Software Developers Journey
303 episodes - English - Latest episode: 20 days ago - ★★★★★ - 19 ratingsBecoming a software developer is a journey. The Software Developers Journey show is an inspirational podcast for software developers. Every week, a successful software engineer shares their journey and tells us what they learned.
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Episodes
#249 Claude Jones became the practical leadership guy
April 18, 2023 04:00 - 49 minutes - 33.9 MBClaude placed the start of his journey in the early days of the internet, learning HTML for the sake of Beanie Babies. He then described how this triggered his curiosity and ignited a never-ending passion. We talked about his first job and how his coworkers helped him navigate his unknown unknowns. How communities and relationships helped him evolve and grow. We then jumped into management and how he first dipped his toes into it for the wrong reasons, became a leader, and finally got the po...
#248 Limor Mekaiten embraced engineering management and mentoring
April 11, 2023 04:00 - 49 minutes - 33.7 MBLimor placed the start of her journey in her early childhood, doing a lot of maths and playing with computers. As a brilliant student during high school, she could enroll in enrichment classes and dip her does into computer science, which took us to do her military service in the IDF's Intelligence Corps Technological Unit 81. We talked about her experience as a QA engineer there and how she discovered this field first-hand. We then discussed how she returned to university to study computer ...
#247 Brandon Campbell-Kearns searched for his identity
April 04, 2023 04:00 - 48 minutes - 33.1 MBBrandon placed the start of his journey with his grandmother in computer expos in the 90s. But before coming to programming, his tale took a long detour, made of a search for purpose, social recognition, and his identity. We spoke of a pattern interrupt in the form of a year teaching English at the other end of the planet and how Brandon finally came to enroll in a Bootcamp. We finished this great discussion on learning, teaching, and communities. Here are the links from the show https://w...
#246 Bekah Hawrot Weigel found the power of communities
March 28, 2023 04:00 - 48 minutes - 33.6 MBBekah started with a poignant story of how the birth of her 4th child was a traumatic event that threw her into depression, PTSD, and questioning her place in the world. We then talked about her discovery of the FreeCodeCamp, and how she ended up saying, "I'm done" with her first career. We then discussed the role of communities in finding her first job and how COVID led to the creation of Virtual Coffee. We spoke extensively about Virtual Coffee and what makes it the inclusive place many de...
#245 Matthew McClure wanted to build tools for developers
March 21, 2023 05:00 - 53 minutes - 36.5 MBMatthew placed the start of his journey as a kid, introduced to the world of Nerds by his brother-in-law. Fast forward a few years, Matt spent the better time of his homeschooling on IRC, building stuff. But when the time came to go to college, he avoided anything tech related. He described a few pivotal points that led him to finally embrace software development and have the blast of his life. We talked about his first jobs and how he entered the world of Video and never left. We finished t...
#244 Meshi Yona is a cyber analyst who wanted to try new things
March 14, 2023 05:00 - 45 minutes - 30.9 MBMeshi placed the start her journey after high school when she did her mandatory military service in unit 8200 of the Israeli Defense Forces. She described how she learned cyber systems and cyber-analysis, became an officer and learned leadership early on. We then discussed how she wanted to explore, become a programmer and enroll in a part-time CS curriculum. We discussed becoming a team lead and what she took from the army. We talked about bringing the different aspects of her career togeth...
#243 Nikhil Nandagopal cares deeply about the problems we solve
March 07, 2023 05:00 - 43 minutes - 29.9 MBNikhil placed the start of his journey in high school, where a teacher managed to light the programming flame in his heart. A few years later, Nikhil graduated with a CS degree and joined a startup. He learned the value of thinking about the problem, embracing the whole system, and not just the solution. This set him up to create his own company. We talked about why the first one failed and then about AppSmith. We finally talked about how he leads the company in embracing the problem by dog-...
#242 Dean Tribble between innovation and reinventing the wheel
February 28, 2023 05:00 - 50 minutes - 34.5 MBDean placed the start of his journey in 6th grade, reading science fiction and dreaming of building robots. From there on, in the late 70s, the virus never left him. The rest of the interview was a history lesson about software engineering. Dean spoke of the first company he created in high school and funded by Atari founder Nolan Bushnell. He talked about his time working for Xerox Parc and then on project Xanadu, e.g., Hypertext. Beyond this history of the Silicon Valley, we spoke about "o...
