Salma Alam-Naylor, aka White Panther, discovered programming at a young age but focused on music and comedy into her twenties. Though her path to developing wasn’t obvious or linear, she wouldn’t change it for anything. Today, she’s a positive force in open source, making an impact on Twitch, Discord, and via her vocal commitment to accessibility and inclusivity in tech. In our conversation, she shares her journey to open source, where music and code meet, and how becoming a parent changed her perspective on the future of work.

Liyas Thomas is the founder of Hoppscotch, an open source API development ecosystem that’s seen exponential growth. Encouraged by his own mentors, Liyas now maintains Hoppscotch full time. Whether he’s programming or pursuing his passion for art, he always puts beauty at the core of his work. During this conversation, he shares his path to Hoppscotch, the importance of community, and a preview of his newest endeavor: a book.

Fred Schott’s love for programming started early, and he worked hard during his 20s at companies like Box and Google. As his own side projects experienced open source success, Fred took the plunge in 2021 and started Astro, a JavaScript-based static site builder full time. In this conversation, he speaks about his introduction to open source, his path to Astro, and the role luck plays in success.

Fred on GitHub: https://github.com/fredkschott

Astro on the web: https://astro.build/blog/introducing-astro/

Be sure to check-out The ReadME Project for more episodes, stories and features: https://github.com/readme

While earning her Master’s degree in Piano, Helen Hou-Sandí worked in the computer lab, where her skills caught the attention of her music conservatory. Implored to make a website, she discovered the instant gratification of WordPress and was hooked. A decade later, she’s a leading WordPress developer who’s passionate about open source. Helen shares her journey from pianist to programmer, how the disciplines inform each other, and the ways in which she hopes to make WordPress relevant to a new generation of developers.

Anthony Sottile started college as a biochemistry major, but pivoted to programming two years in. After his first coding class, the school was so impressed they invited Anthony to teach the following semester. He loved helping others realize the potential of programming, which eventually led him to Twitch, where he codes, shares stories, and builds community in real time. Hear more about his journey, and why he thinks better communication is essential for open source.

Anthony on Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/codewithanthony

Anthony on GitHub: https://github.com/asottile

Be sure to check out The ReadME Project for more episodes, stories and features: https://github.com/readme

Season 2 of The ReadME Podcast is on the way with our hosts Brian Douglas and Neha Batra! New episodes will be dropping every Tuesday starting October 26th... 

Segun Adebayo’s approach to computers and technology is driven by a belief that how we communicate is just as important as what we communicate. With this in mind, he created Chakra UI, a modular and accessible React library that has a quarter million downloads a month. Originally from Nigeria and now based in Dubai, Segun sat down with us to share his open source origin story, his passion for design, and what the future holds for both himself and Chakra UI, now on The ReadME Podcast.

While procrastinating at MIT in 2005, Limor Fried built her own MP3 player and shared it online, immediately inspiring others to create their own hardware. What started as a small side hustle on PayPal is now Adafruit, a wildly successful business with 100 employees and a 50,000 square-foot factory in New York. Limor, otherwise known as “Ladyada,” empowers users with the tools they need to bring their ideas to life, from mini arcade games to light-up cosplay accessories to humidity-detecting clocks. She shares her journey to Adafruit, how open source plays into the business, and why electronics engineering should be taught from the top down, now on The ReadME Podcast.

While procrastinating at MIT in 2005, Limor Fried built her own MP3 player and shared it online, immediately inspiring others to create their own hardware. What started as a small side hustle on PayPal is now Adafruit, a wildly successful business with 100 employees and a 50,000 square-foot factory in New York. Limor, otherwise known as “Ladyada,” empowers users with the tools they need to bring their ideas to life, from mini arcade games to light-up cosplay accessories to humidity-detecting clocks. She shares her journey to Adafruit, how open source plays into the business, and why electronics engineering should be taught from the top down, now on The ReadME Podcast.