Stories and interviews from people on their coding journey.
S23:E8 - Empowering the Next Generation of Black Tech Talent (Pariss Chandler)
For our Season 23 Finale, Saron talks to Pariss Chandler, Software Engineer turned Founder & CEO of Black Tech Pipeline. You may have heard of her before, as she was the mobilizer behind the hashtag, movement, and community #BlackTechTwitter. Pariss talks about getting into tech, being in tech at ad agencies and a beauty company, and how life changed after just one tweet. Pariss also talks about Black Tech Pipeline, the company Pariss started after seeing a lack of Black programmers in tech and wanting to change that. Show Links Compiler (sponsor) Porkbun (sponsor) Black Tech Pipeline #BlackTechTwitter React CSS Vanilla JS HTML JavaScript Resilient Coders Frontend development
S23:E7 - How a Single Mom in a Shelter Became a Successful Software Developer (Brittney Ball)
Saron sits down with Brittney Ball, Documentation Engineer at Meta. Brittney shares her experience going from being a homeless single mom living in a shelter to a Software Engineer. She talks about her journey to get to where she is today, the role a viral tweet played in kick-starting her coding journey, tips for those who are self-taught to stand out when job searching, and what a Documentation Engineer is. Show Links Compiler (sponsor) Porkbun (sponsor) Brittney Ball Blog Documentation Engineering Charlotte Developers Lynda.com HTML JavaScript Year Up
S23:E6 - From Site Reliability Engineer to Principal Software Engineer (Alice Goldfuss)
Today, Saron talks with Alice Goldfuss, Principal Software Engineer and Systems Programmer specializing in building resilient distributed systems at scale. Alice delivered industry-impacting talks on container platforms, infrastructure operations, and organizational best practices, as well as written on the SRE field, kernel crashes, and personal security. We hear about their coding journey and learn all about their take on various programs and the tech world as a whole. Show Links Compiler (sponsor) Porkbun (sponsor) How to Get Into SRE Rust CSS Notepad++ Inline CSS HTML4
S23:E5 - Going from Ministry to Tech (Kyle Shevlin)
In this episode we sit down with Kyle Shevlin from Virta Health, who talks to us about his journey from ministry into tech. Kyle is a senior software engineer (JavaScript, React, and more) who spends his free time golfing, woodworking and playing video games. Hear as he describes his experience with ADHD in the workplace. Show Links Compiler (sponsor) Porkbun (sponsor) Justice Sensitivity ADHD jQuery From Pastor to Programmer
S23:E4 - Practical A/B Testing (Leemay Nassery)
In this episode we sit down with Leemay Nassery who talks to us about all things A/B testing. Leemay is a Senior Engineer Manager at Spotify who is passionate about tying engineering to business and user impact while keeping her team's career growth at the forefront. If you have ever been interested in learning more about A/B testing or have been confused about what exactly A/B testing might be, this episode is for you. Show Links Compiler (sponsor) Porkbun (sponsor) Practical A/B Testing
S23:E3 - Saying Yes to Opportunities (Frankie Nicoletti)
In this episode we talk to Frankie Nicoletti, VP of Engineering at SoLo Funds. We learn how throughout their career Frankie has always said yes to opportunities that came their way and it has made all the difference. Tune in to find out about what saying yes looks like and how to best look for and apply to jobs when you're a new bootcamp grad. Show Links Compiler (sponsor) Porkbun (sponsor) Hackathon Go Diversify Tech Veri Kunche Hack Reactor
S23:E2 - Having a Growth Mindset (Tanya Reilly)
This week we talk to Tanya Reilly, Senior Principal Engineer at Squarespace, about having a growth mindset. Having a growth mindset includes recognizing our limitations and challenging ourselves to learn at any stage of our coding journey. We also talked about interviewing and advocating for ourselves. Show Links Compiler (sponsor) Porkbun (sponsor) Growth Mindset and Code System Design Linux Memoization Graph Traversal Project Euler Stanford Computer Science Platform Engineering
S23:E1 - Psychological Safety in Tech (Taylor Poindexter)
Welcome back to Season 23 of the CodeNewbie Podcast! We sit down and talk to Taylor Poindexter, co-founder of Black Code Collective, an organization that strives to create a safe space for software engineers to thrive. She is also an Engineering Manager at Spotify. In her downtime you can find her adventuring, tweeting about tech, and creating whiskey videos for Instagram. She talks to us about her coding experience, the importance of taking breaks and what psychological safety in the workplace looks like. She also talks to us about her organization Black Code Collective. Show Links Compiler (sponsor) Porkbun (sponsor) Psychological Safety at Work Sabbatical Black Code Collective
