Q&A #2: First Job Advice & Tips and Skills vs. Degree & More with Patrick Akil

Alright, we're back Q&A, Q&A episode of my phone and I'm ready. Did I do an intro last time? Hi everyone, welcome back for episode 90 will do another Q&A episode. So if you haven't seen the previous one, maybe I'll put a link somewhere here. But in any case you all send me your questions and I'm going to do my best to answer them on this episode. The episode will be edited edited a little bit different than usual but to make sure that the questions and answers are

bit more smooth than usual. That a good explanation. I hope so. Let's get into it.

Hey Patrick, what was your first software development job experience? And do you have any tips or advice for new Engineers entering the field of software development? Pick question to start off, when it comes to my own experience? I think I covered it a little bit in the previous Q&A, I joined in operations.

And then I moved internally to the software development unit, that was mainly building an e-commerce website for multiple retail organizations which kind of fit into our Organization. And I joined with only having done software development more. So in University, not even building actual software, but more soap data science applications. So, the most experience I had was in Python Python 2.7, The Sweet Spot, the no brackets, no bullshit, which is pretty cool.

And I was like, I don't need any blankets, just give me indenting, I know how to do hinting indenting, man, that's a word. Yes, I joined the unit there and it was actually quite a large team. I think it was about seven or eight people and luckily I had really good guidance because I sat next to a few people who really know what they were doing and their job was to transfer as much knowledge as they could to me because I was going to take

over from them. They were Consultants coincidentally, Consultants from Sevilla, the organization that I am with nowadays, which is not a coincidence. Actually, maybe I'll get into that later. But their job was to transfer as much knowledge. To me as possible because they were gonna go to a different assignment and I was the only one of the only internal people there. So I started off they were like okay do you have a preference front-end or back-end?

And I was like man, all that visual stuff seems really

complicated. I had done a little bit HTML and CSS and I was like, okay, let's focus on the back end because I think I'm better at logic stuff that I am at visualization, and Yet this visualisations, I'm not I don't really feel like a creative person, so it's like okay, let's start with the logic stuff and it was in golang actually the software language software language the programming language that I program in most days nowadays which is not a coincidence

either, huh? So we started off with goal line and literally it was okay. We have a new feature, we need to build. We're going to pair program on that. We're going to change these. He's in these things using these things, everything went really really fast and I was like, okay, everything's kind of coming together. And my compiler was complaining when I made like some errors or some interfaces changes and

everything went really fast. And at some point we were done we made a unit test and everything was green. It was like okay that seemed kind of doable and then I put up the pull request. I got like 40 remarks and I was like okay that's a lot more than I expected.

That was kind of confronting but because I got a lot of feedback I was locate these people really The care which also means I am in an environment where people really care and what people really want to deliver quality as well, I've always put high standards kinda on myself. So, in this environment was also the best environment for me to learn and to learn from kind of the best that I could, man, that sounds cheesy as hell to learn

from the best. So, yeah, in that environment, where people really, really cared about the software, they were putting out was the environment where I could learn the most, which was really, really cool because that's exactly what you Need. I think entering into a new field, whether its software development, or anything else in Tech. As long as you have people around you, that really care for the stuff, they're doing that are really passionate about their day-to-day job and that

love working together and transferring their knowledge that is the best environment for you coming. Kind of an early career position to absorb as much knowledge as you can and to grow and Excel exponentially exponentially. Always sounds so cheesy but yeah that's kind of how it felt.

So On the tips and advice side, it's hard because everyone's journey is going to different. And the only tip and advice, I would probably would have wanted to hear. Is that after we think about this, I like the advice I got kind of early on that career. There's gonna be three components in your job that you're going to have to look at. It's going to be, what are you gonna do in a more day-to-day base? So it's going to be back end is going to be front end. What is kind of the organization

in there as well? Then it is the people that you're doing it with. So your Colleagues, your team, your boss, your manager, your coach, or whatever, guidance, you get from the organization and then it's kind of why you're doing it. So what does your organization stand for? Is it a consultancy, an agency or they building a product? Is it a size thing? Is it more of a consumer-based thing? Like actual consumer goods and do you align with those?

