From Rockstar to Sales Superstar: A Journey into Tech

Songwriting and sales actually have a lot in common — just ask Jessica, a former “almost rockstar” turned tech sales superstar. Today, as Senior Solutions Engineering Managing, she and her team work together to orchestrate the perfect solution (or, should we say, the perfect hit) for Salesforce customers.

“It’s very similar to writing a song, because you're creating something that's going to resonate with your audience,” Jessica explains. “And that's what we do in pre-sales. We weave together stories of digital transformation that relate directly to our customers, allowing them to see how their business will thrive with Salesforce.”

So, how did Jessica go from her music background to working in sales at the world’s #1 AI CRM? A little bit of luck, a whole lot of passion, some technical know-how, and, of course, a great soundtrack.

Interested in spinning your own tune at Salesforce? Discover our open roles today.

Marching to Her Own Beat, Always

Ever since her first Neil Diamond concert as a child, Jessica knew she wanted to pursue music. (Well, it was either that or becoming an astronaut.) “I remember my whole body just felt electric. I was like, I want to do that someday!”

So, after graduating from Pepperdine University with a degree in business administration, she decided there was no better time: it was time to pursue her dream of becoming a rockstar.

Want to hear from Jessica herself? Check out her story on YouTube.

That dream became a reality when her band won the John Lennon Songwriting contest and landed a contract with Capitol Records. In a whirlwind, they recorded their album and went on tour — meeting fans and living the rockstar life for the next five years.

“I’m so grateful I got to do the music, I got to experience the excitement of the performance, of connecting with audiences, of telling stories through my songwriting. It was one of the greatest chapters of my life.”

That chapter, though, was a time of great change in the music industry — one in which streaming services were making it harder for musicians to earn a living from selling albums. So, she decided to make a hard pivot, one that led her to her other passion: technology. She landed a job at a software start-up in tech support and quickly worked her way up the ranks to solutions engineer.

Simultaneously, Jessica was contemplating another big life decision — one that would change her life forever. “I had struggled with my gender identity since childhood, but didn't have the words or the label for what it was I was experiencing. As I got older, it became more and more difficult to ignore it.”

Within a month, Jessica came out as transgender to her friends and colleagues, bought a new condo, and started a new chapter as Jessica. As part of that journey, she decided she needed to explore a new career opportunity — one with an organization that more closely aligned with her personal values of inclusion and equality for all. Enter: Salesforce.

“Salesforce was like a beacon for me when I was job searching. It was literally like a lighthouse, a beacon of equality and truth and all of these values that I personally hold dear.”

“I am grateful for the opportunity to rub shoulders with some of the greatest minds in philanthropy, business, and technology, all under one roof at Salesforce. It really is that lightning-in-a-bottle situation that I thought I would only experience once in my career, but I've been fortunate enough to experience twice.”

The Journey to Salesforce

Jessica started at Salesforce as a frontline Solutions Engineer, supporting nonprofit customers.

“One of the things I love about Salesforce is that we really live by this mantra of business being a platform for change, and being on the side of the company that focuses on helping our nonprofit community is truly exciting.”

Jessica now manages a team of Solutions Engineers, who she refers to as “rockstar” individuals. The people she gets to work with — paired with the sense of community she has found at Salesforce — have made her feel at home since day one.

“When I think about the environment at Salesforce, one of the things I love is how collaborative it is. I love the opportunity to rub shoulders with people from diverse backgrounds that are often approaching things from a very creative standpoint. As somebody from a musician background, that's really important to me.”

Salesforce has supported Jessica in her tech sales career, leading her to two promotions since starting with the organization. “I’ve had incredible mentorship and coaching from amazing leaders here that looked at me beyond which gender I am. They looked at me as a holistic person and said, we want to invest in you.

Where Values are Valued

Jessica resonates with Salesforce’s values-driven culture, in which our five core company values — Trust, Innovation, Customer Success, Equality, and Sustainability — drive everything we do and every action we take. A few of her favorite hits:

• Equality: Jessica has become involved in Outforce, an Equality Group that brings together allies of equality in sexual orientation and gender identity. “It’s not just a checkbox on somebody’s idea of who they think the company should be,” shared Jessica, describing the culture of inclusion at Salesforce. “It's real. It's something that I think goes to the heart of who we are as a company — that we are made better by pulling together voices of people that have very differing life perspectives, that bring different ideas.”
• Customer Success: Leading a team of Solution Engineers, Jessica is committed to uncovering the best solutions for customers in the nonprofit sector. “Customer Success is critically important to us because we see our customers as strategic partners,” shares Jessica. “And, at the end of the day, what matters to us is how successful the customers are when they leverage our AI-driven technology to transform into a better version of themselves.”
• Innovation: As a self-described “nerd,” Jessica is particularly excited by the strides the company is making in the world of artificial intelligence — particularly as it relates to customer success. “AI is all about the data. And when you couple the value of innovation with our value of trust, it has really positioned Salesforce to be one of the top leaders in the space for artificial intelligence moving forward.”

So, what’s next for the rockstar-turned-tech-sales-superstar? For Jessica, the sky’s the limit when you work for an organization that aligns to your values and encourages you to truly be yourself.

“Being at a company like Salesforce, where I'm not only allowed to be, but encouraged to be my authentic self, is such a gift. Because every day I get to wake up and truly be my best self, my most fabulous self, my most expressive self, and I don't take that lightly. I'm very, very thankful for that opportunity.”

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