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Eddie: Welcome to episode
33 of the web joy podcast.

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I'm your host eddie and in this podcast we
interview guests about their origin story

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and what makes them excited and joyful to
be part of the tech community i hope you

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enjoy today's episode the learning journey
never actually stops with dj taylor

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Well, I'm excited to have DJ here today.

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Dj, let us know who you are, what
you do, where you work, uh, the brief

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introduction about yourself, if you will.

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DJ: Awesome.

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Yeah, Eddie, thanks for having me on.

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Yeah.

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My name is DJ Taylor.

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I live in Los Angeles.

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My wife and I have lived here
for almost three years now.

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We really love it out here.

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I originally grew up in Texas
and then also lived in Chicago,

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so kind of been all over.

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So now I am a, uh, software engineer.

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I work at a startup that
is based in Austin, Texas.

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It's called First Dollar.

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I just finished my fourth month,
so I'm, I'm still very new to Tech.

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Yeah.

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My first job and yeah, I'm loving it.

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I mean, I'm, I'm getting to do a little
bit of everything in, in my role and it's,

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it's just everything that I had hoped for.

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What

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Eddie: kind of got you to the point
of thinking about going into tech?

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Obviously this is a, a new
thing that you're doing right.

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Four months into the job, what was
kind of the thing that spurred.

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That direction

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DJ: for you?

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Yeah.

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You know, there's, there's really
no way to avoid this, but honestly

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it was kind of the early days of the
pandemic time was teaching and that

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presents its own challenges, of course.

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Um, but, you know, I, I was just
kind of trying to branch out and see

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like what else out there as far as
other career paths or possibilities.

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Yeah, I actually kind of stumbled upon
this platform that was teaching music.

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That's kind of my background as well.

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I, I play instruments
and taught music as well.

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But anyway, so it was, it was teaching
music along with learning how to

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code like really basic JavaScript and
like Python and that sort of thing.

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And I was like, oh, that
seems really interesting.

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Let me just like check this out.

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Maybe my students would enjoy doing that.

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And what I found was even from my first
little, you know, hel Hello World program,

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I was just like, oh, this is really cool.

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Let me keep on doing it on my own.

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And what I found over the last couple
years was that my curiosity was just

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peaked and, and I was just trying to
learn as much as I could and I was

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just so, so motivated to, to come
back to that and like pretty much

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any moment of spare time that I had.

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So that was really kind of the
biggest thing, was just kind of like

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giving me something to focus on.

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That was also enabling me to be
creative and like work some of

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those same muscles that I was used
to as a musician and as a teacher.

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So yeah.

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That's awesome.

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Eddie: You know that you've been sucked
in when you can't get it out of your mind.

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Right?

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You're thinking about a project
or you're thinking about the

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code you were just doing.

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Totally.

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When you're no longer doing it and
you're like, oh, I've been bitten by the

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DJ: code bug . Totally.

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Yeah, and I really knew it.

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I'd been bitten.

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When I was having dreams about like
problems and like some of them are

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stressful, some of them were fun, but
like, yeah, if there was like a JavaScript

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problem that I couldn't figure out
and like I'm stress dreaming it, but

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I was like, okay, yeah, I'm in now.

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There's no escape at that point.

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You're done.

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Yeah, yeah, yeah.

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For sure.

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For sure.

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. Awesome.

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Eddie: Well, yeah, I guess kind of how
did you go about getting into tech, right?

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Did you.

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Self-teach.

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Did you use specific resources online?

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What did that kind of journey to
learning technology development

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and ultimately getting a job look

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DJ: like?

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It was a little bit of everything.

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I would say.

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I don't know the percentage of people
that start on free code camp, but

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I'm, I imagine it's pretty high.

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Like that was kind of my first
exposure to just kind of basic.

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H T M L C S S, JavaScript kinds of things.

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And then from there, just kind
of branching out, uh, to some

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different online platforms.

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At that point, it's still free.

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I eventually kind of got
into some Udemy courses.

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I was like, you know, there's a
ton of, uh, of resources here.

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So I, I did like one of the boot
camps that is there and it's,

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again, it's all self-paced.

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You kind of like code along with the
instructor, but that was really fun and.

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I really started thinking about
like, okay, I, I want this to

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be my next step, my next move.

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So how can I best situate
myself to do that?

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And so, you know, I just reached out
to friends who I knew had made similar

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transitions in their careers and kind
of got turned onto some bootcamps.

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And so I did my research there.

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and connected with actually a mutual,
mutual friend of ours, Lauren Yu.

