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CodeNewbie

CodeNewbiewww.codenewbie.org
The CodeNewbie podcast was born from CodeNewbie, an organization which fosters a supportive, international community of people learning to code. Each season, host Saron Yitbarek delivers stories and interviews from people of diverse backgrounds and expertise about their coding journeys, as well as beginner friendly discussions about the tech you should know about.

Episodes

S27:E8 - Learning AI (Matt Eland)

Meet Matt Eland, AI Specialist at Leading EDJE. Matt shares what sparked his passion for AI years ago, why hes made the decision to go back to school for his master's degree and how he aims to continue spreading his expertise with the community. Show Links Partner with Dev & CodeNewbie! (sponsor) Matt on Data Science Central Ohio .NET Developer Group Matt's Twitter Matt's GitHub Matt's LinkedIn

May 22, 202451 minTranscript available on Metacast

S27:E7 - Tech and Art (Chris Immel)

Meet Chris Immel, AI Engineer and Digital Artist at Luminifera Projects. Chris shares how he works to create a symbiosis between software development and art and why he remains optimistic when it comes to the AI revolution. Show Links Partner with Dev & CodeNewbie! (sponsor) Chris' Instagram Chris' Website Chris' GitHub Chris' LinkedIn

May 15, 202436 minTranscript available on Metacast

S27:E6 - The Crossover of Health, Technology and Art (Daniel Bourke)

Meet Daniel Bourke, Founder of mrdbourke Studios and Founder of Nutrify. Daniel shares his experiences trying to learn to code four different times before it finally stuck, how hes combining his passions for health, technology and art and the time he built his own machine learning roadmap. Show Links Partner with Dev & CodeNewbie! (sponsor) Daniel's LinkedIn Daniel's Website ML Courses Nutrify Daniel's Twitter Daniel's LinkedIn

May 08, 202449 minTranscript available on Metacast

S27:E5 - Navigating the AI Evolution (Chelsea Kaufman)

Meet Chelsea Kaufman, Founder and CEO of LEARN Academy Chelsea shares why her background in theater set her up perfectly to found LEARN Academy, an AI native coding bootcamp, how shes seen the bootcamp landscape evolve over the years and what role she believes AI will play in the future of software development. Show Links Partner with Dev & CodeNewbie! (sponsor) AI-Native Developers program LEARN Academy Website LEARN Academy Twitter

May 01, 202448 minTranscript available on Metacast

S27:E4 - Living the Dream with AI (Rob Frelow)

Meet Rob Frelow, Co-founder & Chief AI Officer at The Storygraph. Rob shares how a trip in his friends Tesla led him to enroll in his first AI course, how he broke into AI later in his career and his experience truly living the dream waking up each morning excited to dive into AI and his work at Storygraph. Show Links Partner with Dev & CodeNewbie! (sponsor) Fast.ai Course Reddit ChatGPT Large Language Models The StoryGraph Rob's Twitter

Apr 03, 202448 minTranscript available on Metacast

S27:E3 - Helping You Build Machine Learning Products (Pau Labarta Bajo)

Meet Pau Bajo, Machine Learning Engineer and Educator at Real-World Machine Learning. Pau talks to Saron about transitioning from working daily in Excel to Python, why data is everything, and what skills early developers need to foster if they want a career in machine learning. Show Links Partner with Dev & CodeNewbie! (sponsor) Machine Learning Python Pau's GitHub Pau's Instagram Pau's Twitter

Mar 27, 202446 minTranscript available on Metacast

S27:E2 - The Journey from Sound Engineer to Software Engineer (Alejandro Aspinwall)

In this weeks episode, we explore the journey of Alejandro Aspinwall, a Frontend Engineer at Amazon. Youll hear how Alejandro began his career deeply immersed in the world of music and what led him to transition to the world of tech. He emphasizes the importance of adaptability in his career shift and provides insights into how coding bootcamps played a pivotal role in his development. Additionally, Alejandro explores the impact of artificial intelligence in his work, particularly discussing how...

