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Authentic, Authoritative, Unapologetic ServiceNow commentary by Cory "CJ" Wesley and Robert "The Duke" Fedoruk
CJ: Live.
Duke: all right.
Me first.
Me first.
CJ: Okay,
Duke: All right.
Cory, what are we talking about today?
CJ: duke.
Today we have a very, very special guest
with us today, and that's super special.
We have the one and only Callie Alexander
Duke: Collie Alexander.
CJ: Collie.
Alexander, sorry.
Duke: Collie, welcome to the show,
Kali: I can't stop giggling.
I'm, I'm, this is so surreal.
It's absolutely surreal.
Thank you so much, both of you,
Rob and Corey, for having me.
Duke: and it's a very special
day to have you as well.
It's not just that we have Collie on the
show, but tell us why you're on the show.
Collie.
Kali: The reason why I'm on the show
and the reason why I can't stop giggling
is that this is my one year anniversary
in the ServiceNow space, and I am
stoked to be here because I used to
listen to you all, all the time, and
now I'm actually a guest on your show.
Exactly a year later.
How wild is that?
Duke: Time, out time.
My phone used to.
CJ: We fell off.
Duke: We've been trying real hard.
Kali: No, I, I am still true to
the gospel of CJ and the Duke.
Don't get me wrong, it
was a slip of the tongue.
Don't take it personally.
My bad.
CJ: Good cuz I didn't wanna
start recording the vh1.
Where are they now yet?
Duke: Yeah, where are they now?
Oh, we're off to a good start.
Okay.
It's gonna be a good one.
I can feel it.
Kali: This is gonna be good.
Let's go.
, Duke: so I guess the main question,
right, is what was that moment
that you said ServiceNow is
gonna be the thing thing for you?
Kali: You, well, you
know, things just kind of.
Fell into place.
My children were graduated
from high school.
My youngest was in the 12th grade,
and I know when she was in the
11th grade that I wanted to career
transition into like a profession to
have like a real job, so to speak.
I didn't know what it would be.
I thought that it would be
something in tech, but I didn't
know exactly what that looked like.
Right.
My sister was going through a
ServiceNow implementation at.
Her workplace and she is platform
owner, and she was like, Hey,
we're going through this thing.
It's called Service now.
It's two words, write it down,
and they're doing this free.
ServiceNow Administrative
Fundamentals course where you
can take the course for free.
You can take the, exam for free and sign
up for all these classes on now learning.
She says, knowing how your brain works,
I think this will be the thing for
you signed up on now learning piddled
around in there, and I loved it.
I loved how everything fell into
place in terms of being like
an all-in-one platform, whether
you're looking for improving.
employee services, customer services,
customer experiences, technological
advancements, operational services.
I loved how it all fell into place.
And so I was like, let's go.
Let me dive in with both feet
and let's make this thing happen.
And from there, the moment I did.
I immediately thought I was banging
my head against the wall because
I was like, what did I just do?
I don't understand any of this.
So from there, I just knew that
I needed to put myself on a plan.
Fortunately, because I have enough
experience being a mom and in other
workspaces, that I knew that if I
just oriented myself in terms of
committing to learning, committing
to a solid regimen, that I'd be okay.
And fortunately it worked out.
CJ: We often talk about
now learning, right?
And we say, Hey folks, , start
with now learning.
Get in there and do the ServiceNow
Foundations, , intro to ServiceNow if
you have never used a platform before.
Right?
, and from there, just, use all
the resources that are there.
It is really great to hear you say Collie.
that.
Now learning is where you got started.
That that resource is a resource
that really, , lives up to the
billing right of get, of jump
starting someone's ServiceNow career.
Kali: A hundred percent.
I mean, now learning is
truly a treasure trove.
If I had discovered now learning before
I'd gone to college, I would've saved
myself a whole lot of student loan debt.
Right.
I.
CJ: Say.
Duke: Yeah.
Kali: You heard that, right?
and now learning those, many
of the courses are free.
you can go in there right now and
spend all day and have a micro
certification and flow designer.
You can go in there right now
and have a micro certification, a
atf, you can spend a couple weeks
and get , your certification in.
, service now administrative fundamentals.
It has everything you need to know in
terms of that foundational skill level
that you need to know to skill up and can
create a really good foundation for you
to get some practical knowledge to be able
, to move into your first ServiceNow role.
Even the most expensive
course, I think, is only $500.
Now, I say only not to be dismissive.
That can be quite a bit of money
for some people, but it's not
tens of thousands of dollars.
You know what I mean?
Duke: Yeah.
It's not like, it's
not like college money.
And I've, I've said more than once too.
In what other world?
Can you pay thousands to
get the cert and ServiceNow?
Cory remember before search and
then search came out and then
they started charging for cert
and people lost their minds.
CJ: Yeah.
Duke: And I was, and I was like, Hey,
listen, , I had tens of thousands of
dollars a school day coming outta school.
Like it would've been way cooler
to just get Service Now starts.
CJ: Right.
Duke: I had some Bachelor's of
Arts in underwater basket weaving.