#241 Danny Preussler a GDE who likes having impact
February 21, 2023 05:00 - 43 minutes - 30 MBDanny placed the start of his journey in high school when his astronomy class closed, and he had to take computer science instead. We then talked about the German concept of Berufsakademie and how he alternated between internships at Alcatel and a technical university for the next four years. We followed his journey from C++ to Java and Kotlin, creating drivers, discovering Blackberry development, and finally, Android. We talked about interviewing, having an impact, and interviewing again fo...
#240 Chris Ferdinandi from HR professional to vanillajs-guy
February 14, 2023 05:00 - 47 minutes - 32.7 MBChris placed the start of his journey during his first career as an HR professional. We first talked about how blogging put software development on his radar and how "interesting" HR experiences slowly but indeed pushed him to transition toward web development. We explored how he gamed the recruiter systems, applied, and failed his first job interviews. We brushed over communities and how he found his first job. We talked about ADHD and how he transformed his side activities into his full-ti...
#239 Abhimanyu Saxena from novice CS undergrad to entrepreneur
February 07, 2023 05:00 - 44 minutes - 30.6 MBAbhimanyu placed the start of his dev journey as a math undergrad who had not touched a computer before. We talked about how he enrolled in a CS curriculum at university and found himself typing with one finger among people with years of experience. We talked about him growing into this role and creating a smart-lightning company even before graduation. We discussed working in the open source communities, moving to the USA, working for Fab as an early employee, and drinking from the firehose...
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#238 Jake Lumetta started and failed many times
January 31, 2023 05:00 - 51 minutes - 35.2 MBJake placed the start of his journey in middle school, having to learn his way with computers to play video games. From there, we talked about a small hardware review business he started and how following his curiosity set him up on the path of creating companies. We talked about starting and failing. We spoke of Lean Startup, MVPs, and talking to customers. We finally talked about solving your pains and how ButterCMS came to be. Here are the links from the show https://www.twitter.com/jak...
#237 Laila Bougria is learning, growing and having fun
January 24, 2023 05:00 - 46 minutes - 32 MBLaila placed the start of her journey in the hands of her older brothers, who showed a deep interest in seeing her grow and discover her full potential. One of them gave her her first computer and unknowingly set her on the path she is on today. We then talked about how she wanted to become a teacher but went for computer science instead. We discussed communities and public speaking. Laila shared tragic family stories, which led us to speak about mindfulness, bringing your entire self, and t...
#236 Hannah Olukoye is a GDE and an Engineering manager
January 17, 2023 05:00 - 48 minutes - 33.2 MBHannah placed the start of her journey when her mum brought back a Dell PC from the US. She brushed over her studies and realized that computer science was what she should pursue. We explored how she self-taught and went into mobile development. We talked about how she got involved in communities and got into the GDE Program. We discussed engineering management and her approach to mentorship. Here are the links from the show https://www.twitter.com/hannah_omu Credits Cover Legends by Hol...
#235 Jean-Philippe LeBlanc from truck driver to engineering organisations builder
January 10, 2023 05:00 - 49 minutes - 34.2 MBJean-Philippe pinpointed the start of his journey at age 11 when his mother placed the family computer in his bedroom. JP talked about his childhood, discovering coding, and the internet, being an excellent student, promising greatness, and dropping out. He spoke of being unable to find a tech job and working as a truck driver. He then explained how he started doing phone support and grew to become the leader of a few hundred employees while following his passion: learning. He explained how ...
#234 Dustin DeVries aligning career and life phases
January 03, 2023 05:00 - 49 minutes - 33.9 MBDustin placed the start of his journey somewhere between the age of 7 and 18... or 16... with a C64 or a TRS-80. Fast forward a few years, he spoke of enrolling in a computer engineering curriculum to play on hardware and software. We then talked about the first company Dustin worked for. We spoke about the multiple roles he took during his 12 years tenure and how he slowly realized that if his money bucket was full, his freedom and happiness buckets were empty. We discussed transitioning to...
