Developer on Fire
Developer on Fire
Episode 310 | Sonia Gupta - Figuring It Out
Sonia Gupta is currently a software developer at Ibotta, Inc. in Denver, CO. Prior to becoming a developer, Sonia was a lawyer in Louisiana. She served as a Public Defender in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, then as a Prosecutor, and finally as an Assistant Attorney General doing torts and Civil Rights litigation. Before initiating her career change, Sonia had no experience in programming and software development. She attended the Turing School of Software and Design where she learned best practices through a curriculum focused on Ruby and Rails development. Sonia is an outspoken advocate of diversity and inclusion in tech and in life. She is passionate about fostering empathetic and effective communication on engineering teams, and believes that even if tech can’t always change the world, technologists absolutely can.
Chapters:
- - Dave introduces the show and Sonia Gupta
- - The appeal to Sonia of software development and the humility of many software developers
- - Sonia's early exposure to computer science
- - Sonia's path to Turing School of Software & Design
- - Sonia's experience at Turing School and connecting with professionals as a path to employment
- - The things that "light Sonia up"
- - Applicability to software of the skills and traits useful to lawyers
- - Sonia's bold career change, the rewards of making it, and support from her family
- - Software development as cooperative vs competitive
- - Sonia's story of failure - struggling with early Turing School curriculum, comparing herself to others having an easier time, and the importance and value of persistence
- - Sonia's success story - completion of the Turing School program and entry in the profession of software development, the culmination of a journey of authentic self-discovery
- - How Sonia stays current with what she needs to know
- - Sonia's book recommendations
- - The things that have Sonia most excited
- - The things about which Sonia likes to geek out
- - Sonia's top 3 tips for delivering more value
- - Advice for tapping into empathy
Resources:
Sonia's book recommendation:
Sonia's top 3 tips for delivering more value:
- Learn to communicate effectively, particularly by making use of precise language, psychological safety, and empathy
- Learn to craft a code narrative
- Take time to take care of yourself
