Blog

Frédérique Mounier quit working for 4 years to be a stay-at-home-mom. When she decided to go back to work, she discovered Salesforce through a program directed specifically towards women wanting to get back into the workforce.

Amidst a busy schedule (to keep up her thriving family life), she gained 4 certifications in her first 7 months of working on Salesforce. Read the story of how she achieved this superhuman (or should we say supermom) feat and how she's enjoying her 'comeback' into a whole new career.


My name is Frédérique Mounier, I live in France. I am currently a Business Analyst. Before being a Business Consultant I used to work in Communications. I had a child so I paused for 4 years and I took care of her. When I knew that it was time to go back to work, I decided to shift to digital. First I got interested in everything Google, then everything SEO, and, when I got the opportunity to enter formation kind of school to learn Salesforce, I applied and I was lucky enough to get in. The goal of this program was to get to learn Salesforce and to get the first certification, the Administrator Certification, which I did.

What were your goals when starting and how did you keep motivated?

I attended a program which was directed to women who were thinking of going back to the workforce. Presenters were Salesforce people and they taught the different things you can do with Salesforce. I decided to go with Administrator first. So the program was 12 weeks long, and the aim of the program was to be a certified administrator. So that was the first step. Right after the program ended, I was hired in the company I currently work in. I worked there for 5 months as an administrator and then I was sent on a mission with a client and now I am a business analyst. 


What made me want to learn everything about Salesforce was Trailhead. You can see my badge counts in Trailhead, 282 I guess today. I loved the spirit, I loved how they interact as a community, how they want us to have all the tools to move on with our careers and learn and keep on learning. This is a very good fit with my personality because I am very curious and almost everything I wanted to learn is in Trailhead. It helped me to be certified, and it let me work through more certifications also. I thought if I earned more certifications, I’ll get a job, I would stay relevant in my career because I have the certification to say that I have kept on learning.

"I thought if I earned more certifications, I’ll get a job, I would stay relevant in my career because I have certification to say that I have kept on learning."

What was the most challenging part of learning Salesforce?

I guess it was the fact that I was changing careers and was learning something completely new. It was a fact that the program was directed to people with a can-do attitude, so even if I had situational classes with people who taught me Salesforce, there’s a lot of personal work to do. Right from the start, I had to face problems and solve them on my own. That was very challenging at first but what kept me going was that we got in touch with the community really fast. We learned to look for any answers to our problems in the community, in the group, and on the internet. We learned pretty fast on how not to stay stuck with your problem. So the big hurdle became an advantage because, right now even if it is only 7 months of experience with Salesforce, I know how not to stay stuck with a problem. If I don’t find a solution, I should ask someone else, the team I am working with in France, the Salesforce community or other sites, like Focus on Force.

Do you currently have a certification? How did obtaining this certification impact your career?

I currently hold Certified Administrator, Certified Advanced Administrator, Platform App Builder, and Salesforce Sales Consultant. I’m currently working on Platform Developer 1 preparation.


Impact was very personal. First of all, it made me very sure that I wanted to work with Salesforce and move on with Salesforce. I am the one who keeps learning and searching for the answer – whether it’s about a problem or certification – and never let go until I get the answer. You have to be prepared to get the trust of colleagues and clients, and it reassures the clients. When I apply to be on the team, they say that I don’t have much experience, but [they will see] I am a quick learner because in 7 months, I gained 4 certifications. They know I’ll be able to adapt and provide the best services possible. 

"When I apply to be on the team, they may say that I don’t have much experience, but [they will see] I am a quick learner because in 7 months, I gained 4 certifications."

What is your advice regarding certification and how to study for the exams?

What works for me is Trailhead, Focus on Force, and getting my hands on the product. 


When I was preparing for App Builder, I was working almost everyday on the App Builder part of Salesforce. I went in Salesforce and put my hands on it. I train on Trailhead whenever there is a Trailhead module. I train on Salesforce almost everyday to get hands-on experience. If there’s something I don’t understand, I go to Salesforce Help. I try to be merciless with everything I feel I don’t understand or everything I feel I haven’t made my own. So for me, Process Builders and Flows were very difficult to get because I come from a non-technical background. My solution was that, "Ok, flows are difficult for me, I’m going to do 20 of them." I want to understand them fully and that is how I prepare. 


I passed the Certified Administrator on the first go. I tried Advanced Administrator twice and passed the second time. I passed App Builder the first time. I failed Sales Consultant on the first go, but I was sure it was an accident so I tried it 48 hours later and I got it. What I learned from this experience is failing your certification is absolutely not a big deal. You just need to know you’ve been working very well and you were just annoyed by some noise and you needed to focus on the certification.


