This week Bekah and Dan sat down with Matt McInnis a former Math Professor, and current data scientist, full-stack engineer, and founder, about his journey through tech as a self-taught engineer. He shares his insight into building personal projects and creating value in the projects you work on, even if those projects are just for you.

Links

• Malcolm Gladwell's Tipping Point
• Kidstreet
• Hacker Paradise
• Star Wars Force Trainer

---

About Matt McInnis

Matt is a full-stack developer (Rails+React) at Typist based in Toronto, Canada. Former artificial intelligence lead at IBM and Microsoft, mathematics professor at Centennial College and Saskatchewan Polytechnic. Matt really loves brunch.

• MattyMc on GitHub
• MattLovesMath on Twitter
• mattmcinnis on LinkedIn

---

Sponsor Virtual Coffee!

Your support is incredibly valuable to us. Direct financial support will help us to continue serving the Virtual Coffee community.

Please visit our sponsorship page on GitHub for more information - you can evensponsor an episode of the podcast!

Virtual Coffee:

• Virtual Coffee: virtualcoffee.io
• Podcast Contact: [email protected]
• Bekah: dev.to/bekahhw, Twitter:https://twitter.com/bekahhw, Instagram:bekahhw
• Dan: dtott.com, Twitter:@danieltott

Sponsor Virtual Coffee!

Your support is incredibly valuable to us. Direct financial support will help us to continue serving the Virtual Coffee community.

Please visit our sponsorship page on GitHub for more information - you can evensponsor an episode of the podcast!

Virtual Coffee:

• Virtual Coffee: virtualcoffee.io
• Podcast Contact: [email protected]
• Bekah: dev.to/bekahhw, Twitter:https://twitter.com/bekahhw, Instagram:bekahhw
• Dan: dtott.com, Twitter:@danieltott

In today's episode, Bekah and Dan talk to Meg Gutshall, a Ruby on Rails Developer, and community volunteer at Virtual Coffee. She shared all things Philly and some memorable stories of how she's supported others--including Bekah--in their journeys into tech. Meg talks about her Accountabilibuddies group at Virtual Coffee and how she chose Ruby after graduating from a full stack bootcamp.

Links

• Gritty
• freeCodeCamp
• Penn medicine
• jawn
• Meg's blog post on code and Spanish: The Little Things Matter
• Ruby for Good
• HumanEssentials.app
• CASA
• Philly Tech Week

About Meg

Meg is a Ruby on Rails developer with a passion for open source and tech for good. She's always smiling, continuously learning, and quick to strike up a conversation. She takes her advice with a grain of salt & a shot of tequila.

Sponsor Virtual Coffee!

Your support is incredibly valuable to us. Direct financial support will help us to continue serving the Virtual Coffee community.

Please visit our sponsorship page on GitHub for more information - you can evensponsor an episode of the podcast!

Virtual Coffee:

• Virtual Coffee: virtualcoffee.io
• Podcast Contact: [email protected]
• Bekah: dev.to/bekahhw, Twitter:https://twitter.com/bekahhw, Instagram:bekahhw
• Dan: dtott.com, Twitter:@danieltott

Sponsor Virtual Coffee!

Your support is incredibly valuable to us. Direct financial support will help us to continue serving the Virtual Coffee community.

Please visit our sponsorship page on GitHub for more information - you can evensponsor an episode of the podcast!

Virtual Coffee:

• Virtual Coffee: virtualcoffee.io
• Podcast Contact: [email protected]
• Bekah: dev.to/bekahhw, Twitter:https://twitter.com/bekahhw, Instagram:bekahhw
• Dan: dtott.com, Twitter:@danieltott

In today's episode, Dan and Bekah talk to Andrew Bush, a Mobile Engineer Specializing in React Native. One of the updates we've made to our site is to have tags on our members page to indicate what volunteer roles they have. Andrew is one of our Monthly Challenge team leads, and he shared with us his experiences helping to facilitate the challenges, keeping our community motivated, and the processes we go through. We also go into what it's like to be a mobile developer, and the learning path he's been on throughout his career.

About Andrew

Andrew is a mobile developer specializing in React Native based out of Wisconsin in the US. He has been developing professionally for 3 years and has really found his passion in mobile apps and accessibility. Being legally blind himself, he recognizes the need for inclusion in software development so that EVERYONE can use the applications we create.

