The Virtual Coffee Podcast

This week Bekah and Dan sat down with Dr. Maeling Murphy, a software engineer who recently transitioned into tech. Maeling shared the importance of connecting with potential employers to see if they would fit her values, how contributing to open source projects can help prepare you for your first job, and the value of developing the connection to community and being able to grow alongside others....

This week Bekah and Dan sat down with Jessica Wilkins, a self-taught developer and a staff author for the freeCodeCamp News publication. Jessica talks about how to get started with tech writing, how to differentiate between constructive criticism and negative feedback, and how to avoid gatekeeping by eliminating assumptions from your writing, avoiding terms and phrases like "it's so easy...

This week Bekah and Dan sat down with Bryan Healey, an entrepreneur, tech leader, data scientist / ML engineer, and biz developer. Bryan talks about gaining experience as an entrepreneur, how to get started in the start-up life, and how the entrepreneurial spirit has always been in his blood. About Bryan Healey Bryan Healey is an entrepreneur, tech leader, data scientist / ML engineer, and biz dev...

This week Bekah and Dan sat down with Suze Shardlow. Suze is an award winning community manager, coder, tech writer and tech event MC and she currently leads the developer community at Redis . We had a really interesting conversation with Suze! She's done a million different things throughout her life and her career and she shared with us how her experiences have informed her time as a softwa...

This week we welcome Mark Noonan to the show to talk about how becoming a part of Civic Tech initiatives can help career changers to grow and help existing developers create opportunities for mentorship, support, and connection for those coming into tech. Mark talks about his experience with FreeCodeCamp as well as Code for Atlanta , and the $40,000 Hackathon his group won and donated to charity!...

This week we welcome Jennifer Konikowski to the show to talk about being a woman in tech and building community for women in tech! Jennifer brings her experience creating communities like Py Ladies Boston and Boston Ruby Women to the podcast, and talks about the value of learning to code even if you don't want to be a developer. She also talks about getting through toxic work environments, mo...

We're welcoming Todd Libby to give us an intro to accessibility and what it means to make the web equal. Todd, a professional web developer, designer, and accessibility advocate for 22 years, provides a plethora of resources that can help everyone to get started and talks about how to advocate for accessibility and equality on projects. Show Notes: toddl.dev @toddlibby on Twitter Things/Peopl...

We welcome Jessi Shakarian to the show today to talk about her journey into UX/UI! Jessi Shakarian got her start in tech as a developer, but also she loved everything that happened before it was time to build a website. She is currently a UX designer at DIA Design Guild in Los Angeles and a python developer interested in machine learning. Jessi talks about how passion can be your motivation, and h...

Community Maintainer Kirk joins us (again) for our Season 3 wrap up! We review what Virtual Coffee did last year for Hacktoberfest, and talk about a lot of the exciting things we have coming up this year! We also shared some fun things from the last year at Virtual Coffee, like our Virtual Coffee Co-Working Room! Links: Classic Sudoku Cracking the Cryptic @MarieAntons Tatiana Mac - selfdefined Qua...

In this episode, Dan and Bekah talk to Aurelie Verrot, a Software Engineer from the San Francisco Bay Area, who's originally from France, about the importance of relationships in team-building--whether as part of the learning process or in a work environment--and the benefits of being able to work from home. She talks about the importance of clear communication, creating boundaries, and maint...

In this episode, Dan and Bekah are joined by Mike Rogers. Mike has had a long and successful career, but at one point he realized he no longer felt good or satisfied with where he was as a developer. He shared with us what he did to change course, and how he has learned to approach tending his career almost like a garden. About Mike Mike Rogers is a Ruby developer from the UK. He made the chat bot...

In this episode, Dan and Bekah talk to Ray Deck, a trained data scientist, occasional angel investor, and software entrepreneur, about finding the right career path through growth, learning, and motivation. We talk about the importance of trust and listening, and Ray drops a bunch of great resources to help everyone find their own path. About Ray Ray is a trained data scientist, occasional angel i...

