I am incredibly honored to be awarded Microsoft MVP for 2023. What is the MVP Award? Microsoft recognizes members of the tech community who are passionate about two things: sharing their knowledge and helping others.
What makes this award special is every MVP’s journey is unique. MVP’s are content creators, bloggers, presenters, volunteers, user group leaders, and mentors. Their hunger for learning is matched by their passion for helping others, and all of those resulting gifts are woven together into this fabric called the Microsoft Tech Community.
My personal journey to MVP started with a single speaking event – actually, the last one before the COVID shutdown. My first session “Power Apps and Power Automate – Tips from a First Time User” brought in a full crowd and that’s when I knew I’d discovered my gift. In the years to come, I started speaking at conferences and Microsoft community calls.
With conferences comes networking and over the years, I developed friendships with fellow community members and speakers. To fill the voids between in-person gatherings, I became a mentor and participated in various women-in-tech guidance calls.
But sometimes in our quest to serve, we have to make sacrifices with our time. My conference travels have taken me all over the United States and as a mom and wife, I sometimes feel guilty for missing out on the family time. To show his support and celebrate this milestone, my husband had a beautiful custom necklace designed by a local jeweler. This one-of-a-kind pennant is a symbol and reminder of the reason I get out of bed every day. Thank you to him and my family for the tireless help over the years!
As for what’s next on my MVP journey – this is just the beginning. Stay tuned.
