The Power of Community and Why I Started Pretty Little Coder
They say if you can't find what you need or want, you should create it. So that's exactly what I did. When I decided I wanted to get into the technology industry, I was starting from scratch. No one in my immediate family had ever studied computer science. My educational background was in political science and law, and other than customizing and installing a Myspace layout(Remember those?!), I had never written a single line of code. So I was going in blind. The first question I asked myself, "Where do I start?"
Immediately, I did my Googles to see if somebody somewhere could point me in the right direction. It was a mixed bag. For one, I needed a roadmap that was very beginner friendly. And I mean very beginner friendly. A lot of the resources I was encouraged to use had terminology I wasn't familiar with and didn't explain what these things meant. It felt like being thrown right into the deep end of the pool, and I was barely keeping my head above water.
Frustrated, but not discouraged, I used Twitter to see what other "Coding Newbies" were doing to learn. One thing I kept coming across was Career Karma. So I thought, "Why not?" and signed up.
Immediately I was welcomed with a video that explained what Career Karma was and what they were trying to do. I was added to my own "cohort" of people who had also started using the app that day end encouraged to sign up for an orientation meeting to further explain. I did my orientation the next day, and I quickly understood why other beginners in this industry were drawn to Career Karma. During my orientation, we got a thorough explanation of what Career Karma was. It was founded by two people who had no prior tech experience and learned everything from boot camps. They navigated their way entirely from ground zero and eventually found jobs in tech. But they didn't stop there. They wanted to get others who, like them, were complete beginners and help them be successful. To accomplish this, they broke down the process into 21 days, and over those 21 days, one of the things that are emphasized most is building a community. That was the foundation that Career Karma was built on and why it was so successful. Immediately, you were surrounded by and encouraged to actively interact with people who were going through the exact same process as you! Taking this a step further, Career Karma encourages you to not only participate in their community but to build your own. And that's how Pretty Little Coder was born.
I love my Career Karma family. We're people from all different sorts of backgrounds who have one goal. But on a personal level, there was still something missing. Yes, I had a community, but there's something to be said about being surrounded by people who look exactly like you. In my case, that meant black women who were just starting out in the technology industry like myself. So in the CK spirit, I decided to build my own community. I wanted to create a space where black women who were breaking into the technology industry could talk about all of the intersections of being black and women and feminine and everything that entails in a space that was primarily dominated by white males. That means being able to talk about how we feel about diversity in the workplace but also what we're wearing into the workplace. We can discuss Python or where you got those cute pumps from. In a world that typically forces people to be one thing or the other, Pretty Little Coder is all about intersectionality and fusing all the elements that make me, me and bonding over those things with other women just like me. With this community, for the first time since entering into this industry, I felt understood.
There is no denying the power in a community. The people at Career Karma understand that. The take off of #BlackTechTwitter is another excellent example of the value of community. The greatest thing about community is that it is whatever you want it to be, whether you join one or create one, as long as you feel welcomed. It’s a truly valuable resource and support system and I am so happy to have found that with Career Karma, #BlackTechTwitter and now Pretty Little Coder.