We Belong Here: Lessons from Unconventional Paths to Tech

Latest Episodes:

16. Bekah Hawrot Weigel: The Parallels Between Teaching English Literature & Code Jul 27, 2019

Show notes

Bekah Hawrot Weigel is a mom to four adorable young kids and has spent the past ten years of her life teaching literature, writing screenplays, pilots, a memoir. She started off studying English at university and then worked as a community organizer for an environmental nonprofit. She then got her masters in English and taught a variety of classes as an adjunct instructor. After having her fourth child, she faced a great deal of trauma when her two of her internal organs ruptured and left her to face a year of her life in which her body was in a state of recovery, leaving her unable to do the normal things she had before. Bekah shares how her mental health was impacted by that experience in that she had depression, panic attacks, and PTSD.

Despite everything that was on her plate at that time, her husband encouraged her to try and learn to code. She resisted at first but eventually gave in and dove into FreeCodeCamp’s JavaScript course. Learning that new skill allowed her to breathe, rest, escape and conquer those moments that had been so negatively shaping her past year. It felt incredibly empowering for her to be able to build and create something in front of her eyes and thus through Moms Can & Co, she received the @Facebook Breakthrough Scholarship a scholarship to attend the Flatiron School, from which she recently graduated!

Bekah has since found an incredibly supportive first role and she shares thoughtful advice and suggestions for those curious to enter the industry themselves.

Resources:

CodeNewbie

Flatiron School

Moms Can & Co

Find Bekah online:

BekahHW on Twitter & Instagram

BekahHW.github.io
We Belong Here Podcast:

Follow Lauren on Twitter @LoLoCoding

WeBelongPodcast.com website

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LoLoCoding.com

15. Michelle Brenner: How She Became a Sr. Backend Engineer Jul 07, 2019

Show notes

Michelle Brenner and I chat today about the transferable skills she learned while studying art and working as a support engineer in the film industry that help her today as a Senior Backend Engineer at ChowNow.

In art school, she learned to accept and listen to critiques which has proven to be incredibly helpful during code reviews as an engineer today.

Early in her career, as a support engineer in visual effects at Sony Picture Imageworks, she was encouraged to automate parts of her job and thus taught herself Python.

Michelle works tirelessly to promote diversity and inclusion in tech by organizing events, mentoring, and conference speaking. She also runs an interview format tech podcast called From the Source to answer the question of what tech jobs are really like- be sure to go check it out!

Resources:

From the Source podcast

Write Speak Code

Tech By Choice

Find Michelle on Twitter: @MichelleLynneB

We Belong Here Podcast:

Follow Lauren on Twitter @LoLoCoding

WeBelongPodcast.com website

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts

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LoLoCoding.com

14. Chris Evans: Lessons from 30 Years in the Biz Jun 19, 2019

Show notes

Today, Chris and I chat about his path to becoming an Architect at Microsoft.

After graduating from college with a degree in communications, Chris tried his hat at pioneering podcasts and shares the challenges of trying to circulate content without the internet in the ’80s.

He eventually learned to program while working in IT. And although his first company believed that a requirement to be an engineer was to have a CS degree, he soon found a company that was excited for him to join their team as a software developer. There they didn’t care about his degree, but rather what he capable of building and creating. And build he did. He went on to develop one of the first ever Java integrated development environments, he released his first iOS app to the app store the day it originally opened, and he has dozens of patents in the field of user experience and digital photography.

Chris believes that software engineering is a team sport and that there’s great importance in building a strong group of diverse individuals to come together to work collaboratively.

We dive into the problematic nature of traditional whiteboarding interview techniques and he shares ideas of how we can improve that process.

He encourages listeners to go check out the new Edge Browser and is eager to hear feedback from listeners- so go make some pull request folks!

Chris is an incredible ally and advocate for those entering tech via unconventional paths and I feel so happy to had the chance to interview this today. This episode is not one to miss!