#233 Oshri Cohen self taught fractional CTO
December 20, 2022 05:00 - 52 minutes - 36.2 MBOshri placed the start of his journey at the age of 13 when he got his first computer and started being an online vigilante. Fast forward a few years, he was out of high school, searching for a job as a developer during the dot-com boom. We talked about his first job, the company he created, and crashed. We spoke of returning to being an employee and playing the title rat race until he became a full-time fractional CTO. We discussed what it is and how Oshri lives it daily, and he never had t...
#232 Kevin Trethewey on his extreme programming journey
December 13, 2022 05:00 - 46 minutes - 32.1 MBKevin started his story in the 80 & the 90s but quickly said, "Coding found me more than I found it." We then discussed his (very early) Bootcamp and how he went from one job to the next, slowly feeling less incompetent. We talked about ADHD, networking, people & organizational problems, and environment variables. We then dug our heels into eXtreme Programming and the Spine model: Needs, Values, Principles, Practices, and Tools, and how it helps us create better teams and organizations. He...
#231 Amy Wallhermfechtel went from hippie, teacher and historian to software engineer
December 06, 2022 05:00 - 46 minutes - 31.9 MBAmy took us on a wild ride, made of embracing crazy adventures by fear of failure. We talked about her time as a hippie in a commune, her time in academia, and during her Ph.D., we spoke about transferring skills from one career to the next. We discussed slowly coming to software engineering and how she approached this next transition. And finally, we talked about her positioning as a highly skilled professional yet junior software engineer. Here are the links from the show: https://www....
#230 Melanie Sumner from psychology and the Navy to webdev and accessibility
November 29, 2022 05:00 - 52 minutes - 36 MBMelanie's love for web development started in 1997 (not with Dreamweaver) and followed her to 2022, where she is pushing the state of Accessibility. We brushed over her childhood, spoke about her time as an Intelligence Analyst in the Navy, and saw how she slowly but surely built her skills. We talked about disabilities, reframing Accessibility for UX, we discussed improving the web, and how every one of us developers has a role to play. Here are the links from the show: https://www.twitt...
#229 Bill Boulden from ideas to product as a fractional CTO
November 22, 2022 05:00 - 45 minutes - 31.5 MBBill placed the start of their journey at three different places. In their childhood, thanks to a geeky dad. Then right after college when they started working as a web developer. And finally, in 2020, when they embraced the fractional CTO idea. We dug into the fractional CTO business idea, the heuristics helping them decide to take on a project, and how to make it successful with different clients. Here are the links from the show: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billboulden https://www.t...
#228 Jennifer Wong was not impressed by the civil engineering pace
November 15, 2022 05:00 - 47 minutes - 32.5 MBJenn first took us back in her studies, discovering FORTRAN and MATLAB and hating every minute of it. Fast forward a few years, she found she was missing the visual aspect of programming, and as soon as she put a finger into web development, off, she went. We spoke about her first jobs, good and bad managers. We spoke about transitioning from small to big to small companies. We discussed the advantages of a strong product company. And we finally talked about engineering management and how Je...
#227 Katerina Trajchevska founded her remote workplace
November 08, 2022 05:00 - 36 minutes - 25.4 MBKaterina placed the start of her journey in her studies when she found where she belonged. She spoke about her first job and how it set up the rest of her career. It led her toward freelancing and then creating her company Adeva. We spoke about how Katerina grew into her CEO role and remains grounded in tech. We talked about remote work and making connections in a remote world. Here are the links from the show: https://www.twitter.com/ktrajchevska https://www.linkedin.com/in/trajchevska...
#226 Jonah Andersson's successful jump from the Philippines to Sweden
November 01, 2022 05:00 - 43 minutes - 30.1 MBJonah started by telling us about her family and how she juggled her studies and put food on the table for her three siblings. We then discussed how she moved to Sweden and how her micro-manager of a boss led her to burnout. We then moved to her next and current job, which looks like the opposite, and touched on being led, freedom, learning, communities, teaching, public speaking, being an MVP and Microsoft Trainer, and writing a book. Here are the links from the show: https://www.twitte...
