From the handball pitch to Salesforce - Mateusz's story and the Foundation

Another success for Fundacja TeamCo & Friends. We are proud to introduce Mateusz Matlach, who - with support from the Foundation - is starting his professional journey in the Salesforce ecosystem. We publish this story with his consent, because it shows clearly what entering this ecosystem from a completely different world actually looks like.

Where Mateusz comes from

A former professional handball player who, after years spent in Sydney, decided to change careers and enter the world of Salesforce. Mateusz reached out to Phillip Poynton for help preparing for his first job search - and that is how their story began. He messaged him on LinkedIn on 22 July.

This is how his first message read: "After listening to Łukasz Bujło's podcast with you as a guest, I decided to reach out. Your approach to life and work really resonated with me. I spent the last 5 years living in Sydney, so what you said just clicked for me…"

The rest happened naturally

They arranged a short conversation. Since November, Mateusz has been taking his first steps in his new role - and we are incredibly proud to have been part of that journey. Congratulations, Mateusz. You are further proof that with passion, determination and a bit of support, you can change your life.

What the Foundation's support looks like in practice

It is worth pausing on what happened between that first message and that first day in a new role, because this is exactly the point where most career changes stall.

Talent development is one of the four pillars of Fundacja TeamCo & Friends. The Foundation runs Salesforce mentoring and coaching, supporting people entering the ecosystem precisely when the barrier to entry is at its highest - that is, before anyone has been able to put a first commercial engagement on their CV. The remaining pillars are research and data, community, and giving the market a voice; all four are described on the Fundacja TeamCo & Friends page alongside the current initiatives.

The Foundation was founded by Phillip Poynton, who specialises in Salesforce recruitment in Poland and leads the Salesforce User Group in Lublin. That matters for stories like Mateusz's: a conversation with somebody who works with this ecosystem's job market every day shortens the distance between "do I even stand a chance" and a concrete plan. The support is free, following the same principle the Foundation applies to the report: good things should not sit behind a paywall.

What this story teaches about moving into Salesforce

This is not a story about a miracle or a shortcut. It is a story about a few decisions that can be repeated.

• Experience from outside IT is not a liability. Professional sport teaches training discipline, teamwork and absorbing defeat without giving up. Salesforce implementations are team projects where those traits show faster than familiarity with any particular platform feature.
• The first step is a conversation, not another course. Mateusz did not write asking for a job. He wrote because an approach to life and work resonated with him. That conversation gave him market context no online course provides.
• The knowledge is free and available immediately. Learning and certification paths are run by the platform vendor itself on Trailhead, and the global Trailblazer community is open to people who are only just starting.
• Community is part of the job, not an add-on. In Poland the Salesforce ecosystem meets regularly at User Groups and community events such as Wrocław's coffee&force. That is where people entering the industry meet those who have been in it for years.

Why the Salesforce ecosystem in particular

Because it is large enough to take somebody new, and small enough that this person does not stay anonymous. According to the Salesforce Ecosystem Report Poland, based on 728 responses in its first edition, 50.8% of specialists work at implementation partners and 33.8% on the end-customer side. This is a market made of many project teams rather than a handful of giant employers - and sooner or later each of those teams needs somebody who is just starting out. We describe how employment splits across the Polish Salesforce ecosystem in a separate article.

Scale plays its part too. The second edition of the study gathered 904 participants, of whom 585 completed the full questionnaire behind the Salesforce Ecosystem Report Poland. A community counted in thousands is a community where a single conversation can genuinely change somebody's path.

Frequently asked questions

Can you move into Salesforce without an IT background? The story of Mateusz Matlach, a former professional handball player, shows that you can. What proved decisive was preparation for the first job search and a conversation with somebody who knows the market, not prior technical experience.

What does support from Fundacja TeamCo & Friends involve? Talent development is one of the four pillars of Fundacja TeamCo & Friends. The Foundation runs Salesforce mentoring and coaching for people entering the ecosystem, free of charge, alongside research and data, community support, and giving visibility to topics that matter to the market.

Where should you start learning Salesforce? With the free paths on Trailhead, the official Salesforce learning platform, and with contact with the local community - User Groups and the events where people from the industry actually gather.

Who is behind Fundacja TeamCo & Friends? The Foundation was founded by Phillip Poynton, who specialises in Salesforce recruitment in Poland and leads the Salesforce User Group in Lublin. Practising consultants, architects and community leaders are involved in its initiatives.

The takeaway

Mateusz Matlach's story would fit in one sentence: he sent a message, had a conversation, started a job. That is precisely why it is worth telling in full - because it shows that the distance between "I would like to try" and a first day in a new role is often shorter than it looks from outside. All it takes is somebody who picks up that first message.

If you are thinking about entering the Salesforce ecosystem, start with a conversation. And if you are already in it, help describe the market that the next people are walking into.