The most important thing is, when you fail, you need to identify where you need to work on and get back to Trailhead. Failing a certification only means you are not ready yet; that doesn’t mean you will never pass the certification. So the first time I failed Advanced Administrator, I was really upset; I had worked so hard for this exam and it wasn’t a success. It took me two days to realize that it is not a dead end, and I went back to studying and I studied even more. The second time I took the exam went by like a breeze. So failing is a part of the journey and David Liu himself said that he failed 14 times – yes, 14 times! So if David Liu has failed 14 times to pass certification, him being David Liu at Google, I mean that’s not a big deal. You just have to get back to it and work a little more.

"Failing a certification only means you are not ready yet; that doesn’t mean you will never pass the certification."

You got 4 certifications in 7 months, how did you manage that with your busy schedule?

I tried to study everyday for at least 20 minutes. It is not 2 hours everyday, it’s 20 minutes everyday, everyday, everyday.


If I don’t have time and I have only 20 minutes, I’ll take the question bank exams on Focus on Force. If I have more time, I will study the guide that provides practical exercises. If I have even more time, I will go on Trailhead. However, I don’t push myself to do big blocks because that’s not sustainable. I need to be able to fit small blocks of working in my day. So the schedule would be to put 20 minutes in the morning because I wake up early during the day. I put 20 minutes in the morning before my husband and my daughters are awake. I start my day knowing that I have studied. If I have time after lunch, I push another 20 minutes and it makes me happy that I have pushed 40 minutes of studying in my day. If I’m having a really quiet day, I will again push 20-25 minutes at a time. 


This is how I work around my schedule. I also try to leverage everything I touch at work, and I also ask my colleagues about all the questions I think about. I am really lucky to have colleagues who are willing and happy to answer my questions. So during my workday, I do not stop learning. I try to learn with everyone and in every situation. 

"I put 20 minutes in the morning before my husband, and my daughters are awake. So I start my day knowing that I have studied."

What advice would you have for people wanting to start with Salesforce?

For people who want to start in Salesforce, I always tell them to go to Trailhead because the beginner Trailmixes gives you a good feel of what Salesforce is, what the community is, what the mindset is, and actually helps you get your hands-on experience in Salesforce. It helps people who do not have the technical background to see whether they like it.

For people who want to move forward with their careers – from what I have seen from a few colleagues – they don’t like to go for certifications because they think that it can be too much work or because they think they won’t pass. I think it’s just a change of mindset. Going for a certification is a good way to show how motivated you are to go on with your career and you are not afraid of putting in work to reach the next step. I know most of the time it sounds cheesy, but just check and see what you want to be certified in and just start! For me, the certification itself is not the goal. The goal is what you will learn in the journey and how a well-rounded Salesforce professional it will make you.

What is your biggest takeaway from this Salesforce journey?

As a mom, it allows me to show my daughter that failing is not a big deal. What’s important is to get back up and trying again. That’s the first thing. As a professional, it gives me a better understanding of what Salesforce is and what Salesforce can do for the clients. Actually, the more I learn, the more I want to keep on learning and doing more things. So I’m quite a learning geek actually; getting certification helps me to satisfy that. Each time I get a certification, I get a sense of pride but also a sense of “Okay, this is done. What is next?” 

"For me, the certification itself is not the goal. The goal is what you will learn in the journey and how a well-rounded Salesforce professional it will make you."

What Certification are you studying for now?

Focus on Force currently provides practice exams and study guides for sixteen certifications

Focus on People: Frederique Mermoz Mounier – Stay at Home Mom turned Salesforce Professional

Frédérique Mounier quit working for 4 years to be a stay-at-home-mom. When she decided to go back to work, she discovered Salesforce through a program directed specifically towards women wanting to get back into the workforce.Amidst a busy schedule (to keep up her thriving family life), she gained 4 certifications in her first 7 months of working on Salesforce. Read the story of how she achieved this superhuman (or should… Read More

Before and After a Salesforce Exam

With the study guides and the practice exams, we try our best to give you the most comprehensive view of what the exams might cover, to prepare you mentally for the exam. In this story, we give you a glimpse of what it might be like, psychologically and emotionally for actual people taking the exams. We have rounded up 3 participants in the last Australian Trailhead Bootcamp, who took their first… Read More

How to Stand Out as a Salesforce Developer

It isn’t news that the Salesforce ecosystem is growing. Last year, there were more than 5 acquisitions, 50 major enhancements and new features to the Salesforce multi-cloud, and the company itself issued revenue guidance of $13.23-13.24 billion. For those working in the ecosystem, this translated to a prediction that 3.3 million jobs would be created in the Salesforce economy by 2022. That works out at over one million jobs a year… Read More

