September 28, 2023 • 32 mins
This is a part of the non-profit series where I highlight great members of the tech community who play a significant role in running a non-profit.
Valerie is a self-taught developer who is now an engineering manager and the founder of Tech by Choice, a non-profit that helps underrepresented groups enter, stay and thrive in tech.
Valerie talks about her experience as a manager and her work with Tech by Choice. She discusses her biggest challenges as a manager, her goals for the future, and her advice for others who are interested in entering the tech industry.
As the founder of Tech By Choice, Valerie shares her personal stories that inspired the creation of Tech By Choice, the challenges of running a non-profit, the impact she's seeing in the community, and exciting projects that will be launching soon.
https://www.techbychoice.org/donate
https://mailchi.mp/081b79193143/understand-your-taxes-end-of-year-tax-strategies
Valerie's previous interview. https://www.levelupfinancialplanning.com/the-wealth-of-being-in-tech-with-valerie/
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
That's how it started .
It started because, like, Iskipped paying myself when
billed to go take a JavaScriptclass and I'm like no one should
have to do that.
No one should build a need todo that.
So let's create a program andan organization around that.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
This is Techie Personal Finance Bootcamp, where
I help tech professionals intheir 20s and 30s balance a
great life today withoutsacrificing their future
possibilities.
I'm your host, Lucas Casaris,Certified Financial Planner and
founder of Level Up FinancialPlanning, where I help educate,
coach and build strategies withmy clients to help them take
their financial competence tothe next level.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
Duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
disclaimer alert this information's for education, so
don't just go use it.
First consult with yourfinancial advisor, because
that's way more legit.
That's it.
That was Orlando Gomez, and youcan catch him in season three,
episode four, on how he Brokeand Attack by Brandon O'Jingle.
Hello, before I start this,episode off.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
I just have a quick announcement.
I haven't done this in a fewyears and I'm actually launching
a registration for an end ofyear tax planning workshop
series to help you control andreduce your taxes prior to the
end of the year.
This will be three workshopsstarting in November and we'll
be tackling understanding yourtaxes, learn about retirement
accounts and the secret backdoorROS that a lot of my tech
(01:20):
clients are able to use.
Sometimes they can do megabackdoor ROS inside your 4-on-K.
Also, if you have beenPluristock, we'll cover tech
strategies on how to sell andwhat the impacts of receiving
those are, especially if you'renot familiar with them.
These will be super helpful asyou navigate your career.
And finally, we will betackling charitable contribution
(01:41):
strategies, which is superrelevant.
I'm gonna have a handful ofnonprofit guests on from the
Collab Lab, underdog Devs, techby Choice and the Kapoor Center.
So I'm excited for all of thoseinterviews and kind of all the
insights you'll see behind thescenes as far as what it takes
to be a part of a nonprofit, howyou can help out and contribute
(02:02):
, and you'll be surprised.
It's not all just about money.
You can give back in other ways, and so I hope you enjoy these
next few episodes and if you'reinterested in signing up,
definitely register beforeprices go up.
Right now it's $30 for allthree workshops and all the
proceeds go to nonprofits.
So I'm not trying to make moneyon this, but it's a cool
(02:22):
opportunity for me to educatefolks and make sure that you're
more informed as far as howTexas works.
I know that sometimes it's likea mystery as far as how Texas
come out when you file yourtaxes, and so I'll actually walk
you through all that.
The link will be in the shownotes.
You can find out moreinformation and reserve your
spot before prices increase onOctober 6th.
Hope you can join us.
(02:43):
Hello, thank you for joiningTechie Personal Finance Bootcamp
.
I'm super excited to haveValerie back today.
She is a self-taught developerwho focuses on securing
accessible, user-centereddigital experiences.
As an engineering manager,valerie founded Tech by Choice,
a nonprofit with a mission toincrease diversity in tech by
helping underserved adults enter, stay and thrive in tech.
(03:04):
It's part of her mission tohelp spread the financial wealth
the tech industry offers.
If you wanna catch the firstappearance of Valerie's on
Techie Personal Finance Bootcamp, you can catch that in season
two, episode eight, the Walt ofbeing in Tech, and Valerie,
thanks for coming back on theshow today.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
I'm excited to be here.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
So you are my first ever repeat guest and I was just
telling you like I couldn'tthink of anyone else I'd rather
have on as my first repeat guest.
It's been super fun getting toknow you, probably over the last
three and a half years or so,because I think we met shortly
before you first became a gueston the show that was back in
2020, I believe, and during thattime, pandemic it was just
(03:48):
rolling out it was your birthday, I think, when I interviewed
you, which is a crazycoincidence, and so what have
you been up to since 2020?
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Oh, I feel like there's so much that has
happened.
Just continued working onbuilding out Tech by choice and
making sure that that space issomething that is, a growing,
active community.
I've had a lot of growth in myown personal career.
I went from being a seniordeveloper to moving into
management and then learning allthe ups and downs of becoming a
(04:21):
manager and just figuring outhow to live in the middle of a
pandemic through all of thosethings.
So it's been a wild ride.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
So, as a manager, what has been the thing that
surprised you the most so far?
Speaker 1 (04:38):
I think there are a lot of the skills that I had
like transitioned over tomanagement, but the one skill
that I didn't realize is that Iwould just mostly be repeating
myself multiple places tomultiple people Usually just say
like, have you talked to thisperson yet?
I didn't expect that that wassomething, that was a surprise.
(05:00):
That's typically the answer tomost of the problems that I'm
solving at work is like did shetalk to Sonso?
And the answer she usually knowthat is been a big surprise.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
But yeah, that's super interesting and yeah,
communications are a big part ofany project or getting anything
done with a team is like, hey,we've got to be able to
communicate effectively, and soit sounds like you were the one
getting things unstuck, and I'msure a lot of that just has to
do with privatization.
Right, people didn't know that.
Maybe they should be working onsomething over the other.
(05:33):
What's been the biggestchallenge so far other than
having to constantly remindpeople?
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Yeah, I think the biggest challenge has been more
so around understanding how todocument my own growth.
I think I got really good abouthow do I manage myself if I
don't have a solid manager as adeveloper, and I got really good
at, even when I had a managerhow do I track my growth and
(06:01):
create my own career path.
That made sense for me, butwhen I moved into management, it
was just like what does growthlook like as a manager versus a
developer?
It's completely different.
And so understanding that andnavigating that and figuring out
what's important to talk aboutin your review versus like what
is just fluff- it's been aninteresting thing to navigate
(06:25):
and I think that was the biggestthing for me to get over.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
Yeah, well, I can imagine that being challenging
too, because a lot of your pairsprobably are not in management
and so the typical people you'dgo to as far as like, hey, I
need some guy to like you need aseparate group and you actually
have an event that you're doingtomorrow.
That is kind of on leadershipIs that kind of where that
developed on.
