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We Belong Here: Lessons from Unconventional Paths to Tech

Allen Whearry: Don't sell yourself short, you can code

Allen is a self-taught iOS Developer who made the switch from a professional sales career and now sits as a software engineer at Yelp. He believes anyone can learn to program, they just have to put in the time and effort.

He studied psychology in school and figured he would end up going to grad school for it as well but ended up finding joy in the world of sales. While in sales, he learned so many lessons: the art of receiving negative feedback, the art of storytelling, as well how to both clearly and concisely communicate with people in his day-to-day life. 

He had always had an interest in coding but wasn’t interested in studying Computer Science in school so thought that would never be a possible career path for him. But the curiosity never left him so eventually he began teaching himself Ruby and Python! But he wasn’t successful in finding a full-time role and so he pivoted to learning iOS and building apps he actually wanted to use in his life.

Today he is a Software Engineer at Yelp and continues to use the lessons he learned in sales. He also is the organizer of @iOSDevHappyHour - a place where current and aspiring iOS devs can come together and enjoy a good time!

Resources: 

Allen on Twitter: @codeine_coding
@iOSDevHappyHour
Extreme Ownership book recommendation
codeinecoding.com

We Belong Here Podcast:

Follow Lauren on Twitter @LoLoCoding

webelongpodcast.com

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