Bybreen Samuels is in conversation with Shelly Coen. Shelly is a Freelance Community Manager living in the North West of Germany. After completing a Bachelors in English Literature, she went on to work as a kindergarten teacher in Vienna, Austria. She started learning Python, and later joined the Vienna Ruby community, Shelly completed the RailsGirls Summer of Code Programme in 2015. After this, she turned her focus to the people side of tech, working in community management and event organisation. In her free time, Shelly enjoys reading, baking, and going on adventure to other countries.

Tune into this episode of The Smart Years to discover:

• Why she left Ireland on a whim
• Shelly's family mantra that shaped her vision
• What she learnt about herself whilst living in Hungary 
• Why she was intrigued by her husband's conversations about tech
• How Shelly taught herself to code and programmes you may follow
• How her work in retail, nannying and teaching prepared her for tech roles
• Who Shelly needed to become to work remotely
• Some key lessons that you can apply to your life
• How on reflection Shelly has self-validated her choices
• What tech companies must do to deepen engagement with under-represented people.

Quote of the Day - Karl Menninger

"What a teacher is, is more than what she or he teaches."