It was like, hey, you'renavigating this, you've been
(06:48):
navigating it.
How long have you been amanager in a manager role so far
?
Speaker 1 (06:53):
I think honestly, probably like right after our
last interview so about yearssince I've been a manager this
time around and I think it'sbeen pretty cool.
I guess it's straight going onfour years now, but it's been
(07:13):
pretty cool.
And, yeah, I think the reasonwhy I started that like
leadership study group it'sactually I was just I wanted to
invent about some of thenegative parts of being a
manager and like how it's justdifficult, and I realized that
there was no way for me to ventacross with my peers at my
(07:34):
current job without it gettinglike sticky and it just felt
like gossip.
And so I realized like, oh, Icould go to the community, just
put together an event for likeleadership, we could vent, we
can like workshop differentthings that we want to do, how
to do it, how to be bettermanagers and things like that.
And it's just been a reallycool event to be able to run for
(07:56):
the last couple of months.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
Yeah, awesome.
And so you said plot in thecourse, for how do you level up
as a manager?
What have you kind of set yourtrack on right now with the
research and kind of work thatyou have been doing on there?
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Yeah.
So I think for the next coupleof years my goal is to become a
director at a company, and so todo that is just getting really
good at understanding what thebusiness goals are how do you
keep teams on track, what, howdo you highlight a risk involved
so just getting really good attechnical planning and then
again focus on communication andbeing able to share that
(08:36):
outwards.
And then I think another partof it is being a good coach and
mentor to your director for it,so being able to really focus in
and create growth plans forother people, which is honestly
my favorite thing.
Yeah, yeah, I'm doing it fortech by device all the time and
I get to do it for work.
So the combination of all thosethings and just continuously
(09:00):
becoming more senior at it.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
Yeah, well, I have the inside scoop on you.
As a manager, I've been talkingto quite a few people that have
worked under you and nothingbut reviews, so I think that's a
perfect endpoint to put on thefocus on you right now.
And obviously, tech by choiceas we move into that
conversation, a lot of that isstill about you, but that may be
(09:25):
the reason why I wanted youback on again for a repeat of
talking with you is becauseyou're just been doing amazing
work.
We've already just kind oftucked in some of the things
that you've been doing andworking on and tell us what tech
by choice is.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
So tech by choice is a nonprofit that's focused on
helping underrepresented groupsunderstand, thrive in tech.
Like our main goal is to be acommunity that you don't need a
code switch in in order to learnwhat you need to thrive in tech
, and so we do workshops forskilled building.
We talk about financialliteracy.
Thanks to you, we also talkabout mental health and what to
(10:07):
do if you run intodiscrimination in the workplace.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
Yeah, community is awesome.
I've been a part of the cycleof pride for three years no,
probably even a little bitlonger in that, because I'm sure
we're communicating even beforeyou were a guest.
But lots of good insights andthings I'm not going to spoil.
One of the questions I'm goingto ask you right now actually is
what's your favorite story sofar?
(10:31):
That has come from seniorimpact with tech by choice in
the world.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
I think there's been a lot of moments like, oh wow,
this actually is doing thethings I thought it could do.
I think one of the first eventsthat we did where we did a
partnership with RedSuite Code Ithink that this is back in 2018
.
We were able to give outscholarships to people in our
(10:59):
community.
It was also the first time Ispoke at a TED conference, so
it's like a really big event forthe org.
We went to the events, I gavemy speech about my
non-traditional path and I endedup talking to one of the women
who was at the event that gotthe scholarship.
(11:19):
She told me hey, because I wentto that event, I actually
figured out what path I want totake in tech.
She told me that my backgroundof being adopted and all this
other stuff really matched hers.
She didn't think that going toone event, she can find
connection by finding someonethat had a similar family
(11:42):
background, as well as beingable to connect with that person
and be able to find their pathin tech.
I think a few months after thatshe ended up landing a job.
It was just like being able tosee those touch points and
seeing the growth that canhappen just by someone being
able to see that, oh, this is apath I can take.
(12:03):
It's something that I go backto often because I'm just like,
okay, when I'm tired of writingall these docs and going over
workshops, I remember that I'mlike, okay, we can do this at
scale.
That's always a great point.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
Yeah, that's one of the awesome things is, with this
community, it's not just oneperson that you're impacting,
you're able to impact others.
You have other people cominginto the community wanting to
help too.
My favorite thing that I've seenfrom my perspective is the cool
team ups that has happenedbecause big source for referring
(12:38):
people within the community forthe next role.
Sometimes that's the sameemployer as a member, so you see
members teaming up foremployees and we've been seeing
some startups kind of partneringup and people teaming up to
launch new cool ideas and thingslike that, and it's kind of
like an incubator of hey, peoplecan come in here.
(13:01):
And it's also fun just to seepeople over the years, like some
people came in like firsttrying to figure out how the
heck they're getting a tech orhow to feel like they belong in
tech, and now, a couple yearslater, they're helping the other
people that are entering nowtrying to figure their way, and
so it's cool to see all thoseaspects of the community from my
(13:22):
outside view, not directlybeing in tech, but knowing
enough to know that it's anamazing community.
How long has tech by choicebeen around?
At this point, you mentioned2018, how far back does tech by
choice go?
Speaker 1 (13:37):
I think we were four years old.
Now We'll be five in December,so we're getting, I think they
said, like five year.
Most businesses fell in thefirst five years.
So once we get past this we'llbe in the clear.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
I know I was celebrating that for my business
last fall, so I'm coming up atthe end of year six here, but it
definitely feels a lot nicer.
I can't imagine a nonprofitjourney being easy.
What's been the hardest part ofyour journey so far?
Speaker 1 (14:13):
I think we had lots of goals.
A 2018 was our first likeofficial year and then it was a
2019.
I think it was 2019 was ourfirst official year and then,
right after that, we understoodwhat we wanted to do.
We had, like our five and take10 year plan and we started to
make all of these connectionswith these bigger companies, to
(14:35):
get sponsorship deals, to getgrant money.
And then the pandemic hit andall of that disappeared, and so
our idea of fundraising hasconstantly evolved and changed
as well as like how we wanted toshow it for community.
In the earlier parts of thepandemic, I think we were doing
(14:56):
online events like once a week,just because that's what the
community wanted.
People just wanted thatdistraction, they wanted that
online community.
And then we realized people aregetting burnt out.
We need to focus on mentalhealth and so we did a big push
for mental health and I thinkthose understanding like how to
(15:18):
have still have that five, 10year plan for a business but
still be flexible enough torealize that this is a very
human centered community thatwe're focused on like what the
individuals want and we're notfocused on growth just for the
sake of growth, which iscompletely different from like
(15:38):
the tech stuff in the world.
Yep has been one of the hardestthings to balance and keep up
with, but also it's made mereally good at being able to
pivot.
