Last Monday, the Global Excel Awards reached its climax, as the winners across five categories were announced.
It all started back in April when we opened the doors for you to nominate the people and add-ins you believed most deserved recognition. In large numbers, you had your say as the submissions came in thick and fast.
After counting and verifying the results, we announced the finalists — five for each category except Lifetime Achievement, which had three.
A stellar line-up meant you had the tricky task of deciding who would edge out who. But following inevitable deliberation, you made your choices!
Let’s take a look at each category winner and why you deemed them to be most deserving.
Most Influential Professional in the Excel Industry
Leila Gharani
When we talk about Excel influencers, Leila is usually the first name that comes to mind. It’s not hard to see why.
She boasts a sizeable presence across social media, but it’s her YouTube channel that’s the discovery point for most people, having amassed over two million subscribers since starting in 2015.
Just imagine: you’re in the office, and you’ve encountered an Excel problem. What do you do? Inevitably, you hastily reach for YouTube as your saviour.
You tap away in the search bar to return a never-ending stream of results. Almost certainly, what appears towards the top is one (at least) of Leila’s videos.
They are unavoidable. They are inescapable. And it’s thanks to the professionalism, the Hollywood-grade production quality, and the sheer helpfulness that makes them so sought after.
Mix that in with the highly-acclaimed Excel, Power BI, and Google Sheets courses on her website and Udemy, and it’s easy to see why she’s had a meteoric rise.
Let’s be honest, there isn't a facet or angle she hasn't covered. Well, even if there is, you can be sure she’ll be on to it straight away!
Best Microsoft Excel Add-in
Zebra BI
Out of the box, Excel gives us a large range of options to analyse data and create dashboards. However, it takes a lot of time and effort to build reports that tell you the what, the why, and the how in a comprehensible way.
No one wants to spend hours and hours trying to make sense of data when your time is best spent acting decisively.
Thankfully, Zebra BI takes things to the next level by transforming your boring reports into actionable insights.
Founded in 2014, the add-in enables you to use its range of advanced charting tools to uncover business insights and answer key questions that can be acted upon.
Over one million users worldwide enjoy its benefits, and these include some of the biggest global brands. It is a testament to the value it brings as an extension of Excel’s capabilities.
What’s more, it’s proven such a game-changer that even Microsoft uses it for internal reporting!
Most Obscure Use of Excel
Randy Austin
Many misconceptions exist about Excel (and its users). Some say it’s only suitable for finance and accounting. Others assume it isn’t versatile or capable of performing complex tasks, so specialist software should be considered instead.
Promisingly, these have been diminishing over the years thanks to anoraks like Randy, who’s demonstrated a wide variety of uses for Excel.
On his highly popular YouTube channel, he’s wowed the masses with VBA-driven solutions like an EPOS system, a restaurant manager, and an SMS text message application, amongst many others!
Randy’s Excel for Freelancers brand encapsulates his passion for helping others achieve financial independence by equipping them with the toolset and know-how for building Excel applications they can sell.
It’s fair to say his innovations know no bounds. And he really has obliterated the notion that Excel can only possibly be a glorified calculator and nothing more!
Lifetime Achievement
Bill Jelen
Everyone uses Excel these days, but go back a few decades, and that certainly wasn’t the case.
Someone who has been around the block more than most is Bill Jelen. He first picked up Excel in the ‘90s while working as a financial analyst for the accounting, finance, marketing, and operations departments of a publicly held company.
Bill quickly gained a reputation as the guy who could help accountants and business professionals complete tasks in a single click instead of many hours. In doing so, he’s helped save companies millions of dollars.
This paved the way for 1998’s launch of MrExcel, a website dedicated to helping others find their feet in the program. It offered books, CDs, consultancy, and a message board for people to reach out to others about all things Excel.
To date, Bill has written 60+ books, presented Excel Esports, and published thousands of YouTube tutorials on every single aspect of Excel. He’s also renowned for being ahead of the pack when it comes to the latest developments!
MVP in the Making
Chandeep Chhabra
Microsoft’s much-coveted MVP (Most Value Professional) status is not readily awarded to anybody, so it sends a strong signal about an individual’s knowledge, passion, and reputation for serving the community.
Between 2010 and 2013, Chandeep worked for an investment bank, helping startups to raise capital. A few years later, he quit his job to focus on being a trainer, consultant, and blogger, equipping people with the skills to become competent with Excel and Power BI.
He also operates a website and YouTube channel under the Goodly name, and he regularly shares tips and tricks and invites guests to participate in insightful discussions.
All of these things have contributed to his surging reputation as a masterful expert who deserves greater recognition. However, clearly, his tireless work has not gone unnoticed, as you voted for him in great numbers.
While this award will not automatically make him an MVP, the ringing endorsement has well and truly put him on the map. We are hopeful this can be an omen of what’s to come!
Final words
There we are! What a wonderful way to showcase the finest talent in town.
It’s fair to say the first edition of the Global Excel Awards has been a resounding success. We would like to thank our winners, finalists, and everyone for taking part in the nominations and voting process.
Please feel free to use the link provided for each winner to join in congratulating them on LinkedIn. They all deserve it!
For now, all is not done. In the coming weeks, we will be dishing out the trophies to our winners, so stay tuned for that.
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