Just,
Kali: That served you well.
Duke: it didn't equip me for the world.
It didn't do anything commensurate
to the price of the thing.
And there's people laying down the
down payment on a house so that they
can get an mba and they still don't
know what they're gonna do after.
CJ: And some people are putting down
houses, not just a down payment.
Excuse me.
Duke: I'm glad the price isn't any more
expensive, but if you think it as a value
statement, not a pure cost statement.
Kali: Absolutely.
And, and I think the point that I'm trying
to make is that it's not cost prohibitive.
Right.
You know, you can, , talk to a friend
or a couple friends and be like, Hey,
I'm, can I borrow, $50 here and there
and put together enough money to be
able to get certified in something?
And I think that that's a true value for
people who are looking to career pivot.
I'm a midlife career pivot, so I, I
might be a little different than the
typical person coming into service
now, but, It was just so practical for
me and, and I, love the opportunity
and really took advantage of it.
Duke: Collie.
I'm really curious.
Corey and I will get a lot of people
, who ask us straight like, I wanna
get into service now, what do I do?
Right?
And then we drag out, well, you go to
now learning, and then you get your
pdi, and then you da, da, da, da, da.
But it doesn't sound like
anybody did that for you.
So how'd you figure out what to do?
Kali: Ah, yeah, so the first
thing I did was I got on the
Googler, I call it the Googler.
I just typed in ServiceNow, and
then I went to YouTube and I typed
in ServiceNow just to see what
was out there in the ecosystem.
The third place I went was
to LinkedIn and typed in.
Hashtag service now to see
what was already out there, to
see like what real people were
actually doing and talking about.
And to also get a sense of the
community, if there even was an
active community around the ecosystem.
And man was there.
that's how I found CJ in the Duke,
just by typing it into to Google
and then typing it into Spotify.
I started watching the live streams.
At that time, they were happening on
Friday that the ServiceNow developer.
Advocates we are hosting.
At that time it was
Lauren, Chuck, and Earl.
Now PNA is on the team, and I
would watch those every Friday.
At first, I just watched,
I didn't say anything.
I observed for a long
time, even on LinkedIn.
I just observed for a
long time, just like.
Who are the personalities?
Who are the folks here?
Who are the content creators,
who are the thought leaders?
And started following those pages.
And that's how I discovered you and Corey.
That's how I discovered
Jace, Chuck Tomasi and all.
Tim Woodruff.
Uh, all M g p o w.
I hope I'm got got those letters correct.
That's how I found all the players.
And then I just started kind of
watching, like what do they do?
I found out there was a Slack channel.
Oh, let me get an invitation to that.
And I just observed that was it.
So that happened in June and it
wasn't until July that I actually
got that now learning account.
my mom always said when you walk
in the room, read everything
before you start asking for help.
So I applied that here, like just
observed, started watching it.
Then I said, okay, let me go ahead
and start creating an account.
Let me start going through
some learning plans.
And then once I did that, things
just started to fall into place.
And then I also was able to
get a sense of where and how I
could fit in to this community.
CJ: I'm gonna distill some of that,
for me because the first thing that
I like that, that you said really
boils down to intellectual curiosity.
So, you approached ServiceNow with
an intellectual curiosity about
the platform, about the community,
about what this is all about, right?
Like just trying to discover and learn
whether or not this is something that you
should invest in discovering and learning.
. And I think through that you not
only discovered that, yes, this is
a place where I can, make a career
pivot, but this is also a place where
the community is, awesome and it's,
this is like a good place to be.
It feels like a, a nice vibe.
Right.
And.
What I like about that, ? Is that I
don't know that we've, touched on that
before, but being intellectually curious
about this probably helped speed up your
onboarded into the, ServiceNow ecosystem.
Kali: Yeah, I like to say
that, I follow the God of
curiosity, that's my main thing.
And I think that that has served me well
here and just served me well in life,
whether it's in parenting or in other
roles that I've had, that having that
curiosity, kind of a, a bend will kind
of keep me up at night in a good way.
Right?
It'll help me be like, oh, so
that's how a sub flow works.
Right?
And be excited about that, you know?
CJ: Yes.
Yes.
And that's what separates like folks
who get this stuff down and at the
core of your being versus the folks.
So end up doing this as just a job and
look, it's okay, To do this just as a job.
But when you get it, when it resonates
right deep down in your soul, you
wake up in the middle of the night,
like, damn, that's how flows work.
Kali: Yeah.
Right.
And be excited about it, you
know, and then can't wait to
get up that next morning at 3:00
AM to start it all over again.
You know?
So I, I think you're right.
I think I, that curiosity, Ben, was
something that, and continues to keep
me really committed to this continues
to make me wanna talk to people like
you and the Duke and various people
in the ecosystem, you know, with my
a hundred days of ServiceNow podcast.
CJ: Yeah.
Yeah.
I love that podcast by.
Kali: Thank you.
Duke: when did you make the transition
from just learning on your own
to learning out loud in public
Kali: Yeah.
Yeah, that's a really great question.
Duke: And also I'll, I'll tack another
question onto it as well is how was
it that you were so good out the gate?