I think I've made like sevendifferent pivots in like the
last like three months just tokeep up with the layoffs and
stuff happening in tech too.
So it's just just a lot ofpivots.
Speaker 3 (16:01):
Yeah, and the flexibility is awesome.
I see it directly happenbecause someone posts something
in the community and then all ofa sudden we create a whole
resource around that question,that big question If someone's
asking it, they're not the onlyone having that problem and I
know that's a big reason howtech by choice launch.
(16:22):
I know we cover tech by choiceand why it launched in the first
episode, but I think it's worthrevisiting now.
Like what's what was kind ofthe the original like thing to
push you like no, I got to, Ihave to do this.
I don't care how hard the worksand be how treacherous the
trails is going to be, I justneed to launch this thing.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
Yeah, I think it was across a lot of different things
.
I think I just landed a reallygood job in tech and I'm telling
my friends like, oh, you haveto learn this stuff, come to
these workshops, come to theseclasses with me, we're going to
learn this together, where youcan all make this money in tech.
Then I realized when I wasgoing through that journey, when
I was still in college, Ididn't have the money to even
(17:06):
drive, to cover gas and drive tothese events.
I was skipping out on.
Oh, I'll skip paying my phonebill or my light bill, or I'll
do this or I'll take out somereally bad loan, not cover a
apprenticeship program that Iwas a part of.
I was able to make thosechoices, even if they didn't
make the most sense at the time,because it was all kind of on a
(17:27):
dream that didn't really makesense to anyone that was in my
circle.
But, my other friends were in aposition to make that choice.
I kept telling differentcommunities like, hey, we could
do things different, we can makeit easier so people who have my
experience or differentexperiences can have an easier
(17:47):
time just navigating, trying tofigure out what this is.
No one really felt like theywere listening and it felt like
I was going backwards and I kepttrying to make it work in other
organizations.
I'm just like wait, why am Itrying to make this work here
when, if I know what we need todo, if I have an idea of what it
(18:09):
could look like, why can't wejust do this on our own?
So that's how it started.
It started because I skippedpaying my cell phone bill to go
take a JavaScript class and I'mlike no one should have to do
that.
No one should feel the need todo that.
So let's create a program andan organization around that.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
Yeah.
So what's the things that?
I know there's a lot of stuffcoming up.
Right before we hit the recordbutton, you were telling me like
, yeah, lots of big milestonesand actual things you can show
off instead of just doing allthe behind the scenes stuff.
What's the things that you'remost excited about over the next
couple months here?
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Yeah, so one of the biggest programs that I'm
focusing on for the end of theyear is our talent choice
program and so, like you said,there's been a lot of really
good synergy.
That happens naturally in ourcommunity, where people
generally want to see each other.
When they will jump on Zoomcalls, they will review resumes
(19:14):
all for free, just to make surethat people are ready to learn
and jobs, and they also offerlike referral links and say,
like I will talk to you aboutwhat it's really like to work in
this company.
And so we took that aspect ofour community and put a program
behind it, because we reallywanted to see that.
We always say we're communitydriven, but if we're community
(19:37):
driven, like where's the moneygoing to the community?
Like that's always what I'masking myself.
And so we finally developed aprogram that allows the
community to like get paid forbeing in community.
So what we've done is we havecommunity based recruiters, so
we're going to train people inthe community to be recruiters.
(19:58):
It really helps out people whoare either in between jobs or
just like want to pick up someextra cash and they want to do
good by helping other peopleland jobs.
So they'll help them throughthe interview process just be
their height person, review theresumes, go through the mock
interviews and help them landthe job.
That some of our admins willhelp with the connecting with
(20:22):
the companies to have thatpartnership to filter people in.
And so that is a program wherewe're focused on, like those
referral links and making surethat people can land jobs from
our community, and so it's awin-win.
So the person who's looking forwork they get that new tech
salary which is hopefully morethan what they were making
(20:44):
before, and then we treat all ofour community recruiters as
recruiters so they get paid apart of that commission that is
paid out by the company.
So we're creating a sustainableorganization that is take
people to be in community witheach other.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
Yeah, it's amazing.
I saw kind of is it in betaright now or is it kind of
officially launched and there'sstill just kind of versions of
it that will be coming out here?
Speaker 1 (21:15):
Yeah, we're in beta right now and so we watch one
person land their first job andit worked really well and so,
yeah, yeah, so it's going wellfor it to be in beta.
And so now we're going throughand our second cohort, we're
getting ready to go through thetraining again with them and get
them ready for the interviewsand match them with a couple of
(21:37):
jobs.
So I'm guessing probably byearly next year we'll be able to
open it up and start training,more community recruiters and
really just have the program goon itself.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
Yeah, well, I just got goosebumps.
That's like an amazing thing andI think you can like some of
the stuff you can find online,right, but there's just so much.
There's so many people sayingdo this with your resume, do
that with your resume, don't askthis question.
Like there's so much noise,it's hard to know, like what to
do, and I could see that causingpeople to just try to split the
difference and just make ahorrible attempt because they
(22:13):
don't have a clear, concisedirection and so a recruiter it
sounds like it's going to helpwith that.
I know you do those resumereviews and things like that.
So I think it's pretty crazyall the different levels, even
just from what I've seen andwhat hasn't even necessarily
been fully launched yet.
But knowing that the impact isgoing to make on the community
(22:35):
and, like I said, if thosepeople tend to come back and
help the next generation, theybasically kind of come up behind
them.
So lifting as they climb is, Ithink, a popular saying for
people that are in these kind ofnon-profit communities trying
to help each other out.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
Yeah, yeah, I'm excited for it.
I just want to see people winand make money.
I think we were talking aboutthat last time, so still pretty
much the same person.
Thanks.
Speaker 3 (23:03):
Well, and that's how you're probably able to work
through this.
So because the creepiestquestion you said, one of the
hardest, craziest things thatyou had to deal with it was
during the pandemic, all thestuff you worked so hard to kind
of get lined up super excitedabout all fellow and felt your
fingers and kind of disappearedin the wind and like if you
(23:24):
weren't passionate about helpingpeople get their money and kind
of making the path easier andmore fun too.
Right, because I know that's abig part of it.
Is like being a minority andgoing places where there's not
that many of us around it.
You don't necessarily fit in.
It doesn't always feel likeyou're welcomed and maybe you
are, it just doesn't feel likeit sometimes.
(23:45):
And so this is a great way ofhelping being in community,
feeling safe, feeling heard, andso it's definitely all points
back to you just being committedto what's important to you,
which is helping people makethat money.
So that's awesome.
So I know nonprofits by natureusually operate on the
(24:06):
generosity of others.
Right, it's not like this thingwith a money printing machine
that you have going, although itis going to be paying out in
some of those recruiters here,which is nice.
Side hustles are super helpful,especially during the layoffs
and things like that too, socan't think of a better time to
have this roll out, if anyone islistening and wants to
(24:28):
contribute.
