trouble shifting

I have been riding on roads on my mrb for the past 5 years and finally decided to spring for a road bike. I recently posted on this forum (was considering Trek bikes) and got lots of helpful feedback. In the end, I got a Specialized Sequoia. So much ligher than my mtb, great handling. I'm having some trouble shifting on the front, however. I've been used to rapid fire shift mechanism on my mtb. Can't seem to get the hang of the shift levers on the road bike. I feel that my grip is not quite strong enought to upshift without a significant effort. I took the bike back to my LBS and they helped me adjust the handlebar position which helped some. Any thoughts, insights or suggestions?