Wade Curtis - From Setback to Strength: A Salesforce Story

In mid-2024, Wade’s life paused in a way he never expected. Based in Vancouver, a father to a five-year-old son, and coming off years of high-intensity work across carpentry, emergency response as a paramedic, and sales leadership, Wade was forced to step away from work entirely. Spinal surgery left him with permanent nerve damage. The physical recovery was only part of the story. What followed was something deeper.

“I lost my mobility, my routine, my sense of agency.” he shared. “When your identity is tied to being useful, being capable, being the one who shows up for others in an emergency and thinks on their feet to save someone’s life, that loss hits hard.”

During this period, Wade received an email about the Get Force Certified Admin Academy. He passionately describes it simply as “a lifeline”.

Wade’s background does not follow a straight line. It is an incredible story of someone whose core mission is to help others. He’s had decades of experience understanding problems from carpentry, sales, and training as a paramedic, responding to emergencies, and serving as a calm presence in moments when people had lost control.

He began his career as a carpenter, building high-end residential projects and solving people's problems every day. That evolved into running sales, as he was incredible with people, managing stakeholders, quoting complex work, and translating technical details into value that clients could understand.  At Citywide Sundecks, leading sales, Wade self-implemented Salesforce Sales Cloud after a failed partner engagement. What started as a necessity became a turning point. By learning the platform himself and tailoring it directly to business needs, he scaled annual revenue from under $1 million to $2.5 million.

“I’ve always loved unpacking systems,” Wade said. “But more than that, I love understanding why something matters to a business.”

Still, despite years of hands-on experience, his Salesforce knowledge was fragmented on a foundational level. He knew Sales Cloud inside and out, but the Admin exam felt overwhelming. One hundred and fifty topics. Endless documentation. No clear sense of depth.

That changed when he joined Get Force Certified. Wade wanted to launch his Salesforce career in a solid way which would allow him to do amazing things

“The Admin exam isn’t hard because any one topic is difficult,” Wade explained. “It’s hard because it’s broad, there is so much ground to cover. Dave gives you context though, and tells you everything that you need to know to make it feel bite-sized. He teaches you what you need to know, but just as importantly, what you don’t.”

Wade went on to share, “Rather than sending people like me who are keen learners into Trailhead rabbit holes, the Academy provides mental models and frameworks that create boundaries. Clear depth. Clear purpose. Which, allowed me to feel really confident and also help others in my class.”

“For the first time, I knew when to stop studying a topic,” Wade said. “That alone changes everything.”

Dave Massey’s teaching style resonated deeply with Wade. The live sessions, real-world projects, and constant reframing of concepts across industries made the learning stick.

“I loved watching Dave flex,” Wade said. “One minute he’s explaining something for a nonprofit use case, the next it’s enterprise sales. That ability to shift context instantly is rare, I was able to learn so much because of his rare teaching style that meant everyone in the class understood as we went along.”

More than that, Wade saw how much Dave genuinely cared.

“When people didn’t understand something, Dave took it personally because he wanted to ensure that we were all on the same page and feeling confident . He is invested in people, not just outcomes.”

He talks about it as a turning point.

“It’s not just about passing an exam,” he said. “It’s about learning how to think, how to study, how to believe in yourself again, and think about how you use the hours in your day to make the world a better place using Salesforce as the vehicle for change.”

For Wade, Get Force Certified provided structure when life felt chaotic, community when isolation was heavy, and confidence at a moment when he needed it most.

And now, with a renewed sense of purpose, he is building what comes next, and we are excited to follow his journey as he is a true trailblazer and has passion running through his veins! 

Wade didn’t need more information.