What are ways that folks thatwant to support Tech by Choice?
How can they do that?
Speaker 1 (24:34):
Oh, definitely any donations you go to
techbychoiceorg slash donateYou'll get all the details on
how you can get to theorganization.
Things as little as like $5really help us go, and I think
it's like if you donate $20,that covers one person to go to
(24:54):
one of our events for free.
So those smaller donations maynot seem like it's enough, but
it's more than enough, so that'salways a way to help.
The other way that you can getinvolved in help Tech by Choice
is to volunteer.
We are always looking formentors and we're looking for
people to help out with some ofour resume review events, and
(25:15):
just supporting the community byeven joining and answering
questions in our Slack is alwaysreally helpful.
And then you have anyconnections for us to get those
sponsorship deals and to connectwith larger companies and get
out there and the Tech streets.
I'm always open to that as well.
So there's a lot of differentways to help, but reaching out
(25:37):
and heading over to the Techbutchers website would probably
be the best way to start.
Speaker 3 (25:42):
Yeah, yeah, but then yeah, if you want to be a part
of an awesome community and signup for membership, maybe you're
not sure, because you work hardto earn your money right and so
giving it out to differentcharities sometimes is tricky.
I think that was always mybiggest problem when I finally
did have money to be able tocontribute.
I heard some shady stuff aboutsome nonprofits and charities.
(26:06):
So the thing that's made iteasy to get back to Tech by
Choice and other techcommunities and nonprofits that
I believe in is because I'vebeen in there and I kind of see
the work actually getting done.
So I know that it's good peoplerun by.
Good people sacrifice a lot oftime and energy.
So if that's you, if you'relike I'd love to donate, but I
don't know where to donate toyou, if you want to kind of just
(26:27):
you can even just what's itcalled stocking, like sign up
and join, join in there.
You can stock the differentfeeds and the different channels
and kind of see what's going onand seeing all the cool things
that Valerie and your team areworking on, and then I think
that will be proof enough thatthey're doing something and cool
things are happening.
Any other things that you'dlike people to know about Tech
(26:52):
by Choice, or about you.
Speaker 1 (26:55):
I think there's one other program that I wanted to
just like shut out there thatTech by Traces, is running.
We do have our paid source,which is our open source
initiative, so that people whoare looking to just like build
out their portfolio or get someadditional skills that they need
that they can't get at work forthat next promotion.
We do have that program going.
(27:18):
Just gave us our free account,so we're really excited to get
that going.
So we will be building outcommunity based apps and
software to just help eitherpeople within our community or
within our local communitiesjust have a better experience
with tech.
So if anyone's interested inthat, definitely again drive the
(27:40):
Tech by Traces community.
You can learn more about thisprogram and we can get you
started in your open sourcejourney as well.
Speaker 3 (27:46):
Yeah, open source seems to be like trending lately
, like probably within the lastyear, year and a half, or the
super valuables developing thoseskills and understanding, like
how that all works.
I know there's a lot of peoplethat have just been in tech
forever and they're like I stilldon't know what the open source
means.
So can you briefly describewhat open source is?
Speaker 1 (28:11):
Yeah, so a lot of the software that we use today you
have to pay for it.
I know that I have like I don'tknow how many subscriptions
that are charging me like $5 amonth to use this one thing, and
that's kind of been the normfor how technology is built.
But sometimes people want tobuild something that other
(28:31):
people can use and they they'renot looking for money for it.
Sometimes it is, but most ofthe time they're not, and so
that's what we call open source.
That is, programs or softwarethat you can pull down on your
own computer, start to tinkerwith that, make your own version
of it and use it as you, as youneed, and that's the idea of
(28:51):
open source.
It's something that that no onecan really sell.
It has to do with, like, thelicensing of it so that you can
use it to build your ownproducts or just to make your
life a lot easier, and sothere's a really big push for
people to use that their skillsof being developers and
designers and product people tobuild software.
(29:14):
That is maybe not about VCsmaking lots of money and getting
returns and so that's why yousee this big community around
people just building things thateither developers need or the
community needs, and it's justanother way to do it and to get
more people involved.
So it's not behind a paywall.
You can see and work on it ifyou have free time and if you
(29:38):
want to.
So it's just a really coolenvironment to get into.
It is a little difficult andconfusing, but it's something
that I think it's really cooland it's something that took my
choice, has done before and Ithink it's fun.
Speaker 3 (29:52):
Yeah, yeah, it ends If you're like me and I only
understand it from the conceptsand exactly what Valerie just
shared like there's beginnerguides to kind of ease into it,
because it might feeloverwhelming even if you've been
in tech, even if you've beencode over a while.
So, yeah, there's definitelybeen a beginner guide to check
out and, from what I've seen,it's always good communities.
(30:14):
No one's going to tear you inyour one if you accidentally ask
the wrong thing or say thewrong thing when you're trying
to learn it and contribute.
Speaker 1 (30:23):
Yeah, yeah, so I'm excited about it.
It's a lot of fun to see peopleget excited about what they're
building.
Sometimes it's the first timepeople are using GitHub or the
first time that they're buildinga project with other people, so
it's just like lots of newnessfor everyone involved and that's
always great to see.
It helped me not become jadedin the tech industry.
(30:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (30:47):
Well in the newness is growth right.
So whenever you're doing thenew things, there's excitement,
there's growth, there's a littlebit of fear.
Hopefully, the excitement andthe growth opportunities and the
fun people you get to work withit it makes it a more enjoyable
experience.
Valerie, thanks so much forcoming back on the show being my
first repeat guest.
(31:08):
It's been awesome.
You're one of my favoritepeople I've ever met like online
ever, and so it's really coolto be able to have this
opportunity to share what you'redoing with tech by choice, and
then hearing all the cool stuffyou've been doing as a manager
over the last two years and Iwas.
We've been connected and kindof having conversations
throughout the years, so it'sreally nice knowing you and then
(31:33):
great having you on and sharingyour wisdom with everyone.
Speaker 1 (31:36):
Well, yeah, no, I really love that.
Thank you, and it's been reallygreat getting to know you and
thank you for all the supportyou've given the community.
I know that people have likereached down and asked questions
and you've gone the extra mileand giving like really detailed
responses, so you definitelyhave helped a lot of people and
I've heard people say reallygreat things about working with
you.
So I'm glad we connected.
(31:58):
I'm glad we're helping otherpeople figure out how to use
these big tech checks, so it'sall good.
Speaker 3 (32:04):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm sure if I could be known for
anything, it's probably thedetailed explanations, because I
know a lot of people are busyso I always have these detailed
emails, detailed Slack messages,all these things.
But yeah, it's definitely aprivilege of mine to be able to
help such amazing people and seeand be a part of the community.
(32:25):
It's been a lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (32:31):
Thank you so much for listening to Techie Personal
Finance Bootcamp.