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Um, and she talked about the
Flatiron School and that's

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kind of what I settled on.

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And what was interesting about that
program was that at the time they had

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this offering that was self-paced.

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You know, it's a little bit different cuz
I wasn't in like one specific cohort that

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was like working with 10 to 15 people.

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They basically just gave
you the whole curriculum.

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You know, you have check-ins with
instructors, but you know, you

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build your portfolio, you learn
all the concepts, and then at the

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end you're able to graduate again.

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As a teacher, I had my summer completely
open and I basically spent, I'd say

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like eight to 12 hours a day just in
that curriculum as hard as I could.

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And yeah, really, really loved that.

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So yeah, I built my portfolio.

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Started like doing all the career stuff.

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I had like a job, like a coach
who was basically mentoring

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me through the job hunt.

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Um, but I knew there
was something missing.

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I was like, gosh, I feel like I
have some seeds that are planted,

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but I feel like what I really need
is like this, this like sense of

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working together with other people.

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And that's where the collab lab comes in.

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And I'm sure we'll talk about that later.

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But basically that was
like an eight week program.

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I'm working with a team of
developers as well as mentors

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and we're building this app.

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And you know, to me like that
was definitely the final.

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Puzzle piece in terms of just
tying everything to together,

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because being self-taught is great.

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I, I, I definitely advocate for that
because there is so much out there.

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But you also do need that kind of teamwork
and like how to work on a distributed team

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in the real world, cuz that's, you know,
what I'm doing in my job now for sure.

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So, yeah, that's kind of how I got there.

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You know, it's, it's kind of cool because
like the learning journey never actually

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stops because even in my job, like.

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So much that's coming at me.

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I'm learning stuff every day and that's
definitely one of the things that I'm,

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that I'm loving about it as well, is
that you can get comfortable for a little

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while, but like there's, there's gonna
be something new to learn and to explore

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and that's just really exciting to me.

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Eddie: That statement that you
said, the learning never stops

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like that is totally true.

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I mean, I have been in
programming for over 15 years.

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I literally have never
been able to stop learning.

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There's always something new.

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There's always some other way to do it.

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There's always a different approach, or
it's like when you finally figure out

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the tech, then you have to start figuring
out like you even, like you work with

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a new company on a new product, and you
have to figure out, okay, well what?

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What do these customers care about as
opposed to my last customers cared about

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and like, Even when you're not learning
the tech, you're learning the industry.

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Because when we change jobs, I mean,
some people stay in like, I don't

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know, big banking or I don't know what
other industry you might stay in for

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a long time, but really most of us go
from industry to industry every time

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we change jobs, which is just, I don't
know, programming is like one of the

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few jobs, I think, where you literally
change industries with every job

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DJ: change.

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Absolutely.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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But I love that about, about being Yeah.

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A developer, you know, it's just like
the, the skills are so transferrable and

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there's so many opportunities out there.

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I, I think that that's, that's
just super cool to know that like

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your career can take you a bunch of
different places, so that's great.

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Yeah.

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Eddie: We'll definitely
touch on the collab lab more.

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That's actually where you and
I met, so lots of love there.

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But yeah.

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Kind of next up, we typically, you know,
talk about something that brings the

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guest of the episode, which is you, our
distinguished guest, you know, brings them

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joy and sometimes it's apps or technology
or communities or things like that.

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And so I was just curious like
what is it that kind of brings

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you joy that you wanted to talk

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DJ: about?

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I think I wanna hit on
two things actually.

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I, I definitely wanna talk about
kind of the connections that I've

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made along the way in my journey.

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Um, but I also wanna talk about
like, we've been hitting on this,

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uh, a little bit before, but just
like learning and curiosity and

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like what feeds us in that way.

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So, I mean, to start with community,
like music in my background, like I just

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grew up playing music with people and
being in ensembles and working together.

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And so I feel like that sense of
community and collaboration is just so.

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It's so central to like who I want to
be and, and how I wanna live my life.

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And I just love that.

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In the last, again, couple years,
the, the connections that I've

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made, whether it's mentors or fellow
developers who are also learning

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along the way, it's just been so cool.

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And I think about actually a couple
of relationships that really I.

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Come full circle.

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Um, number one is Lauren.

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Again.

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We have mutual friends who go
way back cuz she also has a,

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a music musical background.

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But, you know, she was kind of my
first like influencer, if you will.

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Like I definitely looked up to the
sense of courage that she had to

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make this leap and then to see her
like really thriving in her role.

