Before heading to bed, I wanted to jot down a few thoughts from tonight’s walk with a group of developers after the Remix meetup.
There’s something special about winding down with smart people, talking shop and life. Tonight, I got to catch up with Spencer, a dev who worked on some of my old projects after I left Razorfish. It was surreal to hear those projects were still in use. We talked about the tech behind them and the people who shaped my early career — things I built with Lauren Zugai (now at Firefox) and systems originally architected by my mentors, David Hezlep and Brad Tippet. It turned into a night of sentimental reflection, which got me thinking about just how far I’ve come.
I was fired from my first job.
I told the story tonight of how I got fired from my first job. After interning and landing a full-time role, things took a turn. Despite doing what I thought was good work, I lost the trust of my managers. There was a miscommunication — or maybe a mistake — that led them to believe I’d messed up some production code. Whatever the reason, I was let go. And I was devastated.
But I still loved coding. Not long after, I landed a junior dev role at Razorfish, and that was the real beginning. That job put me shoulder-to-shoulder with two of the smartest developers I’ve ever worked with — David and Brad — and I soaked up everything I could from watching them solve problems, lead projects, and write code that was both elegant and collaborative.
Those lessons still shape how I work and lead today at Lambda Curry.
The climb from Junior to Senior.
The past ten years have been a journey: from getting fired, to junior dev, to mid-level and senior at Razorfish, to team lead at Deloitte, and finally to quitting to start Lambda Curry with Derek.
One memory that stands out is from my early days in Austin, where we hosted what we called “coding nights.” Once a week, we’d invite every dev we knew into our apartment to hang out and code. We asked each other questions, shared what we were working on, and just got better — together. No judgment, just learning.
There’s this quote that says you’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with. I don’t know if that’s exactly true, but I do know that if you surround yourself with people who are chasing the same goals you are, you’ll improve.
What can you do to up-level?
This advice is for anyone no matter what level, here’s what I’d recommend:
1. Find a community.
It doesn’t have to be huge. In fact, smaller is better. Online works, but in-person is ideal. You want a group you can grow with.
2. Work with people smarter than you.
Get a job or a project where you can pair with folks who are better than you and willing to give feedback. For me, that was David and Brad, and I owe a lot to what I learned from them.
3. Build something.
Lauren and I built a little CSS framework that’s still in use. Derek and I spent four years building a budgeting app that we still use daily. The code’s not perfect, but the value was in the doing, and in learning how to build together.
Looking Ahead
So yeah, I’m grateful — for Spencer reaching out on LinkedIn, my past mentors who taught me so much, for coding nights, for Remix meetups, for that first job that didn’t work out, and for every step since. I’m especially thankful for nights like tonight that remind me of where I came from, and the people who’ve been part of the ride.
Big thanks to Brooks and the Remix team for putting on such a great event tonight. I think we had close to 40 people there, which is awesome. Here’s to more walks, more conversations, and more developer friends here in Austin.
"The person who learns the most in any classroom is the teacher.
If you really want to learn a topic, then “teach” it. Write a book. Teach a class. Build a product. Start a company.
The act of making something will force you to learn more deeply than reading ever will.”— James Clear