Kali: Well, well, thank you.
CJ: Yeah, that one right there.
Kali: well first of all, you
know, learning out loud, I'm a
school teacher by trade, right?
I've taught trigonometry.
I taught first grade, fourth grade.
I've taught gifted students and.
One of the things that I learned as
being a teacher is that if I had my
students teach their neighbor, their
partner, their friend, they felt
vested in that teaching process, right?
They felt vested in their
friend knowing the information.
So that meant that they were gonna
study and they were gonna learn a
little bit better because they wanted
their friend to know it, right?
And so I was like, okay, I'm
gonna use that same strategy
when it comes to ServiceNow.
Even as a yoga teacher,
it's the same thing.
You know, I would always partner my
class up, as in when I was teaching yoga,
okay, we're gonna learn this arm balance.
You two get together, you two get
together, you two get together.
And.
The way that that starts to build
community and the way that the
learning just escalates so quickly.
I wanted to apply that to ServiceNow,
but I wanted to do it in a virtual space.
One of the things that I learned
over this kind of pandemic
season was how to use a camera.
I'm like, okay, I got a camera.
I know to use a camera.
I see that the ServiceNow community,
they already are doing live streams
on Friday, so the community is
primed for more live stream content.
So, Fortunately, I had the skillset
to do it, so I didn't have to
get over that technological hump.
I just needed to be sure that I
was communicating in a way and knew
the material enough and be brave
enough just to turn that camera
on and , let's start the stream.
I did it that way because
nobody else was doing it, and
I had to get ahead of the pack.
Bill McDermott said, we're gonna skill
up a million people by the end of 2024.
Well, dog gun it.
I better get at the head
of this 1 million people.
Right.
CJ: Amen.
Amen.
I love that, right?
Like, a couple things in there,
especially towards the end, right?
Like it's, you know, nobody
else was doing it, so I did it.
I love that.
the awareness of the market
and where it's going.
And it's like, look, you know,
nobody's gonna do this for me.
And, and people are coming, like,
there are other folks coming and
they're, you know, I like to look at
it like they're coming for my lunch.
Right.
And so
Kali: Right.
CJ: and I gotta eat ? So the first
thing I gotta do is I gotta go,
I gotta run faster, I gotta train
harder, gotta do all that stuff.
Cause people are coming, right?
That's the thing that motivates
me all the time, right?
Is that people are coming.
Kali: If I can add to that, at
that time, mind you, I'm still a
single mom of three children, two
teenagers, one young 20 year old son.
And I was losing my job at the same
time, and I had three months of pay
that I had and I was like, I have to
make this thing pop in three months.
I have to hurry this thing along.
Now, when I started in ServiceNow,
I hadn't lost my job yet.
It wasn't until like about September, so
I knew I needed to, when I got that call
that, okay, three months my, that's it.
I was like, okay, I have
to get a job by December.
And I have to do this quickly.
So I felt like, okay, well I
have a few months in the bank.
I'm already studying.
I'm already skilling up.
Let me make this a little bit faster.
Let me put some velocity into this.
Let me put my foot on the pedal.
And that was really the motivation
that I needed to do this
because I was losing the job.
But really the most important thing was
I wanted to model this for my children.
I wanted them to see like, wow, my
mom turned this thing around for us.
CJ: Oh, that's love.
That's right
Duke: It's funny, , I'm going through
my LinkedIn messages and it's like, yep.
November 30th is when you first
reached out to you know, start,
asking for tips , to accelerate it.
, CJ: so if I can abstract that to another
step in the process you set a goal.
Right.
you know, you started off, you
had this intellectual curiosity,
you did the things nobody else was
doing, And then you set a goal, and
then you went to attain it, right?
Like you worked hard, you, but
you set what your definition
of success was at that point.
And so that gave you
something as a target.
to work towards so that you wouldn't
wake up one day and think, maybe
I don't want to do it today.
Maybe I'll do it tomorrow.
Every day you woke.
up.
You had that goal that
you were working to.
So my guess is that
kept you pushing, right?
Kali: That absolutely kept me
pushing, and I love my children so
much and I know how important it is
for certain behaviors to be modeled.
I remember the first time I saw my
father speak publicly it was at a Dear
neighbor's funeral and in the, at the
end of the obituary and all that stuff.
They said, would anybody
like to come up and speak?
Now, I was a small child.
My mother is extremely claustrophobic,
extremely shy, agoraphobic.
And when they asked if someone would
speak, my father jumped up and ran to
the microphone and I was like, whoa,
what the heck is happening right now?
And I saw my father speak
about my neighbor, Mr.
Hunter, with such eloquence
and be received so well.
I was like, I wanna be that, that's in me.
If, if it's in my dad, that's in me too.
And so I said to myself, I want my
daughter, my two sons to say, wait a
minute, I can make something happen
for myself too because my mom did it.
So if it's in her, it's also in me.
So when I'm long gone from here, my
children will still have their lives live.
And I want them to be like, oh
yeah, my mom left this in me.
This is the gift she left me.
CJ: I love that.
