Summer 2007, San Francisco, CA, USA
I was part of the first BizAcademy in 2005, where I was the VP of Marketing for iDesign. It was really fun; I got to learn what kind of person I was as well as the traits I possessed. As VP of Marketing, I found it to be an easy job-I contributed to the design of the products (picture frames and desktop organizers), posters that advertised our products, and ideas for our commercial. And the best part of BizAcademy I, besides all the learning we got out of it, was the prize money! With that mindset, of course I did not hesitate to join BizAcademy All Stars when I received the invite. Four days of networking, building a relationship with salesforce.com, with the possibility of a future job here, why wouldn't I do BizAcademy again? Except this time, we weren't selling a product. We were selling a service.
During BizAcademy All Stars, we were all green consultants. I knew what a consultant was but did not understand why people would actually pay someone for their knowledge so I was not able to predict what my four days would be like.
As the days progressed, it just got harder and harder. I mentioned that in BizAcademy I, my job was fairly easy. So this time, I took on the role of president. I didn't choose to be president because I wanted a harder job; I chose it because I wanted to be the leader of the group. However, I was stressed everyday I was at BizAcademy. I dreaded being in the Noa training room from 9-5; I must admit, I even had my own mental countdown of when the whole thing would end! The competition was tough. Because I didn't have a clear understanding of what consultants did and why people would pay money for their knowledge, I wasn't convinced that my team could win, but I was willing to try (my team got 2nd place!).
Being president was tough. Not only did I have to get my whole team together, I had to make sure everyone was on task. I knew that this was one of my responsibilities prior to taking the role of president but I did not imagine it to be so tough. I constantly had to make sure my team was doing what they were suppose to but did not want to come off as "bossy", thus my team always seemed to fall behind the other teams, which was another reason for my stress. As president, I had to introduce my team to the VCs and the different departments we were selling our services to but since I do not like to speak in front of a large group, especially in front of "professionals", it was hard. Because I knew I did not feel comfortable speaking, it was another reason for me to be president; I wanted to try to put myself out there.
Through the two BizAcademys I have participated in, I have a better understanding of who I am and what I want to do after college. As I mentioned before, through BizAcademy, you are able to network yourself and build your relationship with salesforce.com. I now am interning at salesforce.com (in the San Mateo Office). I am part of the Partner Enablement Team for AppExchange. I call partners; I check to see what stage our partners are at in developing their applications and if they are ready to list it on our salesforce.com marketplace-AppExchange. I also check to see if our partners are ready to showcase their application at Dreamforce, salesforce.com's largest event of the year. Through my internship, I have a better understanding of the process of becoming an AppExchange partner. At my internship, I also schedule and notify our partners of our weekly colloquiums. Either someone on the AppExchange team or our Incubator partner(s) educates our other partners on best practices for company success and the various salesforce applications.
Not only have I received an internship at salesforce.com through BizAcademy, I have also received a $5,000 scholarship from BizAcademy. It has helped tremendously with my college tuition.
BizAcademy has been my greatest experience yet. It continues to provide me with great opportunities to learn and succeed. People I meet from my internship tell me that I am very lucky and wish they had an opportunity like BizAcademy when they were my age. Anyone who is invited to join BizAcademy should really take advantage of this great opportunity.
