We are so excited to announce that Gillian Reynolds is Silverline’s second Salesforce Certified Technical Architect—one of only a few hundred in the world, and one of the very few women among them. This pinnacle certification is awarded to Salesforce architects who demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and capabilities to design, build, and maximize high-performance technical solutions on the Salesforce platform across all areas of domain expertise.
Entering the ecosystem
After consulting for IBM out of college, Gillian worked in software development for nine years. She became a Director of Business Systems, and her company at the time became a Salesforce customer—at which point she led their implementation and started gaining certifications. By the end of 2017, she had earned enough certifications to qualify for the Salesforce Certified Technical Architect credential.
She joined Silverline in March of 2018 as a Solution Architect, combining her technical expertise with her passion for interfacing with clients and ensuring their solutions match their unique needs.
“After having the opportunity to implement Salesforce for my previous employer, I fell in love with the platform and community and wanted to take the next step to devote my career to Salesforce fully,” said Gillian. “I first learned about Silverline through their recruiting efforts and was immediately excited about the variety of their projects and clients, their focus on a healthy consulting lifestyle, and the opportunity to be surrounded by tons of smart, Salesforce-focused technologists. Based on those factors, combined with Silverline’s fun and people-focused culture, I was certain I had found the right place for me — and I was right!”
Gillian became involved in the Salesforce group Ladies Be Architects and found the support of other women architects in the ecosystem. She also found a mentor through the program: Luke Emberton, a Salesforce Certified Technical Architect.
Taking the leap
“It was a combination of realizing I was qualified and that it was something I could achieve. Through my involvement in Ladies Be Architects, I could see what the certification process consisted of and what it would take to get there. That made a big difference,” said Gillian. “I leveraged a lot of their videos when I was preparing—comparing my solution and presentation against someone else’s—and worked closely with my mentor and coach to do mock scenarios and get feedback.”
“I don’t know if I ever felt officially ready to make the jump to CTA, but what convinced me to move forward was happenstance and serendipitous —- my manager encouraged me to connect with other Silverline folks who were considering it, and we started meeting and having regular group chats — as a group we committed together and that made it easier to stick to it. Greg Grinberg was my accountability buddy and we supported each other and checked in regularly to make sure we stayed on top of our studies.”
Gillian also worked with FlowRepublic, an organization that provides holistic training and coaching designed to further develop the skills for Salesforce architects.
CTA in action
“I am so proud of Gillian’s incredible accomplishment, and so glad to have her on the team for all that she brings to the company, the culture, and our projects,” said Gireesh Sonnad, CEO of Silverline. “Having Salesforce Certified Technical Architects is a huge value add for our clients, who increasingly benefit from the deep technical and industry expertise.”
“One thing that’s exciting about having the certification at Silverline is that I’ll have more opportunities to lead and architect our most complex projects,” said Gillian. “To become a CTA, you have to be knowledgeable about everything—every aspect, every Salesforce Cloud. You can’t just know a feature exists; you have to really know how it works. With this knowledge, this experience, I can serve clients with meaningful, personal information about the platform.”
Gillian also knows that being a CTA goes beyond Salesforce knowledge. “I can now more effectively approach a problem from the big picture and architectural perspective. But equally important, I can identify best fit platform capability for a project’s unique needs. It’s not just about knowing Salesforce but how Salesforce interacts with everything else.”
Are you training to become a CTA? Want in on that study buddy group? We’re hiring.
