Are you a trades person feeling left behind in this technological world? Is your company asking you to do more and more work on the computer, but you’re finding yourself lost? I’m here to help.
Hi! My name is Cera Gariepy and I work with construction companies every day to help them advance their personal and business goals through Excel training, process efficiency, custom applications, databases, and more! My goal is to help you take the next steps in your career and boost your business by giving you the Excel skills, tools, and confidence you need.
Take a look at the different training sections, or visit the About page to learn a little more about me and my journey to you. Enjoy!
Who Says I Need To Learn Excel?
Your boss, your next boss, your customer, your expenses, and most importantly: You.
Someone once told me that you can never truly be motivated by someone else. If you really want to do something, YOU have to be the motivator. But that’s why you’re here, isn’t it?
The truth is, we are living in the modern, technological world. The more we build, the more there is to analyze, and the more questions you will be asked. Excel wasn’t designed to be a burden, it was designed to help you manage the additional weight and answer every question in seconds. You just need to know how.
That’s what I’m here for. There is a lot of information out there about Excel, but it’s usually written by another programmer, and I’ll say it, most of us aren’t very eloquent. For those who aren’t technologically inclined, it’s easy to get lost. I’m here to break it down and pave the way for you to become Excellently Nerdy.
Why All The Extra Commentary?
When I work with folks in person, most of my time is spent explaining little details that would never be discussed if I just gave them the equation. People need to understand why something is happening in order for it to really click, and then there’s that little something extra.
You may not have noticed this yet, but everyone has a “style” and a way of doing things in Excel or any other type of programming. Anyone that’s worked with me could pick my workbook out of a deck, because they would recognize me by the way it looks and functions. It’s like an accent or Wolverine calling everyone “Bub.” There’s no Facebook quiz to tell you what your programming style is, and certainly a stark definition won’t help you develop yours, but you will see it develop over time.
When I started this career, my mentor would give me his old workbooks to decode and rebuild from scratch. Eventually it expanded beyond his work and I began to learn from other programmers. By putting myself in their seat and in their work, I was able to see their style and way of doing things. Every time I started learning a new language, everything would look almost exactly the way my mentor’s did. I’d put underscores where he did, I’d use his color scheme, and I would structure the code the same way. But as I went along, it started to change. First it would just be changing an underscore. Then it would be labeling something different. I’d eventually become knowledgeable enough that I would find a more efficient way of doing something, and it would become my style. (I would of course go back to my mentor and we would nerd out over coffee and pizza.)
Not everyone has that mentor in their life. I hope to fill that space and share my stories, tricks, and style patterns with you, until you come back to me and say, “I did it better.” I fully expect a nerd-out session, though. Just a warning!