#225 Max Howell from chemistry to homebrew and tea
October 25, 2022 04:00 - 51 minutes - 35.6 MBMax took us back to his childhood, at 6, when he got his first BBC-Micro computer. We spoke about learning BASIC and C++, using manuals and documentation instead of Stackoverflow, and how he studied chemistry. Max talked about depression, how he started working in open-source, and how alternating between open-source and paying gigs set him up for working on tea.xyz nowadays. We finished brushing over tea's innovation and why you should look into it. Here are the links from the show: https...
#224 Grant Glidewell from substance abuse counselor to web dev
October 18, 2022 04:00 - 43 minutes - 29.9 MBGrant told us about his childhood and how he ended up doing an internship at 12, programming Flash animations. But what could have been a straight line toward software engineering took a long detour of 20 years. After years of fighting with alcohol and drug abuse, Grant embraced the career of Substance Abuse Counselor, helping teenagers like he used to be. We then discussed why and how he decided to return to tech after almost 20 years. We talked about learning, becoming competent, figuring ...
#223 Adi Polak continuous learner in the big-data space
October 11, 2022 04:00 - 40 minutes - 27.8 MBAdi took us on a journey of following learning opportunities. From a machine learning research project in college to learning about distributed systems and big data. We explored how she approached joining Microsoft and creating a scalable network of colleagues while continuing to share her knowledge and learning in the open. Here are the links from the show: https://www.twitter.com/AdiPolak https://www.linkedin.com/in/polak-adi/ https://linktr.ee/adipolak Adi's Book https://www.oreilly....
#222 Marcy Sutton photo journalist turned web dev and accessibility expert
October 04, 2022 04:00 - 47 minutes - 32.8 MBMarcy told us about her photojournalism studies and how they led her to web development. We soon bifurcated into accessibility and remained there until the end. We discussed what it means to create accessible websites, the no-brainers and low-hanging fruits, why investing in accessibility early on in our projects are essential, and where to learn more about it. Here are the links from the show: https://www.twitter.com/marcysutton http://marcysutton.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcys...
#221 Sergey Gorbunov wanted to tackle hard problems
September 27, 2022 04:00 - 43 minutes - 29.7 MBSergey's story started with circumventing the BIOS passwords his Dad put on their family computer. Fast forward a few years, we dug deep into Sergey's P.hD, research, academia, assistant professor position, cryptography, the blockchain, taking a risk, failing, the startups he founded, and his back and forth between the industry and the academia. Here are the links from the show: https://www.twitter.com/sergey_nog https://www.linkedin.com/in/sergegorbunov https://axelar.network/careers ...
#220 Tanya Janca from dev to PenTester to purple security expert
September 20, 2022 04:00 - 51 minutes - 35.2 MBTanja's story started in a computer science family in the 70s, where Tanja fell in love with computers. She spoke about programming in high school, coming out of college during the DotCom bubble, and learning best practices of software engineering she had never learned during her early self-studies. We then spoke about the role communities, and lunch&learn activities played in her career. She described how penetration testing and security slowly made their way into her life. Tanja explained ...
#219 Stephanie Eckles forces herself to push projects out the door
September 13, 2022 04:00 - 42 minutes - 29.2 MBStephanie's story is one of creativity. She told us how she got into Flash animations and ActionScript in high school. We then talked about WordPress and how she slowly but surely drifted toward web development while freelancing on the side. We discussed open source, pushing projects out of communities, giving back, creating courses, and giving talks. Finally, Stephanie encouraged us to find what sharing medium works for us! Here are the links from the show: https://www.twitter.com/5t3ph ...
#218 Christina Hastenrath came to development via forensics and biotech
September 06, 2022 04:00 - 43 minutes - 29.7 MBChristina's story started and ended with observing and understanding why the world works as it does. She first told us about her biology studies, then crime & forensic sciences, and biotech. She then spoke about discovering coding. She explained how she got hooked, helped by mentors, and pushed by destiny to embrace it. We spoke about moving to SanFrancisco and the Bootcamp she went through. And finally, we talked about how she found a job at Postman and has been happy (ever after) for the p...
#217 Paul McBride from RAF soldier to self-taught web developer
August 30, 2022 04:00 - 44 minutes - 30.6 MBPaul started talking about gaming, creating websites as a kid, and following his dream of becoming a pilot in the RAF. He told us how he transitioned back into the industry and taught himself a new trade: web development. We talked about agencies and product shops. We spoke about learning, knowing it all, and maturing in an industry. We finally spoke about communities and how Paul became an instructor. Here are the links from the show: https://www.twitter.com/ThePaulMcBride https://paulmc...
