We Belong Here: Lessons from Unconventional Paths to Tech

Latest Episodes:

26. Sia Karamalegos: From Semiconductor Process Engineer to Tech Founder and CEO May 09, 2020

Show notes

On today’s episode of #WeBelongHere Lauren interviews Sia Karamalegos. Sia went from studying chemical engineering to being a semiconductor process engineer. She then went on to get her MBA at Harvard and worked in corporate strategy/consulting. She shares how quickly she burnt out from that role and wanted to get involved in public education reform in New Orleans. And only then, after tinkering and learning on the side, Sia won a Start-Up Weekend competition and a discounted coding boot camp tuition as a prize. That was when she decided to take her side hobby seriously and learn to code!

Sia worked as a software engineer, taught at and created curriculum for a coding boot camp, and ultimately recognized the inner #girlboss hustler that she is and went on to become the founder and CEO of Clio + Calliope.
Sia shares lots of advice throughout the episode for those curious to take the leap and learn to code. Be sure to tweet at @LoLoCoding to join the conversation and enter a chance to win the $100 Amazon gift card giveaway!
(Thank you to Cloudinary for sponsoring this giveaway)

Resources:

MDN Web Docs

GDG New Orleans

Cloudinary Media Developer Experts

Google Developer Experts

Women Techmakers

Sia’s website: sia.codes

Find Sia on Twitter @TheGreenGreek
We Belong Here Podcast:

Follow Lauren on Twitter @LoLoCoding

WeBelongPodcast.com website

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LoLoCoding.com

25. Angela and Dana Chou: How Learning to Code Made Me a Better Product Manager Apr 25, 2020

Show notes

On this episode of #WeBelongHere, Lauren interviews sisters Dana and Angela Chou. They host a podcast called, Work in Progress.

They believe that our careers should grow and change as we do: whether it is to find a career that suits us or a field that aligns with our philosophy, or simply to provide more for the family. They want to encourage those seeking change and those feeling stuck to make the transitions they want for themselves.

Angela spent about 10 years working in biotech companies but in Operations roles. She got an MBA to transition to Product Management but shortly after being in Product decided to learn to code in order to transition to Tech!

Today we discuss Angela’s career trajectory from Operations to Product as well as her coding journey along the way. As a Product Manager, she was asking her engineering team to build things and suddenly realized that she didn’t understand how the code work, which was when she decided to learn to code. She understood how important it was for her to understand what was going on within the code that she was asking her team to build. So started by teaching herself online with free resources and eventually attended a coding boot camp.
Dana tells us about the inspiration behind their blog and podcast, Work in Progress.

In this episode, Angela shares advice for those curious to break into tech as she did. It is not one to miss!

Resources:

Work in Progress Podcast and Blog
We Belong Here Podcast:

Follow Lauren on Twitter @LoLoCoding

WeBelongPodcast.com website

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LoLoCoding.com

24. Alexandra Leisse: From Singing Opera to All Things Product Mar 28, 2020

Show notes

Alexandra Leisse and Lauren today discuss her journey from pursuing music professionally to becoming VP of Product at VIBBIO. Alexandra has her master’s degree in opera and stage performance from the University for Dance and Music in Cologne, Germany. After finishing school, she worked as a soprano at theatres and concert halls all over Germany while also starting up her own little web development agency.

Since then, she’s moved to Norway and has gone on to find roles in user experience design and has spent over a decade in product related roles. Today, she’s the VP of Product at VIBBIO where she rebuilt the engineering team from the ground up, redesigned the application UI, and took full ownership of VIBBIO’s product strategy, in addition to her contributions to building the company itself.

She’s the founder of Rails Girls Oslo and self-identifies as a ‘web rebel’.

Today Lauren and Alexandra discuss the highlights of Alexandra’s musical career. She goes back in time to tell us about building her first website in 1995. Alexandra shares about the opportunity she saw in combining community building in the Linux world with social media. And soon landed a role as a community manager and has been in Product ever since!

She wears many hats at VIBBIO today, a startup, where the leadership is made up of all women!
Alexandra shares incredible advice for folks curious to enter tech and how to discover your passion and find your strengths within the industry.

“Don't listen too much to what others think you can do and what others think that you're capable of. Because you don't really know that you're not capable of doing it until you've tried doing it...”