Focus on People: Olivier Baelde – Advancing in Salesforce

“It’s a platform where you have to really keep current with what is new, what are the new things coming, and what features you can use in a particular project,” said Olivier in this interview for our Focus on Force community. Olivier Baelde is an experienced learner and user of Salesforce platform. He shares his thoughts about the platform and gives useful advice on how to keep moving forward in the Salesforce… Read More

Trailhead Takes It to the Beach

First Down UnderThe first Australian Trailhead Bootcamp was held from July 22 – July 25 at the Gold Coast in sunny Queensland. For people attending from the southern states of Australia, it was a welcome break from the cooler temperatures to the warmer blue skies of the sunshine state for 4 days of non-stop Salesforce learning! The Trailhead Bootcamp is unique in that it combines expert-led training, onsite help from instructors… Read More

Jumpstart for Non-profits

Salesforce has been solving an ever growing number of operational and technical problems for thousands of businesses all over the world. Much like it works for businesses, Non-profits can greatly benefit from using the platform. Salesforce recognized this, so they developed a system for the use of the Salesforce platform in the Not for Profit sector: The Non-Profit Success Pack (NPSP).Through the Salesforce Foundation, Salesforce donates 10 licenses for their… Read More

Focus on People: Richard Hone – Midlife Career Change Towards Salesforce

In today’s interview, we have Richard Hone, a Salesforce learner who is working with a Nonprofit Success Pack partner.  From an electrical engineer with more than 20 years experience, he is now a successful Salesforce developer. He shared that exploring Salesforce for Nonprofit is one of the biggest decisions he made midlife. He went into detail as to how he prepared for his certification: going through the study guides, practice… Read More

Common Pitfall Errors as a Result of “Order of Execution”

When building in Salesforce, it is essential to keep in mind the order of execution of the different components that make up a Salesforce build. These components consist of almost anything you can think of, from Point-and-Click to well-written code. In the image below, you can see the order of operations that Salesforce follows when taking such components into account.An example of a basic order of operations can be: first… Read More

Focus on People: Dominick DeFazio – From Sales to Lead Dev

Dominick was in sales when he started his Salesforce journey. As a user, he was frustrated with how the org was set up for the functions that he would use everyday. Determined to improve their team’s processes, he tried to learn Salesforce configuration and went straight to pursuing a PD1 Certification.Read about his insights and tips to help others achieve a rapid on-the-job learning of Salesforce that enabled him to… Read More

Focus on People: Nat Sullivan – From Start by Accident to Start with Confidence

Nat had never heard of Salesforce when she was offered an internal position by her company to be the Salesforce Trainer for North America. Coming from an end-user non-technical background, it felt like she was pushed into deep waters, and forced to swim.  Read how her Salesforce journey has led her to the most challenging, yet the most rewarding experiences of her life. In this interview, she tells us about the… Read More

Focus on People: Julian Virguez – From Java To Salesforce Developer

Read how the Salesforce platform has helped a Java developer to learn and improve his programing skills on a whole new level.  Julian worked as a Salesforce developer in a consulting company. He has been working with Salesforce for more than 5 years and he has so many useful things to share with our community. Keep reading and find out more about Julian’s Salesforce experience and learning process.What is your role… Read More

Understanding Salesforce Email Integration

Do you ever get confused about all of the different options available for working with email and Salesforce? I do, and so we created a one pager overview diagram. It is broken up by use case or scenario. Get the Email Integration Options PDF Download PDF   Gmail / OutlookIf you use Outlook or Gmail for your email, you have a few options. To start with, there is Outlook Integration… Read More

The Small Things that Go a Long Way – The Importance of Configuration Descriptions in Salesforce

by Mary Mendoza Adding comments and descriptions to configuration changes in Salesforce may take a minute now, but may save you hours in the future. Read on to understand why getting into this habit is a best practice that you want to ensure you are following now!I was just reading an email post from Jen Lee about Flow and automation and she mentioned that everyone should provide descriptions for their… Read More

Focus on People: David Paradise – Finding Yourself On A New Path And Coming Out A Winner

Often, your job tasks or your role could be the reason for learning Salesforce and getting certified. In David’s case, he had to learn Salesforce because he started working for Salesforce after an acquisition.David is currently a Senior Quality Engineer at Salesforce Commerce Cloud. Discover the interesting story of how he had to dive right in to getting his Trailhead wins and his first Salesforce certifications.How and Why did you… Read More