The Airtable Community Change Maker Spotlights are a new ongoing series where we will be highlighting inspirational creators across the Airtable Community. We are thrilled to be able to highlight Alli Alosa✨
LM: How long have you been using Airtable?
AA: I created my first account in December of 2017, so it’s now been 5 full years! While it might sound a little over-the-top, my life has changed so much over those 5 years as a direct result of Airtable. I started my own business as an Airtable Consultant, began co-hosting an Airtable Podcast (BuiltOnAir) and have worked with and even met in-person so many amazing people from the Airtable Community.
LM: How do you use Airtable? At work? At home?
AA: As an Airtable Consultant, I’m using the platform virtually the entire work day. I help clients with setting up, maintaining, and updating their bases. I also use Airtable to track the hours I spend helping clients, generate invoices, collect and respond to new inquiries, and more.
Airtable often crosses over into my personal life as well - most notably, I used it to plan my entire wedding.💒
LM: How did you learn how to use Airtable?
AA: Funny story - I have a degree in fine art and never anticipated entering the tech sphere. After college, I started working for my family’s business and found myself struggling - trying to make Excel do all sorts of things it’s not built to do. It was actually my father, a long-time programmer, who stumbled across Airtable and suggested I try it out. I fell in love with the tool, started visiting the Airtable Community forum several times a day, and eventually went from asking questions to answering them (but I still learn more every day).
LM: If someone is looking to start learning Airtable, what resources would you send them?
AA: There are so many good resources out there! Here’s a list I always point people toward 🙂
- GAP Consulting’s YouTube Channel: If you Google “How To” and “Airtable”, Gareth is going to come up. His videos have helped SO many users, and for good reason. Clear, concise direction and great production value!
- BuiltOnAir: The Slack Channel is full of people sharing cool things they’ve built and answering user questions. Not to mention, they have a weekly podcast all about Airtable (shameless plug) 😇
- As I’ve mentioned, the Community Forum is huge for me - the people in the Airtable Community (across all channels) are always willing to lend a helping hand.
LM: What is your #1 Airtable product request?
AA: Tough question - I’m going to cheat and list 3 😇Pivot Tables in Interface Designer, a new version of Page Designer (one that comes with the ability to automatically attach to a record and support for multiple pages), and dynamically filtering the selectable options from a linked table based on a record’s existing field values.
LM: What is your favorite thing about the Airtable Community?
AA: I absolutely love how willing everyone is to lend their time and advice to one another. The camaraderie I’ve found in the Airtable Community is unparalleled. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting several people in person (special thanks to Chris Dancy and Ben Green for organizing Daretable in April 2022), and look forward to an opportunity to do so again!
LM: What advice would you give to new members of the Airtable Community?
AA: Simply start building. Start small and go from there. Each problem you solve will add to your expertise and inform the way you make decisions in your next project. Even mistakes can be beneficial as you learn how to avoid the same pitfalls in the future.
LM: Who in the Airtable Community inspires you and why?
AA: So many people!
Kuovonne Vorderbruggen is incredible - absolutely brilliant and always there to help users. I also credit her for completely transforming the way I think about writing javaScript, and she did so in less than 60 minutes.
I’d also have to shout out my BuiltOnAir co-hosts Dan Fellars and Kamille Parks. Between Openside and BuiltOnAir, Dan adds so much to the entire community. And obviously Kamille is a rockstar and everyone knows 🎉