Resources:
Find Chris on:
Twitter
Instagram
Linkedin

We Belong Here Podcast:

Follow Lauren on Twitter @LoLoCoding

WeBelongPodcast.com website

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts

Subscribe on Spotify

LoLoCoding.com

13. Lauren Granger: From Social Services to Software Engineering & the Power of Doing Good Jun 05, 2019

Show notes

Lauren Granger began their career working with adults experiencing homelessness in Seattle.
Lauren’s path to social work began on the night of Barack Obama’s inauguration when during his speech, he encouraged every person to get involved and volunteer. And that they did; Lauren dedicated the next decade of their life to giving back to their community. They managed low-income houses and did incredible work for individuals facing homelessness in Seattle's community.

Pivoting from work in social service work, Lauren then attended Ada Developers Academy to learn to code and is a Software Development Engineer today at Amazon. They work on the Freetime team, which works to offer peace of mind for parents of young children.
Lauren and I dive deep into the power of volunteerism and giving back to our communities. We discuss the importance of finding your people, active allyship, and how to use the professional skills we bring with us to the table from prior life/work experiences to succeed in our careers in tech.
Resources:

Downtown Emergency Service Center
Ada Developers Academy
Find Lauren Granger on Twitter & LinkedIn
We Belong Here Podcast:

Follow Lauren on Twitter @LoLoCoding

WeBelongPodcast.com website

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts

Subscribe on Spotify

LoLoCoding.com

12. Jessica Dene Earley-Cha: Community & Developer Advocacy at Google May 27, 2019

Show notes

Today, Jessica and I chat about the path she took to become a Developer Advocate at Google. After studying Sociology and Education in college, Jessica dedicated herself to working for both Girls Inc. and Girl Scouts. After five years of doing that, she transitioned her focus onto mental health advocacy work. After facing some extremely difficult tragedies in that role and receiving encouragement from friends and family, she decided to take a class at her local college to learn C++ in hopes of transitioning yet again. That was the moment she fell in love with programming and the rest is history!

She attended Hackbright Academy and even went on to teach there for a few years afterwards. Today, she is a Developer Advocate at Google, where she creates content in innovative ways to help other developers build with Google Assistant.

We speak about the power of community and the importance of relationships in this industry. Jessica shares incredible advice on how to leverage those relationships while job hunting. She provides tips for those interested in exploring a role within Developer Relations and presents some tangible ideas to help recruiters find you.

Jessica is an absolute rockstar and is ever so inspiring- this episode is not one to miss!

Resources:
Find Jessica online:
Twitter
Instagram

We Belong Here Podcast:

Follow Lauren on Twitter @LoLoCoding

WeBelongPodcast.com website

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts

Subscribe on Spotify

LoLoCoding.com

11. Becca Rosenthal: How to Find your People and Pull Each Other Up Together May 19, 2019

Show notes

Becca Rosenthal is a Middle East Studies major turned software engineer. After college, she spent a few years working at a Jewish non-profit in Jackson, MS. And when she moved back home to Oakland, she realized quickly that tech would be her ticket to stay in her beloved city. Thus, she decided to learn to code by attending Hackbright Academy. After graduation, she quickly landed an engineering job at Reddit. Today, Becca and I dive deep into how she did just that.

A year into her tech career, she attributes her successes to her ability to slay at office karaoke, her intense curiosity, and her absolute refusal to eat a meal at her desk. Her day to day life at Reddit is filled with puns and banter and if you’re ever searching for someone to write or perform a nerdy song for your tech company, Becca is the person for the job!

Our conversation ranges from silly topics such as what the lyrics to Reddit the Musical would be to the power of eliminating the word “Sorry” from your vocabulary.

Becca is an absolute badass and this episode is packed with incredible advice and powerful ideas. It is not one to miss!

Resources:

The Mentor Song. It's fictional.

An AMA Becca and two other Reddit engineers did about Hackbright and bootcamps in general

r/GirlsGoneWired

r/CSCareerQuestions

The resources that Becca gives to Hackbrighters at the end of the bootcamp. (It includes all of the problems she got in coding interviews, an amazing study guide, and the comically long post where she told us about everything she did from Hackbright to getting a job.)

Find Becca on Twitter @BeccaRoRo and on Reddit as u/SingShredCode.

