Decoded Stories

When we recorded this episode, Vince was job hunting, freelancing during the day, and working overnight shifts at an Amazon sortation center. Today, he’s a full-stack engineer & consultant at IBM.

Before tech, Vince was cutting deer antlers into dog treats, running overnight shifts at Planet Fitness, and getting chased by thousands of angry bees in a beekeeping suit. He graduated high school with a 1.7 GPA, moved out to prove himself, and came back home starting from zero. He went through a season of depression where he’d ask himself if this was really all he was meant to do.

In this episode, we talk about how one trip to the gym turned into a job, how his cousin got him into coding, and how free Code Camp made him fall in love with building things. We also get real about why social media can make you feel behind, and why you have to keep going even when nothing seems to be working.

Vince’s story is proof that the breakthrough might be one more inch away. This is why you can't afford to give up.

Fafa is a backend software engineer who builds with Python, but that's just what it says on paper. In this episode we get into growing up in a small town in Calabar, crying through her first year of uni in a new city, and moving to the UK in the middle of a pandemic to study robotics as the only woman in her class.

We also talk imposter syndrome (spoiler: it never fully goes away), how she landed her first tech job with a spreadsheet and a daily target, and her honest take on AI, privacy, and who really benefits from all of it. Plus Afrobeats, Naruto, Banku and tilapia, and of course, the jollof debate.

Connect with me:

Annorcode.io

Connect with Fafa Modey:

Fafa.codes

Michael Pope went from sleeping in a U-Haul van with his family to making almost half a million dollars a year at 22.

When both of his parents got sick during his time at UNLV, Michael stopped waiting on a degree and taught himself to code between Dunkin' Donuts shifts on free Starbucks wifi. After more than a thousand applications, one late interview, and an hour-long palindrome problem, he landed his first dev job at $35K.

Now 12 years into full-stack development and running his own consulting company, Michael opens up about imposter syndrome, why content is the new resume, how to get jobs to come to you, and why he believes Christians should be thriving in every field.

This one is for anybody with their back against the wall.

Connect with me: ⁠annorcode.io⁠

Connect with Michael Pope: Michael Pope

Dillion moved to the Netherlands for a tech job, and years later, one interview stood between him and being sent back to Nigeria.

In this episode, he opens up about the exact day his work visa expired, what it really feels like to build a life you could lose overnight, and the mental toll of being a foreigner with no safety net.

We also get into his path from studying computer science in Nigeria to becoming a developer advocate, losing (and finding again) his love for coding in the age of AI, growing up with strict discipline back home, and the advice he'd give anyone starting over in a new country: build community, keep moving, and don't do it alone.

Connect with me: annorcode.ioConnect with Dillon Megida:dillionmegida.com

In this engaging conversation, Jeremiah Peoples shares his journey from military service to a successful tech career, emphasizing the importance of family, competition, and personal growth. He discusses the challenges of balancing fatherhood with a demanding job, the impact of his upbringing on his competitive spirit, and how he overcame imposter syndrome in the tech industry. Jeremiah also highlights the significance of building in public, the supportive culture at Slack, and his passion for financial education.

Connect with me: Annor Code

Connect with Jeremiah Peoples: Jeremiah Peoples

Kedasha grew up in poverty in Jamaica, came to the US for college, and got kicked out by her stepdad right after graduating. She talks through all of it in this one. The culture shock of moving here, the lack of manners she couldn't get used to, what it actually felt like to be homeless and figure life out on her own.

She breaks down how she found coding through an Instagram post, taught herself through bootcamp while working three jobs at once, and made the leap from social worker to software engineer to developer advocate at GitHub. From $28K to $135K in two years. She gets real about therapy, what it took to get out of survival mode, and why community and education changed everything for her.

We also get into her honest take on AI and vibe coding, why she still believes fundamentals matter, and what resilience actually looks like when you're living it instead of just talking about it.

Update: Since recording, Kedasha has left GitHub to go all in on That Lady Dev full time. She's building out her own team and business on her own terms. Proof that the growth never stops.

Connect with me:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/decoded.stories/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AnnorCode

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nyamekye-annor/

Email: [email protected]

Connect with Kedasha

All Links: itsthatlady.dev

David came to America from Nigeria at 23 with big dreams. He wanted FAANG. He wanted Mercedes. He wanted it all. But his mindset and the people he surrounded himself with made him put a cap as to how far he knew he could go.

In this episode, we talk about growing up as a pastor's kid in Nigeria who was literally the worst version of himself—sneaking alcohol to school, playing video games instead of going home, driving his parents crazy. Then one usher in church said five words that changed everything: "You're so much more than this." That moment shifted David's entire life.

