Stop Fearing Failure and Get Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable with Aimee Knight

Phil’s guest on this episode of the IT Career Energizer podcast is Aimee Knight. She is a software architect at Tuft and Needle, specialising in JS, React and CSS. She is also a Google Developer Advocate for Web Technologies, a panellist on the JavaScript Jabber podcast and n international keynote speaker.

In this episode, Phil and Aimee Knight discuss how not being afraid to fail and becoming comfortable with being uncomfortable improves your career prospects. Aimee shares how she learned as a young athlete to focus and stop wasting her mental energy. A way of working that greatly increases what you can accomplish

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

(3.24) TOP CAREER TIP

Become comfortable with being uncomfortable. The people who succeed in the IT industry are the ones that work outside their comfort zone.

Overcoming your fear of failure is one of the greatest catalysts in your life.

(7.31) WORST CAREER MOMENT

Like so many people before her Aimee ended up inadvertently deleting production data. That was even after it had gone through PR review and been approved. It was restored fairly quickly, but it was not a good career moment.

(10.49) CAREER HIGHLIGHT

Landing a job at MPM was a highlight. Working on developer tooling and with a team she looked up to was for Aimee, a particularly exciting point of her career, a highlight. Other highlights have included being a keynote speaker at conferences and having the chance to mentor others.

(12.54) THE FUTURE OF CAREERS IN I.T

The way technology is now being used to help drive decisions is especially interesting and exciting.

Aimee is also pleased to see the barriers to entry into the IT industry falling away. This is leading to people from diverse backgrounds entering the field. This, in turn, is changing the directions in which the technologies go.

(15.00) THE REVEAL

What first attracted you to a career in I.T.? – Aimee has always had a thirst for knowledge, so the fact that you had to be a constant learner to thrive in IT was attractive to her.

What’s the best career advice you received? – Get comfortable with being uncomfortable. Learning to do this has helped Aimee to achieve a lot in a short period of time.

What’s the worst career advice you received? – To succeed in the IT as a woman you have to act like a b*.*. Aimee did not follow this advice yet has been able to progress quickly in the industry.

What would you do if you started your career now? – Aimee probably would have focused on the architecture rather than the front end.

What are your current career objectives? – Aimee wants to dig deeper into the architecture side of things. She is also helping with onboarding and doing more mentoring.

What’s your number one non-technical skill? – Learning at an early age to make effective use of her mental energy.

How do you keep your own career energized? – Aimee works at staying focused and finds that being a mentor keeps her more energized.

What do you do away from technology? – Aimee runs around 40 miles per week and goes lifting, after work, with her boyfriend.

(23.31) FINAL CAREER TIP

Aimee, once again, recommends getting comfortable with being uncomfortable and learning not to fear failure. Pick something and work at until you are so good that you can’t be ignored. You should develop the talents you already have to their maximum, but also not be afraid to try new things.

BEST MOMENTS

(4.35) – Aimee - “People who succeed in the IT industry get comfortable being uncomfortable.”

(16.22) – Aimee - “If you are learning one new thing every day, you’re making progress.”

(21.41) – Aimee - “Learn to channel your mental energy. It is a finite resource, so use it wisely.”

(23.43) – Aimee - “Don’t be afraid to put yourself into situations where you could fail. You will learn and grow faster.”

ABOUT THE HOST – PHIL BURGESS

Phil Burgess is an independent IT consultant who has spent the last 20 years helping organisations to design, develop and implement software solutions. Phil has always had an interest in helping others to develop and advance their careers. And in 2017 Phil started the I.T. Career Energizer podcast to try to help as many people as possible to learn from the career advice and experiences of those that have been, and still are, on that same career journey.

CONTACT THE HOST – PHIL BURGESS

Phil can be contacted through the following Social Media platforms:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/philtechcareer

LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/philburgess

Facebook: https://facebook.com/philtechcareer

Instagram: https://instagram.com/philtechcareer

Website: https://itcareerenergizer.com/contact

Phil is also reachable by email at [email protected] and via the podcast’s website, https://itcareerenergizer.com

Join the I.T. Career Energizer Community on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/groups/ITCareerEnergizer

ABOUT THE GUEST – AIMEE KNIGHT

Aimee Knight is a software architect at Tuft and Needle, specialising in JS, React and CSS. She is also a Google Developer Advocate for Web Technologies, a panellist on the JavaScript Jabber podcast and international keynote speaker.

CONTACT THE GUEST – AIMEE KNIGHT

Aimee Knight can be contacted through the following Social Media platforms:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Aimee_Knight

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aimee-knight-b268058/

Website: http://www.aimeemarieknight.com/