Now, those three things kinda need to be in Balance to some degree. Obviously, the best ideal situation would be if you allowing with all three of them. If you love what you're doing, who you're Are doing it with and why you're doing it as well, but the advice I would have wanted to have is find the people that you really aligned with.

So, find your environment where you can grow and Excel in whatever you want to do, and the whatever you want to do, is kind of variable because I didn't really know what I wanted to do. Coming out of University. I came into an organization where I had a lot of freedom, and a lot of things to try out, which for me in the end didn't really matter what I did.

But because of the environment I was in and the people in the guidance that I got, I came to where I am now, basically, because of that acceleration in learning me being allowed to try things out, that I wouldn't be able to otherwise, or even in other organizations allowed me to grow. And to really learn into what I wanted to do. At the end of the day, which was more software oriented rather than operations in what I actually came for.

So that would be the advice. Find kind of your your modus operandi as they call it with regards to people or organization or even what you're doing on a day-to-day. Try and figure that out. I really just go for that. And from there, you will grow and time a very, you might not grow as fast as others, but that doesn't really matter, right? It's your own career path that your own journey and you need to be comfortable with that. As long as you're happy on your own path. That's fine, right?

Doesn't really matter what anyone else thinks at the end of the day, that was a real struggle for me, because I want to grow as fast as possible. And I compare myself to others, probably more so than I should. But yet that might not be as healthy. He as it should be, that's not really that healthy. Let me let me rephrase into that. So that it a Steve voice, any tips. Nope. It's just try and be as eager as possible.

Try and ask a lot of questions even though you think I'll everyone knows this, just ask them for the sake of asking them try and simplify things or allow people to explain things. Don't get frustrated when they cannot or when you cannot understand it, it is going to be very complex in the beginning because there's going to be a lot of new things write down as

much as possible. I don't know if that kind of translates for everyone, but I write down a lot of information, even though I might not Read back. Riding for me, helps me remember. And yeah, having a good memory helps. Well, that's so cheesy. Is it degree actually required

or our skills enough now? This is a really hard one, but I've had the perspective of both sides. So I went to University. Myself didn't really do a computer science degree. I've worked with a lot of people that have done that and their foundational knowledge was just better than mine out of the box has always been. And also, those are more Engineers that really go. Go in depth when it comes to technology and figuring things

out. I like to go about as 70%, like, in-depth knowledge on a certain subject. And I have when I really need that last, what is it?

An abstract number 30 percent, I really go to those people and those more so have the foundational knowledge that a computers computer science degree would offer but I also and I figure this out along the way we worked with a colleague and he went to the same high school as me, but he didn't even go to any University. He went to It was somewhere in the Nordic countries and he went to a farm and he did that for a year. So he milked cows and those what farmers do I have no clue what he did.

But he came back and he did a complete self study in software development, mostly web development. He taught himself everything, there is to know and this guy is one of the most like effective people I've ever seen. He really focused on being as fast as possible. Speed was his go-to in everything. He's like if I just can outwork everyone, if I get a solution out there faster, get faster feedback, do it faster than

anyone else. Then yet people are going to pick for me. People are gonna come to me and I'm going to excel in my career and be more effective even. So that was his thing. And he was really, really good at it, but he didn't have a degree. So I would say it really depends what you can do as a person because of your capacity is as well intellectual wise.

But still a lot of things you can teach yourself and time may vary but at the end of the day, if this is really what you want to do. Then invest that time in there and you'll get there at the end of the day which I think is really awesome. That's it. There's not really a black and white answer. It's kind of a gray area. Depends on the people. But yes skills are what you need and a degree helps you get those skills but you can also get them yourselves yourself, singular

water. People drink a lot of water. That's my advice. No question. But that's my advice. How does a junior developer get

their first job? Now, this is a really tricky one because it depends on a lot of factors, right? It depends on the people. It depends on the market. It depends on the country and even the environment that they're in. For me, it was easier because I had already started somewhere and then internally I was allowed to move, but for this question I'm going to assume that this is going to be your first job. You're going to be straight out of uni.

You either have a degree or you did self-study what I think companies are really going to look for is I'm going to spin that what I would really look for and what I also have hired for Israeli mindset and eagerness. When someone else is across from me on the table or even in their resume, I would want to see it somehow and I'm not going to go into that because that's great Ricky.

