Welcome, Macy
One step.
That's all today.
This is your map from chef to Salesforce consultant — built so you never have to hold the whole thing in your head. You only ever do the one thing glowing below. Everything saves itself.
Tiny steps. Calm pace. No overwhelm.
Start with the one glowing task below. Everything saves as she goes.
Make a free Trailhead account
Your numbers — drag these, the whole plan updates
How this works (10-second version)
① Do the one glowing step on this screen. ② When you've got momentum, open Plan for what's next. ③ Build shows you the actual job. ④ Money shows the payoff. ⑤ Spirit is for the hard days. Tap ? anytime a word confuses you. Tap ⚙ to back up your progress so you never lose it.
The roadmap
Your plan,
one phase at a time
Five phases. Don't read ahead if it stresses you out — just open the one you're in. Tick a box and it saves instantly. No degree required for any of this — certifications + real practice get you hired.
Total spend to your first job
Everything below is free except the certification exams. Trailhead (all the learning) is free forever. Running total if you take every cert on the path:
Exams are taken online from home (proctored) or at a test centre. Your dad's covering the cost to get you to job #1 — so money is not your blocker here.
See the actual job
What you'll
build
A junior consultant's day is mostly this: take a business that's a mess of disconnected tools and make it work in Salesforce. Here's what you can do now vs once you're trained — and exactly what you'd build for a place like Steady State.
Try it right now
Build a Salesforce object — in this app
Before you go anywhere else, do the actual thing. A tiny, real taste of the job — right here, no account needed.
Your demo org (your sandbox)
A demo org is your own free Salesforce you build whatever you want in. It's how you learn, how you practise, and what you show in interviews. Junior consultants build these constantly.
Get your free Developer org ↗You can do this on Day 1
- Sign up & log into a real Salesforce
- Create an object (e.g. "Coffee Order")
- Add fields, make records
- Build a report & a dashboard
- Automate a task with Flow
You can do this once trained
- Unify a whole company's data in Data Cloud
- Build an AI agent with Agentforce
- Design automated customer journeys
- Scope & lead a client implementation
- Advise on the right solution & price it
The 3 products you'll specialise in
Plain-English, with what you'd build in Retail, Consumer Goods and Hospitality — plus a real example for Steady State (your shop runs Square + Shopify + a subscription program + an email list — exactly the kind of beautiful mess these tools fix).
When you're ready to get hired
Your kit, the live job listings you'll qualify for, your LinkedIn & résumé prep, and interview practice all live in one place.
Getting hired
Toolkit &
job hunt
The goal is not to buy everything. The goal is to be ready to learn, interview, and work like a junior Salesforce professional without tech friction. Start light. Upgrade only when the job or interviews demand it.
Clean desk. Clean files. Clean profile.
A recruiter should see the same story everywhere: LinkedIn, resume, Trailblazer profile, and interview answers.
Must-have setup
Reliable laptop
Good enough: a modern MacBook Air/Pro or Windows laptop with strong battery, camera, and enough RAM. Do not buy a maxed-out machine before the first job unless she actually needs one.
Browser + accounts
- Chrome for Trailhead, job applications and docs.
- Google account for Docs, Drive and calendar.
- Password manager before job hunting gets messy.
Salesforce learning stack
- Trailhead profile
- Developer org
- Admin cert prep
- Trailblazer Community
Video-call basics
For interviews and remote work: quiet room, decent mic, webcam at eye level, simple background, reliable internet.
Good optional upgrades
External monitor
Useful once she is building in Salesforce while reading requirements or watching training. Not day-one essential.
Desk comfort
Laptop stand + separate keyboard/mouse reduce neck strain and make long learning sessions less draining.
Lighting
Soft front light helps interviews look more professional than any fancy webcam.
Notes system
Keep one simple folder: resume, LinkedIn text, project notes, interview stories, cert screenshots.
What a first Salesforce job will probably give her
Every company is different, but this is the normal remote/hybrid tech stack to expect.
LinkedIn, resume and interview prep
🎯 Jobs you'll qualify for in ~6 months
Once you've passed the Salesforce Administrator cert and built a demo org, these are the realistic entry roles. Each button opens live San Diego openings on LinkedIn (entry-level filter) — they refresh automatically, so there's always something current to look at. Set up a job alert on each.
These are live LinkedIn searches filtered to entry-level and the last 30 days — actual listings, not examples. Apply to a focused 5 at a time with a tailored resume, not 50 at random.
LinkedIn update kit
- Headline: aspiring Salesforce Admin / Consultant.
- About: chef-to-consultant story + Trailhead progress.
- Featured: Trailblazer profile, project screenshots, certs.
Interview practice
- Prepare 5 stories: pressure, customer, conflict, learning, failure.
- Use STAR: Situation, Task, Action, Result.
- Record one answer, improve once, stop.
AI helper rules
- Use AI to draft, compare and tailor.
- Never paste private IDs, passwords or sensitive documents.
- Always keep the final voice human.
Automation that is safe
- Keep a master career doc.
- Update it after each project/cert.
- Use saved prompts to regenerate resume and LinkedIn copy.
- Avoid bots that log into LinkedIn or mass-message people.
Copy/paste prompt for Macy
Paste this into ChatGPT. It will ask Macy employment questions first, then build an ATS-friendly, recruiter-friendly Salesforce entry CV and LinkedIn rewrite.
The weekly automation loop
Manual updates are safer than account automation. Do not give LinkedIn login details to browser bots or tools that mass-message people.
The payoff — honestly
Your wealth
No fantasy here — these figures come from real 2026 data. Set your numbers once below and everything updates: when you get paid, your retirement, and the house, car and trips it all buys. $200K is reachable, roughly a 6-year climb from your first job.
