It was September, 2016. Zubin was sitting in bed, when he came across a quote that would alter his life trajectory: “He who says he can and he who says he can’t are both usually right.”

Zubin didn’t sleep that night. In the blink of an eye, he taught himself to code, and soon found himself working alongside some of the brightest engineers in the world at Google.

Additional Information:

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zubinpratap

Business school. Marketing intern. School teacher. Katherine Lewis walked many paths before landing a role at LinkedIn as a Reach Apprentice UX Engineer.

When she decided to pursue a career in tech, she flipped the script on the traditional job search, landing multiple offers.

Katherine shares her stance on mindset, positive thinking and overcoming adversity.

If you think the best way to land that first tech job is through applications…this episode is for you.

Additional Resources:

She didn’t graduate from college. At times, she was told she’d never succeed. None of that stopped Liz Wheeles from making moves that eventually saw her work at some of the biggest companies in tech. Today, she's a Principal Program Manager at LinkedIn.

“I have to grow, or I have to go.”

Groomed to go to college, Cynthia Pottin initially pursued a medical path, falling in love with anatomy and physiology.

This led her to chiropractor school, which resulted in her opening and operating her own practice for half a decade.

She then met her future husband, who was enlisted in the military.

The constant relocation requirements eventually caused her to shut down her practice.

Others might give up on career aspirations at this point.

Not Cynthia.

Today, she’s is an Apprentice Software Developer at AWS.

We discuss continuous learning, getting comfortable with discomfort and how Cynthia broke into tech at Amazon.

Additional Information:

- Cynthia's LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cynthia-pottin/

Mentioned Resources (includes affiliate links):

📖 Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, by Carol Dweck

A former psychology major and pharmacy tech, Deya Garcia eventually found a path to tech through a combination of interest-led learning and support from her friends and family. Today, she's a Customer Security Specialist at LinkedIn, and also a content creator. 

Additional Info:

⭐️ Deya's LinkedIn Profile

⭐️ Deya's Newsletter: Stories of Chicago

Growing up, Barry Johnson thought he wanted to be a lawyer. In college, he discovered he wasn’t interested in pursuing that path, and embarked on a journey of self discovery that eventually landed him a role at LinkedIn as an Apprentice backend engineer.

Additional information:

⭐️ LinkedIn Profile - https://www.linkedin.com/in/barryjjohnson11/

Mentioned Resources (includes affiliate links):

📖 Atomic Habits

📖 The Four Agreements

🎙️ CodeNewbie 

A former security guard, Justice Sanders had a desire to become more. He explains how he studied different fields to increase his knowledge, and taught himself to code. He overcomes tremendous adversity and today is a Third Party Security Analyst at LinkedIn.

Additional Information:

⭐️ Justice's LinkedIn Profile

⭐️ Year Up Program 

Mentioned Resources (Includes Affiliate Links):

📖 Talking to Strangers - Malcom Gladwell

📖 The Power of Broke - Daymond John

🎙️ David Goggins on Joe Rogan

Madiha Goheer grew up in Pakistan, the youngest of 7 siblings. From an early age, she showed signs of wanting to prove herself capable in a society that didn’t provide equal rights to women.

After coming to the US, Madiha built a mini-makeup empire, before COVID and the birth of her first child caused her to regroup. Refusing to yield, Madiha explored her interests, began studying programming, attended Hackbright Academy and eventually landed a role at LinkedIn as a REACH Apprentice backend engineer.

She has one of the strongest resolves I've ever come across, and is living proof that we determine our outcomes.

Additional information:

LinkedIn Profile

Growing up in China, Joan Li was exposed to markets and business at an early age. She came to America for college, studying Geography "just because." She didn't have any plans when she graduated. She didn't apply to any jobs and felt like she was far behind everyone else. 

But instead of thinking that she was stuck, she drove to New York and started networking. She found an internship in the newspaper, and quickly learned the ins and outs of business, programming and recruiting. Today, she's a Technical Recruiter at LinkedIn. 

In our conversation, Joan shares actionable advice to help jobseekers work with recruiters, including ways to stand out from the pack.

Additional information:

🌟 Joan Li's LinkedIn Profile

Joey Cruz came from humble beginnings.  He scrimped and saved for years to buy his first computer. Supported his family when most were playing outside. Put himself through college.  Found a home in the Marine Corps.  He knew he wanted to work in tech, but he didn’t know how. He most certainly figured it out.  Today, he’s a Principal Product Manager at Microsoft, and is building a community for Hispanic & Latinx tech professionals and allies.  His story is one of passion, perseverance and a deep respect for the Marine Corps.  

Additional information: 

🌟 Joey's LinkedIn Profile

🌟 Joey's Non-profit - https://www.somos.tech/ 

🌟 Microsoft's MSSA Program

Resources Mentioned in the Episode (includes affiliate links): 

📖 Grit - Angela Duckworth

📖 Making Things Stick

📖 Checklist Manifesto

📖 Cracking the coding interview

🎙️ Podcast: The Cyber Wire

🎙️ Podcast: Darknet Diaries