About Me


I am a Londoner with a Salesforce addiction.

I started working with Salesforce in late 2012 when my then employer became a customer, but it feels like it has been part of my life for so much longer. 

 In 2019 I left my role as Salesforce Solution Architect and Head of CRM at Wilmington plc where I juggled overseeing the support of 450 Sales Cloud users and 700 Chatter users with further developing the org and on-boarding new divisions. 

Now, as a Salesforce Certified Instructor I train those new to the platform as well as working as a freelance consultant.

Starting off as a Solo Admin I threw myself into the online and London community to 'find my tribe' for some much needed support and advice, and of course I found it by the bucket load.
I am very happy to give back to the community by leading the London Women in Tech Community Group, being one of the organisers of London's Calling, as well as writing a blog here at louiselockie.blogspot.com and by talking at community groups and events such as London's Calling (x4), Salesforce London World Tour (x7), French Touch Dreamin' (x2), Southeast Dreamin', WiTness Success, Midwest Dreamin', Yeur Dreamin', InspireEast (x2), Surf Force, and now nine times at Dreamforce. See here for a full list of my speaking appearances.

In February 2017 I was named one of the Winter '17 class of Salesforce MVPs. It is an honour and a responsibility that I am proud to carry, and I was thrilled to be renewed for a 4th term in 2020.

As well as being a Certified Instructor, I currently hold 12 Salesforce certifications including Application Architect, and in May 2016 I was the London recipient of the #AwesomeAdmin Award which brings with it the prestigious Golden Trailblazer Hoodie.

 Happily, in 2020 I was selected to be a Application Development Lightning Champion.

Popular posts from this blog

It's fun (and essential) to play in the sandbox

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I sat for, and passed, the Development Lifecycle and Deployment Designer certification earlier this month and it really was a reminder of the importance of sandboxes for all Salesforce admins and developers. This exam, being part of the architect track, is pitched at a more technical level than that of your average admin, but proper use of sandboxes does not require this kind of experience and is definitely not just for developers.

Last year I wrote a series of posts entitled Best Practices and Recommendations for New Admins and one of the Tools from post four was Sandboxes. Here is a deeper dive into the world of Salesforce Sandboxes.

I was shocked recently to hear a tale of an end customer having no sandboxes in use at all. There really is no excuse, sandboxes are available to all customers. How many, and what type, depends on your edition. Here is a handy grid to tell you how many you have access to out of the box. You can, of course, buy more.


Why make it complicated and have four…
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5 Quick Dreamforce Tips

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I've posted my Dreamforce advice in the past - How to Have an Awesome Dreamforce - but now I have collated some new quick tips. Here are a few things I try and remember -


Prep for Trailhead
In order to get the special Dreamforce Trailhead badge you usually need to complete a module while on the official WiFi. In order to save yourself time, before you leave home prepare a module by completing all except for the final unit, and then once you are at DF and connected, complete the final unit and 'Ta Da', you will get your special badge.

The App is Key
The Salesforce Events App is essential for DF. If you have watched any of the Road to Dreamforce sessions you will know that nearly every logistical question was answered with "see the app". Where to get lunch, what time and where you can collect your badge, and where to find the gender neutral bathrooms are all there. Most useful, IMO, though, is the at a glance agenda and the reminders it provides. DF is frantic, and s…
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Tips to Tackling Salesforce Certifications

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Exams are odd things and affect people differently, I have known several incredibly intelligent people who just don't do well in the exam situation. Yet exams are a part of life for the average Salesforce professional and it is definitely better to go into the test centre feeling prepared.

At the time of writing I have six Salesforce certifications. Several were achieved in the last year and I feel that I have developed a technique and approach in this time, which I will now share.

I answer these questions - 
Which certification should I tackle next?When will I be ready to sit the exam?Where should I take it?How should I prepare for the exam?How should I tackle the exam? Which certification should I tackle next?
Here in 2018 there are 25 different Salesforce certifications, grouped into 6 different roles and tracks. Whereas it used to be obvious which cert to go for next based on whether you were an Admin, Developer, or Consultant, now we have more options and I regularly see posts …
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