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It was just so cool.

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So I definitely like, Took her advice
and definitely sought out like her,

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uh, inputs, uh, especially early on.

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And then actually the company that I
worked for, basically the, the VP of

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engineering, my, my boss, I, I've known
him since like, we were like 18 years

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old, like back in college, . Oh, wow.

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That's awesome.

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Yeah, we, we didn't keep in
touch like after school so much.

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We kind of went our separate ways, but
like, I think it was my first LinkedIn

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post, a mutual friend of ours liked it.

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And then, Mike, uh, he saw that post,
he sent me a direct message in LinkedIn,

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was like, dj, it's so cool to see
that you've like done this transition.

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Let's just catch up some time.

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I wanna hear how life is going.

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And you know, it just started off
as very organic like connection.

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And in the back of my mind, like I knew,
I was like, this would be the dream.

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Like I would love for this to be my
first job just because knowing him, it

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being a smaller company so that I can
really like focus on building relat.

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With other people on my team.

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It was just like, this is perfect.

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And it was hard, obviously like
job, the job hunt is like scary

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and like very intimidating.

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But I kind of had this like thought in
the back of my mind it was like, this

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is gonna work out and it's it, you know?

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So it was definitely this
kind of full circle moment.

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And I think we need that sort
of thing in, in our world today.

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You know, there's just a lot that's
happening outside and to know that like,

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you know, we have our people, we have our.

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It's super important.

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Yeah, absolutely.

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00:10:27,582 --> 00:10:28,932
That's definitely bringing me joy.

234
00:10:29,172 --> 00:10:31,992
But yeah, I also kinda wanna talk
about like, again, learning a bit more.

235
00:10:31,992 --> 00:10:37,272
Like I think that the, um, kind of
your intention and like the curiosity

236
00:10:37,272 --> 00:10:42,252
that I have had over these last couple
years has been so, like, rejuvenating,

237
00:10:42,257 --> 00:10:45,102
you know, it's like, it's very
possible to kind of get stuck in one

238
00:10:45,162 --> 00:10:47,352
mindset or one mode in your career.

239
00:10:47,712 --> 00:10:49,122
And I was definitely
feeling that as a teacher.

240
00:10:49,122 --> 00:10:50,142
I was just like, I just.

241
00:10:50,522 --> 00:10:52,442
Like, I know I don't really wanna
be doing this, but I don't know

242
00:10:52,442 --> 00:10:53,732
what else is out there, you know?

243
00:10:54,092 --> 00:10:57,212
And so to like really land on
something that's like, again, that's

244
00:10:57,212 --> 00:11:02,522
so fulfilling and just has so many like
possibilities, I just can't imagine

245
00:11:02,522 --> 00:11:05,402
what the last couple years would've
been like without learning how to code

246
00:11:05,402 --> 00:11:06,902
and like going through this journey.

247
00:11:06,902 --> 00:11:08,492
So that's been really
special to me as well.

248
00:11:08,912 --> 00:11:10,652
Eddie: No, I think, I think that's huge.

249
00:11:10,712 --> 00:11:14,762
Like learning is such a
key part of who we are.

250
00:11:15,632 --> 00:11:16,862
Developers, and

251
00:11:17,012 --> 00:11:17,372
DJ: I just wanna

252
00:11:18,002 --> 00:11:22,112
Eddie: throw a shout out to a previous
episode that people, you know, if you

253
00:11:22,382 --> 00:11:25,712
didn't listen to this and you know you're
coming in on this episode or the one

254
00:11:25,712 --> 00:11:31,292
before it, one of our early episodes with
Jason, we talk about kind of continuous.

255
00:11:31,612 --> 00:11:37,042
Learning, and I think that's definitely
like a big thing is developers,

256
00:11:37,072 --> 00:11:40,252
is that we're always learning.

257
00:11:40,252 --> 00:11:42,622
And I think that's one of the
things that can help kind of

258
00:11:42,627 --> 00:11:46,042
click and let you know that like
you should be a developer, right?

259
00:11:46,042 --> 00:11:49,342
If like you don't like learning, you
probably shouldn't be a developer because

260
00:11:49,347 --> 00:11:54,862
you're going to end up either very unhappy
or you're gonna have to find like a job.

261
00:11:55,752 --> 00:11:59,712
For example, like a lot of our banking
systems are using some programming

262
00:11:59,742 --> 00:12:00,792
languages from the eighties.

263
00:12:00,792 --> 00:12:03,852
Like, okay, if you learn that programming
language and go to the banks, like you

264
00:12:03,852 --> 00:12:07,182
can probably stick in that job for a
while and not have to learn something new.

265
00:12:07,692 --> 00:12:10,842
But it's very rare that there are
areas that aren't changing, then

266
00:12:10,902 --> 00:12:14,262
aren't evolving, and that if you
don't learn along with it, like

267
00:12:14,712 --> 00:12:18,762
you'll either be miserable or
have a a hard time on the job.

268
00:12:18,762 --> 00:12:19,992
So I think that's definitely a key.

269
00:12:20,582 --> 00:12:22,172
Character trait of developers.

270
00:12:22,232 --> 00:12:22,412
So

271
00:12:22,412 --> 00:12:22,952
DJ: I love that.

272
00:12:23,042 --> 00:12:23,432
Totally.

273
00:12:23,432 --> 00:12:26,492
Yeah, and I think to piggyback on
that, I mean this isn't about getting

274
00:12:26,492 --> 00:12:29,642
jobs, but I feel like having, I've
sat on the other side of the table

275
00:12:29,647 --> 00:12:33,602
now and interviewed like a couple of
candidates and it's like skill is great.

276
00:12:33,662 --> 00:12:37,502
You know, portfolio is great, but like
you're also trying to gauge again,

277
00:12:37,502 --> 00:12:41,162
someone's desire to keep learning and
like how willing they are to like take.

278
00:12:41,712 --> 00:12:45,222
And like, put themselves out there and be
vulnerable, which is like a real thing.

279
00:12:45,462 --> 00:12:48,432
I mean, there's a, an engineer on
my team who, you know, worked at

280
00:12:48,432 --> 00:12:51,402
Google for 10 years and like, just
again has a lot of experience.

281
00:12:51,407 --> 00:12:54,162
But like his number one
thing is like get used to the

282
00:12:54,162 --> 00:12:55,512
feeling of being uncomfortable.

283
00:12:55,782 --> 00:12:55,992
Right?

284
00:12:55,992 --> 00:12:58,692
And that's not like a bad thing,
that's just like kind of a sign.

285
00:12:58,812 --> 00:13:01,242
There's gonna be stuff that you're
gonna have to learn and like figure

286
00:13:01,242 --> 00:13:02,952
out and like work your way through.

287
00:13:03,462 --> 00:13:05,472
And that's just part of the day
to day, you know, it's kind of a

288
00:13:05,472 --> 00:13:09,012
reality of it, but it can definitely
be a really positive thing as well.

289
00:13:09,042 --> 00:13:09,972
Cause like you're never gonna.

290
00:13:10,622 --> 00:13:13,442
Hopefully into like this rut that
like you're just kind of stuck.

291
00:13:13,442 --> 00:13:13,652
You know?

292
00:13:13,652 --> 00:13:15,962
Like of course that'll happen
occasionally cuz that's just life.

293
00:13:15,962 --> 00:13:19,052
But like there are always
those opportunities out there.

294
00:13:19,442 --> 00:13:22,322
Eddie: And that is interesting
because that kind of reminds me

295
00:13:22,382 --> 00:13:26,102
of a lot of people in the industry
talk about imposter syndrome, right?

296
00:13:26,107 --> 00:13:28,312
And a lot of times people feel.

297
00:13:29,192 --> 00:13:30,332
Feel like imposters, right?

298
00:13:30,332 --> 00:13:31,532
They have imposter syndrome.

299
00:13:31,562 --> 00:13:34,682
They don't wanna tell anyone
because they feel scared by it.

300
00:13:34,682 --> 00:13:37,562
And what they don't realize is
like everyone in the industry

301
00:13:37,562 --> 00:13:39,302
has imposter syndrome, right?

302
00:13:39,482 --> 00:13:39,872
Totally.

303
00:13:39,872 --> 00:13:40,142
Yeah.

304
00:13:40,142 --> 00:13:44,252
And it's so interesting because I think
imposter syndrome, literally, the reason

305
00:13:44,252 --> 00:13:50,112
it's so prevalent in our industry is
because, Imposter syndrome thrives when

306
00:13:50,112 --> 00:13:52,092
you are just outside your comfort zone.

307
00:13:52,332 --> 00:13:55,212
And so as developers, we're
always having to learn.

308
00:13:55,212 --> 00:13:58,122
We're always having to, like
your friend mentioned, right?

309
00:13:58,127 --> 00:14:01,752
Like always having to be a little
bit uncomfortable because we're doing

310
00:14:01,752 --> 00:14:03,702
something we've never done before.

311
00:14:03,707 --> 00:14:06,552
Sometimes we're doing something, the
company has never been done before.

312
00:14:06,557 --> 00:14:10,122
Sometimes you're doing something
that literally hasn't been done.

313
00:14:11,337 --> 00:14:11,667
Right.

314
00:14:12,147 --> 00:14:14,187
And that creates imposter

315
00:14:14,187 --> 00:14:14,727
DJ: syndrome.

316
00:14:14,847 --> 00:14:15,087
Right.

317
00:14:15,237 --> 00:14:15,897
So interesting.

318
00:14:15,957 --> 00:14:16,227
Yeah.

319
00:14:16,227 --> 00:14:17,817
And that's like a very real thing.

320
00:14:17,817 --> 00:14:20,877
I mean, it depends on the day, but
like I can totally relate to that.

321
00:14:20,967 --> 00:14:23,637
You know, it's just like, and of
course I'm still like super early

322
00:14:23,637 --> 00:14:26,787
on in my career, but you definitely
hear about more experienced folks

323
00:14:26,792 --> 00:14:29,967
feeling that and you know, it's just
something to accept, I feel like,

324
00:14:29,967 --> 00:14:31,857
and then again, you, you figure out.

325
00:14:32,427 --> 00:14:35,067
You identify what that is and
you're like, oh, there's definitely

326
00:14:35,067 --> 00:14:36,297
opportunities to grow here.

327
00:14:36,417 --> 00:14:36,657
You know?

328
00:14:36,657 --> 00:14:40,347
And that's kind of how you, I
feel, like, funnel that energy, so.

329
00:14:40,677 --> 00:14:41,367
Absolutely.

330
00:14:41,547 --> 00:14:41,757
Eddie: Yeah.

331
00:14:41,757 --> 00:14:44,517
And I think, like you said, I think
most people who say that they haven't

332
00:14:44,517 --> 00:14:48,837
felt imposter syndrome either, a, they
don't really understand what people

333
00:14:48,842 --> 00:14:53,377
are talking about, and so they don't
identify it or b, They're lying.

334
00:14:53,647 --> 00:14:54,907
Um, , you know what I mean?

335
00:14:54,907 --> 00:14:58,707
Like, because like for a long time I
wouldn't have necessarily identified,

336
00:14:58,712 --> 00:15:02,677
oh, I've felt imposter syndrome until
I really thought about it at times.

337
00:15:02,677 --> 00:15:04,117
And it's like, it can be subtle, right?

338
00:15:04,117 --> 00:15:06,967
It can be as subtle as like,
you get really anxious when the

339
00:15:06,972 --> 00:15:08,767
boss is like, Hey, let's chat.

340
00:15:09,127 --> 00:15:10,567
And it's like, well, why am I nerd?

341
00:15:10,597 --> 00:15:13,057
Like I've been working
in tech for 10 years.

342
00:15:13,057 --> 00:15:15,277
Why am I getting nervous
that the boss wants to chat?

343
00:15:16,052 --> 00:15:17,762
There's no reason I would be fired.

344
00:15:17,762 --> 00:15:18,272
Right.

345
00:15:18,362 --> 00:15:21,422
But like the back of your mind,
you're like, I'm gonna get fired

346
00:15:21,422 --> 00:15:23,102
DJ: like . Yeah, I know.

347
00:15:23,102 --> 00:15:23,312
Yeah.

348
00:15:23,312 --> 00:15:24,182
You just never know.

349
00:15:24,182 --> 00:15:25,622
Like it's, it's crazy.

350
00:15:26,227 --> 00:15:26,462
. Yeah.

351
00:15:27,482 --> 00:15:29,462
, 
Eddie: going back to what
you talked about, connections

352
00:15:29,467 --> 00:15:30,822
made along the way, I think.

353
00:15:31,402 --> 00:15:37,402
That's such a, a key thing is that like,
yes, we can build some things alone,

354
00:15:37,407 --> 00:15:41,662
but so much of what we build, right,
it thrives on working with each other.

355
00:15:41,662 --> 00:15:46,552
It thrives on building relationships
with those around us, and that kind

356
00:15:46,552 --> 00:15:48,592
of leaves us to, to the end, which is.

357
00:15:49,127 --> 00:15:53,357
I like to ask someone if there's
anything that they, you know, have been

358
00:15:53,357 --> 00:15:57,047
involved in or that they've worked on
that they'd like to share that they

359
00:15:57,047 --> 00:15:58,907
think the community might find helpful.

360
00:15:58,967 --> 00:16:02,387
I think what you have to share
kind of aligns nicely with that.

361
00:16:02,507 --> 00:16:03,017
DJ: Totally.

362
00:16:03,047 --> 00:16:03,407
Yeah.

363
00:16:03,437 --> 00:16:04,547
It's how we know each other.

364
00:16:04,547 --> 00:16:08,567
It's how we got into all of
this, and that is the collab lab.

365
00:16:08,597 --> 00:16:12,257
And it's kinda a lot to say, it's a
little bit hard sometimes, but, uh,

366
00:16:12,257 --> 00:16:14,537
again, I, I definitely recommend.

367
00:16:15,127 --> 00:16:18,967
Anyone who is like, on the path to
making this kind of career change

368
00:16:18,967 --> 00:16:22,477
or just on their learning journey
to definitely check out Collab Lab.

369
00:16:22,837 --> 00:16:25,897
It's a, it's a program that's open
developers all over the world.

370
00:16:26,047 --> 00:16:31,117
It's completely free and, you know,
basically you, you apply and then

371
00:16:31,237 --> 00:16:34,357
if you're accepted into the program,
you're, you know, assigned to a team.

372
00:16:34,357 --> 00:16:37,147
I think of like four
developers, I guess it could be.

373
00:16:37,647 --> 00:16:40,557
And then you have anywhere from like
two to four mentors who are in the

374
00:16:40,557 --> 00:16:44,427
industry, like they're working, you
know, they have experience and you

375
00:16:44,427 --> 00:16:46,077
know, it's, it's very condensed.

376
00:16:46,467 --> 00:16:49,737
It's about eight weeks long, but
they're super mindful of time, you

377
00:16:49,737 --> 00:16:52,917
know, cuz we have lives, uh, you
know, people have jobs, et cetera.

378
00:16:53,277 --> 00:16:56,577
And so, you know, you're spending like
four to six, maybe eight hours a week.

379
00:16:57,057 --> 00:17:00,387
Either, you know, syncing with your
fellow developers or, you know,

380
00:17:00,387 --> 00:17:02,397
having standups with the entire team.

381
00:17:02,517 --> 00:17:07,377
And I just can't think of a better
experience that I had over the course

382
00:17:07,377 --> 00:17:10,707
of my learning journey, honestly,
not only to work with mentors and

383
00:17:10,707 --> 00:17:15,117
like get that direct feedback, um,
but also to like pair program with.

384
00:17:15,612 --> 00:17:18,972
People who were like kind of near
where I was in terms of my learning.

385
00:17:19,002 --> 00:17:20,502
Like it was just life changing.

386
00:17:20,532 --> 00:17:22,002
I, I totally mean that.

387
00:17:22,332 --> 00:17:25,692
And you know what was really cool
about it was, you know, I actually,

388
00:17:25,692 --> 00:17:30,042
I got my job at first dollar in my
second or third week of the collab lab.

389
00:17:30,042 --> 00:17:32,412
Like that's kind of how the timing worked.

390
00:17:32,802 --> 00:17:36,882
So I was kind of doing both at the
same time, but even like in the

391
00:17:37,002 --> 00:17:40,302
couple of weeks prior to my job and
then like as I was navigating both.

392
00:17:41,062 --> 00:17:45,052
The experiences were so similar in
terms of, again, working on a team of

393
00:17:45,052 --> 00:17:49,402
de developers, you know, having these
stories you're working on, similar

394
00:17:49,402 --> 00:17:52,882
to like what a product manager would
give you, you know, in, in a sprint.

395
00:17:53,182 --> 00:17:56,542
And then like doing demos and being
able to talk through like what you

396
00:17:56,542 --> 00:17:59,452
worked on and working through, you
know, different challenges like.

397
00:17:59,962 --> 00:18:04,282
They were almost the same and, and I feel
like it just gave me a ton of confidence,

398
00:18:04,762 --> 00:18:08,602
you know, going into my first job and then
like also having collab lab on the side.

399
00:18:08,812 --> 00:18:10,402
It was just really, really meaningful.

400
00:18:10,852 --> 00:18:12,412
And again, talk about community.

401
00:18:12,412 --> 00:18:16,042
Like that community has so much
love for each other and like

402
00:18:16,042 --> 00:18:20,032
they're working so hard to build
up people trying to get into tech.

403
00:18:20,242 --> 00:18:23,152
I think that that's actually
kind of rare in a way.

404
00:18:23,872 --> 00:18:27,202
I will say that like, again, people in
tech are super helpful in general, but

405
00:18:27,202 --> 00:18:30,202
like, you know, with boot camps and
that sort of thing, like at the end of

406
00:18:30,202 --> 00:18:31,642
the day, those are businesses, right?

407
00:18:31,642 --> 00:18:32,812
Like they're trying to make money.

408
00:18:32,812 --> 00:18:35,572
Like there's that factor, right?

409
00:18:35,812 --> 00:18:37,672
And this is all volunteer run.

410
00:18:38,027 --> 00:18:41,117
All the mentors are doing it
in their free time as well.

411
00:18:41,477 --> 00:18:43,697
Yeah, I just think there's really
something special about that.

412
00:18:44,057 --> 00:18:46,067
So definitely recommend checking it out.

413
00:18:46,397 --> 00:18:49,247
I definitely want to be a mentor someday.

414
00:18:49,247 --> 00:18:52,877
Like I haven't really had a chance
to, uh, in the last couple of runs,

415
00:18:52,877 --> 00:18:56,537
but I definitely think that's gonna be
something that I am, that I get into.

416
00:18:56,567 --> 00:19:00,437
So also, if you are a more experienced
developer, check out being a mentor, cuz

417
00:19:00,437 --> 00:19:04,607
I know that they're, you know, definitely
looking for folks who want to kind of add

418
00:19:04,612 --> 00:19:06,767
that to, you know, their, their activit.

419
00:19:07,067 --> 00:19:08,447
Yeah, absolutely.

420
00:19:08,717 --> 00:19:13,517
Eddie: You know, like DJ mentioned, like
from my perspective, I was actually one

421
00:19:13,517 --> 00:19:18,827
of the mentors on his team and coming
from a place of being an engineering

422
00:19:18,827 --> 00:19:23,357
manager to what you said, like it really
felt like what you do in the day job.

423
00:19:23,507 --> 00:19:25,727
You know, there's a team of
four developers that are.

424
00:19:26,942 --> 00:19:30,572
Working on things and like you
don't want to micromanage, right?

425
00:19:30,572 --> 00:19:33,632
You want people to be able to
learn on their own, but then you're

426
00:19:33,632 --> 00:19:38,042
trying to figure out how do I speak
into and help encourage people?

427
00:19:38,042 --> 00:19:42,422
So I think if anyone is thinking
about doing like engineering

428
00:19:42,427 --> 00:19:44,342
management and stuff, that's a great.

429
00:19:44,547 --> 00:19:48,927
Like thing to be able to say,
Hey, go do mentorship and

430
00:19:48,957 --> 00:19:50,367
see how that clicks with you.

431
00:19:50,367 --> 00:19:54,087
And if it really clicks and you're
comfortable with it, then maybe, you know,

432
00:19:54,087 --> 00:19:57,747
they're not the exact same job, but it
gives you a little bit of a taste of it.

433
00:19:57,752 --> 00:20:02,932
And if that works really well, then maybe
you do want to like, Talk to your company

434
00:20:02,962 --> 00:20:07,312
more about like heading in that direction
and it, it helps your resume, right?

435
00:20:07,312 --> 00:20:08,302
Yeah, absolutely.

436
00:20:08,307 --> 00:20:09,202
Having the mentor.

437
00:20:09,202 --> 00:20:14,842
So yeah, I think it's amazing because
this community creates value for the

438
00:20:14,847 --> 00:20:19,102
people that are developers, that are
learning, for the mentors who are coming

439
00:20:19,102 --> 00:20:22,822
in and figuring out, like we learn,
everyone always talks about we learn

440
00:20:22,822 --> 00:20:24,412
best when we're teaching others, right?

441
00:20:24,412 --> 00:20:26,392
And so like, To your point, right?

442
00:20:26,397 --> 00:20:30,682
Coming back in and being a mentor when it
works with your schedule and everything

443
00:20:30,682 --> 00:20:36,532
like that, helps you kind of up your
game to figure out how to help coach

444
00:20:36,532 --> 00:20:37,882
people, how to lead people through.

445
00:20:37,882 --> 00:20:41,632
So I think it's an amazing
kind of cyclical program that

446
00:20:41,637 --> 00:20:43,492
just helps build things on

447
00:20:43,492 --> 00:20:44,092
DJ: both sides.

448
00:20:44,522 --> 00:20:45,062
Totally.