But let's say they're already at the table, what I want to see is a lot of questions questions about me about the career about the company about what they're going to be doing in any sense of the way who their managers going to be, what their growth passes, what their growth path is going to be like, What their career path is going to be like, within this organization that

all those questions. Back-to-back-to-back is really going to show me someone is eager, is hungry for Learning and will grow and will succeed at this role, right? And that can be a junior developer, that can be a meteor or senior doesn't really matter. I think that mindset and that eagerness especially early on in your career, is going to help you a lot and sitting on the other side of the table in hiring. That is what I would look for the mindset of someone that wants to do reading.

Really wants to do something because I think then the skills come second, the skills they can then teach themselves because if they really want to do this, they will go through lengths that other people would not in teaching themselves. A lot of things they don't know, right? That's what I had. And that's what I also would want in a colleague because at the end of the day the people that you're interviewing with, those are going to be your colleague. So they're really going to

think, okay. Can I see myself working together with this person and even if you hit all the right points, It might not be your fault right it or it might not be. Yeah. Maybe your fault is still the thing. The problem might not be with you, right? It could still be that the team is just completely different than you or the environment just doesn't have the tools to support you. So, when you do hear a no and you probably will hear some knows, don't let it bring you

down. Just go on to the next one. Take your learnings with you, right? Because you learn from interview processes as well. Do them as much as possible. And at some point, I may vary, but you will land your first job. Now, what really helps is getting probably some experience in Making some projects, I am really bad at that. I really suck at that, but it will help you.

And you will actually bring something to the table that is more tangible than for example, your resume, with your University, or cutting your work experience, write something tangible that, you've built that people can discuss about. You can ask for advice, you can ask for some code reviews. People are very willing to help in this community. And also talking about Community will probably is going to help is a network. So talk and interact. Either on Twitter or On LinkedIn.

I don't know how Twitter is now that kind of heat on this taken it over but I love LinkedIn. I like posting a lot, find people that you like interact with them. Comment post your own stuff. Post your own career journey and people will love that and gravitate towards that in helping you kind of create your own network and your network, you're always going to take with you.

So even through your network, you might get for example, your first job offer Yeah, it's a hard one, I hope I kind of hit all the points there. If there's any more questions, let me know. Otherwise, because this is a, this is a hard one, what books / resources would you recommend to

improve problem solving and there's another question but I'm going to save that till later books and resources. Now this is going to come as a surprise. Maybe not for longtime listeners but I actually don't like reading as much as I should. So yeah, when it comes to books and resources, I'm going to refer or defer you with the answers. I got from Patrick kuya.

I did one of his trainings. The tech lead training and he gave me a huge document with a lot of books and resources in different types of aspects are more social skills were architecture and more software development. And I'm going to put them in the description below. So there's going to be a whole list of lists literature literature, so check that out, when it comes to books.

Now other resources, what I did was not even listening to podcasts because Marcus I like more for experience but what A lot was YouTube videos. Watched a lot of YouTube, YouTube tutorials. I also bought some courses which I never actually finished on. Yeah, you know, you probably know the websites. I'm talking about drawing a blank here but everyone does that. Coursera is a Corsair. No, it's not Coursera. No, well, those websites, you know what I'm talking about?

I can't, I can't remember them. My mind is a drawing, a blank, but did some tutorials on those as well, then really like those because if I compare that to YouTube, He owes you do is free and this is a yeah, same level of quality. Sometimes even for really good YouTubers. Can't remember which YouTubers good because back then I was just watch everything, not necessarily of a single person,

but more. So if I really found a problem that I wanted to solve and when it comes to problem, solving, I really like solving the problems that actually come through experience. So really the problems that are now an Apparent at my job. So when it would be Nothing building an algorithm to sort something. What was the term lexicographically or something

like that? Basically, a through z and then also, with some weird characters because we needed to make an overview page of suppliers that we had. Yeah, I would do that then on the spot more so then figuring out how to do it. That's right. Because if you try and figure out everything you need to know in advance, then a lot of the stuff that is going to kind of anchor in information. You might not use And I don't know if that's a conscious decision, but I really like

figuring out a problem. Either through work, more of a personal problem in a personal project and then figuring out how to do that. Yeah, but I get most people might not be the same like that. Oh well, that's really. My advice is I learned a lot through experience rather than trying to figure out Theory to do the experience better. I guess I just acknowledged. Okay, I don't know this, I'll figure it out if you're stuck longer than like 5 or 10

minutes, ask someone for help. Now has helped me a lot along the way, not being afraid to ask people for help. It was obvious also because if you join on a new project in your Junior, then people expect you to ask a lot of questions. Questions. Right?

