How I joined Atlassian Champions program to get into the VIP zone at a party

[#1]

I joined the Atlassian Champions program to get into the VIP zone at the party.

At least, this is how Paulo Ramalho teases me every time we meet 😁

And honestly? That was the moment that started it all.
My very first Atlassian Team conference in Las Vegas. The Bash Afterparty. I spotted a familiar face (Paulo) and walked up to say hi - only to be stopped by security 👨‍💼

“Show me your bracelet,” the guy said.
I held up mine. “Wrong bracelet,” he replied.

That’s when Paulo quietly pulled me aside and explained:
"This lounge is for Atlassian Community Leaders only”.

At that time, I had a very vague understanding of what a Community Leader was. But I knew I wanted to find out.

Fast forward just one year, and everything changed:

✍️ My experiments with LinkedIn posts got me invited to the Creator Program
🎤 Co-creating content with other leaders got me a speakership slot at my first ACE😻 😻 Speaking at Atlassian Community Events made me fall in love with the format, and starting co-hosting ACEs

👩‍🏫 A couple of conversations led to the instructor path
💃 And yes - I eventually made it into that Community Lounge at Bash 😉

I want to say a special thank you to the brilliant people who helped me grow along the way:
- James Seddon , Kevin Tuei, Alex Ortiz and Mayur Jadhav for my first content collaborations
- Kevin Lee for inviting me to join as a creator
- Khrystyna Shparyk, Svitlana Samotis, Iryna Komarnitska, and Elmira Niftullaieva for all the magic happening within our ACE Kyiv chapter
- Morbhen Rattray for the fantastic support within all the events
- Mark Livingstone for amazing co-speaker experience at Team 25

- Valeriana Colón, Ph.D., for the invitation to join the instructors' team 💙

And kudos to all the other fantastic Atlassian Champions who are so friendly and supportive all the time: Chris Cooke, Ariel Prado, Gal Fatal, Laura Campbell, Mark Cruth, Rafael Oliveira, Monika Rani, Thorsten Letschert, Hubert Kut, Astrid Sieben, Kathryn Vargas, Patricia Modispacher, Brodie Chivers, Frederike Häusel, Kit Friend, Alexandru Luchian Constantinescu, Dave LIAO, David Berclaz, María Ferreño, Shane Gallen, Sabrina Glawion, Tzoe Keat Chiam, Joe Doherty, Dan Moran, MBA, PMP, SPC, Andy Barker, John Funk and all the other amazing people 🤗

If you’re reading this and wondering whether you could be an Atlassian Champion, let me say this:
1. You don’t have to be a Jira admin.
2. You don’t have to write scripts or debug workflows.
3. You just have to care and be willing to share what you learn.

And if you'd like any help or advice on the program, I'm always here to help 🤗

[Gee Espiritu]

That's an awesome journey! It sounds like we have a similar story. 😊

Atlassian is the reason I was able to go on an overseas trip, and it was such a surreal experience—learning while enjoying the trip. ✈️🌍🤩

[Andy Gladstone]

It really does not matter what your motivation was, it matters what you do with the privilege and responsibility of being a Community Champion, and you have been a great representation of the Community Champion ideals and mindset @Margo Sakova - OKR Board for Jira by Oboard. Thanks for this post!

[Shawn Doyle - ReleaseTEAM]

love how one small moment turned into such an inspiring journey. Proof that curiosity, connection, and showing up can change everything.

I joined for the snacks.

[MJ Valencia -drawio diagrams-]

I love this!! Being an Atlassian Champion is the best :)