MVP Insights: Mary Myers on Giving Back to Community, Academy at Summit NA

Welcome to “MVP Insights,” a podcast that explores the universe, ideas, and opportunities of the brightest stars in the Microsoft business applications ecosystem. 

In episode 15 of the “MVP Insights Podcast,” John Siefert welcomes Mary Myers, Chief Maximizer, WorldMax, Microsoft MVP. The two discuss how she became an MVP and her areas of expertise within Business Central and Power Platform. Mary also shares details on her sessions at Community Summit NA 2024.

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.

Key Takeaways

• MVP overview: Mary joined the community in 2018 and became an MVP in 2020. She first started as a consultant and turned to the community forums, often led by other MVPs, to help make sense of her new role. This prompted her desire to give back to the community. For her, Power Platform was transformative in her career and she wanted to share the same with others. While living in Columbia, South Carolina, she started a tech center at a local women’s shelter during the pandemic.
• Areas of expertise: Mary highlights her journey with Dynamics 365, starting as an F&O consultant before becoming a self-taught Business Central consultant, and sharing how her “mind exploded” with possibilities when they discovered the Power Platform. She’s passionate about extending Business Central with the Power Platform, enjoying the challenge of utilizing web APIs, and appreciates the direct feedback loop with Microsoft given her MVP status.
• Overcoming tough projects: The nature of consulting work, particularly when integrating Power Automate, brings about new experiences and challenges with frequent changes. Mary shares a specific challenge with a long-term CRM client, where an instant button feature in Power Automate was deprecated, causing disruption and highlighting the importance of staying updated with documentation for new solutions.
• Summit NA sessions: Mary will be leading three sessions at Community Summit NA 2024 and one Academy class, “Mastering Power Automate for Business Central.” Her Academy class, taking place on October 13, reflects her dedication to extending Business Central with the Power Platform, for which there is a lack of documentation. Mary is excited about the increased interest and the potential to save customers time and money by automating processes with the Power Platform, which she will showcase in her Academy class.

Stream the audio version of this episode here: