Yesterday on our podcast, Phoebe Voong-Fadel, Frontend Developer at the National Foundation for Educational Research, came on to discuss her journey navigating parenthood alongside a self-taught career in coding.

Before web development, Phoebe also worked for years at various universities in London, while advocating for the use of technology and software to automate repetitive administrative tasks. Apart from her current career at the National Foundation for Educational Research, Phoebe writes articles for freeCodeCamp and mentors early-career developers.

If you didn't get a chance to listen already, find that episode below or wherever you get your podcasts:

"Balancing Parenthood and Programming": CodeNewbie Podcast S24E5

Sloan the DEV Moderator for CodeNewbie ・ Jun 7 '23

#podcast #codenewbie #beginners #career

Here are some things we took away from our talk with Phoebe that we wanted to share:

1. As long as you have learned more today than yesterday, you are in good shape!

2. When you are feeling stuck while learning something, switch up the method by which you are intaking information— like trying out a Youtube video or asking a friend for some advice.

3. Before you sign up for a boot camp, try some free resources to see if they work for you! Ultimately, see which learning styles work best for you before committing to a paid program, if you can.

4. Go at your own pace when learning new things and try to avoid comparing yourself to others. You will get there when you get there, and sometimes that means moving slower than other folks! When you compare yourself to others you may also put too much pressure on yourself to learn quicker, not feel good about yourself, or generally waste your energy.

5. Try again the next day if you don’t do your best at learning something the first day.

If you listened— what are your biggest tips for balancing parenthood, or other large priorities, with learning to code?

Send us your thoughts below and don't forget to give it a listen here or wherever you listen to your podcasts! 💜