You might kind of feel opposed to it or you might feel like I can figure this out but if it's faster to ask someone for help in 5 or 10 minutes and you get an immediate answer that helps you go along the way or you'll spend four or five hours figuring it out on your own if you like offer that to people as a choice people be like, yeah, ask me the question then we move on, right? You want to be effective as a team, so ask those questions. People don't be afraid to add.

This was the second question. This was the second question and

what resources and practices? Did you use to improve your problem solving skills in your software development career? So yeah, maybe I answered most of those with there be anything that I would want to add. No, I got a lot of guidance, specifically from my team and a few people in my team that would even, you know, when everyone's like, when it's kind of latish five or six people go home. Yeah.

I had a lot of people that would sit with me, even in after office hours and just explain concept after concept. Just because they really enjoyed sharing that knowledge and some Concepts, I was like, okay, I still don't understand it but at least I have some information or some straws and even Later, they would kind of come in handy. Yes, that really my fault. No more. So the environment that I mean, Yeah, when it comes to problem solving. Mmm, this was something I didn't more.

So later in my career which is if you have a really good developer experience and writing test is really easy sometimes, starting with the tests can really help and I know a lot of people are dogmatic about it with TD and stuff like that. For me it was more so okay. Do I feel like a test is really going to help me structure? My thought patterns in the first place, if that was a, yes, then I would file. First, write the test and then write the code also when Ring.

I like taking a snippet of the code making, like a scratch and figuring out why some stuff works. And so why some stuff doesn't and that can be in the form of a test, which you don't actually commit, or it can be just, you know, in South Asia. Has that kind of scratch file that you can do. I do that a lot. What has really helped me not. So with problem solving, but more. So, with being effective is

pairing up with a lot of people. Now, I did that mostly in person because everyone was in the office back in the day.

But even remote starting up a huddle and allowing someone to Share their screen is really going to show you what they're good at. And not just on a programming level, but everything around it. Right, how they interact with get how they figure out, kind of their commit structure, how they structure their code, and what they segment, and what they do first, their thought patterns, and how they attack a single problem, and you're going to do that, you're going to get

different perspectives from different people because you're going to work together with a lot of people. Which means at some point you're going to be like, okay, I like these. I don't really like these. These are my preferences. And in that way, you're going to balance out what makes you effective and what your preferences are and it's going to make you a better software

developer. I don't know if that's going to help you with problem solving, but also something you have to keep in mind is that problem solving is not really an

individual skill as much. At least that's how I see it because the team has a specific problem and your contribution is to solve that problem within that team, which means Team ownership in solving that problem and sure some people are more experienced here and there which are going to kind of give everyone else a leg up but still it's a team responsibility right? You can learn from those people and that's going to Excel and help you in your own career.

Be those people that they are to you kind of in the future but still it's a team responsibility. So even if you're not the best Problem, Solver you might be the best person. That asks, a lot of questions that keeps things simplified, that keeps got of a certain process in order or keeps people mine. A full of being effective towards a certain common goal or something like that, right? Your contribution may vary, but in the end, it's his team go. So don't Focus too much I would

say on problem-solving. Figure out what the right problem is, maybe that would be a better way.

What motivates me in my career. Yeah, I've heard this question before, and it's a really hard one because kind of motivation comes intrinsically. So, I don't know how to answer this. So, I have to think about this. Think about this Patrick What? Maybe I should rephrase it? What motivates someone in their career? And it's really hard when you find something you really love to do. You want to get better at it?

