Episode 396 | Daniel Lemay - Fast Start

Guest:

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Daniel Lemay talks with Dave Rael about his new career, learning to write software, helping and being helped, speaking at conferences and meetups, psychology, and empathy

Daniel is a front-end developer who is passionate about building performant and accessible web apps. He loves following the latest cutting edge technologies and has given several presentations on GraphQL and React. After 10 years as a Facilities Manager in the Educational sector, Daniel was dissatisfied and determined to change course. He learned to code around work and family commitments before being employed by Phase2 Technology. He is passionate about helping others break into the field and helps organize a meetup focused on that goal. When not writing code, Daniel enjoys the beautiful nature scenes of the Pacific Northwest and playing board games with his family.

Chapters: 0:32 - Dave introduces the show and Daniel Lemay2:34 - Daniel's prior life in facilities management5:29 - Daniel's path to web development10:06 - Cracking into the profession and the accessibility of being a speaker16:55 - Psychology, empathy, the value of psychology in software and life, and Daniel's psychology background20:23 - Daniel's thoughts on the meaning and value of empathy22:41 - Public speaking24:22 - Daniel's story of failure - trying to update many dependencies all at once and rushing through an effort26:46 - The forgiving nature of audiences28:54 - Daniel's book recommendations30:50 - Volunteering with the meetup group that was helpful to Daniel in his learning journey35:49 - Daniel's surprises in getting into a software development career39:33 - Daniel's interest in languages42:40 - Daniel's top 3 tips for delivering more value44:29 - Keeping up with Daniel

Resources: Phase 2 Technology Workflow IFTTT Zapier Free Code Camp Quincy Larson on Developer On Fire Free Code Camp Forum Free Code Camp Portland Portland ReactJS The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change - Stephen R. Covey GraphiQL Kyle Simpson on Developer On Fire ReasonML Jordan Walke ReasonReact Pablo Rivera on Developer On Fire

Daniel's book recommendation: Functional-Light JavaScript: Balanced, Pragmatic FP in JavaScript - Kyle Simpson The Scarlet Letter (Bantam Classics) - Nathaniel Hawthorne

Daniel's top 3 tips for delivering more value: Practice empathy Practice active listening and monotasking Always be learning