Resources:
Rails Girls Summer of Code
Connect with Alexandra on Twitter: @troubalex
We Belong Here Podcast:

Follow Lauren on Twitter @LoLoCoding

WeBelongPodcast.com website

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LoLoCoding.com

23. Paula Muldoon: A Professional Violinist's Journey to Learn to Code Feb 17, 2020

Show notes

Paula Muldoon is a multi-talented violinist, software engineer, and composer based in Cambridge, UK. Currently, she is the concertmaster of the Cambridge Philharmonic Orchestra.

Paula recently started DeskNotes, a YouTube channel with short videos full of tips for orchestral string playing. And soon she will be recording a CD of her own solo violin compositions!

In 2017 she retrained at Makers Academy as a computer programmer and now combines violin performance with her career as a software engineer at Cambridge Cognition, where she writes code that is used for worldwide clinical trials.

In this episode, Paula and I discuss her transition from a professional musician to software development and her experiences in both worlds.

Resources:

DeskNotes

Paula’s website

Twitter @FiddlersCode

Facebook Fiddlers Code
We Belong Here Podcast:

Follow Lauren on Twitter @LoLoCoding

WeBelongPodcast.com website

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LoLoCoding.com

22. PJ Hagerty and His Journey to DevRel Dec 28, 2019

Show notes

PJ Hagerty is the founder of Devrelate.io and a board member of Open Sourcing Mental Illness. He’s a developer, writer, speaker, conference organizer, musician, and Community Advocate. He’s known to travel the world speaking about programming and the way people think and interact while wearing many hats 🎩.

As someone who was a part of the industry from the beginning, PJ defines DevRel for us to kick off our conversation. PJ worked at a deaf school and as a musician for many years before transitioning full time to tech. The lessons he learned prior to that transition have proven to be pivotal in his DevRel career in comparison to what his formal CS degree provided. He worked as a software engineer for many years and says he was “tricked into doing DevRel” when he gave a spontaneous lightning talk that ultimately turned into many many more talks! He went on to form a community team, continued to travel the world giving talks, and helped define and shape the DevRel space itself. Eventually, PJ started his own company, DevRelate, which offers Developer and Community Relations as a service.

PJ is passionate about destigmatizing mental health in the tech industry and offers to collaborate and brainstorm ways to do so with listeners! This episode is packed full of advice and wisdom, especially for those interested in breaking into the DevRel space- be sure to give a listen!

Resources:

Open Sourcing Mental Illness

Devrelate.io

DevOps Days Buffalo

CodeDaze

ElixirDaze
PJ's podcast: @Community_Pulse

Follow PJ on Twitter: @aspleenic
We Belong Here Podcast:

Follow Lauren on Twitter @LoLoCoding

WeBelongPodcast.com website

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LoLoCoding.com

21. Elyse Segebart: Conquering Life's Obstacles and Following Your Dreams Oct 27, 2019

Show notes

Elyse Segebart is an artist by nature but took the plunge into tech at 27. She's a mobile application developer finishing her degree at Capella University where she is studying software development, is graduating September of 2020. She aspires to work fully remote in the future. She lives in the heartland with her boyfriend and is a role model for his 8-year-old daughter.

Content Warning

Elyse advocates for women in traumatic and abusive situations having overcome these situations herself. Our conversation today covers topics on addiction, domestic abuse, and issues of mental health. She brings her whole self to our conversation and shares both encouragement and advice to those facing abuse and trauma. She speaks of how she overcame the obstacles that stood in her way and encourages those who similarly hope to follow their dreams of succeeding in the tech industry. She wants to help other women who have been in similar situations to know that there is a way out. She is your cheerleader and champion and this episode is genuinely not one to miss!

Resources:

Mom’s in Tech Slack group

CodeNewbie podcast

Getting Apps Done podcast

Follow Elyse on Twitter @elyseis12
We Belong Here Podcast:

Follow Lauren on Twitter @LoLoCoding

WeBelongPodcast.com website

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LoLoCoding.com

20. Becca Lee: Lessons from Marketing Applied to Code Oct 04, 2019

Show notes

Becca is a Front End Developer at Assemble Inc. who fell in love with the tech industry while working as the Marketing Manager for a JavaScript consultancy. She believes that user-centric development, collaboration, and strong communication help make better software. Since making the transition to software development, she has worked primarily in the JavaScript ecosystem and is particularly fond of React and CSS. Becca also helps organize the Seattle chapter of Write/Speak/Code and enjoys speaking at meetups and conferences, most recently participating as a panelist at Chain React 2019.