It's kind of what I figured out and I don't know if that's with everyone but because I enjoy doing this so much or figure out things that I like doing and I want to get better at them that in and of its own is motivation and I'm not going to find motivation every single day. But throughout a longer period, I'm going to be motivated to do these things. What has really helped me and this is a new thing because I

hated doing this. I did it last year and I wrote down the Goals that I wanted to do for the year. Haven't done it for this year. I really should they're kind of in my mind but I have to write them down. That's going to help with focus and figuring out what you actually want to do and it's going to help you along the year to try and Achieve those goals. I didn't really like doing that early on in my career because I was like, goals are changing

every single day. Maybe not every single day but at least every single every few weeks I guess so I didn't want to tie myself to those goals. I would be like if I see something I want to do I like I would like to do that, right? I don't want to be tied down by the goals.

I set a few months back because the times may change, but now that I've kind of found what I really love doing and when I went to get better at writing down those goals, is really helping me in focusing on things and it helps me reflect in figuring out if I actually enjoy doing those or if I did it more, because it was a goal and I can always shift and pivot.

It's more. So helping with Focus allowing me to say no to things that On my way that are not really in line with, I want with what I want to do. If I make a decision then and there that I do want to do that, that's fine. But usually it's like nah, this is my focus area right now, I might choose not to do that and it helps me because I put a lot on my plate and I have a lot of stuff to do. Usually and focus is good. It also helps you How do I say this?

It also helps you not to switch with contexts too much because that's going to hinder your Effectiveness and it's going to help you do the job at the end of the day, probably better because of it. If that answer the question, that's a, that's a really hard one because I don't really think about motivation like actively and I don't know why people get demotivated maybe because there's like, it's gonna be like pitfalls here and there and you're going to make mistakes,

but like that's part of the journey. So accepting that early on maybe allows you to not bring yourself down too much and obviously everyone has a dip. I have that as well as weekends where I don't really feel like doing anything probably has reasons why. But anyway at the end of the day Do I have a responsibility? It's not just to myself to other people. I also have expectations of myself and other people and I do my best to uphold that and if it doesn't work, it doesn't work.

I allow myself some slack. Not too much. That's a really hard on, but yeah. So yeah it's more so it's more so discipline. I like that motivation is going to hard, it's more so discipline and work ethic and I also comes with experience and mindset. Probably Sosa, hard-won challenges along the way, make you stronger, don't let them bring you down.

All this is a hard one. What is some of the best advice you've ever gotten on the podcast?

During the conversations? This is a hard one and I might cheat so I might fix this with editing and give Some little Snippets here and there of people saying, some real smart stuff lately and this is because of a recent LinkedIn post Hilbert Alcala. Bohm mentioned slowing down when you really want to do something and you have high ownership of it, you might want to go faster and faster and faster and really

make something successful. But the best thing sometimes slowing down, you know, when they say less is more in design, sometimes the same is kind of with your life and the thing that you're doing in your career slowing down and focusing on the things that really matter. To you or to the environment or to your team, or to your organization, is going to allow you to focus on those things and do those things really well and shut out all the other noise and it's going to give you more ease

of mind. That is one that stuck with me recently. I should probably look at some episodes. Remember some stuff. Yeah. I really liked. James, Q quickest perspective on Career versus job that a lot of people just have jobs where they go in and they go out. They don't really make a progress and they do that to make a living and me and my colleagues, in this organization, we have a privilege that we have a career, something we can work on and grow and progress in and move

back and forth. In and money isn't really that much of an issue and it's more so your career to focus on. So I really appreciate that. It wasn't really advice, but stuck with me. Stacey Cashmore. She said everyone has mental health, but if you don't look at it, if you don't look after it, you're going to get mental health issue. Shoes. And some people might get mental, health issues, more

quickly than others. But everyone has mental health, which they need to take care of Nick from a theater when it comes to people first always, no matter what. That's really, what I remember Sergio Romo. It doesn't matter. If you're flipping burgers for your team as long as it contributes to the team goal, that's what I really remember that tran opencore is where it's at when it comes to SAS Technologies and more businesses should jump on that, especially in Europe, Patrick OUYA.

Go of the smaller things in delegating is really going to help you not micromanaging because everyone hates micromanaging, prisca Burkhardt. If you say you actually want to work with diverse people, you have to ensure that they want to work with you as well. So put those things in place, don't just keep saying it. She had some agouti it takes time to build relationships and relationships is what you need in a team to be effective takes time everywhere.

