From Service to Salesforce: How Rachel and Ryan Dishman Found Purpose, Stability, and Community Through Salesforce Military

A Journey Built on Service and Possibility

Rachel and Ryan Dishman share a long-standing connection rooted in their military families. Their fathers served together in the Navy, and their families stayed close through multiple duty stations. Years later, Rachel and Ryan reconnected in high school and college, eventually married, and began building their own family while continuing the tradition of service they grew up with. Ryan went on to serve as a Naval Surface Warfare Officer before exploring a new path beyond active duty.

Today, they’re both Salesforce employees. Rachel is a Principal Technical Architect supporting Travel, Transportation, and Hospitality customers. Ryan is a Senior Manager on the Security Compliance and Customer Trust (SCCT) team, where he helps public sector organizations adopt Salesforce securely. Their paths to these roles share a throughline: the support, structure, and belonging they found through Salesforce Military.

Salesforce Military provided Ryan with a roadmap and opportunity for a chance to join the tech industry — offering structure, community, and the context to step into a new environment with purpose. The program’s support system ensured he never had to navigate the transition on his own.

How Rachel Built a Career That Could Move With Her

Rachel first heard about Salesforce Military in 2017 from another military spouse. At first, access to free training and certification support sounded too good to be true. But after another relocation required her to leave her job and rebuild from scratch, she decided to sign up. Frequent moves had meant restarting her career every few years, and she was looking for something more stable. Through Salesforce Military, she earned her Salesforce Administrator certification in 2018 and stepped into her first role in the ecosystem — a turning point for her career and her family.

“I found an incredible group of like-minded people who understood military life and genuinely wanted to support one another,” she says. “I wouldn’t be where I am today without the welcoming and empowering community.”

A few months later, she joined the Salesforce Military team at Salesforce, a surreal moment contributing to the same program she had recently gone through herself. She supported the early pilot of the Hiring Our Heroes fellowship and helped develop the framework that would later support thousands of fellows, eventually including her husband’s transition into tech.

From there, Rachel continued to advance in her career  — from partner consulting, to Public Sector Solution Engineering, and now a Principal Technical Architect at Salesforce with 10 Salesforce Certifications. Most recently, she led her first Dreamforce session on Integrating AI into Existing Architecture Models, a major career milestone.

“I’m grateful to work with customers who are constantly evolving and innovating. It pushes me to think strategically, offer practical solutions, and keep learning every day,” she says. “My chapter as a military child and spouse taught me how to handle ambiguity and to adapt quickly, that the only constant is change. Skills that are essential in the fast-paced world of tech, especially today with AI advancements happening daily.”

How Ryan Found a New Mission After the Navy

Ryan served 11 years in the Navy as a Surface Warfare Officer after graduating from the Naval Academy. While serving in the Navy, he earned a Master’s degree in Cyber Systems and Operations from the Naval Postgraduate School. As Rachel embarked on her journey with Salesforce, he watched the Salesforce Military and Vetforce community support his wife as she built technical skills, earned certifications, and found a professional network that understood the military lifestyle. Seeing that firsthand is what made his path feel real and accessible.

When it came time to transition, the Salesforce Military program provided a structured way to translate his military experience — not by starting over, but by building on the leadership, systems thinking, and problem-solving developed in the Navy.

“There was a lot I needed to learn — the technical architecture, the terminology, how the different business units work together. And I’m still learning.”

Trailhead offered the learning framework. The Salesforce Military and Vetforce communities offered something just as important: veterans and advocates who were willing to answer questions, share perspective, and help bridge the gap into a new environment.

Through the Hiring Our Heroes SkillBridge program, Ryan completed a fellowship with Slack’s Public Sector team, gaining hands-on experience in secure cloud adoption and customer engagement. He now works on Salesforce’s Security Compliance and Customer Trust (SCCT) team, supporting Public Sector customers on secure architecture and compliance — work that continues to serve mission-driven organizations.

The Strengths Veterans Carry Everywhere

Both Rachel and Ryan emphasize that veterans aren’t reinventing themselves when they transition to tech — they’re translating skills honed over years of service.

Veterans bring:

• Leading through ambiguity
  Making thoughtful decisions without perfect information.
  
• Owning outcomes
  If something needs to be done, you take responsibility and move it forward.
  
• Calm under pressure
  High-stakes conversations feel different when you’ve led in real-world operations.
  
• Team cohesion and constructive feedback
  Trust, humility, clarity — the backbone of cross-functional work.
  
• Adaptability
  New teams, new bases, new missions — a natural fit for Salesforce’s pace.

“We’re used to entering new environments and overcoming challenges as a team. Those skills translate.”

The Power of Community and Belonging

For Ryan, the community is what makes Salesforce feel like home.

“It’s a big company that feels small,” he says. “The Salesforce Military community brings that sense of belonging — people looking out for one another. The sense of camaraderie is really special.”

Both Ryan and Rachel actively mentor others coming through the program — helping with resumes, interview prep, networking, and translating military experience into corporate language.

“It’s important to make sure others feel supported as they move into their next chapter,” Ryan says. “I benefited from so many people who offered guidance. I want to pay that forward.”

Honoring Service, Sacrifice, and the Families Who Stand Beside Them

For both Rachel and Ryan, Veterans Day is deeply personal.

For Ryan:
“There is more than 80 years of combined service in our family. Two great-great-grandfathers served in WWII, and one made the ultimate sacrifice. I carry that legacy with gratitude and responsibility.”

For Rachel:
“As a former military child and military spouse, Veterans Day is a day to recognize the sacrifices of service members and the spouses and children who serve alongside them. I honor my late father, my husband, my father-in-law, and so many friends who became family because of the military.”

It is a day to honor service, sacrifice, and the communities that hold families together through constant change.

For Anyone Considering the Leap: You’re More Ready Than You Think

For any veteran or military spouse curious about Salesforce Military, their message is simple:

You don’t have to do this alone.

From Ryan:
“Your experience is already relevant. You know how to lead, adapt, solve problems, and own outcomes. Salesforce Military helps you build the technical layer on top — and the community walks beside you.”

From Rachel:
“If you’re considering a career in tech, go for it, and stay the course. The opportunities are real. The community is real. And you don’t have to navigate any of it alone. I’m always happy to help — reach out to me on LinkedIn.”

A Community That Opens Doors

Rachel and Ryan’s story is a reminder of what Salesforce Military is built to do: open doors to meaningful careers, translate service into impact, and make sure no veteran or spouse walks the path alone.

Ready to start your own journey?

• Explore free learning on Trailhead
• Join the Salesforce Military community
• Look into Hiring Our Heroes 

Happy Veterans Day — and thank you to all who have served, all who continue to serve, and all the families who serve alongside them.