Your numbers
A common target is ~15% of your pay. On a $100K salary that's about $1,250/mo — so this climbs as you do.
The US stock market has historically returned ~10%/yr, or ~7% after inflation. 7% keeps these numbers in today's dollars.
When you get paid, and how much
The climb
Based on verified 2026 US ranges: first roles ~$55–75K; certified consultant ~$90–115K; senior/specialist $150K+, with experienced functional & CPQ consultants topping $200K. Your speed depends on effort, specialisation (Data Cloud / Agentforce / CPQ), location and the market. Faster lanes: contracting day-rates once experienced, or moving into Salesforce pre-sales.
Retirement — the part that matters most
Move the sliders above to see your future. The earlier you start — even $200/month while you're still learning — the more the market does the heavy lifting. This uses the "4% rule": a nest egg can safely pay out about 4% a year for life.
Is there a faster road to $200K?
Honestly — not really, not from a standing start. Data science (the "Google data scientist" idea) usually wants a degree and heavy maths and is harder to break into cold. Cloud (AWS) and cybersecurity take about as long. The Salesforce path is one of the most accessible high-ceiling routes for someone changing careers without a tech degree — which is exactly why it's the plan. You're not taking the slow road; you're taking the open one.
What your money buys you
The fun part — all driven by the same numbers you set above. As your income climbs, here’s what comes within reach, and roughly when.
First house ladder
Most realistic first-home target across North County.
Uses 20% as a clean planning target.
Based on monthly dream fund + current savings.
All of North County San Diego
From inland value (San Marcos, Escondido, Vista) to the coast (Oceanside, Carlsbad, Encinitas) down to Pacific Beach. Prices are 2026 median-sale reference points — tap any area to see live listings. The realistic first rung is inland North County or an Oceanside condo unless income, savings or a partner's income change materially.
Reality check: lender approval also depends on mortgage rates, credit, debt, taxes, HOA, insurance, down payment and whether she buys alone or with someone else.
Dark-silver M5 target
Dark silver exterior, black interior, fully loaded planning number.
Cash target. Finance/lease would change this.
M5 rule
A top M5 is a reward, not the first priority. The app treats it as a dream purchase after emergency savings, retirement investing and the house fund are already moving. BMW USA currently shows the M5 Sedan at $127,400 MSRP as shown before tax/title/registration/dealer pricing; the app uses $150K as a safer fully-loaded all-in dream target.
Travel randomizer
Japan, the UK, Ireland and Paris are already in the memory bank, so the randomizer pushes new destinations. The more income grows, the more exotic the trips become.
Wealth starter kit
Open the right accounts
Use simple, boring, low-cost investing first. No meme stocks, no leverage, no complicated trading until the basics are handled.
This section is education only. For tax or investment advice, use a licensed professional.
For the hard days
You've
got this
That's an actual Salesforce in-joke — and it's true. Everyone who made this jump failed a cert, bombed an interview, or felt like a fraud first. Here are real people who did it anyway.
People exactly like you
Voices to follow on Instagram
Credible, not cringe. For the days you can't get started, the days you want to quit, and the days you forget how far you've come.
Find your people
The Salesforce community is famously, almost suspiciously welcoming — they call it the "Ohana." For someone just starting out, this is gold: free events, mentors, and people who were exactly where you are. You don't have to do this alone.
🌴 Your local group — San Diego
The San Diego Salesforce User Group meets the 3rd Wednesday of each month — release news, "show & tell," networking, all free and beginner-friendly. There's a developer group too. Going to one meeting will teach you more about breaking in than a week of solo studying.
📚 Where the community lives online
All free. You don't have to join everything — pick one (the San Diego group or Salesforce Ben), show up once, and let it grow from there.
Your secret weapon: Uncle Greg
Your uncle Greg Fleishman is a big deal in food & beverage — he's founded and invested in brands like Kashi, Lily's, Suja, Nuun and Once Upon a Farm. That world (consumer goods, retail, hospitality) is exactly where these Salesforce skills are wanted. He can:
- Introduce you to consumer brands that already run Salesforce
- Mentor you on how the CG/retail world actually thinks
- Vouch for you — a warm intro beats 100 cold applications
A message you can send him (tap to copy):
You have to try different.
— the whole point of Jessica McCabe's How to ADHD. You're not behind. You're building something on your own terms.
Save, backup & rescue
Keep it
working
This page is not about hosting or domain setup. It is Macy’s simple guide for saving the app to her phone, backing up progress, and fixing the app if something stops working.
Save it to iPhone Home Screen
Use Safari or Chrome. Let the first screen load fully.
Use the iPhone share button at the bottom of the browser.
Name it Launchpad, then tap Add.
It should feel like a small private app.
Backup progress
Open Settings & Backup.
Save the backup file somewhere safe, or copy the backup code.
If the app is lost, the backup code or file can restore her checkboxes and numbers.
Troubleshooting
Open ⚙ and restore from backup code or backup file. Progress is stored in the browser on that device.
Close the browser tab, reopen the app, then try again. If needed, restart the phone.
Refresh the page. On iPhone, close the Home Screen app completely and reopen it.
Check Wi‑Fi/cellular. Try opening the original link in a browser instead of the Home Screen icon.
Tap ⚙ and turn on Calm Mode. That reduces animation and confetti.
Apple Notes text
Paste this into a shared Apple Note. Do not paste the app code itself into Notes.
Important guardrails
- Apple Notes is for the link, checklist and backup instructions — not the app code.
- The app stores progress in the browser, so backup matters.
- If changing phones or clearing browser data, back up first.
- If it feels visually busy, use Calm Mode.