So also with your colleagues, spend that time and make sure to build those relationships. Kenji motivation is incredibly fickle, but whole other people holding you to account is really what drives you. I like that one because it kind of hits home with me. Yeah, I should probably keep hitting with the quotes the code, that you're right. Yeah. He's actually like, I don't know. 30% of the interview. Get a lot of times. The best candidate in quotes. The best candidate is the one

that can communicate. Why they are the best? Yeah. Even if they are not the best, right? And oftentimes is not the actual best candidate on paper or in terms of skill, that gets the job is the best Communicator even if you as the producer never end up using it again. Yeah, it's your commit message could be the key to helping someone two years from now.

Yeah, solve a problem quickly. Being able to train people to no longer think of empathy E as a soft skill in to start thinking of it as a software skill, give your team, the freedom trust you people and treat your team, the way you want to be treated storytelling is not only important giving a presentation on stage. It's also important in a company itself saying it openly, I'm feeling imposter syndrome, I don't know about this topic, can you teach me more?

If you can do those three things as a senior engineer in a team that's not only helping you as an individual. Yeah. It's helping the whole team Co. This is a safe space to know. Nothing. That's an unfair question, by the way unfair, I love all the guests they all give great advice. Check out all the episodes. What is your New Year's

resolution for the podcast? Now you New Year's is already kind of gone. So I'm going to interpret this as what is coming your goal for the pockets for this year is that the same as New Year's resolution. Let's just hit home with me. Yeah, that's the same. So last year I said, I wanted to release 50 to 52 new podcast episodes, and that's what we did. Ye should do a plane, you know in editing. But it was really because I wanted to ensure.

We kept rolling was one of my goals and we've already had the longest streak that I've ever done, which is, I mean, this is episode 90. So 90 episodes back-to-back week to week and for this year, I actually didn't really have a new goal. I would say another 52 episodes bare minimum, but then what else? I more? So have personal goals. I want to keep having fun with the podcast, I want to do it for myself, and no one else which is weird because my company

sponsors this. But I want to be in control of the guests that come on in control of the topics that come on when I have passionate people, People, I would have excited people. I want to have diverse perspectives. I want to have interesting career Journeys. Interesting experiences. Yes, nothing new. Just more of the same and improving in quality, getting better at the conversation is always a goal for me as a host. And yeah, just putting out more

content. I do, it's not really, maybe I should have make it complicated voting out more. Good content for people to enjoy, I'm really happy people. Listening would have never expected this. So, yeah, if you have any feedback comments below, DM me on Twitter, or on LinkedIn. Find me, give me feedback. I'm always looking to improve the show, the quality, or my interaction in their new cameras. We're going to get new cameras, new cameras for the in person.

Episodes. Bam, New Year's resolution. We're going to get that in a week or two. Actually when this episode airs that's a cheat and New Year's resolution throw more money at it.

How do you stay motivated in doing the podcast? Yeah. Good question. What really helps is that I find people that I think are interesting and topics that I love to talk about or I'm really interested about if there was a topic where I didn't really feel Feel like it fits within my interest category, name something weird. What something weird Pottery.

I don't read. Mm-hmm, I'm just a very innate kind of curious person that helps a lot actually gardening, carpentry, pouring, concrete pouring, concrete. The most boring thing, I can think of took me five minutes, but the most boring thing, I can think of yet then an episode about pouring concrete, is not really going to work out, right? Because the people that bring the topics are really passionate

about that. And I allow myself with that, or I'm curious about that that is really motivating in creating or doing more conversations. Yes. And then the fact that people are listening to that and seeing value in that that in and of its own is enough dry for me to just keep going. I really enjoy having the conversations the stuff around. It is a bit more hassle, but that's part of the process. I've accepted it and then the more conversation, I more conversations.

I have the more I also grow as a person. The better I get at speaking, the more knowledge I gain and get to distribute. It's just so incredibly motivating that. Yeah, I don't really see. A reason to stop someone who have to like Like really forced me to be like, no. So yeah, I'm going to keep going. This is a good follow-up.

Will you ever run out of topics for the podcast episodes? Now I don't think so because I find I do podcast episodes kind of twofold. I have a list of topics which is on episode one before episode 1 I created an A4 is that Universal a for I created just a paper of topics and I still have those and with those topics in mind I found people that kind of would relate to those topics. Now that's kind of of a weird way of going about it and I didn't really enjoy that.