Right?
Like So many times, we all think about
the thing that we're doing, we're doing,
doing it for ourselves, but so often
a bigger motivator is when we're doing
things for others, and not that this
compares to doing something for your
kids, but when I think about All the
stuff that I do in the community, right?
Like it's all to give back and
even when, I really don't feel like
it, you know, like, it's like, all
right, well we gotta record the pod.
Here we go.
Right?
Kali: right.
CJ: Because there are people
out there who, , who this helps,
and so that's a driving force.
So I love that.
Kali: I like the point you're
making because I like to think
that the work that I do contributes
to the community as well, and.
It is the exact same thing.
Whether I'm modeling this for my children
or I'm modeling this for the next
group of folks who are coming into the
ServiceNow ecosystem, there is this.
Other thing that's within
me is like always doing
something for the next person.
Like that's something that I've never
been able to shake, even during the times
in my life where I wanted to shake it.
It's just like I'm always
volunteering to do something.
when they say, Hey, can someone
come up and do such and such?
And does anyone have extra time to do?
I'm always that person.
Right?
And for years I used to not like
that part about me because I felt
like it was taken away from other
things that I could be doing, but I.
As I became older, I realized that,
wait a minute, that is part of my
superpower that I like to give back.
CJ: Yes.
Duke: It's even more precise than that
because your persona is like a center
of gravity in the ServiceNow community.
like your interviews that you
do . like, does anybody tell
you No when you invite them?
Cause I'll be straight, I was
trying to get the same kind of
mm, that same vital essence when
I was doing titans of ServiceNow.
And I got told no all the time, the time.
Like way more nos than yeses,
especially from this guy here.
CJ: So I, so I have to admit, duke, I have
to admit, I have told you no a lot, right?
I, I've never told, I've
never told Collie no.
Duke: say yes to everything,
unless it's the Duke guy.
But you see what I mean?
I think that's part of your superpower.
If you, if you don't mind
me saying, so Colli is that.
There is a magnetism to the
personality where people want to
talk to you about ServiceNow stuff.
Kali: Well, I think that
that's kind of you, Rob.
And yes, people do tell me no, but
part of what I do is I try to call
those people forward that I interview.
So in a way it's sort of like a, an
attraction marketing type of thing, right?
So I put it out there.
You and I Rob done some ServiceNow
kickbacks in the LA in the hundred
Days of ServiceNow podcast.
And.
I pay attention to who shows up in
that stream, who's leaving comments,
who's sending me connection requests?
What's taking place in the dm?
What kind of conversations
can I have with those folks?
And that way the invitation
becomes pretty natural, right?
The people who say no are usually people
that I really don't have a relationship
with, and that taught me a ton too, right?
CJ: yes.
Right?
if you want to get someone on
your podcast and they say no, you
need to create that relationship
so they feel comfortable, right?
Kali: A hundred percent.
CJ: You know, duke, I don't know that
we've been told No cha, any guest
that we've asked on this podcast,
when I think about it, We have a few
that have still pushed us off, right?
Like we haven't been able to record
with 'em yet, but I think sometimes
that's partially on us as well as them.
But I don't think we've been told no.
Right?
I mean, everybody wants to
be on CJ and Duke, right?
We're the bomb.
Kali: That's right.
That's right.
Word up.
Duke: I'm glad someone
else is saying it, not me.
CJ: Oh, come on, man.
Like, ego is not one of those
things that I don't have, right?
Like tell you in a minute, right?
Be humble.
Nah.
Duke: So, Collie, what was the
first CJ and the Duke episode that
you listened to where you're like,
yeah, I can listen to more of this?
CJ: Ooh.
Kali: Ooh, that is a good question
as I go over to my Spotify
app, what is the first episode?
CJ: what is an architect
Duke: Yeah.
What is an architect?
Yeah.
Kali: I know I listened to that one.
You know, I can tell you this.
Those first few episodes that I
listened to, I had no idea what
the heck y'all were talking about.
Duke: Fair.
Yeah.
Kali: I had no idea what
you were talking about.
and what I noticed is that
over time, and this was such a.
Interesting synergy over time.
It seemed like you started
creating episodes just for me.
Right?
It, I felt like I was that, that
that person in church where you feel
like all of a sudden the preachers
preaching just to you, because it
seemed like the information started
to shift toward beginners and people
entering the Service now ecosystem.
Before It seemed a little bit
more in depth for folks who
were already in the trenches.
And I didn't know what you guys were
talking about, which is why I would listen
to the episodes again and again and again.
But some of the early episodes that
I thought were really cool is that
it's one where you had, you were
talking about, cohorts and boot camps
and how to navigate through those.
So those were the ones that
started to catch my attention.
Then you started to go through the
different roles and things like that.
there's a time where, Duke and we've
had these conversations, you can say, oh
yeah, we talked about that in CJ and the
Duke, and you'll start saying something.
I said, no.
It kind of went like this because I would
listen to those episodes over and over
again, like they never got old to me.
And then the, each time I would
listen to 'em, I would glean
a little bit more information.
It felt a little bit more equipped
to talk about the platform.
