving me the time and opportunity to be the parent and wife I want to be, with the added bonus being the example I set to my children on a daily basis!

And my gift back to the Salesforce community and ecosystem — in a similar fashion to all the MVP’s and other experts that provide complementary support to me when I most need it — is with my utmost pleasure to return the courtesy and give the same back in return.

May the force be with you always.

Listen to the Admin Masters Series with more Top TIps for Admins here.

And remember you can SuperCharge your Salesforce Investment with a Premier Success Plan.