Dev Leader Podcast

My podcast guest went from engineer to manager to career coach -- and what a journey it's been!

In this video interview, Michael Greenspan joins me to share his career journey and shed some light on what engineering management looks like to him. We bridged into topics of burnout as well as the importance of finding purpose in the work we do.

Thanks so much for the perspective, Michael! Great chat!

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You can find Michael at:

- LinkedI...

What does it take to be a Tech Lead in software engineering? I sat down with Anemari Fiser to discuss!

We dug into:

- What is a tech lead?

- How to move into the role?

- How do soft skills fit into the picture?

Thanks so much for the perspective, Anemari!

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You can find Anemari at:

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anemari-fiser/

- O’Reilly book - Leveling Up as a Tech Lead: https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/leve...

He's BACK!

I felt very fortunate to have Alex Lau, author of Keep Calm and Code On, back on the channel for an interview... But with a twist!

We did a bit more of a grab-bag style where we jumped between some different topics AND I was on the receiving end of the interview for some of them!

Thanks so much for your time, Alex! Always a great conversation.

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You can find Alex at:

- Website: https://keepcalmandcod...

Sometimes our original plans don't work out -- but what a masterpiece when our different paths come together for something awesome!

I was happy to sit down with Amer Tadayon and discuss his journey leading up to the creation of Lucihub.

One of the most important parts of this story I found was that not every path we pick will be perfect -- and that's 100% okay. What matters is that we keep adjusting and moving forward...

One of my favorite things about interviewing developers is hearing their stories! And Sofia had a great story to share about her career switch into software development!

I really enjoyed this conversation and the focus on just how valuable soft skills are. You'll hear about Sofia's experiences and how communication plays a big role!

Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences, Sofia!

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You can find Sofia...

This is a special interview for me -- and I'm really excited to be able to share it with you.

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Dan Patrascu-Baba, also known as Codewrinkles, in this video chat.

Especially if you're a DotNet developer, you probably know Dan! He's got a ton of amazing content that he puts out regularly, and I'm always very appreciative of how he shares perspective.

When my channel had only a couple of hundr...

Software engineers are no strangers to tech debt and the power of refactoring.

But what if you could refactor your brain?

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Dagna Bieda to go over just that! We discussed some awesome passages from her new book, Brain Refactor!

From burnout to imposter syndrome to all things software engineering, hear about how you can clean up some of the legacy code that controls how you think.

Thanks for...

What's one sure-fire recipe for disaster when it comes to coaching?

Not being coachable.

This could come from a lack of self-awareness or not being willing to be coached -- but if you're not ready for it, it's going to feel like friction.

In my conversation with Noah Cantor, we walked through the various considerations that come into play when it comes to getting coaching and mentorship.

Noah's framing certainly helped me see h...

There are product teams, platform teams... But what about...

Developing APIs for other developers to use?

In this interview with Sophia Willows, we got to chat about how she's focused on that very thing!

It turns out that when you're building a system when you own the calling and serving side of an API you can get away with a few more luxuries. However, when your customers are developers who spend time getting their own code to ...

What do theater, improv, and acting have to do with software engineering?

I'll be honest: I thought not a whole heck of a lot.

But when I sat down to talk to Rita Iglesias, I couldn't help but realize how her curiosity, problem-solving, and previous experiences truly enabled her to kick butt at being a software engineer.

This conversation was AWESOME -- and Rita even stuck around while I experienced a power failure during our ca...

What does it look like to go from managing engineers at startups to a rocketship ride to VP level at Amazon?

Let Ethan Evans tell you all about it!

Ethan has led global teams of over 800 engineers at Amazon and helped invent Prime Video, Amazon Video, Amazon Appstore, Merch by Amazon.

Let's hear what Ethan had to say about what VPs and senior leadership are looking for when it comes to leveling up as a software e...

It's the people that make the workplace a fun place to go to.

These are words from Dan Silivestru in our interview that we did together -- and I couldn't agree more.

Software engineers are incredible at solving complex problems and innovating in difficult domains.

But at the end of the day, we're all still human. We all have things that motivate us. We can all get burnt out. We all want to feel valued for...

Look, we know it's challenging. Many people are going through tough times with it.

Landing your first job as a software developer is no simple task.

I sat down to chat with Erik Andersen about his advice for helping folks navigate getting into the industry.

Erik had lots of actionable tips for aspiring and junior software developers, and I think you're going to love this one.

Thanks for the chat, Erik!

<...

Have you worked in feature teams developing products for end users?

What about working on a platform team where your customers are the ones building on top of your infrastructure?

In this interview, Gaurav Rohatgi discussed these topics in depth with me.

We went over his career journey with an EXCITING pivotal moment and then got right into what it's like to work on these different types of teams.

Thanks for...

You're not a real developer unless you do TDD.

Gui Ferreira is a TDD expert -- but no, not even he would tell you this.

In our chat together, we covered a lot of ground. It was great to sit down with a fellow Dometrain course author to go over:

- His career journey

- Developer advocacy

- Test-driven development

- And MUCH more!

Huge thanks to Gui for the talk, and I'd love to do more in the future!

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You know it's right when it fits like a glove.

At least that's the case for Amichai Mantinband when he stumbled upon computer science! He knew right away that he had found the right career path.

I had a great discussion with Amichai, and we even went into the weeds on AI taking all of our software engineering jobs!

... Well, not quite.

But you'll enjoy our discussion about the impact of AI on softwar...

You've surely seen his system design and software architecture content, right?

You know the man -- Raul Junco!

I really enjoyed our chat, and navigating how software architecture looks whether you're at big or small companies.

When you're trying to move fast, there's not as much time for these things -- so how do you balance it with your team?

Huge thanks to Raul for making the time to chat with ...

It's all about delivering value to the customer. But do they even know what they want?!

I was fortunate to sit down and chat with Emily Jowers where we talked about her career journey up to staff software engineer.

We chatted through her core values that she aims to embody and promote in software engineering teams -- and life in general. We also got a glimpse of how to navigate user requirements between groups of user...

Woodworking, building a side-SaaS, having a full-time job, helping educate others, and supporting a happy family... This is a full plate.

Not only full in terms of time allocation, but also a sense of fulfillment.

How could your heart not also be full from focusing on the things you're passionate about?

In this video interview, I sat down with Andrew Peacock who shared his (un)fortunate journey to becoming a soft...