CJ: it's so funny that you
say that because that was an
intentional shift, and it worked.
I'm just sitting here thinking as
you're, as you're talking that.
we started to see that there
were a lot of folks looking to
answer the ecosystem, right?
And we were like, well, we need to make
some content for these folks so that they
know that, you know, there's somebody
out here for them, that they're not out
here alone, that there's a lifeline.
If they reach out, the community's got
their back, And so we started trying
to create some content to push that
message out there And it landed, right?
Like you caught it.
It's just so great like
That just feels really good.
It feels really good to hear because
like it wasn't an accidental pivot, it
was an intentional, message shift for a
little while, to reach folks who were.
New to the industry new to the ecosystem,
who had, you know, some experiences
in, in some parts of the ecosystem
that might have been not so good.
Right.
And trying to, paint a
better picture for 'em.
Duke: The tides really caught
us on that one though, right?
Because it was, the
dawn of the boot camps.
And in a week you'd get a
hundred, 200 more follows.
Invites people asking questions, well,
what should I do in the ServiceNow
ecosystem after I get my, CSA or whatever.
They didn't even know what jobs
were available or, you know, they
didn't know how to answer when
you were saying, well, what do you
wanna actually do in the space?
They didn't have the option.
So it was kind of like, a good time
for us because we never had to ask,
what are we gonna talk about today?
It was just like, which of these,
CJ: Yeah.
Duke: title are we doing today?
Right?
CJ: You know, duke, one of the things
that strikes me, , and you say this a
lot, but I'm gonna say it this time,
, when a lot of these folks came into the,
, ecosystem, they want to pick I om right?
Like IT operations management because
they didn't know that I om in the
ServiceNow power lands, is in depth
IT infrastructure, And not, managing
people or managing operations.
Duke: that used to be huge.
It kind of died down a little bit,
but there was a time, yeah, where
it was like every non-technical
person I was meeting was like, oh,
I wanna go into, I'm like, wow.
Are you sure?
CJ: Yeah.
I mean there's some parts of
it om that I'm probably only
marginally technical enough to know.
Kali: but see, this is where the
podcast really becomes a value to us
new folks, because when you go through
now learning, you don't understand.
The technical depth that
it om requires, right.
But when you listen to the
podcast, you're able to get a
different practical perspective.
. And you know, as I'm looking through , my
Spotify , and the episodes that I listened
to, I remember April, 2022, . What to
build to up your skill and ServiceNow.
That was the episode.
? Right after you interviewed Dante Hooker
and you had me hooked on that one.
April, 2022.
That episode had me hooked.
I was listening to that
over and over again.
Right.
But then there were some earlier ones too.
But you even had the learning
ServiceNow was now learning.
That one kind of gave a little
bit more understanding about how
I should approach now learning.
There were so many episodes in
there that just really helped.
Folks to navigate the ServiceNow space.
Even the one where you talked
about like how do you, , what
to do at your first knowledge.
Now, at that time when you did that
episode, I'm like, yeah, I'm not sure
when I'm gonna go to my first knowledge,
but I'm here for the long haul.
Let me just listen to it.
And crazy enough, I was
able to go to Knowledge.
CJ: So how was that?
how was that going to your.
First knowledge, like talk about that
experience because I know, I remember my
first knowledge and it was, it was wild.
Duke: Were you at 11?
Corey?
Was that your first?
CJ: I was at the what, 13 was it?
13?
13.
That was my first one at the Aria
Duke: Oh, okay.
I love telling people that my
first knowledge was in a tent.
Kali: In a,
CJ: as my say.
Duke: but it was a tent.
Like there's literally poles holy this.
Kali: people were there?
Duke: Oh my goodness.
No, no, no.
That's like knowledge nine
or, uh, but knowledge 11 it
was just like a pavilion tent.
Like it was a big, huge tent,
but , okay, the expo hall shoot.
I know you guys ask Holly this,
and here I am talking, but, but the
expo hall was probably no bigger
than an elementary school gymnasium.
Prob probably a bit smaller
Kali: Well, it show ain't that way now.
Duke: Yeah, and it's just like,
it was like one circuit, it
was like one circuit of booths.
So there was like the outer circle of
booths and the inner circle of booths.
And you walked around once and you've
seen everything in the expo hall.
And then maybe you go up to, the
bar to get yourself a glass of wine.
I, I, I remember it was like, . I may
have got my wife in without paying.
And, my wife.
Got all dressed up and like walked
into the expo hall and it was
basically like the entire expo
hall just turned and looked at her.
Why is she dressed up so fancy?
But it's just like, that's the size
of it, was that someone could stop the
whole thing by walking into the room.
Kali: Wow.
CJ: crazy.
Duke: And I was like, oh man, maybe
someday I'll learn enough and maybe
I can have a speaking session too.
And then knowledge 12 at two of them.
CJ: Nice and I still
haven't spoken in knowledge.
I've been duck,
Duke: We gotta fix that.
CJ: been ducking and dodging it.
Kali: Now that's wild.