We Belong Here Podcast:

Follow Lauren on Twitter @LoLoCoding

WeBelongPodcast.com website

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts

Subscribe on Spotify

LoLoCoding.com

10. Jessica Owens: The Parallels Between Knitting & Coding May 12, 2019

Show notes

My guest today is a Software Engineer at Snapchat.
She was a child actor on Bill Nye the Science Guy, studied architecture in college, and went on to work in a fiber arts store for over a decade in Seattle before attending a coding bootcamp to learn to code.
Jessica and I chat about how both knitting and weaving compliment the process of learning to code in such a remarkable way. In fact, little did I know that we owe computers to the jacquard loom! She tells the story of her weaving store adapting and evolving as the city of Seattle has grown and changed over time. And we dive into the importance of sharing and passing down institutional knowledge.
This episode is not one to miss!

Resources:
Find Jessica online: http://lifelikethis.com/

We Belong Here Podcast:

Follow Lauren on Twitter @LoLoCoding

WeBelongPodcast.com website

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts

Subscribe on Spotify

LoLoCoding.com

9. Abby Tiffany: From Sign Language to Coding Language Apr 28, 2019

Show notes

My guest today is a Software Engineer who was an Interpretive Sign Language Translator prior to learning to code. In 2018, she completed a Full Stack Web Development program at The Lambda School and is now an IOS mobile app developer in Seattle.
Today she & I dive deep into topics such as gatekeeping, toxic companies, nerd culture, tips to technical interviewing and how important representation is in this industry. She’s a massive advocate for career changers and supports her community as a mentor for individuals with nontraditional backgrounds.
She shares the two questions that she asks herself when setting goals: “Am I where I need to be and am I where I want to be?”
Abby is such a powerhouse and is someone who is only going to continue killing it in this industry.
Her interview is NOT one to miss!

Resources:

The Lambda School

Science Fiction Prototyping

NYT Magazine article The Secret History of Women in Codingby Clive Thompson

Natasha the Robot

Ray Wenderlich

Back To Back SWE

Check out Abby Tiffany on LinkedIn

We Belong Here Podcast:

Follow Lauren on Twitter @LoLoCoding

WeBelongPodcast.com website

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts

Subscribe on Spotify

LoLoCoding.com

8. Nora Peters: From Americorps to Amazon Apr 21, 2019

Show notes

Nora is nonprofit fundraising professional turned coder.
Today, she & I chat about her journey to tech after dedicating her career and education to mission-driven companies and how she used to perceive corporate Americas as the “dark-side.” She shares that it was in fact her therapist, who told her about Ada Developers Academy and encouraged her to pursue software development.
She’s so thankful for that advice, as she has now discovered a way to blend her passion for tech with her love for helping people and does so today as a Software Development Engineer on a Kindle team at Amazon.
We chat about the parallels between the fundraising and technical marketing industries and how many of the skills are transferrable from one to the other.

This episode is not one to miss and Nora wants you to know that you have the right AND the ability to learn anything!

Resources:

Ada Developers Academy

You are a Badass

@NTPetes

Nora's LinkedIn
We Belong Here Podcast:

Follow Lauren on Twitter @LoLoCoding

WeBelongPodcast.com website

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts

Subscribe on Spotify

LoLoCoding.com

7. Jamie Pilgrim: From Bootcamp Instructor to Software Engineer Apr 07, 2019

Show notes

Jamie & Lauren talk today about her path to attending a coding bootcamp after feeling frustrated with the traditional 4-year college path that so many are encouraged to take. She calls for a rethinking of the way we push that route onto young adults as the expected route and encourages us all to consider exploring our interests and passions to help discover what we will be good at but more importantly, what will bring us joy.

In 2014, Jamie attended a program called Dev Bootcamp and went on to be an educator and instructor at many different bootcamp and coding programs such as the Flatiron School, the Latin High School in Chicago, General Assembly, Kode with Klossy, and even was Lauren’s instructor at Ada Developers Academy here in Seattle!

Because this podcast is dedicated to interviewing those who for example, have graduated from programs such as these, we thought it would be fun to chat with someone from the perspective of the person teaching these programs and understand her own unique path to tech.

This episode with Jamie is not one to miss!

Resources:

Coding newbie

Twitter

Github

Jamie's Website

We Belong Here Podcast:

Follow Lauren on Twitter @LoLoCoding

WeBelongPodcast.com website

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts

Subscribe on Spotify

LoLoCoding.com