You can find show notes byvisiting and level up
financialplanningcom and findingthe podcast page.
You'll also be able to findstrategy guides, videos and
cheat sheets to help you takeyour financial confidence to the
next level.
If you feel this episode hasadded a ton of value for you,
please rate and share this withfriends and colleagues.
Catch you next time on TechiePersonal Finance Bootcamp.
That's how it started .
It started because, like, Iskipped paying myself when
billed to go take a JavaScriptclass and I'm like no one should
have to do that.
No one should build a need todo that.
So let's create a program andan organization around that.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
This is Techie Personal Finance Bootcamp, where
I help tech professionals intheir 20s and 30s balance a
great life today withoutsacrificing their future
possibilities.
I'm your host, Lucas Casaris,Certified Financial Planner and
founder of Level Up FinancialPlanning, where I help educate,
coach and build strategies withmy clients to help them take
their financial competence tothe next level.
Speaker 3 (00:36):
Duh, duh, duh, duh, duh, duh.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
disclaimer alert this information's for education, so
don't just go use it.
First consult with yourfinancial advisor, because
that's way more legit.
That's it.
That was Orlando Gomez, and youcan catch him in season three,
episode four, on how he Brokeand Attack by Brandon O'Jingle.
Hello, before I start this,episode off.
Speaker 3 (00:57):
I just have a quick announcement.
I haven't done this in a fewyears and I'm actually launching
a registration for an end ofyear tax planning workshop
series to help you control andreduce your taxes prior to the
end of the year.
This will be three workshopsstarting in November and we'll
be tackling understanding yourtaxes, learn about retirement
accounts and the secret backdoorROS that a lot of my tech
(01:20):
clients are able to use.
Sometimes they can do megabackdoor ROS inside your 4-on-K.
Also, if you have beenPluristock, we'll cover tech
strategies on how to sell andwhat the impacts of receiving
those are, especially if you'renot familiar with them.
These will be super helpful asyou navigate your career.
And finally, we will betackling charitable contribution
(01:41):
strategies, which is superrelevant.
I'm gonna have a handful ofnonprofit guests on from the
Collab Lab, underdog Devs, techby Choice and the Kapoor Center.
So I'm excited for all of thoseinterviews and kind of all the
insights you'll see behind thescenes as far as what it takes
to be a part of a nonprofit, howyou can help out and contribute
(02:02):
, and you'll be surprised.
It's not all just about money.
You can give back in other ways, and so I hope you enjoy these
next few episodes and if you'reinterested in signing up,
definitely register beforeprices go up.
Right now it's $30 for allthree workshops and all the
proceeds go to nonprofits.
So I'm not trying to make moneyon this, but it's a cool
(02:22):
opportunity for me to educatefolks and make sure that you're
more informed as far as howTexas works.
I know that sometimes it's likea mystery as far as how Texas
come out when you file yourtaxes, and so I'll actually walk
you through all that.
The link will be in the shownotes.
You can find out moreinformation and reserve your
spot before prices increase onOctober 6th.
Hope you can join us.
(02:43):
Hello, thank you for joiningTechie Personal Finance Bootcamp
.
I'm super excited to haveValerie back today.
She is a self-taught developerwho focuses on securing
accessible, user-centereddigital experiences.
As an engineering manager,valerie founded Tech by Choice,
a nonprofit with a mission toincrease diversity in tech by
helping underserved adults enter, stay and thrive in tech.
(03:04):
It's part of her mission tohelp spread the financial wealth
the tech industry offers.
If you wanna catch the firstappearance of Valerie's on
Techie Personal Finance Bootcamp, you can catch that in season
two, episode eight, the Walt ofbeing in Tech, and Valerie,
thanks for coming back on theshow today.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
I'm excited to be here.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
So you are my first ever repeat guest and I was just
telling you like I couldn'tthink of anyone else I'd rather
have on as my first repeat guest.
It's been super fun getting toknow you, probably over the last
three and a half years or so,because I think we met shortly
before you first became a gueston the show that was back in
2020, I believe, and during thattime, pandemic it was just
(03:48):
rolling out it was your birthday, I think, when I interviewed
you, which is a crazycoincidence, and so what have
you been up to since 2020?
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Oh, I feel like there's so much that has
happened.
Just continued working onbuilding out Tech by choice and
making sure that that space issomething that is, a growing,
active community.
I've had a lot of growth in myown personal career.
I went from being a seniordeveloper to moving into
management and then learning allthe ups and downs of becoming a
(04:21):
manager and just figuring outhow to live in the middle of a
pandemic through all of thosethings.
So it's been a wild ride.
Speaker 3 (04:30):
So, as a manager, what has been the thing that
surprised you the most so far?
Speaker 1 (04:38):
I think there are a lot of the skills that I had
like transitioned over tomanagement, but the one skill
that I didn't realize is that Iwould just mostly be repeating
myself multiple places tomultiple people Usually just say
like, have you talked to thisperson yet?
I didn't expect that that wassomething, that was a surprise.
(05:00):
That's typically the answer tomost of the problems that I'm
solving at work is like did shetalk to Sonso?
And the answer she usually knowthat is been a big surprise.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
But yeah, that's super interesting and yeah,
communications are a big part ofany project or getting anything
done with a team is like, hey,we've got to be able to
communicate effectively, and soit sounds like you were the one
getting things unstuck, and I'msure a lot of that just has to
do with privatization.
Right, people didn't know that.
Maybe they should be working onsomething over the other.
(05:33):
What's been the biggestchallenge so far other than
having to constantly remindpeople?
Speaker 1 (05:40):
Yeah, I think the biggest challenge has been more
so around understanding how todocument my own growth.
I think I got really good abouthow do I manage myself if I
don't have a solid manager as adeveloper, and I got really good
at, even when I had a managerhow do I track my growth and
(06:01):
create my own career path.
That made sense for me, butwhen I moved into management, it
was just like what does growthlook like as a manager versus a
developer?
It's completely different.
And so understanding that andnavigating that and figuring out
what's important to talk aboutin your review versus like what
is just fluff- it's been aninteresting thing to navigate
(06:25):
and I think that was the biggestthing for me to get over.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
Yeah, well, I can imagine that being challenging
too, because a lot of your pairsprobably are not in management
and so the typical people you'dgo to as far as like, hey, I
need some guy to like you need aseparate group and you actually
have an event that you're doingtomorrow.
That is kind of on leadershipIs that kind of where that
developed on.
It was like, hey, you'renavigating this, you've been
(06:48):
navigating it.
How long have you been amanager in a manager role so far
?
Speaker 1 (06:53):
I think honestly, probably like right after our
last interview so about yearssince I've been a manager this
time around and I think it'sbeen pretty cool.
I guess it's straight going onfour years now, but it's been
(07:13):
pretty cool.