#216 Shruti Kapoor wanted a home on the internet
August 23, 2022 04:00 - 44 minutes - 30.4 MBShruti's story started with a push from her dad. Little did she know it would trigger such a career. She told us about her studies, moving to Canada and then to the Silicon Valley. We talked about entrepreneurship, WordPress, QA automation, React, getting (and losing) a job, accessibility, communities, and the joy of giving talks! Here are the links from the show: https://www.twitter.com/shrutikapoor08 https://shrutikapoor.dev/ https://tinyletter.com/shrutikapoor Credits Cover Heliotro...
#215 Michael -Geepaw- Hill is a joyful street-geek
August 16, 2022 04:00 - 49 minutes - 34.2 MBGeepaw (Michael Hill) story started like no other, with the tale of his firing. He told us how he began as a computer salesman and got interested in programming and the Forth programming language. We briefly discussed being independent before talking more and more about the state of our industry. We spoke about joy being mandatory for the team's success. We discussed methods and how they won't solve a thing if joy isn't present, not even Extreme Programming. We finally talked about motivator...
#214 Michael Chan has an unfair advantage - he is a mule!
August 09, 2022 04:00 - 51 minutes - 35.4 MBMichael's story started in a time of crisis, in 2008, when he realized that being a mediocre accountant wouldn't cut it. So he embraced web development by picking hourly gigs on CraigsList. Michael told us the story of a coach she worked for and who changed his life. From then on, we went deep into emotions' social and empirical science. We talked about feedback and being ready to listen. Here are the links from the show: https://www.twitter.com/chantastic https://chantastic.org/ https:/...
#213 Wynn Netherland is a man of APIs and wrappers
August 02, 2022 04:00 - 49 minutes - 33.7 MBWynn took us on a story made of APIs, wrappers, and interfaces. He first told us about his law studies and how HTML and building websites slowly made their way into his life. We talked about classic ASP and working in a team. We spoke about creating your company and wearing many hats. And we spoke about how API design and wrapping APIs took Wynn to Github and further. Here are the links from the show: https://www.twitter.com/pengwynn https://wynnnetherland.com https://www.linkedin.com/in...
#212 Erin Fox is an introvert who loves speaking at conferences
July 26, 2022 04:00 - 46 minutes - 31.8 MBErin took us from tweaking her page on MySpace to her master's in journalism. She then spoke about her jobs and how she was not challenged/stimulated. She told us how the idea of going through a Bootcamp emerged, how she found the right Bootcamp for her and bit the bullet. We talked about her first job, her first mentor, pair programming, and moving on. We talked about having a hard time finding a new job, finding a bad fit, and finally landing at the right place after being laid off. We spo...
#211 Christos Matskas dreamt of becoming a hacker
July 19, 2022 04:00 - 47 minutes - 32.4 MBChristos took us on an extended origin story made of movie inspiration, dreams, traveling, and a lot of learning. He told us how following the idea of becoming a hacker took him from not having any knowledge of computers to graduating with a master's degree in networking in a foreign country (and being able to touch-type). He then brushed over job-hopping, working on old systems, painful rewrites, consulting, communities, and finally being hunted down by Microsoft and moving to the USA. Her...
#210 Glaucia Lemos reached her dream of working in tech
July 12, 2022 04:00 - 52 minutes - 35.8 MBGlaucia's story started when she taught computer classes to her co-students in high school. Fast forward a few years during which she graduated from a very selective program while working full time to feed her family, Glaucia finally got a job as a developer. From there on, it was a story of being lucky, making her own luck, and always focusing on human connections and communities. One thing led to the next, and this path led her to Microsoft, working as a cloud advocate, where she is today....
#209 Ingrid Epure is a self defined generalist
July 05, 2022 04:00 - 47 minutes - 32.7 MBIngrid took us back to her childhood, discovering video games and a different reality. And then she took us on an adventure led by curiosity. We talked about exploring marketing and sales. We talked about finding a job to pay the bills. We spoke about testing and learning the ropes. We talked about moving toward the startup world. We talked about interviewing bad managers, and we briefly spoke about Netlify, where Ingrid has been happily ever after. Here are the links from the show: https:...