That is, that's wild that you've never
spoken honest, because at this year's
knowledge, your picture is everywhere.
CJ: Right now, how cool is that?
but Collie back to you.
tell us about your first knowledge
and how you felt showing up
Kali: Man, it.
Oh man.
It was electrifying.
It was truly Electrifying.
I walked in the hotel and
it was just like action.
From the moment I'd stepped
my pinky toe in there, it was
like everything was popping.
People were everywhere.
Going to see Bill McDermott and
his keynote address and all those
people there, all of those drones
there, the cameras, the lights.
What, what was really crazy for me is
that Bill McDermott is, Speaking and I'm
thinking that I'm getting there early
by getting there like 15 minutes early.
Oh no.
By the time I got there
was standing room only.
So anyway, I'm standing in the back
and I'm listening and I'm taking notes.
It's dark and all of a sudden
someone like a few feet from me
says, oh my God, Collie Alexander.
And I'm like, what?
So it was, it was just crazy know
like on everybody knows hundred
days of service now, and I'm
like, wow, this thing is working.
It's really working.
CJ: That's awesome.
That is awesome.
I love
Kali: Yeah.
Shout out Felipe.
CJ: you.
that for you, right?
Because that's like your first
knowledge and you're like, I don't
know what this thing is about.
I don't know what's going on here.
I'm just, you know, bill,
big Dermot speaking.
I'm gonna go to the speaking
hall with everybody else, right?
And I'm just gonna, and
then people are like,
Kali: Well wait, wait
a minute, wait, wait.
In case you're listening to this bill,
I'm not at all suggesting that they
was shouting, my name over yours.
We was in the back, but
neither here nor there.
It was a huge moment for me.
CJ: I love that.
That is so awesome.
That's freaking amazing.
Let me rewind this back, ? So,
today's your one year anniversary
being in this ecosystem, right?
Kali: A hundred percent so
my one year anniversary.
CJ: Okay, so this is your
one year anniversary.
Knowledge is four months ago.
Two, three months ago.
Three months ago.
So before you had been in this
ecosystem for a full year, you
are showing up at knowledge and
people are calling out your name.
Kali: I know I'm still processing this,
but the thing that I'm even processing
more is that I was able to speak.
Had knowledge with one of my
mentors, Rob, and I, this is the
person that I'm listening to every
day in my ear on the podcast.
So a lot of this stuff
has really been surreal.
You know, I felt like I've had
like a lot of hard years in my
life, but 2023, man, this my year.
CJ: I know the feeling.
Kali: Yeah.
Duke: What a knowledge to be.
The first knowledge though, too, it was
the greatest knowledge I've ever been
to, but have that one be your first.
It's just like, oh yeah, let's
learn to drive in the Ferrari.
CJ: Right.
I agree.
I, I, I do think it was the greatest
knowledge I've ever been to and.
Yeah, so, so for ha to have this one
Cali be the first one that you showed
up to, and have all of this stuff happen.
That's so cool.
But , I know you're always
like, oh, CJ and the Duke, you
guys up in, but listen, right?
Like nine months into your tenure
in Service now and folks are
screaming your name and knowledge,
like folks, it's possible.
if you don't take anything
else from this episode, no.
That it is possible and we are
sitting here speaking to someone who
has done it so you can do it too.
Kali: People say, oh, well you're
lucky, and that kind of thing.
And I tell people I am the un
luckiest person in the world.
But the fortunate thing is, is that I
don't have to rely on luck, Because I
have my brain, I have a sense of tenacity.
I know that I'm gonna get things done.
I know that I can go into now learning.
I know that I can carve time aside to
skill up, and I know that I can make
myself and push myself out there.
So if, when I can get fear out
the way, and I don't have to rely
on luck, that actually positions
me to really take advantage and
make my way within the ecosystem.
So definitely if I can do it, I really,
if you put your back into it as Ice
Cube says, definitely it can be done.
CJ: Talk.
That talk.
That's what I'm talking about.
Kali: Hey.
CJ: That's.
Duke: Outsider looking in
though, you have such an intense
bias for action, and I, I take
CJ: I like the way you phrased that Duke.
Duke: Col and I had a call
just before this, we were
talking about bias for action.
So it's kind of fresh in mind, but
I don't wanna take anything away
from the people who ask, right?
Because they don't know.
But.
Just think for a bit on how Collie did it.
It's not like in nine months she
just, she, she lucked out on the
one person who gave her the formula
to get there in nine months.
Because if that was written down
somewhere, everybody would have it by
now and everybody would be , getting
to collie's level at nine months.
But not a lot of people are.
Why is that?
Cuz Collie did it differently.
CJ: Right.
Duke: bias for action, like even I
wouldn't be like out here rolling
out super high production content so
that I can experiment on something
that I've just learned, you know?
CJ: Yeah.
Duke: But there was, there was coly out
like every single night doing it live.
No editing.
Come on now, just.
I just learned how to do a UI policy.
That means y'all are gonna learn how
to learn how to make a UI policy.
And I think a lot of
people might be, fearful.
