Growing up in an unprivileged and underserved area, Computer Science wasn’t even on L.E. Nichols' map. She didn’t let that stop her from diving into code head first, later surfacing as an Engineering Manager at the Scratch Foundation. 

Along the way, L.E. created an astonishing portfolio of work, published books and founded several communities, including a non-profit.

Additional information:

Mentioned Resources (includes affiliate links):

📖 C# for Dummies

📖 .NET for Dummies

📖 Cracking the Coding Interview

📖 System Design Interview

A former Psychology and Theater major, Geri Silver followed a path of interest-led learning and eventually broke into tech at Quora. Today, she’s a Senior Growth and Product Strategy Manager at LinkedIn. In this episode, we explore her path into tech, which included a year abroad, battling career uncertainty and learning to craft her story.

Additional information:

🌟 Geri's LinkedIn Profile

Mentioned Resources (includes affiliate links):

📖 Ikigai

📖 The Interestings

📖 Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

📖 The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

📖 Outwitting the Devil

Bartender. Voice actor. Architect. Devin Krizwold tried a little bit of everything before becoming a Site Reliability Engineer at LinkedIn. He overcomes an early struggle with formal education, embarks in a cross-country trip to find himself and tells the tale of applying to LinkedIn from the beaches of Hawaii. 

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Mentioned Resources (includes affiliate links):

Joy Opsvig didn’t major in engineering, math or statistics. She also didn't let that stop her from becoming a data scientist at LinkedIn. This episode reveals a path of public relations, living as a digital nomad and her eventual transition into the world of data science.

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Born under a rain of bullets amidst an ongoing Civil War in Afghanistan, today's guest is living proof that the American Dream still exists. He explains how he started a new life, engaged in constant personal growth, and became a backend engineer at LinkedIn, defying all odds.

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A former mechanical engineer, Mammadu got burned out during the 2020 pandemic, took ownership and massive action. He explains how he leveraged the Qwasar Silicon Valley program and community to help him transition into a Site Reliability Engineer at LinkedIn.

More About Mammadu:

Qwasar Program Links:

Mentioned Podcasts

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A teacher for over a decade, Jesse Brink reinvented himself and is now a Systems Infrastructure Engineer at LinkedIn. Listen to his story as we uncover exactly how Jesse navigated a career transition.

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I talk with Michael Feldmann, a psychology major turned software developer at LinkedIn and beyond. Michael talks about how he explored many different paths before becoming a software developer at LinkedIn. He also shares his experience learning how to code, interviewing and building a dynamite portfolio of projects from an early age.

Welcome to the Exponential Growth - How to Break into Tech Podcast! In the pilot episode I talk about the motivation behind the show, along with my personal story of breaking into tech as a Software Engineer at LinkedIn. 

My story is raw and uncut. Many of the topics were uncomfortable for me to discuss, but I hope my struggles help empower others realize their dreams. 

YouTube video explaining the game I played.