Mar 20, 202445 minTranscript available on Metacast

S27:E1 - Nurturing Relationships for AI Excellence (Shawn Charles)

Meet Shawn Charles, Developer Advocate & Community Manager at The Hunt. Shawn shares with Saron how he got into tech solely by building and maintaining websites for local businesses, what inspired him to level up by enrolling in a bootcamp, and his advice on those who might feel overwhelmed in identifying their career path in this new world revolving around AI. Show Links Partner with Dev & CodeNewbie! (sponsor) Resilient Coders AWS Services Udemy Shawn's GitHub Shawn's Twitter

Mar 13, 202456 minTranscript available on Metacast

S26:E8 - Being Open to the Unexpected (Katherine Evans)

Meet Katherine Evans, Lead Engineering Instructor at Actualize Coding Bootcamp and Senior Software Engineer at Neon One. Katherine walks us through her journey from bootcamp student to bootcamp teacher, sharing tips for recent grads looking to land their first role. Saron and Katherine also talk about whether Katherine thinks its still worth learning to code given the economic climate and what she would tell others who might be interested in learning to code. Show Links Partner with Dev & Co...

Dec 20, 202351 minTranscript available on Metacast

S26:E7 - Thoughts on Degrees and Bootcamps (Johnny Proano)

Saron speaks with Johnny Proano, Associate Software Engineer at Hilton Grand Vacations. Initially drawn to code while building his personal DJ website, Johnny took the full leap with the support of his family. Johnny discusses his initial belief that a degree was necessary to become a software engineer and his decision to attend a coding bootcamp instead. He reflects on the differences between the bootcamp and college experience and shares his job search process after graduation. Show Links Part...

Dec 13, 202340 minTranscript available on Metacast

S26:E6 - Embracing Rest for Productivity (Ronesha Dennis)

Saron chats with Ronesha Dennis, Founder and Lead Engineer at Bergeron-Woodley. Ronesha talks about growing up and how tech played a role in her childhood (her first website was a fan site for Lil Bow Wow). She talks about how she ended up in another career for 5 years until she sat down and thought about things she liked doing as a child without being paid for doing those things. This led her to want to get into tech. She decided to leave her job, move back with her parents, and do an 8-week pr...

Dec 06, 202356 minTranscript available on Metacast

S26:E5 - Exploring the Path from Medicine to a Tech Career (Shona Chan)

Saron speaks with Shona Chan this week about her experience navigating the world of software following a successful career as a doctor in the field of Anaesthesia. Shona shares her experience working in the medical field for 10 years until she decided she wanted to pivot into tech. Shona talks about how she made the decision to go to a bootcamp to learn to code and how she got her first job in tech. Finally, she talks about transferable skills from her medical career to her newfound tech career ...

Nov 29, 202343 minTranscript available on Metacast

S26:E4 - The Ins and Outs of LinkedIn (Laura Thorson)

Saron chats with Laura Thorson, Program Manager at GitHub. Laura talks about how she was always interested in singing, dancing and music growing up which led her to UCLA on a scholarship to play the oboe. She tells us about her experience at UCLA and her decision to go to a coding bootcamp after graduation as opposed to searching for a job with her English Lit degree. Laura then describes the jobs she landed after bootcamp at Salesforce, Twitter, Meta and now GitHub and how LinkedIn played a hug...

Nov 22, 202347 minTranscript available on Metacast

S26:E3 - Learning to Code with a Full-Time Job (Beau Carnes)

In this weeks episode, Saron chats with Beau Carnes, Director of Technology Education at freeCodeCamp. Beau shares insights into his career trajectory, which began in television and digital media production. After gaining initial experience in this industry, he transitioned to work in education as a teacher. Beau speaks on his experiences within both these professions and speaks on his decision to venture into technology, establishing himself as a proficient software developer. During this conve...

Nov 15, 202341 minTranscript available on Metacast

S26:E2 - Freelancing While Homeschooling (Sarah Greer)

In this episode, Saron chats with Lead Web Developer, Sarah Greer. Sarah talks about her coding journey and how she juggled her passion for coding through freelancing while homeschooling her children. Sarah talks about why it was so important to her to learn to code and to have a career outside of having the title of mom. She also shares her experience going from freelancing to working full-time and the reasoning behind the switch. Show Links Partner with Dev & CodeNewbie! (sponsor) CSS HTML...