Like it could be humiliating , to go live
and front of an audience, teach something
that you just learned and be wrong, but
that didn't seem to cross your mind, or
at least it didn't seem total for us.
Kali: Well, yeah, not so much.
I think a lot of times we spend the
general, we, the editorial, , we
spend a lot of time asking
for permission, like, okay.
I'm not gonna do this because I
don't see anybody else doing this.
And if I saw Tim Woodruff and this person
do it and all these other people, then
maybe it'd be okay for me to do it.
But since they're not doing
it, I shouldn't do it.
And I think a lot of times that
we cut ourselves off because we're
sitting around waiting for permission.
When if we just go ahead and
just take the bull by the horns,
we'll find greater outcomes.
And that's what I, I wanted to
do, Earlier I said , I wanted
to get in front of the pack.
Right?
You talking about Bill,
talking about letting a million
people in this ecosystem.
Well, doggone it, I got 999,999.
Is that the people to get in front of?
You know?
And, and I had to find
a way to do it right?
And I think, and here's the thing, I
have found a way, and this is something
that I really impressed upon my children.
And then I said, uhoh, I have to
prove this, , that, I mean, this.
I've used to teach my children
like, don't let a no stop you.
, let a no mean either not now,
or let me find my own way.
And I used to tell this
to them all the time.
So now that I didn't get into any type
of cohorts or boot camps or anything like
that, so I'm like, okay, let me use that.
No, as a motivation for me
to get myself out there and.
It really worked for me, and I'm grateful
that it did, because it proved to me
that I can use a negative situation
and flip it on its head to make it
a positive one to move me forward.
and that's the thing that I wanna impress
upon people, is that, you can take a
negative situation no matter what your
circumstances are, and you can flip that
thing around and change your situation.
CJ: Don't let him know, like, stop you.
And don't ask for permission, right?
Like, these are things that
I've internalized in my life.
I was, I was gonna say career,
but it's not even my, it not
even my career, it's my life.
Right?
Like, don't let him know, stop
you and don't ask for permission.
And, just because something,
someone else isn't doing something
doesn't mean that you can't do it.
Right?
And just because they think it's hard
doesn't mean that it's impossible.
Right.
You know, the, there are all of these
things that, can be done if you actually
have that bias for action, right?
, and if you put it to, put your mind
to it and go out there and do it.
, and not afraid to fail, right?
Because to me, f failure is just
a bump on the road to success.
And so you, but you gotta
start, you gotta start.
Duke: own path can be profound.
why would you wanna learn how I learn?
I only had I T S M and even before
ServiceNow, my whole life was i t
sm and it was just but some of the
most exciting stuff in the space at
hackathons, the old innovation of the
years, the stories we tell at Knowledge
is all stuff that's not I tsm it's
the, you know, it's the crazy stuff.
And it's just like, every person
has their own set of unique
experiences and thoughts and.
It's like build around that.
Kali: Yeah.
CJ: Ooh, that's, yeah.
Yeah.
Right.
Duke: not only do you not need
permission, but , even if I told you
how I did it, forge your own path.
And I think it's like, it's another
thing I saw Collie doing early on,
our conversations around, you know,
the, the retreat planning app.
Kali: Yeah.
Duke: we sat down so long and just
tried to figure it out together.
It was like super huge and
complex and I'm like, I don't even
know how to do this, but darn.
There's all kinds of
cool stuff you can try
CJ: Yeah.
Duke: and I remember this
presentation I did at knowledge
about, , how innovation happens.
It's like if you read the story
about how mountain bikes were
invented, . It wasn't like bite
companies said, Hey, I got an idea.
It was just people who were taking like,
Stupid 10 speed vagabonds and trying
to go down mountainside with them.
Like, go really fast on these
thin, on these tiny, thin
wheeled like road bikes, right?
And you know, very quickly find
out those wheels won't cut it.
So now it's like, I'm a welder.
I'll make some big ass wheels,
I'll put my on this bike.
The mountain bike was developed
by a bunch of people who were just
like, ah, we'll just do it our way.
We'll figure it out.
I dunno.
why I was so passionate about saying
that one, but it's just like, there
is a sense of like, do it your own
way and then you, could be the person
bringing the mountain bike to the
community, Because you built some app
that thinks about work differently.
CJ: here's what else it does, It's that
when you do it your own way and you
share that back with the community,
like what Coli's doing, when you
share that back with the community
and now there's one more way out.
There's one more blueprint.
One more guide book.
One more guide post.
Where other folks can look and
say, well, I can do it that way.
And maybe they, you know, cuz some
folks want, want, you know, and they're
always gonna want, the, the blueprint,
just tell me how to get from A to Z
and I'll do, I'll be the best person
getting from A to Z that you can find.
Just tell me how to do it.
Right.
There's always gonna be those folks out
there, and not everyone learns the same.
Not everyone has the same kind of
personality or characteristics.
And so having multiple, , role models out
there of success, That folks can pull off
the shelf and say, well, maybe this one
works for me or this one works for me.
And I think right now, right, this
podcast, right this episode is giving
folks another one of those roadmaps.
, Kali: I sure hope it does.