And, yeah, I think the reasonwhy I started that like
leadership study group it'sactually I was just I wanted to
invent about some of thenegative parts of being a
manager and like how it's justdifficult, and I realized that
there was no way for me to ventacross with my peers at my
(07:34):
current job without it gettinglike sticky and it just felt
like gossip.
And so I realized like, oh, Icould go to the community, just
put together an event for likeleadership, we could vent, we
can like workshop differentthings that we want to do, how
to do it, how to be bettermanagers and things like that.
And it's just been a reallycool event to be able to run for
(07:56):
the last couple of months.
Speaker 3 (07:58):
Yeah, awesome.
And so you said plot in thecourse, for how do you level up
as a manager?
What have you kind of set yourtrack on right now with the
research and kind of work thatyou have been doing on there?
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Yeah.
So I think for the next coupleof years my goal is to become a
director at a company, and so todo that is just getting really
good at understanding what thebusiness goals are how do you
keep teams on track, what, howdo you highlight a risk involved
so just getting really good attechnical planning and then
again focus on communication andbeing able to share that
(08:36):
outwards.
And then I think another partof it is being a good coach and
mentor to your director for it,so being able to really focus in
and create growth plans forother people, which is honestly
my favorite thing.
Yeah, yeah, I'm doing it fortech by device all the time and
I get to do it for work.
So the combination of all thosethings and just continuously
(09:00):
becoming more senior at it.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
Yeah, well, I have the inside scoop on you.
As a manager, I've been talkingto quite a few people that have
worked under you and nothingbut reviews, so I think that's a
perfect endpoint to put on thefocus on you right now.
And obviously, tech by choiceas we move into that
conversation, a lot of that isstill about you, but that may be
(09:25):
the reason why I wanted youback on again for a repeat of
talking with you is becauseyou're just been doing amazing
work.
We've already just kind oftucked in some of the things
that you've been doing andworking on and tell us what tech
by choice is.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
So tech by choice is a nonprofit that's focused on
helping underrepresented groupsunderstand, thrive in tech.
Like our main goal is to be acommunity that you don't need a
code switch in in order to learnwhat you need to thrive in tech
, and so we do workshops forskilled building.
We talk about financialliteracy.
Thanks to you, we also talkabout mental health and what to
(10:07):
do if you run intodiscrimination in the workplace.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
Yeah, community is awesome.
I've been a part of the cycleof pride for three years no,
probably even a little bitlonger in that, because I'm sure
we're communicating even beforeyou were a guest.
But lots of good insights andthings I'm not going to spoil.
One of the questions I'm goingto ask you right now actually is
what's your favorite story sofar?
(10:31):
That has come from seniorimpact with tech by choice in
the world.
Speaker 1 (10:38):
I think there's been a lot of moments like, oh wow,
this actually is doing thethings I thought it could do.
I think one of the first eventsthat we did where we did a
partnership with RedSuite Code Ithink that this is back in 2018
.
We were able to give outscholarships to people in our
(10:59):
community.
It was also the first time Ispoke at a TED conference, so
it's like a really big event forthe org.
We went to the events, I gavemy speech about my
non-traditional path and I endedup talking to one of the women
who was at the event that gotthe scholarship.
(11:19):
She told me hey, because I wentto that event, I actually
figured out what path I want totake in tech.
She told me that my backgroundof being adopted and all this
other stuff really matched hers.
She didn't think that going toone event, she can find
connection by finding someonethat had a similar family
(11:42):
background, as well as beingable to connect with that person
and be able to find their pathin tech.
I think a few months after thatshe ended up landing a job.
It was just like being able tosee those touch points and
seeing the growth that canhappen just by someone being
able to see that, oh, this is apath I can take.
(12:03):
It's something that I go backto often because I'm just like,
okay, when I'm tired of writingall these docs and going over
workshops, I remember that I'mlike, okay, we can do this at
scale.
That's always a great point.
Speaker 3 (12:16):
Yeah, that's one of the awesome things is, with this
community, it's not just oneperson that you're impacting,
you're able to impact others.
You have other people cominginto the community wanting to
help too.
My favorite thing that I've seenfrom my perspective is the cool
team ups that has happenedbecause big source for referring
(12:38):
people within the community forthe next role.
Sometimes that's the sameemployer as a member, so you see
members teaming up foremployees and we've been seeing
some startups kind of partneringup and people teaming up to
launch new cool ideas and thingslike that, and it's kind of
like an incubator of hey, peoplecan come in here.
(13:01):
And it's also fun just to seepeople over the years, like some
people came in like firsttrying to figure out how the
heck they're getting a tech orhow to feel like they belong in
tech, and now, a couple yearslater, they're helping the other
people that are entering nowtrying to figure their way, and
so it's cool to see all thoseaspects of the community from my
(13:22):
outside view, not directlybeing in tech, but knowing
enough to know that it's anamazing community.
How long has tech by choicebeen around?
At this point, you mentioned2018, how far back does tech by
choice go?
Speaker 1 (13:37):
I think we were four years old.
Now We'll be five in December,so we're getting, I think they
said, like five year.
Most businesses fell in thefirst five years.
So once we get past this we'llbe in the clear.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
I know I was celebrating that for my business
last fall, so I'm coming up atthe end of year six here, but it
definitely feels a lot nicer.
I can't imagine a nonprofitjourney being easy.
What's been the hardest part ofyour journey so far?
Speaker 1 (14:13):
I think we had lots of goals.
A 2018 was our first likeofficial year and then it was a
2019.
I think it was 2019 was ourfirst official year and then,
right after that, we understoodwhat we wanted to do.
We had, like our five and take10 year plan and we started to
make all of these connectionswith these bigger companies, to
(14:35):
get sponsorship deals, to getgrant money.
And then the pandemic hit andall of that disappeared, and so
our idea of fundraising hasconstantly evolved and changed
as well as like how we wanted toshow it for community.
In the earlier parts of thepandemic, I think we were doing
(14:56):
online events like once a week,just because that's what the
community wanted.
People just wanted thatdistraction, they wanted that
online community.
And then we realized people aregetting burnt out.
We need to focus on mentalhealth and so we did a big push
for mental health and I thinkthose understanding like how to
(15:18):
have still have that five, 10year plan for a business but
still be flexible enough torealize that this is a very
human centered community thatwe're focused on like what the
individuals want and we're notfocused on growth just for the
sake of growth, which iscompletely different from like
(15:38):
the tech stuff in the world.
Yep has been one of the hardestthings to balance and keep up
with, but also it's made mereally good at being able to
pivot.
I think I've made like sevendifferent pivots in like the
last like three months just tokeep up with the layoffs and
stuff happening in tech too.
So it's just just a lot ofpivots.
Speaker 3 (16:01):
Yeah, and the flexibility is awesome.
I see it directly happenbecause someone posts something
in the community and then all ofa sudden we create a whole
resource around that question,that big question If someone's
asking it, they're not the onlyone having that problem and I
know that's a big reason howtech by choice launch.
