Forums

Articles
Create
cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

From User to Certified Consultant: My Atlassian Champion Glow-Up

Many years ago, I filed my very first Jira ticket—just a bug report with two blurry screenshots.

Today, I’m an Atlassian Certified Consultant. This is the story of how a curious end-user grew into a Community Champion and consultant through structured learning, professional certifications, and—above all—the generosity of the Atlassian Community.

Phase 1 | Everyday User

As a developer, QA engineer, team lead, and architect, I lived in Jira and Confluence. I always asked why a workflow existed before tackling how to fix it, combed the Atlassian Community for answers, and experimented with time-tracking “the Jira way.”

Phase 2 | Project Lead & Product Owner

A new job dropped me into product ownership for Atlassian tools—and my first taste of Jira Service Management. I dove into admin tasks, sat my first certification exam…and failed. Every thorny question from users or customers sent me back to the Community, which never let me down.

Phase 3 | Senior Atlassian Consultant

Taking a senior-consultant role turned the journey up to eleven. I earned multiple certifications and all three Atlassian designations—Agile DevOps Specialist, Administration Expert, ITSM Specialist. I answered Community questions daily, attended events to stay sharp, and became an Atlassian Community Champion in the process.

Current Phase | Forge Explorer

Now I tunnel even deeper into the Atlassian mountain—building my first Forge apps. The Community still has my back, and I repay the favor by sharing every new insight.

I’m grateful—and humbled—to be a small part of this amazing ecosystem.

Lessons Learned

• Certifications multiply impact: structured learning + instant credibility.
• Teach to learn: writing an answer exposes gaps you never saw.
• Automate aggressively but incrementally: one rule that saves a minute per ticket adds up to weeks per year.
• Build for one, share with many: what you give the Community returns compounded every day.

Three Words That Sum It Up

Curiosity → Certification → Community

Those three words turned Jira tickets from chores into a career—one I now share through consulting, app-building, and mentoring, always alongside the Community.

2 comments

Brita Moorus
Rising Star
Rising Star
Rising Stars are recognized for providing high-quality answers to other users. Rising Stars receive a certificate of achievement and are on the path to becoming Community Leaders.
July 21, 2025

Love this journey, and how clearly your curiosity and persistence paid off!

It's inspiring to see how certifications, community, and hands-on experience can turn everyday tasks into real expertise. Thanks for sharing! 💜

Like # people like this
Bobby Taylor
Contributor
July 21, 2025

Great story and thanks for sharing your adventure @Kai Krause ! It sounds like it has taken you to places that you probably didn't expect when you first submitted your original bug report! I am firmly in the "Curiosity"/Phase I of your outlined path but can already see and feel the support of this community, which happily surprises me every day!

Like # people like this

Comment

Log in or Sign up to comment
TAGS
AUG Leaders

Atlassian Community Events