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Ask Me Anything with Treehouse Founder and CEO Ryan Carson
54:57 with TreehouseTreehouse Founder and CEO Ryan Carson is moderating this live session. Now's your chance to ask Ryan whatever questions you have for him!
[MUSIC]
0:00
Hey everyone, I'm Gil,
one of the instructors at Treehouse,
0:04
and I am super delighted to
talk to this ask me anything
0:09
session with Treehouse founder and
CEO, Ryan Carson.
0:13
So, Ryan is a leader and
champion of self directed learning,
0:19
inspiring others to take
the helm of their own education.
0:23
He's also an advocate for
equity, diversity, and
0:28
inclusion within the tech industry.
0:31
Specializing in helping companies
like Verizon, Niantic, Nike, Adobe,
0:33
MailChimp and more invest in their local
communities, building diverse teams and
0:38
creating generational wealth for
families who've been locked out of tech.
0:43
Before Treehouse,
Ryan founded Personified and DropSend.
0:48
He's also been featured in Fast Company,
Harvard Business Review,
0:52
The Wall Street Journal,
Inc.com and EdSurge.
0:57
Ryan was voted Entrepreneur
of the Year by UI and
1:01
has been interviewed on many high profile
shows such as Bloomberg Technology.
1:04
Bloomberg's Game Plan,
This Week In Startups,
1:09
GrowthLab Live with Ramit Sethi,
Chase Jarvis live show and more.
1:13
Brian has also been a speaker at South
by Southwest, Grace Hopper Celebration,
1:18
Tech Inclusion.
1:23
Collision Las Vegas, and New Orleans,
99 U, NYC and Zaster Annual.
1:24
All right friends, so
1:30
now is your chance to ask Ryan
questions about whatever you want.
1:32
So, please place your
questions in the chat and
1:37
he'll do his best to get to each one.
1:39
So.
1:40
>> Thank you.
>> Without further ado,
1:41
please join me in welcoming Ryan Carson.
1:43
>> Thanks Gil I appreciate it.
1:45
You're a star.
1:47
All right, great to see you all.
1:48
I actually have reverse kind of fandom
whenever Gil appears on my screen
1:53
because I've taken so many courses
from him at Treehouse over the years.
1:57
So, thanks so much for showing up.
2:02
It's gonna be a fun session
where you can ask me anything.
2:05
I can see you are all
coming in to the chat area.
2:09
So, pop your questions in there, and
I will take them as they come in.
2:13
I'm working from home,
as probably many of you are as well.
2:18
So, you'll probably hear
either my dogs barking,
2:24
my kids may come in any moment, or
they're cleaning the streets outside.
2:27
So, it's all happening right now.
2:32
[LAUGH] So, thanks so much for
joining, I appreciate it.
2:34
I'm seeing a couple questions come in.
2:38
Dave Pierce.
2:41
Says, Ryan, what is your Why?
2:42
What gets you motivated?
2:45
So, the whole reason I started
Treehouse is related to my wife.
2:48
So, I grew up in Colorado Springs,
Colorado.
2:56
And was raised by a wonderful family,
had a loving household.
2:59
And I was very lucky to
have a apple to eat and
3:06
my living room when I was growing up,
3:10
which was one of Apple's
early home computers,
3:14
and started playing games like Zork and
3:20
playing all sorts of computer games.
3:24
And just really realized I loved it and
it was fun.
3:28
And then, I was extremely lucky to
have a high school teacher named
3:32
Miss Bruce who was teaching me math and
3:37
one day we were walking down
the hallway and she pulled me aside and
3:40
said hey do you want to take our
computer programming course?
3:44
And I said,
well what's Computer Programming?
3:49
[LAUGH] And she said, it's where you tell
a computer what to do, and it does it.
3:52
And my mind just exploded.
3:58
And I thought that sounds like so
much fun.
4:00
So, I took my first computer
programming class in high school.
4:02
It was turbo Pascal and I just loved it.
4:07
It was a blast.
4:10
And then,
that's really where my world opened up and
4:11
then I went on to study computer
science in college and then graduated.
4:14
The whole time I didn't
understand how privileged I was.
4:20
I thought it was normal, and
to have these experiences, and
4:26
to have this kind of access and and
I just didn't understand how lucky I was.
4:31
And so,
went on to get a job as a developer.
4:38
And I think when I got
the job as developer,
4:42
I was going through the interview process
and the guy that was interviewing me said,
4:45
well, have you ever coded
in ColdFusion before?
