Joanna Holmes always knew she loved teaching, but she didn’t expect to be teaching software. Now she’s thrilled to be Boyer’s Microsoft Power Platform training consultant.
Armed with an English/language arts teaching degree from St. Cloud State University, the Minnesota native initially planned to be a high school literature teacher. With student loans to pay, she instead opted for a temporary job in marketing at Globe University. As the months turned into years, her job morphed from data entry to onboarding new employees to training.
“I showed a little bit of aptitude at talking to people,” joked the bubbly Holmes. “I ended up getting into training.”
When the university switched CRM platforms to Microsoft Dynamics in 2012, Holmes became their system administrator. She learned the new system herself and then trained other employees on it. She also attended a boot camp on Microsoft Power Platform, a low-code toolset that helps companies build apps, automate workflows and create reports.
“I really liked the platform. It was really awesome compared to what we were using as a database because I could just go build whatever we wanted,” Holmes said.
“I like the direction that I think Microsoft has always tried to take with the Power Platform, which is democratizing it. You can get pretty far down the path without having to get a developer involved.”
Joanna Holmes, Power Platform training consultant
She quickly discovered that she really enjoyed working with the Power Platform — and teaching others how to use it. In 2016, she moved to a training position at Microsoft partner PowerObjects. There she delivered the very same Power Platform boot camp that she had once attended.
A teacher at heart, Holmes thrives on helping people find their “lightbulb” moment, when they realize they can do more than they thought with the software.
“It’s not that scary once you get into it and you get familiar with it,” she said. “If I can, you can. That’s kind of my mantra.”
After a decade working with the Microsoft software, Holmes has learned the ins and outs of the software. She is a self-proclaimed “evangelist” for the Power Platform. She likes how versatile the solution is, able to meet multiple different needs with the same toolset. Holmes enjoys seeing how others use the Power Platform to meet their company’s needs.
“I like the direction that I think Microsoft has always tried to take with the Power Platform, which is democratizing it,” Holmes said. “You can get pretty far down the path without having to get a developer involved.”
Boyer’s new Power Platform training consultant
Holmes found out about the job opening at Boyer through a former coworker, Dave Kuntz, who also has a background in education. The thought of working for a Microsoft partner that focused on helping SMB clients, especially those in the nonprofit industry, piqued Holmes’ interest.
“I just really like Boyer’s clientele. I was burnt out on the big enterprise projects,” she said. “Smaller projects that have a big impact is something that speaks to my soul.”
At Holmes’ last job, she was one of 250,000 employees. “It was hard to not feel like a number so I kind of wanted to go back to a smaller group where I could recognize my team members and get to know them a little bit better,” she said.
A Boyer’s Power Platform training consultant, one of Holmes’ first tasks will be to teach our upcoming Power Platform Boot Camp. Always a proponent of lifelong learning, Holmes said the class can help people fill in the gaps of what they might already know about the Power Platform — or introduce them to it.
“If you’re brand new to Dynamics it’s helpful. As you’re going through an implementation you’re at least speaking the same language as the people who are helping build out what you have going at your organization,” Holmes said. “Having that key foundation is just super helpful with the process so you understand what’s possible with the platform.”
She’s excited to help users learn the capabilities of the platform. She looks forward to getting them started so they can take it even further to meet their company’s unique needs.
Holmes lives in Brooklyn Park, Minn. with her husband, Gabe, and their dog, Kotter.
When she’s not teaching the versatility of the Power Platform, Holmes spends most of her time in her backyard, tending to her garden or taking pictures of it. She and Gabe are transforming their suburban grass into a native meadow, with such pollinator favorites as Blazing Star and Cardinal Flower.
On cold or rainy days, Holmes also enjoys board games and is an avid Dungeons and Dragons player.
Power Platform Boot Camp
Feb 21, 22 and 23
Microsoft-certified instructor Joanna Holmes will walk through the primary functions of the Power Platform, equipping attendees with what they need to build their own software solutions.
