I’m Now a Microsoft MVP!

Most Valuable Professional(MVP) - Data Platform!

My Unexpected Journey from Curiosity to MVP

I’m incredibly excited to share that I’ve been awarded the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional (MVP) award in the Data Platform category for speaking and blogging!

To be honest, I didn't set out to win an award when I started my speaking and blogging journey. My desire to speak triggered when I learned about the New Stars of Data event in 2024, an incredible platform for new speakers that provides mentorship.

My Speaking Journey

I was very lucky to have a great mentor and I can't emphasize that enough. After presenting at New Stars of Data, I got the amazing opportunity to speak at PASS Summit in Seattle, one of the largest data conferences.

Meanwhile, I continued to speak at SQL Saturdays and various user groups both in-person and remote. I genuinely enjoy discussing technical topics and answering people's questions, and that's how my speaking journey continues to unfold.

Over a period of 14 months, I've spoken at 22 events with a total of 500+ attendees.
I dedicated many weekends working on presentations and setting up technical demos. I won't lie, I had to give up my weekend naps which are my favorite part of the weekends.

My Blogging Endeavors

My blogging began because I wanted to link an article about PFS, GAM, and SGAM page facts to my first presentation on TempDB. As I wrote that initial article, I realized I had so much more technical information to share. So, I started writing a few more articles and discovered how much I enjoyed sharing knowledge with others.

To my surprise, I even received recognition from Brent Ozar and many SQL Server experts multiple times for several of my articles.

Over a period of 14 months, I've published 57 articles with a total of 100,000+ views on my blog pages.

This was possible only by dedicating a set amount of time in the early hours of the day before my kids woke up, so I could do deep work.

Unexpected Recognition

As I continued my journey, I was approached by a few people who expressed their interest in nominating me for the MVP award. I was absolutely dumbfounded because this was never something I had planned!

Overwhelmed with joy, I collaborated with my nominator to get the application process set up. Just a few days later, I received an email that said: "Congratulations on your Microsoft MVP award."

Takeaway

And that's how I ended up receiving the award! It's a testament to the power of following your passions and sharing knowledge, even when an award isn't the initial goal.

If this inspires you in your own career or encourages you to get involved in the community, I’m more than happy. Reach out if you need help or suggestions, I’m always happy to connect and share insights.

Thanks for reading,
Haripriya.

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