So what I do instead is I find interesting people online mostly through Linkedin because the Twitter Twitter people ignore me. Which is fine. Nothing. Nothing bad there but too many people ignore me. I found people on LinkedIn mostly and I say listen I have a podcast. These are going to the topics is very broad Beyond coding. Yeah. But I do think we could make an interesting episode together and then I do an intro call. And that intrical is really important to me.

It's about 15. 30 minutes. It's to figure out what someone is really passionate about next to being able to speak fluently because it's still a podcast. People are still going to listen as well as having a good microphone, if the people are remote, I've all those three things match and they usually do because the people I found just really are passionate about certain aspect of things, then we do an episode, that's it, it's pretty simple. I want eagerness I want passion.

I want someone that can actually speak pretty fluently and that's it and the front fluently that's a hard one but the fact that we don't edit episodes that's kind of a must in listening for the quality. So yeah. When it comes to actual questions during the episodes I have run out of questions in my head and you've probably noticed when I'm like lost my train of thought they had, that's when a

question disappears. But it happens, I accept it and we just let it stay in their mistakes happen. I own up to it. And usually in my head it feels like about five minutes. Or a minute or two minutes, but on air, it's like a few seconds and I think it back and I don't other ball up. So yeah, except it do it and keep doing it. If you're thinking about doing a

podcast what would be your advice to start? Very cheesy is going to be start recording the episode if you already know kind of your format and you have a vision for how you want to do it, whether it's you talking into a microphone or you interacting with a guest, get that up and running as soon as possible and start recording do five episodes and five is an

arbitrary number. But 5 is what I did. so figure out if this is actually something you want to do, if this is something you want to keep and continue doing because podcast is still kind of a long-term game, and I think doing 5 episodes, It's going to allow you to kind of put a mirror in front of yourself. Be like, okay, do I really enjoy doing this? Do I really enjoy doing this? Also for the right reasons because if you want money in the game I ain't making no money yet.

Just on YouTube, we met 12 bucks in December. So there's not a lot of money in this. So you really have to do it from your own personal motivation, from a sense of fulfillment, a sense of enjoyment, a sense of adding value to your listeners and if all those things are aligned and you enjoy doing it and it's I think that's sustainable also for you to keep doing then. Yeah, why not right? You've already been doing five

episodes. Start releasing those keep recording more episodes and you already have the ball rolling. So when you really thinking about doing this start recording figure it out. I've also had people that set all we did five episodes and I was like oh this is actually a horrible. I don't like it and that's fine. That's a realization, right? But then you never have that. What if because the worst thing I think to have Is more.

So that what if what if I started this years ago would, if I didn't do this, what if I did do this? And those going to hunt, you may be let go of those if they haunt you and otherwise, start recording some episodes.

Who's your main inspiration in life? Now, this is going to sound cheesy, but the only person that comes to mind is my mother. She's a mother of four me being the oldest and she had me when she was really young.

She was 20. So I have a really young mom and I've always seen her work harder than Anyone else she works and teaches preschool kids and she does that and she's always done that for the last 20 years that I can remember, I've gone to her school, my siblings have gone to her school, and she's always done that. And with that, she has so much ownership that she also works during the nights.

Because yeah, when your day job ends and you're responsible for a lot of things, then you just work after your day job basically on the same job. So maybe it's not a job then but she always works and I always remember her working as hard as possible for us to get the things that We wanted right. Even though she had to be strict and say no here and there we always got and I had a good life growing up. Now she's gone through a lot of hardships.

A really difficult period when I was in university where she had cancer when I was in my first year. And I was like, okay, I'll I'll stop University. I'll go working full-time to help because I had a lot of siblings and I had a high sense of responsibility, but she was like, you're not going to do that. You just going to keep on with school and I'll get better from this. And she did. So the first year of uni was really hard for me, really, really hard but she got through that.

And then the second year she got cancer again and again, she beat it. So she's at cancer twice, he's still working full time. She's it's ridiculous. That is the one person that motivates me more than anyone else. My mom And that also makes me emotional. Love you, Mom.

That's it. I think that those are most of my questions. Most of my questions. See in the next one this was episode 90 peace. Can't really do mic drop because these things are expensive.