What was your first “ah-ha!” moment before going independent in the Salesforce ecosystem?
I realized I needed to seek growth outside my traditional role to become the technical CRM professional I aspired to be. I wanted to gain true mastery of my craft and needed broader visibility and hands-on experience with Salesforce excellence to do that. Working at just one company wasn’t going to provide my envisioned path for growth.
When I started my independent consulting career, I made it a point to serve as a fractional expert to support multiple clients across various industries simultaneously — but on the same toolsets. As they say, “a rising tide lifts all boats.” I realized how rewarding it was for all parties to benefit from a feedback loop of continuous learning and perspectives simultaneously. Independent consulting has given me the experience necessary to become a true expert.
How does working with 10K let you focus on the work you love?
Every project I am offered is carefully qualified and aligned with my specific skills and interests. I also love that 10K’s infrastructure and framework make the entire project delivery experience seamless and address the challenges of being an independent Salesforce consultant.
For example, juggling client onboarding, SOWs, billing, and project management is time-consuming. Those day-to-day tasks cut into time that could be spent on delivering value to my clients. 10K offers a well-crafted operating system for their consultants to easily plug into and scale their capacity to take on projects.
10K also makes billing super easy and standardized with their work management system called 10K Connect. When a 10K project comes across my desk, I am confident I can jump in immediately to start work and that getting paid will be delightfully streamlined.
Also, as an independent consultant with young children, I seek flexibility to carve out a schedule that balances a full project load with more time for my kids. 10K supports that ongoing flexibility by providing a variety of projects and many tools that make independent consultants’ lives easier.
How does working with 10K help you build your business?
As an independent consultant, gaining exposure to new clients can be challenging. With 10K, I have the opportunity to get matched with projects for smaller and global companies across a variety of industry sectors. This is hugely beneficial to my strategy and the growth of my business.
Furthermore, 10K’s ISV partnership program provides exclusive access to unique learning, certification, and project opportunities. As an independent Salesforce expert focused on continuous learning, it’s been valuable to get readily attainable access and experience with innovative enterprise-grade tools.
How has 10K shaped your career?
Having a partner, support system, and community like 10K is re-energizing for me as an independent consultant.
10K helps fill in the things I miss from traditional employment, such as collaboration, relationship building, and culture. I love that I can turn to 10K’s community of independent Salesforce consultants to troubleshoot a project question or mentorship from 10K’s leadership team.
All of the learning opportunities, support, and access the 10K ecosystem provides help ease the “FOMO” that comes with not being an employee at a larger company. It also emphasizes the upside of the flexibility and rewards of being an independent Salesforce expert. With 10K, I can envision my path for continued growth.