(16:22):
I know we cover tech by choiceand why it launched in the first
episode, but I think it's worthrevisiting now.
Like what's what was kind ofthe the original like thing to
push you like no, I got to, Ihave to do this.
I don't care how hard the worksand be how treacherous the
trails is going to be, I justneed to launch this thing.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
Yeah, I think it was across a lot of different things
.
I think I just landed a reallygood job in tech and I'm telling
my friends like, oh, you haveto learn this stuff, come to
these workshops, come to theseclasses with me, we're going to
learn this together, where youcan all make this money in tech.
Then I realized when I wasgoing through that journey, when
I was still in college, Ididn't have the money to even
(17:06):
drive, to cover gas and drive tothese events.
I was skipping out on.
Oh, I'll skip paying my phonebill or my light bill, or I'll
do this or I'll take out somereally bad loan, not cover a
apprenticeship program that Iwas a part of.
I was able to make thosechoices, even if they didn't
make the most sense at the time,because it was all kind of on a
(17:27):
dream that didn't really makesense to anyone that was in my
circle.
But, my other friends were in aposition to make that choice.
I kept telling differentcommunities like, hey, we could
do things different, we can makeit easier so people who have my
experience or differentexperiences can have an easier
(17:47):
time just navigating, trying tofigure out what this is.
No one really felt like theywere listening and it felt like
I was going backwards and I kepttrying to make it work in other
organizations.
I'm just like wait, why am Itrying to make this work here
when, if I know what we need todo, if I have an idea of what it
(18:09):
could look like, why can't wejust do this on our own?
So that's how it started.
It started because I skippedpaying my cell phone bill to go
take a JavaScript class and I'mlike no one should have to do
that.
No one should feel the need todo that.
So let's create a program andan organization around that.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
Yeah.
So what's the things that?
I know there's a lot of stuffcoming up.
Right before we hit the recordbutton, you were telling me like
, yeah, lots of big milestonesand actual things you can show
off instead of just doing allthe behind the scenes stuff.
What's the things that you'remost excited about over the next
couple months here?
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Yeah, so one of the biggest programs that I'm
focusing on for the end of theyear is our talent choice
program and so, like you said,there's been a lot of really
good synergy.
That happens naturally in ourcommunity, where people
generally want to see each other.
When they will jump on Zoomcalls, they will review resumes
(19:14):
all for free, just to make surethat people are ready to learn
and jobs, and they also offerlike referral links and say,
like I will talk to you aboutwhat it's really like to work in
this company.
And so we took that aspect ofour community and put a program
behind it, because we reallywanted to see that.
We always say we're communitydriven, but if we're community
(19:37):
driven, like where's the moneygoing to the community?
Like that's always what I'masking myself.
And so we finally developed aprogram that allows the
community to like get paid forbeing in community.
So what we've done is we havecommunity based recruiters, so
we're going to train people inthe community to be recruiters.
(19:58):
It really helps out people whoare either in between jobs or
just like want to pick up someextra cash and they want to do
good by helping other peopleland jobs.
So they'll help them throughthe interview process just be
their height person, review theresumes, go through the mock
interviews and help them landthe job.
That some of our admins willhelp with the connecting with
(20:22):
the companies to have thatpartnership to filter people in.
And so that is a program wherewe're focused on, like those
referral links and making surethat people can land jobs from
our community, and so it's awin-win.
So the person who's looking forwork they get that new tech
salary which is hopefully morethan what they were making
(20:44):
before, and then we treat all ofour community recruiters as
recruiters so they get paid apart of that commission that is
paid out by the company.
So we're creating a sustainableorganization that is take
people to be in community witheach other.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
Yeah, it's amazing.
I saw kind of is it in betaright now or is it kind of
officially launched and there'sstill just kind of versions of
it that will be coming out here?
Speaker 1 (21:15):
Yeah, we're in beta right now and so we watch one
person land their first job andit worked really well and so,
yeah, yeah, so it's going wellfor it to be in beta.
And so now we're going throughand our second cohort, we're
getting ready to go through thetraining again with them and get
them ready for the interviewsand match them with a couple of
(21:37):
jobs.
So I'm guessing probably byearly next year we'll be able to
open it up and start training,more community recruiters and
really just have the program goon itself.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
Yeah, well, I just got goosebumps.
That's like an amazing thing andI think you can like some of
the stuff you can find online,right, but there's just so much.
There's so many people sayingdo this with your resume, do
that with your resume, don't askthis question.
Like there's so much noise,it's hard to know, like what to
do, and I could see that causingpeople to just try to split the
difference and just make ahorrible attempt because they
(22:13):
don't have a clear, concisedirection and so a recruiter it
sounds like it's going to helpwith that.
I know you do those resumereviews and things like that.
So I think it's pretty crazyall the different levels, even
just from what I've seen andwhat hasn't even necessarily
been fully launched yet.
But knowing that the impact isgoing to make on the community
(22:35):
and, like I said, if thosepeople tend to come back and
help the next generation, theybasically kind of come up behind
them.
So lifting as they climb is, Ithink, a popular saying for
people that are in these kind ofnon-profit communities trying
to help each other out.
Speaker 1 (22:52):
Yeah, yeah, I'm excited for it.
I just want to see people winand make money.
I think we were talking aboutthat last time, so still pretty
much the same person.
Thanks.
Speaker 3 (23:03):
Well, and that's how you're probably able to work
through this.
So because the creepiestquestion you said, one of the
hardest, craziest things thatyou had to deal with it was
during the pandemic, all thestuff you worked so hard to kind
of get lined up super excitedabout all fellow and felt your
fingers and kind of disappearedin the wind and like if you
(23:24):
weren't passionate about helpingpeople get their money and kind
of making the path easier andmore fun too.
Right, because I know that's abig part of it.
Is like being a minority andgoing places where there's not
that many of us around it.
You don't necessarily fit in.
It doesn't always feel likeyou're welcomed and maybe you
are, it just doesn't feel likeit sometimes.
(23:45):
And so this is a great way ofhelping being in community,
feeling safe, feeling heard, andso it's definitely all points
back to you just being committedto what's important to you,
which is helping people makethat money.
So that's awesome.
So I know nonprofits by natureusually operate on the
(24:06):
generosity of others.
Right, it's not like this thingwith a money printing machine
that you have going, although itis going to be paying out in
some of those recruiters here,which is nice.
Side hustles are super helpful,especially during the layoffs
and things like that too, socan't think of a better time to
have this roll out, if anyone islistening and wants to
(24:28):
contribute.
What are ways that folks thatwant to support Tech by Choice?
How can they do that?
Speaker 1 (24:34):
Oh, definitely any donations you go to
techbychoiceorg slash donateYou'll get all the details on
how you can get to theorganization.
