Legendary Podcast: Amber Bell on Career with Dynamics GP, Community Involvement, Overcoming Hurdles
Welcome to the “Legendary Podcast,” hosted by Dynamics Communities Editor Cam Sessinger. The “Legendary Podcast” is a video podcast series featuring Community Summit North America Legends, highlighting their career expertise, community involvement, and Community Summit experiences.
In episode 3, Cam interviews Amber Bell, Community Summit North America Legend, Dynamics GP All-Star, Founder and Chief Training Officer, Training Dynamo. The two discuss Amber’s ongoing career as it relates to the Dynamics GP product, her community involvement, and her significant achievements.
This episode is sponsored by Community Summit North America, the largest independent gathering of the Microsoft Business Applications ecosystem, taking place Oct. 13-17, 2024, in San Antonio, Texas. Register today to connect with thousands of users across the Microsoft business applications ecosystem at the for user, by user event.
Highlights
00:52 — Amber started working with Dynamics GP in 1999, where she had her first opportunity to work with the product at an organization in San Diego. She started as a receptionist, grew her skills, and began obtaining her certifications. In 2005, she moved to Connecticut and began working for another partner, and in 2015, she started her own company, Training Dynamo.
03:10 — The first Community Summit Amber spoke at was in 2014. She explains that she has not missed once since, and notes the value of her experiences. Amber reflects on the ways in which she gets inspired by both learning from and educating the community, as well as learning of new ISVs and products that integrate with GP on the Expo Floor.
06:00 — Something else that Amber appreciates about Community Summit North America is that “you get people from all over the country” and in some cases, from all over the world. This gives attendees and opportunity to see what people are looking for, she notes.
Additionally, she speaks about her experience leading an Academy Class, which are long-form content training sessions that take place prior to the start of Summit. “What was nice about that, for me was… because we were in a smaller classroom, I got to hear what they were looking for. I even introduced some of them to some of the ISVs and add-on products that could help them with the things they mentioned in class.”
08:19 — Amber started her company, Training Dynamo, because as she was taking on more projects, she gravitated towards the problem-solving, training, and user acceptance aspects of the work. Working with clients, Amber helps them improve processes and has even written training workbooks relating to the Dynamics GP product.
“It’s a very interesting place to be, because I really am there to help them have a better time in the system.”
11:07 — When asked about significant achievements throughout her career, Amber reflects on the first client she ever worked with. Over the years, Amber helped the client get the most out of their system. Furthermore, she notes the opportunity to “bridge the gaps” in communication between clients and ISVs they’re working with.
13:29 — Amber looks back on her first-ever attended Community Summit, noting the feeling of imposter syndrome, but was quickly embraced by the Community. From there, she began to network and her relationships have evolved over the years. Now, she co-presents sessions with her fellow GP user group members.
“It was life-changing for me to be able to speak in these kinds of conferences, it built my business… realizing that what I brought to the table was special and important.”
16:49 — Lastly, Amber speaks to some of the challenges she’s encountered over her career. Being that she worked her way up from a secretary to a training/consultant role within Dynamics GP, “there were some people that had a hard time seeing me, as someone who did more than that.”
“If you can just push through that and just realize you can’t prove it to everybody, prove it to yourself and people that matter, and keep going.”
18:26 — The other thing that helped Amber, she explains, are the amazing women in her community.
“There’s been always people that have encouraged me and the opportunity for me to grow and learn.”