Nov 08, 202344 minTranscript available on Metacast

S26:E1 - Make Your Accomplishments Visible (Camille Eddy)

This week, Saron talks with Camille Eddy, Technical Product Manager. Camille talks about her life growing up as a Pastors child, how she started and grew her business, and when she first found her passion for tech. Camille also shares her experience overcoming a fear of public speaking, and why it enabled her not only to travel the world but also land internships at companies like Google X, NVIDIA, and HP Labs all before graduating. Saron also talks to Camille about when she was asked to introdu...

Nov 01, 202350 minTranscript available on Metacast

S25:E8 - Empowering Developers of All Abilities (Judith Lung)

Saron chats with Judith Lung, Software Engineer at LinkedIn. Judith shares how she found herself in tech after initially getting her masters in Clinical Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling. Judith talks about her experience learning to code as someone who is blind and the changes she aims to make in the tech space to aid in the progression of tech accessibility. Show Links Partner with Dev & CodeNewbie! (sponsor) Judith's GitHub Judith's LinkedIn edX Edge freeCodeCamp Assistive Techn...

Oct 04, 202335 minTranscript available on Metacast

S25:E7 - Overcoming Fears and Pursuing Passions (Stefi Rosca)

Saron chats with Stefi Rosca, Frontend Engineer at Typeform. Stefi talks about their path to breaking into tech in their later twenties after having a fulfilling career in marketing. They also talk about the communities they joined to help motivate and encourage them along the way and how they leveled up in the tech space. Show Links Partner with Dev & CodeNewbie! (sponsor) Stefi's Website Stefi's GitHub Stefi's LinkedIn Stefi's X Account The Recurse Center Codebar freeCodeCamp C

Sep 27, 202345 minTranscript available on Metacast

S25:E6 - Big Tech: What They Say vs. What They Mean (Rachel Lee Nabors)

Saron sits down with Rachel Nabors again. They talk about what Rachel has been up to since they were last on the show in 2017, the inside scoop of Big Tech, and Rachels experience working for organizations such as Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft. Youll also hear why Rachel has decided their next chapter will be at a startup and what they are hoping for in their future. Show Links Partner with Dev & CodeNewbie! (sponsor) See Rachel at React Brussels (Oct 13) See Rachel at React JS Day, Verona (Oc...

Sep 20, 202348 minTranscript available on Metacast

S25:E5 - Mastering Leadership (Brian Jenney)

In this episode, Saron sits down with Brian Jenney, Senior Software Engineering Manager at Clorox. Saron talks to Brian about his struggles with addiction, how he changed his life and turned a new leaf with coding and sobriety, and how his go-getter personality has served him well and continues to play a role in his current success. They also talk about what being a leader looks like and the ways in which you can become a leader regardless of the challenges life throws at you. Show Links Partner...

Sep 13, 202344 minTranscript available on Metacast

S25:E4 - Diversity Dialogues in Tech (Ale Thomas)

Saron talks to Ale Thomas, Developer Advocate and Web Developer at Kubeshop | Mixed Change. Ale talks about growing up in Mexico and learning to code on her own. She walks us through her career history and how she paved her way into tech without a CS degree. She highlights how mentors played a critical role in her coding journey and how important finding those mentors and a community is. Finally, Ale shares her thoughts on what inclusivity in tech means to her and the work she is doing to make a...

Sep 06, 202344 minTranscript available on Metacast

S25:E3 - Self-Taught Coding Stories of a Former Lab Scientist (Vanessa Vun)

Join us as we sit down with Vanessa Vun, Frontend Engineer at SciShield. Vanessa talks about how she first built a computer when she was in middle school but ended up taking a different path for her studies and found herself back in tech after working as a Clinical Lab Scientist for 10 years. Vanessa shares how she gained her technical experience to put herself in the best position when applying for jobs, along with tips on how others could learn from her journey. Show Links Partner with Dev &am...

