Episode 288 | Rachel Smith - Connecting and Delivering

Guest:

Rachel Smith

@rachsmithtweets

Rachel Smith talks with Dave Rael about working remotely, speaking at conferences, connecting with people, and delivering in multiple ways

Rachel is a Software Engineer at CodePen. Her interest in web animation led her to pursue an award-winning career in the advertising industry, building digital experiences for big brands. After being an avid user of CodePen she transitioned to a Product Engineer position at the company and now works on improving the Software that enables other people to create their own web animations. She currently works across the full stack at CodePen but specializes in the Front End and is leading the Product's move from jQuery to React. Rachel recently relocated from the USA back to her home country, Australia where she lives with the lights of her life: her husband Andy and dog Indy.

Chapters: 3:03 - Dave introduces the show and Rachel Smith4:25 - Rachel's thoughts on feelings of inadequacy and being an imposter9:04 - Rachel's origin in web animation and path into more general software development14:40 - Rachel's experience with computer engineering in school17:58 - Rachel's diverse set of places she has lived and worked and working remotely20:38 - Finding a dream job, the value of conferences, and the value for connecting with people23:39 - Difficulty with speaking at conference and using it as a hack to connect26:17 - Rachel's story of failure - visibly taking down a feature30:12 - Rachel's success story - identifying a need for project management and executing on it to fix a dysfunctional project34:21 - How Rachel stays current with what she needs to know36:20 - Rachel's book recommendation37:59 - The things that have Rachel most excited40:35 - The positives and negatives of remote work42:04 - Rachel's top 3 tips for delivering more value47:39 - Keeping up with Rachel

Resources: Rachel's Blog Rachel's CodePen Profile CodePen Rachel's Post on "Imposter Syndrome" Chris Coyier CSS-Tricks Bullet Journal

Rachel's book recommendation: Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World - Cal Newport

Rachel's top 3 tips for delivering more value: Look after your own physical and mental health Keeping in mind the recipient of the value you are providing Work on your written communication skills