You know, when I was a small child, we
used to spend our summers in Pine Bluff,
Arkansas, with my great grandmother,
God rest her soul and , you know what
the height of technology was for her.
The height of technology for her
was ha being the first person in
her town to have indoor plumbing.
That was the height of technology.
And when I think about her, and I
think about my ancestors on one side
and my children on the other, and I
think, wow, this was the height of
technology for her, And then my children
and what I wanna model for them.
I feel so empowered and.
And in that way, I don't let fear stop me.
And I know that a lot of people talk
about, well, what about if you're afraid?
What about if you're shy?
And it's not to say that I don't
have any of those characteristics.
I don't think about those things.
They're really a non-factor for me.
It's not to say that I don't become
afraid and that kind of thing, but
I'm not gonna let them stop me.
And I think that.
Something else that I know that comes up.
People are like, well, what if someone,
everyone in the ecosystem is so nice.
Let me tell you, I've gotten
some dms that were just scathing.
You know, I have gotten some scathing
dms on LinkedIn about, the work that
I'm doing and I should have done the UI
policy differently and that kind of thing.
And I remember the first one
that I got, the first really bad
one, like multi-paragraph one
that I got, I was like, okay.
That hurt.
It's now over.
Let me carry on.
Right.
when we think, or we expect people to be
really nice or the community to be really
welcoming and for the, the vast majority
of the community is, but you know, those.
Every once in a while there would be
that one that pops out and that will
be the one that will hurt you the most.
But then when you realize , oh,
this is just par for the
course, let me keep going.
Right?
And I created the 100 days of service
now, and I think that probably happened
in maybe episode five or something.
And I'm like, dang, I still have
95 episodes to go and this is
what I had to look forward to.
And for a split second, I actually
thought about, well, maybe.
I'm not bill for this.
I'm like, wait a minute, hold up.
Ancestors on one side,
children on the other.
Let me keep going.
And my intention was, okay, now that
I've gotten like the base level of
knowledge, I've gotten a few micro certs.
I got my certified system
administrator credential.
Okay?
I know if I do this thing
every day for a hundred days,
I should be able to get a job.
I should be able to land my first role.
Because remember, I had that.
three months of income.
And I said, okay, let
me just keep doing it.
And I, my intention was to do it
every day, but by episode seven, I
think it was, I got my first job offer
from Mike Lombardo at Glide Fast.
And I was like, oh my God, it's working.
I've gotten in front of the partner
that I wanted to get in front of and.
After that, I said, okay, I only need
one job, so what I'm gonna do now?
So I started to shift my content.
So I was like, okay, well if I
can use this content for myself
to land a job, maybe I can do
something else to help other folks
get a job, and started doing these.
Livestream coaching where I would
take people who are new to the
ecosystem and mash them up with
people who are vets in the ecosystem.
And maybe there could be some type
of rapport that's created and maybe
they could showcase themselves in
a way that they can also land a
job and so I continue to shift.
The conversations and now it's
become, even different still.
And I'm excited to see, because I'm
just on episode 43 now, not even
episode 50, I'm no longer doing them.
each day, you know, I've gotten a
job, things have gotten busy, and so
now I'm just, you know, going with
the flow and seeing what comes next.
And I'm excited for it.
CJ: that's amazing.
Duke: Do you have a website that
links out to each of the days?
Kali: No, not yet.
But you can find all of the episodes
on LinkedIn and eventually they
will live on Colli right now.com.
Duke: Okay.
We're gonna have links in the
descriptions to both of that.
you just, you, you basically searched the
a hundred days of ServiceNow hashtag or,
Kali: Absolutely.
On LinkedIn you can search the
hundred days of ServiceNow.
Hashtag and you know, keep
in mind Colli right now.com.
Perhaps by the time this episode
comes out, maybe that will be a thing.
Duke: we'll put both links in the
description just, just in case.
And then, yeah, so wow, we recorded a lot.
Today.
CJ: Yeah.
Duke: We're at 50 minutes of record, so,
CJ: This is crazy.
But to wrap it up, Collie, you've been
in the ecosystem for a year now, right?
What are you looking for your next year?
I mean, you've had a very
eventful year, right?
Like so how do you plan to top it?
Kali: I don't, I have some personal
goals and I'm not sure if I'm ready
to reveal them just yet, but I have
some exciting things that are to come.
I'm always thinking about the next thing.
I absolutely wanna take
the podcast even further.
I wanna have more.
Conversations and professionally,
you know, I moved into the sales
side of things at Glide Fast and
I'm really excited about that.
So I'm looking forward to doing
some unique things in that space
and really delivering customers the
best implementation possible, in the
capacity and the role that I'm in now.
CJ: That's awesome.
Well, I won't, I won't ask you to
share your goals, but I do look
forward to seeing you hit them.
Duke: Will place my bets though, for sure.
All right, Collie, thanks
so much for joining us.
It was really quite a pleasure.
Quite, quite an honor
to have you on the show.
Thank
Kali: Thank you so much for having me.
It's, it's, it's a dream come true.
Duke: All right.
Enjoy the rest of your day.