THE EXCHANGE SPRING 2022 INTERVIEW WITH: Why do you think it is important to Deepa Patel celebrate International Women’s Day? Salesforce MVP and Accenture Business If we look at human history prior to 3000 BCE, women were Indira Gandhi, former prime minister of India; Mother Teresa, and Integration Architect not treated as second-class citizens. They functioned as Catholic saint; Michelle Obama, former first lady; Jill Biden, respected members of their communities, holding leadership current first lady; Kamala Harris, first vice president to be female roles that guaranteed peace and prosperity for all. and a woman of color; Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the house; Now, even in developed countries, women have to fight hard Hillary Clinton, former secretary of state; Indra Nooyi, former How has AppExchange influenced/ to shatter glass ceilings, advance into leadership positions, and CEO of Pepsi; and the list goes on. receive recognition for their intelligence, strength, courage, and It is so important to celebrate the accomplishments of all empowered you in your career? hard work. the women who have worked globally to overcome barriers, Despite these challenges, many accomplished women achieve success, and create a better world. So, let’s celebrate I began my personal Salesforce journey through an ISV partner across the world have had a positive impact on humanity. International Women’s Day together and encourage the next called Advologix Legal Suite, and both the co-founders, Paul The following have inspired me personally through the years: generation of young women to dream big. Deschenes and Jonathan Reed, were gracious and welcoming. Paul spent a full day in my office training me on Advologix. From that initial step, I advanced to receiving my certification as an administrator in 2010 and was awarded the status of an MVP in 2012. After that, I advanced to the executive committee of a nonprofit in the Bay Area, where I sold “It is so important software. I have since given presentations at Dreamforce and Why do you think diversity in the community conferences for multiple years. to celebrate the Over time, I recognized a need for support among people who workplace is so important? were struggling to gain certification, so I launched a pro bono accomplishments Salesforce Certification Study Group with nine instructors in Diversity is crucial to all individuals, both in the workplace and I am Indian and have lived in many different parts of the 2013. Our pioneering study group concept empowered over in the world at large. It brings: world. Even though Africa is the land of my birth, I also draw of all the women 450+ members to receive their certifications. This format Respect on a rich Indian cultural history. In fact, I have written an inspired other community groups to offer similar programs, New perspectives article about my Indian traditions going back 700 years. Over and these are currently thriving with their own mentors and the course of my life, I have made my home on multiple who have leaders. Innovation continents, which allows me to bring a unique perspective to More recently in my career, I have come to rely on Increased creativity my interactions, both in the workplace and in my personal life. worked globally AppExchange for the expertise its vendors can provide. Faster problem-solving Discrimination challenges have been a part of my journey, Because they work with multiple clients and understand Better decision-making and I know I am not alone in this. We need to have honest to overcome their diverse needs for automating various complex business conversations about our own biases, and how these impact processes, AppExchange vendors provide the technology A wider talent pool everyone around us, and we need to understand what we can and support to build robust solutions for customers. In Improved employee performance do to mitigate this situation. barriers, achieve my current role, I recommend AppExchange partners for We need to share more success stories from companies that different business processes, including marketing automation, Increased revenue and profits quoting, payments, financial services, document generation, Cultural education that leverages rich histories have addressed these problems, succeeded in overcoming success, and create deployment platforms, donation management for nonprofits, them, and we need to find the unity beneath our diversity and and many more. I have always believed in “buy versus build: Diverse cultural experiences join together to make this world a better place. a better world.” why reinvent the wheel?” This is the primary concept of Better community engagement AppExchange. In short, my connection to AppExchange has - DEEPA PATEL allowed me to develop into a trusted client advisor and grow my career as a leader and a business process transformation consultant. 19