In this episode of the podcast, Dan and Bekah talk to Kevin, a senior software consultant at Test Double and a coding career coach at his company Tap into Tech, about some of the most common challenges early-career developers face getting into tech and offers practical advice for working through those problems. We dive into visualization, personal support, and ways to change the interview process...

In this episode of the podcast, Dan and Bekah talk to Joan Marie Verba, a web developer, former astronomy teacher, and prolific science fiction writer, about her early days in tech using Fortran, and how refusal to accommodate her allergies has prevented her from having a lifelong career in tech. She shares the story of her recent job offer that actually turned out to be a scam that's being i...

In this episode, Dan and Bekah talk to Ayu about the impact of community, being a prolific blogger, and the very real challenge of burnout. Ayu's openness about the challenges of being a mom on the self-taught track into tech, isolation, and fears of not being good enough are the stories that we don't share enough of. Because when we share, we can all work through them together. Thank yo...

On this episode of the podcast, we talk to Abbey Perini, a full-stack web developer, about the impact building in public has had on her developer journey, what her experience as a recruiting admin taught her as she sent out 160 applications before landing her dev role, and how rehearsing before an interview can make a big impact. Links mentioned in the episode: Github: https://github.com/abbeyperi...

In this episode of the podcast Bekah and Dan talk to Jono Yeong, a senior software engineer originally from Australia, but currently based in Seattle, USA, about how digital gardening leaves room for growth, allows you to develop what you enjoy, and is an investment in communication skills. We also talk about learning Elixir, the process he goes through as he's learning something new, and how...

In this episode of the podcast, Dan and Bekah wrap up season two by talking about what they've learned about community building over the last year and some lessons they've learned along the way. They talk about Virtual Coffee's mission to support its members, and how Virtual Coffee's unique approach presents both challenges and opportunities when it comes to finding tools and g...

In this episode of the podcast, Dan and Bekah talk with Sara McCombs. Sara is a software engineer and team lead at Aiera, and also one of the original organizers, and a current Community Maintainer, at Virtual Coffee. Sara shared her thoughts on how to think and talk about transferable skills, leveraging past experience to differentiate yourself, and the importance of embracing that past experienc...

In this episode of the podcast, Dan and Bekah talk with Nerando Johnson, a full stack developer looking for his next job, about running freeCodeCamp meetups in Atlanta, learning through hackathons (including that one time his team won the hackathon and donated the $40,000 in winnings to charity) and how his next endeavor should be socialization as a service for tech events. We also talk about the...

In this episode of the podcast, we talk to Courtney Landau, a software engineer currently working at an early-stage startup in the Education Technology space. We talked about her experience with being quiet in tech with the constant push for self-marketing and how she learns new things. We also dive into her experience as a mentor, speaker, lightning talk team member, and the other roles she'...

In this episode of the podcast, we talk to Tom Cudd, a systems architect and 20-year veteran in technology. We talked about his experiences with DevOps and how it has changed over the years, about psychological safety: what it means to Tom, and how important it is to build in to your team and workflows, and about the dangers of "hero culture" in the workplace. Sponsor Virtual Coffee! You...

In this episode of the podcast, we talk to Debra-Kaye Elliott, a self-taught frontend developer making her way through Frontend Masters Web Development Bootcamp, about what it's like to be on the self-taught developer journey, how she navigates imposter syndrome, and the lessons she's learned a long the way. She talks about the impact of being able to learn with support, choosing the res...

In this episode, Dan and Bekah talk to Glen McCallum, a Software engineer from Victoria, Canada who manages a team of 8 engineers for the 2nd largest independent book distributor in the US, about his unexpected career journey, the hard decisions he's had to make, and using open-source software with his artificial pancreas. Glen also talks about his near-death experience in his first IT job an...

In this episode of the podcast, Dan and Bekah talk with Lucia Cercie, a Software Engineer, mom, and Arizona transplant, about the importance of having a growth-mindset, asking questions, and pair programming. We also talk about the power of community and feeling comfortable asking questions and asking for help. When she's not coding, Lucia likes to make her baby laugh. Lucia Cerchie is a soft...