Things as little as like $5really help us go, and I think
it's like if you donate $20,that covers one person to go to
(24:54):
one of our events for free.
So those smaller donations maynot seem like it's enough, but
it's more than enough, so that'salways a way to help.
The other way that you can getinvolved in help Tech by Choice
is to volunteer.
We are always looking formentors and we're looking for
people to help out with some ofour resume review events, and
(25:15):
just supporting the community byeven joining and answering
questions in our Slack is alwaysreally helpful.
And then you have anyconnections for us to get those
sponsorship deals and to connectwith larger companies and get
out there and the Tech streets.
I'm always open to that as well.
So there's a lot of differentways to help, but reaching out
(25:37):
and heading over to the Techbutchers website would probably
be the best way to start.
Speaker 3 (25:42):
Yeah, yeah, but then yeah, if you want to be a part
of an awesome community and signup for membership, maybe you're
not sure, because you work hardto earn your money right and so
giving it out to differentcharities sometimes is tricky.
I think that was always mybiggest problem when I finally
did have money to be able tocontribute.
I heard some shady stuff aboutsome nonprofits and charities.
(26:06):
So the thing that's made iteasy to get back to Tech by
Choice and other techcommunities and nonprofits that
I believe in is because I'vebeen in there and I kind of see
the work actually getting done.
So I know that it's good peoplerun by.
Good people sacrifice a lot oftime and energy.
So if that's you, if you'relike I'd love to donate, but I
don't know where to donate toyou, if you want to kind of just
(26:27):
you can even just what's itcalled stocking, like sign up
and join, join in there.
You can stock the differentfeeds and the different channels
and kind of see what's going onand seeing all the cool things
that Valerie and your team areworking on, and then I think
that will be proof enough thatthey're doing something and cool
things are happening.
Any other things that you'dlike people to know about Tech
(26:52):
by Choice, or about you.
Speaker 1 (26:55):
I think there's one other program that I wanted to
just like shut out there thatTech by Traces, is running.
We do have our paid source,which is our open source
initiative, so that people whoare looking to just like build
out their portfolio or get someadditional skills that they need
that they can't get at work forthat next promotion.
We do have that program going.
(27:18):
Just gave us our free account,so we're really excited to get
that going.
So we will be building outcommunity based apps and
software to just help eitherpeople within our community or
within our local communitiesjust have a better experience
with tech.
So if anyone's interested inthat, definitely again drive the
(27:40):
Tech by Traces community.
You can learn more about thisprogram and we can get you
started in your open sourcejourney as well.
Speaker 3 (27:46):
Yeah, open source seems to be like trending lately
, like probably within the lastyear, year and a half, or the
super valuables developing thoseskills and understanding, like
how that all works.
I know there's a lot of peoplethat have just been in tech
forever and they're like I stilldon't know what the open source
means.
So can you briefly describewhat open source is?
Speaker 1 (28:11):
Yeah, so a lot of the software that we use today you
have to pay for it.
I know that I have like I don'tknow how many subscriptions
that are charging me like $5 amonth to use this one thing, and
that's kind of been the normfor how technology is built.
But sometimes people want tobuild something that other
(28:31):
people can use and they they'renot looking for money for it.
Sometimes it is, but most ofthe time they're not, and so
that's what we call open source.
That is, programs or softwarethat you can pull down on your
own computer, start to tinkerwith that, make your own version
of it and use it as you, as youneed, and that's the idea of
(28:51):
open source.
It's something that that no onecan really sell.
It has to do with, like, thelicensing of it so that you can
use it to build your ownproducts or just to make your
life a lot easier, and sothere's a really big push for
people to use that their skillsof being developers and
designers and product people tobuild software.
(29:14):
That is maybe not about VCsmaking lots of money and getting
returns and so that's why yousee this big community around
people just building things thateither developers need or the
community needs, and it's justanother way to do it and to get
more people involved.
So it's not behind a paywall.
You can see and work on it ifyou have free time and if you
(29:38):
want to.
So it's just a really coolenvironment to get into.
It is a little difficult andconfusing, but it's something
that I think it's really cooland it's something that took my
choice, has done before and Ithink it's fun.
Speaker 3 (29:52):
Yeah, yeah, it ends If you're like me and I only
understand it from the conceptsand exactly what Valerie just
shared like there's beginnerguides to kind of ease into it,
because it might feeloverwhelming even if you've been
in tech, even if you've beencode over a while.
So, yeah, there's definitelybeen a beginner guide to check
out and, from what I've seen,it's always good communities.
(30:14):
No one's going to tear you inyour one if you accidentally ask
the wrong thing or say thewrong thing when you're trying
to learn it and contribute.
Speaker 1 (30:23):
Yeah, yeah, so I'm excited about it.
It's a lot of fun to see peopleget excited about what they're
building.
Sometimes it's the first timepeople are using GitHub or the
first time that they're buildinga project with other people, so
it's just like lots of newnessfor everyone involved and that's
always great to see.
It helped me not become jadedin the tech industry.
(30:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (30:47):
Well in the newness is growth right.
So whenever you're doing thenew things, there's excitement,
there's growth, there's a littlebit of fear.
Hopefully, the excitement andthe growth opportunities and the
fun people you get to work withit it makes it a more enjoyable
experience.
Valerie, thanks so much forcoming back on the show being my
first repeat guest.
(31:08):
It's been awesome.
You're one of my favoritepeople I've ever met like online
ever, and so it's really coolto be able to have this
opportunity to share what you'redoing with tech by choice, and
then hearing all the cool stuffyou've been doing as a manager
over the last two years and Iwas.
We've been connected and kindof having conversations
throughout the years, so it'sreally nice knowing you and then
(31:33):
great having you on and sharingyour wisdom with everyone.
Speaker 1 (31:36):
Well, yeah, no, I really love that.
Thank you, and it's been reallygreat getting to know you and
thank you for all the supportyou've given the community.
I know that people have likereached down and asked questions
and you've gone the extra mileand giving like really detailed
responses, so you definitelyhave helped a lot of people and
I've heard people say reallygreat things about working with
you.
So I'm glad we connected.
(31:58):
I'm glad we're helping otherpeople figure out how to use
these big tech checks, so it'sall good.
Speaker 3 (32:04):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm sure if I could be known for
anything, it's probably thedetailed explanations, because I
know a lot of people are busyso I always have these detailed
emails, detailed Slack messages,all these things.
But yeah, it's definitely aprivilege of mine to be able to
help such amazing people and seeand be a part of the community.
(32:25):
It's been a lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (32:31):
Thank you so much for listening to Techie Personal
Finance Bootcamp.
You can find show notes byvisiting and level up
financialplanningcom and findingthe podcast page.
You'll also be able to findstrategy guides, videos and
cheat sheets to help you takeyour financial confidence to the
next level.
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please rate and share this withfriends and colleagues.
Catch you next time on TechiePersonal Finance Bootcamp.
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