Our Purpose
We give hardworking folks a place to fulfill their desire to help others. Every Helpful Folk will provide high-quality advisory, design, or training services.
Our Vision
The Helpful Folks will forever be in a state of learning and growing. With each new interaction, we will develop as professionals and human beings.
Our Values
Helpfulness is our core value, but it can only be achieved with trust, integrity, gratitude, collaboration, and an ethical, inclusive approach.
Our origin story
On Wednesday, January 3rd, 2023, Salesforce laid off 10% of its staff. At the time, this was common amongst big tech companies, as most had overhired during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Both Haley and Dustin Penrod were Salesforce employees. Haley was fortunate to avoid the layoffs. But Dustin wasn’t so lucky.
Like many others, his termination wasn’t based on performance or tenure. Dustin was a top performer and a subject matter expert for the Revenue Cloud product (CPQ + Billing). For the first time in his professional life, Dustin was jobless. But rather than wallowing in self pity, Dustin saw opportunity.
You see, Haley loves project management and consulting. She has always had entrepreneurial aspirations, but no free time to build a business. On the flipside, Dustin had the free time, the entrepreneurial spirit, and a growing list of interested clients, but lacked consulting experience.
Thus, life partners became business partners and The Helpful Folks LLC was born. A wildly Midwestern name for some wildly Midwestern folks.
Meet the Helpful Folks
Haley Penrod
Haley Penrod is a co-founder of The Helpful Folks.
Haley has a wealth of experience in accessibility, user experience, and learning design. She strives to create learning experiences that are meaningful, measurable, and accessible for all learners.
Outside of the Helpful Folks, Haley is passionate about fitness, specifically rowing. In fact, she is a Certified Level 1 CrossFit trainer.
Dustin Penrod
Dustin Penrod is a co-founder of The Helpful Folks.
Dustin is a Salesforce Revenue Cloud veteran with deep product expertise in Salesforce CPQ. He is passionate about unraveling complex problems and positioning simple, scaleable solutions.
Outside of the Helpful Folks, Dustin is either playing rugby, thinking about rugby, or recovering from rugby by cuddling with his two Saint Bernards, Eleanor and Herbert.
The Helpful Folks 