Today Becca and I chat about our experiences in our first engineering roles after attending coding boot camps and how we somehow managed to survive. Becca tells the story of how she powered through the recovery process of the norovirus to complete her portfolio and application to land her current role.

Becca explains how helpful the lessons she learned while working with people and in marketing before transitioning to coding are and how grateful she is to have that prior experience to tap into each day now as a front end developer. She is able to tackle problems differently from others on her team and is forever aware of and concerned for the end user and their experience, which is an invaluable skill for any web development team.

Becca is brilliant and fun- this episode is not one to miss!

Resources:

Code Fellows

Write/Speak/Code
We Belong Here Podcast:

Follow Lauren on Twitter @LoLoCoding

WeBelongPodcast.com website

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LoLoCoding.com

19. Kristen Spencer: How Sampling ALL of the Careers Led Her to Software Engineering Sep 29, 2019

Show notes

Kristen Spencer likes to say that she was a professional career sampler. She has worked in many random industries and has been able to successfully incorporate the plethora of lessons she learned into her role today as a Senior Developer at a digital consultancy agency, TWG in Toronto.

After having her first baby, Kristen started a Cool Mom blog on WordPress when she ultimately discovered her interest in design and code. She then took a few day-long workshops on how to make small changes in the browser only to discover a 9-week long boot camp called Canada Learning Code- the first of its kind in Canada.

She went on to teach at HackerYou and credits working as an educator to finding the role she has today as a Senior-level developer.
Today, Kristen and I dive deep into topics such as imposter syndrome, the importance of negotiation, and the art of framing your narrative. This episode is packed with tips and advice for those entering the tech space via an unconventional route.
It is not one to miss!

Resources:
Ladies Get Paid

Canada Learning Code

Follow on Twitter @_KristenSpencer

We Belong Here Podcast:

Follow Lauren on Twitter @LoLoCoding

WeBelongPodcast.com website

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LoLoCoding.com

18. Aisha Blake: A Community Minded App Developer in Detroit Aug 17, 2019

Show notes

Aisha Blake arrived in Detroit in 2013 to serve as a Jesuit Volunteer. She then began working at Grand Circus and has taught web development to people of all ages in bootcamps, workshops, and online courses. She helped create their bootcamp program and craft their JavaScript curriculum. She eventually decided to pursue a full-time engineering role and today is an Application Developer for Detroit Labs.

Aisha has a deep love for the tech community in Detroit. She’s passionate about community organizing and helps organize self.conference and <title of conf>. She has traveled all across the US to speak on web accessibility, diversity & inclusion in tech, and how to give feedback fearlessly.

This episode of #WeBelongHere is packed full of thoughtful dialogue spanning topics from race and gender to self-advocacy and the power of song and community. Aisha shares advice on how to teach yourself the skills to survive and thrive in the tech industry.

Resources:

Aisha’s Blog Aisha.Codes

Twitter @AishaBlake

self.conference
We Belong Here Podcast:

Follow Lauren on Twitter @LoLoCoding

WeBelongPodcast.com website

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LoLoCoding.com

17. Tiffany Pena: Balancing Life as a Mom and Learning to Code Aug 04, 2019

Show notes

Tiffany Pena is a homeschooling mom of 3 girls from Texas. She’s also a Software & Web Developer student at Capella University, where she will graduate in December with a Bachelor's Degree! She has a vast background in Business and Finance and is an advocate for women in difficult situations. In her spare time, she enjoys photography, hiking, coffee & her 3 Cardigan Welsh Corgis.

Back in 2016, she knew she wanted to go back to school to complete her Bachelor’s Degree and was considering becoming a CPA but began exploring web design and discovered the world of web development.

In today’s episode, we chat about Capella’s diverse curriculum, the neat projects she’s worked on using Java and PHP, and how she has figured out a way to balance her career goals and love of being a stay at home mom. We discuss how the skills from her time in business and finance have set her apart from her classmates but also how the lessons she’s learned from motherhood and home-schooling has helped her differentiate herself and diversify her skill set as a developer.

We dive deep into the power of a support network and a community to help persevere in moments of great stress and confusion. Tiffany shares some great wisdom and advice- this episode is not one to miss!

Resources:

Capella University

Moms in Tech Slack channel

Follow Tiffany on Twitter @CodngAtTiffanys

We Belong Here Podcast:

Follow Lauren on Twitter @LoLoCoding

WeBelongPodcast.com website

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts

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LoLoCoding.com