Episode 132 Kelly M, Founder of Sweet Trades, Senior Software Engineer and Data Scientist

We’re joined for this episode by the wonderful Kelly M. She’s the founder and Executive Director of Sweet Trades, a non-profit focused on helping individuals land living wage jobs, a Senior Software Engineer at a fortune 100 company, and a Data Scientist at a U.S. National Lab. So you can see why we were excited to book her in for a chat.

Kelly switched into DevRel from technical writing, but before all of that she got a degree in left-handed puppetry. Well, not really. She jokes that it would have been just as useful as her actual degree, which was in HR. Kelly is a huge advocate for following your own path, and believes that a colourful background can only come to serve you well in DevRel.

She speaks about how DevRel, while holistic in a sense, also needs to be practical. There comes a time when DevRel’s need to put on their business hats, especially in the current climate. Metrics aren’t everyone’s favourite thing, but Kelly believes that knowing the value you add to a company will not only increase your confidence, but genuinely help you with job security.

She also tells us about her current project, her non-profit, Sweet Trades. Kelly became attracted to tech initially for the reason a lot of people do: adequate compensation. But she went on to learn that tech doesn’t have to be the bastion of a financially secure career. Many roles in various trades can be higher earning positions than a lot of tech roles, and Kelly is on a mission to bring light to these roles and make their presence known. Not just to graduates, but to young adults in urban areas that often have even less access to information about these jobs.

Find out more and listen to previous podcasts here: https://www.voxgig.com/podcast

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