S22:E9 - Coding Bootcamps & Coding Journeys (Mark Thompson)
Happy New Year! In this final episode of Season 22, Saron speaks with Mark Thompson, Senior Developer Relations Engineer at Google. Mark loves to teach and code. He is an award-winning university instructor and engineer with a passion for creating meaningful learning experiences. Listen as they discuss Mark's interest in code, coding bootcamps and how to manage your career. Show Links Turing (sponsor) Microsoft (sponsor) Stellar (sponsor) Svelte Vue React Angular
S22:E8 - From Opera to Code (Anna McDougall)
In this episode, Saron talks to Anna McDougall, Director of Product and Engineering for the tech subsidiary of Europe's largest media publisher, Axel Springer National Media & Tech. Anna grew up in Sydney, Australia, and moved to Germany to pursue a career as an opera singer. At 32 she rediscovered her love for code and technology and made the switch to software engineering. She quickly discovered her mix of software and social skills made her perfect for leadership and technical speaking. Today, Saron and Anna discuss her experience in tech and navigating the career transition from entertainment to code. She is also the author of "You Belong in Tech: How to Go from Zero Programming Knowledge to Hired", and is passionate about getting historically excluded individuals into tech. Show Links Turing (sponsor) Microsoft (sponsor) Stellar (sponsor) Rubberducking You Belong in Tech React JavaScript The Odin Project CSS HTML
S22:E7 - Starting out in Open Source (Brian Douglas)
On today's episode, Saron speaks with Brian Douglas, founder and CEO of Open Sauced, where he works on increasing the knowledge and insights of open-source communities. In the past he’s lead Developer Advocacy at GitHub by fostering a community of early adopters through conversations with the top open source maintainers on GitHub. Hear them discuss how Brain learned to code to start his own company, takeaways from working at startups, open source insights and learning through rejection. Show Links Turing (sponsor) Microsoft (sponsor) Stellar (sponsor) Open Sauced FreeCompute Electron React Native WebPack NoJS CSS SDK Node Angular 2.0 Angular JS JavaScript React API Linked List Go Open Source Ruby On Rails
S22:E6 - Technical writing (Philip Kiely)
Saron sits down with writer, programmer, and creator, Philip Kiley. Philip is the author of Writing for Software Developers and Life-Changing Email. They discuss how he first got into technical writing while studying abroad in Budapest, what technical writing is, what technical content platforms are out there, why new developers should publish content early in their careers, and more. Show Links Turing (sponsor) Microsoft (sponsor) Stellar (sponsor) Coding TikTok Technical writing GitHub AIT-Budapest Life-Changing Email Writing for Software Developers
S22:E5 - Bonus: How should we handle failure? (Compiler)
This week we’re bringing a bonus featured episode from Compiler, a show made to simplify tech for tomorrow’s IT leaders, from our friends at Red Hat. Jen Krieger and Dr. Erika Hamden join us on the show to discuss failure, and how approaching it in healthier ways can help individuals learn and grow. Take a listen! Show Links Turing (sponsor) Microsoft (sponsor) Stellar (sponsor)
S22:E4 - Showing up in tech (Jason Lengstorf)
Joining Saron today is Jason Lengstorf, host of Learn with Jason, where he pair programs with experts from around the community to learn something new in 90 minutes. Jason talks about how he found his way into tech after being in a band, his passion for code and all things Developer Relations. He helps companies form stronger connections with their communities through creative media and special events. Jason also discusses the importance of showing up in tech, and what it really means. Show Links Turing (sponsor) Microsoft (sponsor) Stellar (sponsor) Generative Art SVG animations React Serverless Functions API Flash PHP JavaScript CSS HTML dHTML iFrame Learn With Jason DevRel / Dev Experience Engine X Front End Architect
S22:E3 - Demonstrating curiosity kindly with Matt Newkirk (Matt Newkirk)
Joining Saron today is Matt Newkirk, Engineering Director at Etsy. Matt talks about his coding journey, his current role at Etsy, leadership tips and advice for people on their coding journey. Matt's found a career in paying forward the help he received along the way, starting as a volunteer MUD developer and finding a path to becoming a director of engineering at Etsy. His engineering efforts cover Quality Engineering, Infrastructure and Operations, with the most value coming from finding improved collaboration across teams. Show Links Turing (sponsor) Microsoft (sponsor) Stellar (sponsor) Peer One-on-Ones LPC APIs Fullstack Asynchronous Calls PHP JavaScript C A+ CI System (continuous integration) Observability Tools Unit Tests AWS Selenium VoIP Telnet Multi User Dungeon (MUD) Apple 2C