Outside of his professional life, Andrew is a dedicated amateur runner with a love for the sport that rivals his love of Swedish Fish candy. You can also find him participating as a co-lead of the Virtual Coffee monthly challenges where he strives to create engagement and growth combined with the feeling of an intimate community.

Sponsor Virtual Coffee!

Your support is incredibly valuable to us. Direct financial support will help us to continue serving the Virtual Coffee community.

Please visit our sponsorship page on GitHub for more information - you can evensponsor an episode of the podcast!

Virtual Coffee:

• Virtual Coffee: virtualcoffee.io
• Podcast Contact: [email protected]
• Bekah: dev.to/bekahhw, Twitter:https://twitter.com/bekahhw, Instagram:bekahhw
• Dan: dtott.com, Twitter:@danieltott

Sponsor Virtual Coffee!

Your support is incredibly valuable to us. Direct financial support will help us to continue serving the Virtual Coffee community.

Please visit our sponsorship page on GitHub for more information - you can evensponsor an episode of the podcast!

Virtual Coffee:

• Virtual Coffee: virtualcoffee.io
• Podcast Contact: [email protected]
• Bekah: dev.to/bekahhw, Twitter:https://twitter.com/bekahhw, Instagram:bekahhw
• Dan: dtott.com, Twitter:@danieltott

A special live episode of the Virtual Coffee Podcast - Bekah and Dan meet for the first time in real life, and get to hang out with Kirk on Kirk Day! Also Dan fires Bekah (for the first time).

Watch the stream on YouTube!

Sponsor Virtual Coffee!

Your support is incredibly valuable to us. Direct financial support will help us to continue serving the Virtual Coffee community.

Please visit our sponsorship page on GitHub for more information - you can evensponsor an episode of the podcast!

Virtual Coffee:

• Virtual Coffee: virtualcoffee.io
• Podcast Contact: [email protected]
• Bekah: dev.to/bekahhw, Twitter:https://twitter.com/bekahhw, Instagram:bekahhw
• Dan: dtott.com, Twitter:@danieltott

Sponsor Virtual Coffee!

Your support is incredibly valuable to us. Direct financial support will help us to continue serving the Virtual Coffee community.

Please visit our sponsorship page on GitHub for more information - you can evensponsor an episode of the podcast!

Virtual Coffee:

• Virtual Coffee: virtualcoffee.io
• Podcast Contact: [email protected]
• Bekah: dev.to/bekahhw, Twitter:https://twitter.com/bekahhw, Instagram:bekahhw
• Dan: dtott.com, Twitter:@danieltott

This week Bekah and Dan sat down with Roger Gentry, who has spent a lot of his career managing security and compliance for clients across the United States, about his passion for problem-solving and what to do when you get stuck. We're all going to run into frustrations during our tech journeys, but knowing how to navigate through them is one of the key skills you'll need.

About Roger

Roger has managed the security and compliance for clients across the United States. Providing CTO/CSO level consulting to a variety of industries, Roger has worked with customers to achieve successful compliance certifications from PCI, ISO, SOC, and more.

http://r-o-g-e-r.com/

Sponsor Virtual Coffee!

Your support is incredibly valuable to us. Direct financial support will help us to continue serving the Virtual Coffee community.

Please visit our sponsorship page on GitHub for more information - you can evensponsor an episode of the podcast!

Virtual Coffee:

• Virtual Coffee: virtualcoffee.io
• Podcast Contact: [email protected]
• Bekah: dev.to/bekahhw, Twitter:https://twitter.com/bekahhw, Instagram:bekahhw
• Dan: dtott.com, Twitter:@danieltott

Sponsor Virtual Coffee!

Your support is incredibly valuable to us. Direct financial support will help us to continue serving the Virtual Coffee community.

Please visit our sponsorship page on GitHub for more information - you can evensponsor an episode of the podcast!

Virtual Coffee:

• Virtual Coffee: virtualcoffee.io
• Podcast Contact: [email protected]
• Bekah: dev.to/bekahhw, Twitter:https://twitter.com/bekahhw, Instagram:bekahhw
• Dan: dtott.com, Twitter:@danieltott

This week Bekah and Dan sat down with Yolanda Haynes, a career changer who went from working as a certified occupational therapy assistant to a Software Engineer, about the importance of finding community during your learning journey, and remembering that you shouldn’t judge your journey based on anyone else’s; focus on the learning journey, absorbing what you can, and preparing yourself for your future.

