Atlassian Champion: What It Is and Why I Went After It
I was just accepted into the Atlassian Champions program. Here's what that means, and how it connects to the work I do at Valdivya. · See what it's about →
Key Takeaways
- I was accepted into the Atlassian Champions program after years of being active in the community.
- The program connects Champions with peers across skillsets and industries, and gives early insight into platform changes.
- This milestone lines up with starting Valdivya, my consultancy for growing teams' operational tooling.
- Going forward, I'm committing to more public guidance and content on strategic, operational leadership and AI tooling in the Atlassian ecosystem.
Last week, I was accepted into the Atlassian Champions program. I've had my eyes on this program for a while but never took the leap. I knew it would require some additional time, and if I'm going to do something, I do it wholeheartedly.
After seven years at BlueModus, including three as COO, I started Valdivya this year to do full-time what I'd always done best inside other people's organizations: help teams get their operational tooling right, with Atlassian products at the center of it. With this year leading to some big changes in how and where I work, it finally felt like the right time to lean in.
The Perks
This program has a lot of great perks for someone like me who has been an Atlassian advocate inside my organizations and within my clients'. Sure, there's a little bit of swag, so that's fun, but there's even more going on behind the scenes to support the community than I imagined. The real benefit is the ability to connect with others at my level across different skillsets, industries, and day-to-day focus. I'm sure I'll have plenty to learn, and I'm excited to be able to share my expertise as well.
What I Bring To It
For my part, what earned me this opportunity is the same work I’ll keep doing. Writing about Atlassian, Jira, and Confluence. Helping teams leverage these tools. Trying out the latest features.
Roots in the Community
I've attended the conference since 2016, back when it was still called Summit, and I've been a regular at the local Denver Atlassian Community Event meetups. The community built up around the Atlassian world just feels different. I haven't seen the energy and talent built up like this anywhere else. People from all over the world with different backgrounds coming together to help teams do good work. It never mattered what industry or skill level you were at with the products, it always felt like a group working towards better environments for teams and people.
I've completed the whirlwind of onboarding and training activities. Jumped into the private Slack channels and introduced myself. Signed up to receive my swag.
What I'm Committing To
A couple things I'm committed to doing more of over the coming months:
- Providing guidance in the public community
- Creating helpful content that explores strategic, operational leadership and AI tooling within the Atlassian platform.
Like all the things I've jumped into this year, this one feels like a natural fit given my background as an executive leader alongside my deep experience with Jira and the Atlassian products.
Let's Talk
As an Atlassian Champion and former COO, I help growing teams get more out of Jira and Confluence, without the enterprise overhead.