449
00:20:45,132 --> 00:20:45,622
Yeah.

450
00:20:45,622 --> 00:20:45,932
Yeah, yeah.

451
00:20:45,932 --> 00:20:49,172
And, and just like the passion people
have, you know, like when there's Yeah.

452
00:20:49,292 --> 00:20:52,952
An opening for volunteer work,
whether that's like working on the,

453
00:20:52,952 --> 00:20:54,152
the website or something like that.

454
00:20:54,152 --> 00:20:57,272
Like people are just so quick to
like, jump in on Slack or Twitter or

455
00:20:57,272 --> 00:20:58,622
whatever and be like, I'm there for it.

456
00:20:58,622 --> 00:20:59,672
You know, I'm, I'm here to help.

457
00:20:59,672 --> 00:21:01,052
You know, so that's, yeah.

458
00:21:01,052 --> 00:21:02,702
That's just really,
that's really cool to see.

459
00:21:02,882 --> 00:21:03,122
Yeah.

460
00:21:03,122 --> 00:21:08,402
And I also like really admire that people
bring their unique stories and experiences

461
00:21:08,402 --> 00:21:10,052
with them and like definitely make that.

462
00:21:10,547 --> 00:21:12,437
Like a really important
part of the program.

463
00:21:12,497 --> 00:21:15,707
You know, like there's, there's
folks who are like really diving

464
00:21:15,707 --> 00:21:19,217
deep into things like accessibility,
which again, stuff that kind of

465
00:21:19,217 --> 00:21:20,777
gets talked about, but not really.

466
00:21:20,777 --> 00:21:24,797
And like even in my experience, like
limited experience, like that was

467
00:21:24,797 --> 00:21:27,977
definitely front of mind the entire
time was how can we make things more

468
00:21:27,977 --> 00:21:31,217
accessible and like, what are the things
we can do to improve that, you know?

469
00:21:31,217 --> 00:21:33,617
And I think that there's definitely,
there's definitely room for

470
00:21:33,617 --> 00:21:34,967
more conversations around that.

471
00:21:34,967 --> 00:21:36,227
And, you know, just getting.

472
00:21:36,657 --> 00:21:39,297
Young developers and mentors,
like thinking about that, like

473
00:21:39,297 --> 00:21:42,147
that's, I think that's gonna
have a, a big impact for sure.

474
00:21:42,537 --> 00:21:43,287
Eddie: Absolutely.

475
00:21:43,377 --> 00:21:43,587
Yeah.

476
00:21:43,587 --> 00:21:46,587
I love, like you said, that it can
kind of be an incubator for what

477
00:21:46,587 --> 00:21:52,437
the next generation of engineering
managers and developers, kind of how

478
00:21:52,437 --> 00:21:53,877
they think and how they approach.

479
00:21:53,932 --> 00:21:55,192
It's the way things should be done.

480
00:21:55,432 --> 00:21:56,392
DJ: Yeah, absolutely.

481
00:21:56,632 --> 00:21:57,112
Sweet.

482
00:21:57,112 --> 00:22:00,172
Eddie: Well, I will include a link
to the collab lab in the show notes

483
00:22:00,172 --> 00:22:01,672
if anyone wants to check it out.

484
00:22:02,122 --> 00:22:06,412
And dj, thank you so much for
coming on and joining the podcast.

485
00:22:06,562 --> 00:22:06,832
Awesome.

486
00:22:06,832 --> 00:22:07,822
DJ: Yeah, thanks for having me, Eddie.

487
00:22:08,852 --> 00:22:13,022
Eddie: Thank you for joining us for
episode 33, the learning journey

488
00:22:13,022 --> 00:22:15,782
never actually stops with DJ Taylor.

489
00:22:16,232 --> 00:22:21,512
You can find out more about DJ on
his website, DJ Taylor codes.com.

490
00:22:22,112 --> 00:22:26,132
You can find links to everything we
talked about in this episode, as well as

491
00:22:26,132 --> 00:22:28,712
a link to DJ's website in the show notes.

492
00:22:29,402 --> 00:22:33,572
If you enjoyed this episode, why
not helping others discover as well?

493
00:22:33,692 --> 00:22:36,662
Give us a shout out on your
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494
00:22:37,052 --> 00:22:41,462
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495
00:22:42,062 --> 00:22:43,412
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496
00:22:43,652 --> 00:22:45,332
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497
00:22:45,962 --> 00:22:49,382
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498
00:22:49,862 --> 00:22:52,802
Thank you for listening
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