Links:

• 100devs
• The Collab Lab

About Yolanda:

A career changer from working in healthcare as a COTA (certified occupational therapy assistant) to a Software Engineer.

• yhaynes.com
• @YolandaHaynes on GitHub
• @_YolandaHaynes on Twitter
• @yolanda-haynes on LinkedIn

Sponsor Virtual Coffee!

Your support is incredibly valuable to us. Direct financial support will help us to continue serving the Virtual Coffee community.

Please visit our sponsorship page on GitHub for more information - you can evensponsor an episode of the podcast!

Virtual Coffee:

• Virtual Coffee: virtualcoffee.io
• Podcast Contact: [email protected]
• Bekah: dev.to/bekahhw, Twitter:https://twitter.com/bekahhw, Instagram:bekahhw
• Dan: dtott.com, Twitter:@danieltott

Sponsor Virtual Coffee!

Your support is incredibly valuable to us. Direct financial support will help us to continue serving the Virtual Coffee community.

Please visit our sponsorship page on GitHub for more information - you can evensponsor an episode of the podcast!

Virtual Coffee:

• Virtual Coffee: virtualcoffee.io
• Podcast Contact: [email protected]
• Bekah: dev.to/bekahhw, Twitter:https://twitter.com/bekahhw, Instagram:bekahhw
• Dan: dtott.com, Twitter:@danieltott

This week Bekah and Dan sat down with Helen Griffin, a full-stack developer and founder, about how the tech industry changed during the time she was a founder, how what she’s learned as a founder has helped her to have a broader perspective about the tech industry, and what she’s doing with her companies Jovial and State of Developers to support developers in their career journeys.

Links

• The State of Developers
• Jovial

About Helen

Helen started her career as a web developer. Now, as a full-stack dev & founder, she enjoys helping developers build products & a life they love. Today, she spends her time building developer tools, like State of Developers & Jovial. Helen is on a campaign to help her peers recover from burnout.

• HelenJr.dev
• helengriffinjr on GitHub
• @helengriffinjr on Twitter
• @hgriffinjr on LinkedIn

Sponsor Virtual Coffee!

Your support is incredibly valuable to us. Direct financial support will help us to continue serving the Virtual Coffee community.

Please visit our sponsorship page on GitHub for more information - you can evensponsor an episode of the podcast!

Virtual Coffee:

• Virtual Coffee: virtualcoffee.io
• Podcast Contact: [email protected]
• Bekah: dev.to/bekahhw, Twitter:https://twitter.com/bekahhw, Instagram:bekahhw
• Dan: dtott.com, Twitter:@danieltott

Sponsor Virtual Coffee!

Your support is incredibly valuable to us. Direct financial support will help us to continue serving the Virtual Coffee community.

Please visit our sponsorship page on GitHub for more information - you can evensponsor an episode of the podcast!

Virtual Coffee:

• Virtual Coffee: virtualcoffee.io
• Podcast Contact: [email protected]
• Bekah: dev.to/bekahhw, Twitter:https://twitter.com/bekahhw, Instagram:bekahhw
• Dan: dtott.com, Twitter:@danieltott

This week Bekah and Dan sat down with Amy Shackles, a Senior Software Engineer at MURAL, about how she made her way from being a Psychology and Anthropology double major to being a Senior Software Engineer. She shares what’s made her experience at MURAL a great one and the importance of openness in communication.

Links

• amyshackles.com
• Amy's regular expression parser
• MDN article on regular expressions

About Amy

Amy is a Senior Software Engineer currently working at MURAL. She loves information, human interaction, solving problems, helping people, and cats - not in that order. She spends most of her free time lately learning Spanish, practicing calligraphy, singing, writing parody songs, and crocheting.

• amyshackles.com
• AmyShackles on GitHub
• @AmyShackles on Twitter
• @AmyShackles on DEV.to
• @AmyShackles on LinkedIn

Sponsor Virtual Coffee!

Your support is incredibly valuable to us. Direct financial support will help us to continue serving the Virtual Coffee community.

Please visit our sponsorship page on GitHub for more information - you can evensponsor an episode of the podcast!

Virtual Coffee:

• Virtual Coffee: virtualcoffee.io
• Podcast Contact: [email protected]
• Bekah: dev.to/bekahhw, Twitter:https://twitter.com/bekahhw, Instagram:bekahhw
• Dan: dtott.com, Twitter:@danieltott

Sponsor Virtual Coffee!

