Joe Cardenas, Global Program Manager - Onboarding at Redis, first learned about SEC through our world-class events, where some of his colleagues were involved as speakers.

As a result, he came into contact with Jack, SEC’s Community and Events Organizer, and as Joe said: “the rest is history”.

Joe has a wealth of experience with enablement, and in particular with one of its key elements: onboarding. In his career, he’s been responsible for building comprehensive, transformative enablement and onboarding programs, all the while cementing himself as a passionate thought-leader in the enablement space.

In this case study, he discusses:

  • His experience working with SEC on events and content
  • His advice for anyone considering working with SEC

Joe’s experience with SEC events and content

After seeing his colleagues get involved with SEC, Joe made contact with our Community and Events Organizer Jack, and the partnership blossomed from there.

“Based on [my colleagues’] participation, I contacted Jack. Once he found out that I was specifically in charge of the onboarding programme, he asked me if I had any interest in joining the cause, and I jumped at that opportunity.

“Then, the rest is history. It's pretty amazing, the fact that it started off with an initial conversation with Jack, that led me doing the podcast, and then of course, you guys asked me to emcee the Sales Enablement Summit in Austin.

“It’s moved at a very fast pace, but I've enjoyed the ride so far.”

Sales Enablement Summit - Austin

As SEC prepared for an in-person return to the United States after the pandemic, we sought out Joe for help with the event. On the big day itself, Joe emceed for our return and was a big part of the event’s glowing reviews.

“Overall, it was a smooth experience. Ultimately, Jack gave me the green light to take my own personal approach to facilitating and doing the emcee role. This was my first time actually doing an emcee-type position and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Just being able to host and of course, engage with all the different speakers.

“I actually connected with several of the speakers even after the show, and they've agreed to meet on a monthly cadence so we can continue to collaborate around onboarding and sharing best practices.

“Now going into more of a startup mentality [at Redis] and seeing new tools that I've never been exposed to before, the conversations and connections I made at the events have actually accelerated my adoption rate in understanding some best practices that I can now take back to the company that I'm working for today. It's been pretty amazing.”

Joe’s advice for anyone considering working with SEC

Since first connecting with our team, Joe has been involved with SEC across a variety of content. Between attending and speaking at events, podcasting, and contributing to our research, Joe has quickly become an important part of the SEC community.

“As for attending events, or if you’re on the fence about speaking? Just step up and roll through it. It's just like we do when it comes to enablement.

“When it comes to us teaching folks about different concepts, from a credibility perspective, we've got to be willing to show that we're the experts in those areas. And there's nothing wrong with polishing your approach, because we do it every day with our internal stakeholders.

“To be able to do so in the environment that SEC provides, you may be surprised at the ripple effect of positivity that can come off of that experience.”

Wrapping up

“SEC is definitely on the right track. One big thing is that most folks in enablement were previously sellers, and I’m a 20+ year seller myself. Sellers are pretty territorial, right? We want to keep the tricks of the trade to ourselves.

“But being on this [enablement] side of the fence, everybody is an open book, there's nobody sitting on their information. That's the best part about it. SEC gets to corral the cats, just get us together, and watch the magic happen. As long as you continue to spearhead and plan accordingly, then I think the rest will take care of itself.”

Thinking about attending one of our events, or getting involved with SEC as a speaker or content contributor like Joe? Reach out to one of our team through hello@salesenablementcollective.com, jack@salesenablementcollective.com, or daniel@salesenablementcollective.com.