Aug 30, 202339 minTranscript available on Metacast

S25:E2 - The Journey from a Bootcamp to a FAANG (Alex Lee)

Meet Alex Lee, Frontend Engineer at Amazon. In this episode, we learn why Alex pivoted away from Mechanical Engineering and we follow his journey of transformation, opting to learn to code through a bootcamp over multiple law school offers. Alex also talks about his passion as a dedicated career coach and we learn more about Alex who not only excels in the realm of cutting-edge technology but also empowers others to navigate their career paths with confidence. Show Links Partner with Dev & C...

Aug 23, 202344 minTranscript available on Metacast

S25:E1 - Pivoting to Tech from Biomedical Science (Marley Anthony)

In the kickoff episode to Season 25, Saron talks to Marley Anthony, Software Engineer at Bench Accounting. Marley talks about his career pivot from studying biomedical sciences to getting into tech. He unravels his strategies and tactics to secure his first internship, the pivotal steps he took to transition into his current role, and the significance of laying a solid foundation of knowledge early in his career. Tune in to gain valuable perspectives on strategies for landing that all-important ...

Aug 16, 202338 minTranscript available on Metacast

S24:E8 - A Model's Journey to Software Development (Madison Kanna)

Saron talks to Madison Kanna, Senior Software Engineer, Health and Wellness at Walmart. Saron talks to Madison about finding the inspiration to transition from being a model to becoming a skilled developer. Madison talks about the experiences, challenges, and moments that sparked her interest in development. Listeners will gain insights into the tools and resources she utilized to hone her coding skills when first embarking on this new path. Madison also highlights the importance of seeking ment...

Jun 28, 202345 minTranscript available on Metacast

S24:E7 - Navigating Layoffs with Intention (Natalie Davis)

Today, Saron sits down with Natalie Davis, who shares her experience pursuing software engineering after climbing the ladder in the retail industry for 15 years. In their conversation, Natalie talks about what she has learned navigating the tech industry, how she's navigated layoffs, and why she has grown to be more selective and intentional with prospective new opportunities. Show Links Partner with Dev & CodeNewbie! (sponsor) Mark Thompson Cassidy Williams Developer Advocate 2FA Natalie Da...

Jun 21, 202352 minTranscript available on Metacast

S24:E6 - Surviving Cancer, Building Code, Thriving in Tech (Stacey Graham)

Saron sits down with Stacey Graham, Software Engineer at a fintech company. Stacey grew up curious about computers since being introduced to them in the 7th grade. Although she didn't take the full plunge into code immediately, she constantly provided technical support in her previous roles. Hear Stacey talk more about her experience navigating her career transition while battling health troubles, how you can level up and network in the tech community, and where to look for communities while you...

Jun 14, 202336 minTranscript available on Metacast

S24:E5 - Balancing Parenthood and Programming (Phoebe Voong-Fadel)

Today, Saron talks with Phoebe Voong-Fadel, a self-taught Frontend Developer at the National Foundation for Educational Research. After having transitioned from a successful 14-year career in Higher Education in 2017, Phoebe made the courageous decision to pursue coding full-time while balancing the responsibilities of being a mother to her two children. Along with learning about her experience balancing learning to code and being a mom we talk to Phoebe about her passions that extend beyond her...

Jun 07, 202328 minTranscript available on Metacast

S24:E4 - From Occupational Therapy to Code (Africa Mincey)

Saron talks with Africa, a former Occupational Therapist specializing in virtual therapy and assistive technology. Saron and Africa talk about transitioning from Occupational Therapy to working as an Accessibility Engineer testing government software and teaching developers how to build more inclusive web applications. Africa also talks about her journey teaching herself how to code, what stretches are useful for Software Engineers, and how important coffee chats and networking are. Be sure to l...

May 31, 202336 minTranscript available on Metacast

S24:E3 - Building Products for Everyone (Daniel Devesa Derksen-Staats)

Saron talks to Senior Accessibility iOS Engineer at Spotify, Daniel Devesa Derksen-Staats. Daniel talks all about accessibility and specifically delves in on how he got interested in the field, examples of how to make code more accessible, and how others listening can add accessibility to their tool kit of coding skills. Author of the Developing Accessible iOS Apps book, he keeps himself busy by writing a daily tweet about accessibility and iOS with the hashtag #365DaysIOSAccessibility. Show Lin...

May 24, 202340 minTranscript available on Metacast