Your support is incredibly valuable to us. Direct financial support will help us to continue serving the Virtual Coffee community.

Please visit our sponsorship page on GitHub for more information - you can evensponsor an episode of the podcast!

Virtual Coffee:

• Virtual Coffee: virtualcoffee.io
• Podcast Contact: [email protected]
• Bekah: dev.to/bekahhw, Twitter:https://twitter.com/bekahhw, Instagram:bekahhw
• Dan: dtott.com, Twitter:@danieltott

This week Bekah and Dan sat down with Brian Rinaldi, a Developer Experience Engineer at LaunchDarkly with over 20 years of experience as a developer for the web, about how Developer Relationships has changed over the years and why need not just remote community experiences but also in-person opportunities. We talk about the value of different types of communities and how each is necessary to support developers.

Links

• LaunchDarkly
• CFE.dev
• TheJam.dev
• The Jamstack Book

Episode Sponsor

Attend and host virtual events for developers at Codementor Events!

About Brian

Brian Rinaldi is a Developer Experience Engineer at LaunchDarkly with over 20 years experience as a developer for the web. Brian is actively involved in the community running developer meetups via CFE.dev and Orlando Devs. He's the editor of the Jamstacked newsletter and co-author of The Jamstack Book from Manning.

• remotesynthesis.com
• remotesynth on GitHub
• @remotesynth on Twitter
• @brianrinaldi on LinkedIn

Sponsor Virtual Coffee!

Your support is incredibly valuable to us. Direct financial support will help us to continue serving the Virtual Coffee community.

Please visit our sponsorship page on GitHub for more information - you can evensponsor an episode of the podcast!

Virtual Coffee:

• Virtual Coffee: virtualcoffee.io
• Podcast Contact: [email protected]
• Bekah: dev.to/bekahhw, Twitter:https://twitter.com/bekahhw, Instagram:bekahhw
• Dan: dtott.com, Twitter:@danieltott

Sponsor Virtual Coffee!

Your support is incredibly valuable to us. Direct financial support will help us to continue serving the Virtual Coffee community.

Please visit our sponsorship page on GitHub for more information - you can evensponsor an episode of the podcast!

Virtual Coffee:

• Virtual Coffee: virtualcoffee.io
• Podcast Contact: [email protected]
• Bekah: dev.to/bekahhw, Twitter:https://twitter.com/bekahhw, Instagram:bekahhw
• Dan: dtott.com, Twitter:@danieltott

Kirk, Dan, and Bekah are back again to wrap up Season 4 of the podcast. We talk about Hacktoberfest and how proud we are of what our community did over the month of Hacktoberfest:

• 100 members signed up,
• 66 members merged at least 1 pr,
• 336 collectively we merged 336 PRs were merged by these members across 129 repos.

On the virtualcoffee.io site: 81 PRs merged, 50 were new member profiles, 31 others.

We talk about the monthly challenges, including already surpassing the monthly goal for blogging half way through November, and what we're looking forward to doing in the next 12 months.

Links

• Digital Ocean Hacktoberfest
• Bryan's Episode
• Todd Libby
• Abbey Perini
• Matt McInnis
• Prettier
• Jessica's Episode
• Audience or Community by Chris Brogan

Sponsor Virtual Coffee!

Your support is incredibly valuable to us. Direct financial support will help us to continue serving the Virtual Coffee community.

Please visit our sponsorship page on GitHub for more information - you can evensponsor an episode of the podcast!

Virtual Coffee:

• Virtual Coffee: virtualcoffee.io
• Podcast Contact: [email protected]
• Bekah: dev.to/bekahhw, Twitter:https://twitter.com/bekahhw, Instagram:bekahhw
• Dan: dtott.com, Twitter:@danieltott
• Kirk: @KirkCodes on Twitter,@tkshill on GitHub

Sponsor Virtual Coffee!

Your support is incredibly valuable to us. Direct financial support will help us to continue serving the Virtual Coffee community.

Please visit our sponsorship page on GitHub for more information - you can evensponsor an episode of the podcast!

Virtual Coffee:

• Virtual Coffee: virtualcoffee.io
• Podcast Contact: [email protected]
• Bekah: dev.to/bekahhw, Twitter:https://twitter.com/bekahhw, Instagram:bekahhw
• Dan: dtott.com, Twitter:@danieltott