I began/continue to code because...

I want to see more people like me in tech: women who have changed careers without getting a CS degree. (And a wider diversity of folks in general! We need more people, period, a wider variety will only be better.)

I recently overcame...

Last July, I quit my fulltime job to dedicate myself to learning to code. I have gone through a few different phases of frustration and feeling very stuck. But I have persisted and each day I renew my commitment to making tech my career.

I want to brag about...

Finishing two rounds of #100DaysofCode (and I just started my third one this week). (http://www.100daysofcode.com)

During the second round, I built eight of the ten Front End Development Projects from the freeCodeCamp curriculum. The two I'm most proud of are the Advanced projects: my calculator (https://mmanousos.github.io/fcc_calculator/) and Pomodoro timer (https://mmanousos.github.io/fcc_pomodoro/).

My advice for allies to support women and non-binary folks who code is....

Encourage those who don't look like you or come from the same background to keep going! Ask what they're working on, ask what cool new thing they've learned or are excited about, ask if there are things they are getting stuck with, ask if you can help. Listen when they say "no, thank you" or "yes, please". Listen when they describe the awesome new thing they've built or learned. Learn from their unique understandings. We'll all benefit.