#208 Arpit Mohan is running on builder's high
June 28, 2022 04:00 - 45 minutes - 31.2 MBArpit's story took us from Tamagotchis to Robotics, and then to discovering that Software development is not just for failed hardware engineers. Arpit took us on a wild ride, made of entrepreneurship, learning on the job, hypergrowth, and finding the product-market-fit (or not). We talked about his transformation from a software engineer to a coding CTO and then to an organization builder. We spoke about his last endeavor AppSmith, and finally about algorithms to live by. Here are the links...
#207 Maia Grotepass embraced a world of puzzles
June 21, 2022 04:00 - 47 minutes - 32.9 MBMaia's story started with a ZX-81 in the 80s, and from there on, she was hooked. We talked about how she followed her curiosity and studied engineering while not wanting to become an engineer. Maia spoke about how she started working on embedded systems while still not wanting to become an engineer. She spoke of how she went back to school and studied art because she still didn't want to be an engineer... and mixed software engineering and art. We spoke about discovering phones and Android a...
#206 Carl Alexander has a lifelong hate for coding interviews
June 14, 2022 04:00 - 49 minutes - 34.1 MBCarl took us on a wild ride, starting with discovering he could build on computers very early. We brushed over his Engineering studies and how he almost went to study history instead. Carl spoke about his first job as an IT support person/sys admin and how he found his love for programming and creating back after a multi-year hiatus. Carl told us about how he created his career around learning and being an expert generalist (vs. an expert specialist) whose motto is "I'll figure it out." Carl...
#205 Eve Porcello revolves around teaching
June 07, 2022 04:00 - 43 minutes - 30.2 MBEve took us through her first career in marketing, and how she slowly joined the "fine, I'll do it myself club." She then spoke about her moving to Lake Tahoe and being forced to embrace a new career. We then spoke about her new business revolving around teaching. We talked about the tools she creates for teachers' time management and the courses she made for LinkedIn Learning. We brushed over the writing of her books and how she re-uses the content she produces inside the niche she built fo...
#204 Scott Ford is a software mender
May 31, 2022 04:00 - 51 minutes - 35.2 MBLegacy code, often considered a daunting challenge, holds valuable lessons in its complexity. It carries the weight of decisions made in the past, and learning to navigate it can provide a rich, rewarding journey. Such is the tale of Scott Ford, a seasoned software developer who embraced this path and has gained unique insights that have shaped his career and outlook. Scott's story took us from learning BASIC, C/C++, and Object PASCAL in high school to quitting jobs every seven months becau...
#203 Jess Archer found her people in the Laravel community
May 24, 2022 04:00 - 44 minutes - 30.4 MBJess told us about the toys she disassembled (and sometimes failed to reassemble) as a kid. She then spoke about her early dabbling with HTML, discovering IF statements and PHP. We then talked about writing vs. using CMSs, creating websites, working in teams, contracting and consulting, and finally about communities and Jess's Podcast: BaseCode. And as of the publication of this show, she is now a Laravel employee. Here are the links from the show: https://www.twitter.com/jessarchercodes ...
#202 Swizec Teller wanted to work on silicon valley blockbusters
May 16, 2022 22:00 - 53 minutes - 36.6 MBSwiz' told us how he discovered computers at a very early age and how the planets aligned. By the time he enrolled in a CS degree in Slovenia, he had already had multiple internships and experiences working as a software developer. He spoke about freelancing and how this led him not to finish his CS degree. He talked about how his first entrepreneurial experience took him to Silicon Valley, what he learned there (by crashing and burning his startup) and how it eventually took him where he wo...
#201 Wajahat Karim finally came to love Android
May 09, 2022 22:00 - 1 hour - 41.7 MBIn this episode, Wajahat tells us the moving and emotional story of how his mother, family, and friends shaped the person he became. Wajahat spoke about his childhood in Pakistan when his family couldn't afford a computer. He talked about applying to highly selective universities and the role the loss of his mother played in him being accepted at one of them. He told us about his studies of telecom engineering and how a mentor changed his view on "defining his career." And finally, he told u...