We dive deep into:

• What it's like coming to America as an international student with zero connections
• The culture shock of the Midwest – from Lagos to a town of 20,000 people
• Getting promoted four times in three years to project manager
• Being laid off twice and how that tested his faith
• Moving to Texas on faith alone with his wife and daughter
• Why your mindset is literally everything – and who you surround yourself with matters more than you think

This isn't a success story wrapped up in a bow. This is a man in the middle of his journey, still figuring it out, still trusting God, still showing up even when things don't make sense.

If you've been laid off, if you've felt like giving up, if you've questioned whether God is actually working – this episode is for you.

CONNECT WITH ME:

• Instagram: Annor Code
• YouTube: Annor Code
• LinkedIn: Nyamekye Annor

CONNECT WITH DAVID:

• Instagram: thorpeedo__
• linkedIn: David Odeleye

Years ago, I walked into Dr. Samuel K. Boateng's cybersecurity class knowing absolutely nothing about tech. I couldn't even afford to pay for the course, but he told me, "Just pay what you can and keep learning." That moment changed my life.

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Samuel K. Boateng, my first IT professor and the founder of Slam Technologies. We talk about my journey from struggling through Security + to where I am today, his path from never wanting to teach to building a global cybersecurity training empire, why he and his wife are on track to train over a million people across the world, and the power of having a partner who pushes you to be better.

We dive deep into:

• How Dr. Boateng went from hating public speaking to becoming a world-class instructor
• Why "read the book" became the advice that stuck with me forever
• Building Slam Technologies from a small startup to a global brand with training centers across Ghana and the U.S.
• Running a 24/7 Security Operations Center in Ghana
• Why networking is the absolute foundation of cybersecurity and tech

• Why marriage and partnership matter when building something from nothing
• How he's using tech training to change lives across multiple countries

This isn't just a tech conversation. It's about mentorship, legacy, building the next generation, and showing up even when it's hard.

If you've ever had a mentor who believed in you before you believed in yourself, this episode is for you.

CONNECT WITH ME:

• Instagram: Annor Code
• YouTube: Annor Code
• LinkedIn: Nyamekye Annor

CONNECT WITH Dr. Samuel K. Boateng :

• Instagram: doctorit1
• LinkedIn: Dr. Samuel K. Boateng
• Website: Slamm Technologies

Ever wonder what it takes to completely pivot your career from one passion to something entirely different? Ari went from Berklee College of Music on a full ride scholarship to becoming a cybersecurity professional with an active government security clearance.

She breaks down her journey from being a music production major working with top producers and getting songs pitched to major artists, to realizing during COVID that her passion was draining her. We talked about the mental battle of walking away from everything you worked for, choosing cybersecurity over film production, grinding through help desk to get her foot in the door, and landing her first SOC analyst role while still in her master's program.

We dive deep into:

• The reality of working in a SOC (alerts at 3 AM, on call rotations, burnout)
• Why help desk is the foundation everyone needs but nobody wants to do
• How she shadowed the security team while working help desk to break in
• Transitioning from blue team SOC work to GRC and government contracting
• Getting an active security clearance and working mission critical cyber
• Why your 9 to 5 should pay bills but your 5 to 9 is where you build what you want
• Learning to code, bug bounties, and doing red team work on your own terms

This isn't a story about choosing one path and sticking with it. It's about evolving, adapting, and building a career that works for you instead of burning yourself out for a title.

If you're thinking about pivoting careers, breaking into cybersecurity, or wondering if it's too late to start over, this episode is for you.

CONNECT WITH ME:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/annorcode

• YouTube: https://youtube.com/@AnnorCode

• LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/nyamekye-annor

CONNECT WITH ARI:

• Instagram: https://instagram.com/whoisvicious

• YouTube: ViciousChild

• LinkedIn: Ariyan Brister

What does it really take to break into tech when you're starting from zero? Not just zero experience, but zero language, zero connections, and people laughing at you every step of the way?

Haji breaks down his journey from growing up in a Gambian village to relearning English at 15 in the States, to becoming a DevOps engineer at a telecom company in New Jersey. He shares the raw truth about bombing 90% of his interviews, teaching himself DevOps through YouTube and Linux Academy, and landing two job offers in the same week after months of rejection.

We dive deep into:

• Overcoming the fear of embarrassment and not caring what people think
• The reality of self-teaching tech skills without a CS degree
• How to prep for interviews when you have zero professional experience
• Why sticking with one path beats jumping between multiple skills
• Using job descriptions as your learning roadmap instead of random tutorials
• Building community and why isolation is dangerous

CONNECT WITH ME:

• Instagram: Annor Code
• YouTube: Annor Code⁠
• LinkedIn: Nyamekye Annor

CONNECT WITH HAJI:

• Instagram: ⁠hajidesm._/

• LinkedIn: ⁠ Haji B. Dukureh