4:51
And I said, no I don't know what that is.
4:54
They said,
it's a scripting language we use here.
4:56
And he said, don't worry,
you can read a book and you can learn it.
5:00
And I felt like the world
stopped in that moment.
5:05
And I thought, what?
5:09
I thought my computer science degree and
all of my knowledge of C++ and
5:11
my understanding of computer
science was what was important.
5:17
But it turns out it was not,
5:24
it was this piece of paper I had
that said computer science graduate.
5:26
And I thought this is wrong.
5:32
This isn't right.
5:34
This isn't the way the world should work.
5:35
And it's not fair that I'm getting this
job because I had all of this privilege.
5:38
I had a computer in my home.
5:43
I had a computer science
teacher in high school.
5:44
I got a degree, and
I thought I wanna change that.
5:48
And so, essentially started Treehouse
over a decade ago to try to
5:52
increase access so that more people
can get high paying jobs in tech
5:56
without having to go
the traditional route.
6:01
And so, that's my why.
6:05
That's why I love Treehouse so much.
6:08
That's why I jump out of bed everyday.
6:10
And I love what we do.
6:13
The reason why I'm wearing a Black
Lives Matter t-shirt is because I've
6:16
come to understand that we
have systematic barriers.
6:21
And they exist everywhere.
6:26
And if you don't happen to
be a white male every day,
6:27
you're gonna have to be crawling over
these massive barriers just to get
6:31
to the same starting
line that I walked up to.
6:36
So, I think that is something
that we care deeply about.
6:40
That's our whole mission at
Treehouse is to diversify tech and
6:43
make education accessible and
affordable and effective.
6:47
So, I'm extremely passionate about it.
6:51
And I'm fortunate to have an amazing team
to help us move that mission forward.
6:54
So, good question.
7:00
Thanks, Dave, for that, I appreciate that.
7:02
Christine, why did you want to create
Treehouse, pretty much the same answer.
7:05
We really wanted to give
a computer science world class
7:11
education to as many people as possible.
7:16
Make it fun, make it affordable,
make it effective.
7:20
And that's why we come to work every day.
7:24
The reason why I have these
awesome graduates on my wall
7:27
is really they're my why.
7:31
Kyle was a speaker yesterday.
7:34
He now is a software engineer
level two at MailChimp.
7:38
Our students and our graduates are so
inspiring to me.
7:41
You all do the hard work every
day to overcome barriers and
7:46
get jobs and you all are so inspiring.
7:50
It's awesome.
7:54
There's also another student here,
I don't know if he's watching or not.
7:55
His name is Emmett.
7:58
He's been a huge
inspiration to me as well.
7:59
He is self-taught, he's worked through
huge barriers and overcome a lot.
8:02
And then,
he got his first paid contract gig.
8:08
So, I mean, if you're watching,
I'm proud of you man.
8:10
I think I'm going to check
Slack over here just in case,
8:13
cause I think Elizabeth Is talking to me?
8:16
Yes, she's got questions as well, cool.
8:19
Liz, I'll look at your questions, just
I don't have to watch the chat as much.
8:22
So, Liz, you have two question,
which I'll answer which is,
8:25
how has Treehouse changed over the years?
8:29
Treehouse has changed a lot.
8:34
Wow, over ten years.
8:35
I think the largest change
has been our clarifying and
8:39
focusing our mission on diversifying tech.
8:44
Honestly, the company,
I didn't understand as much as I do now.
8:48
The systematic barriers
that people encounter when
8:56
they're not white men,
cisgendered, able bodied men.
9:00
And now, I understand a lot of that more,
9:05
something has become more good at
diversifying tech specifically.
9:08
So, that's changed a lot.
9:14
I think, I've grown a lot as a manager.
9:15
No one teaches you how to be
a good manager I've learned, and
9:19
actually managing people
effectively is really hard.
9:23
And so, I've learned a lot about that.
9:27
If any of you are managers of people or
even parents,
9:30
I would say a really good book
that has had a massive effect
9:34
on me is called Speed of Trust,
by Franklin Covey.
9:39
And it just explains how to
build trust with people, and
9:43
I struggled for a lot with how do you
delegate things and trust people?
9:48
And I feel like, thankfully,
I've learned a lot on that.
9:54
I have an amazing team.
9:57
So my life is a lot easier because
I have such a great team as well.
9:58
More questions, let's see,
looking at Slack over here,
10:06
I've got you all over here.
10:09
Let's see, okay, from Christine,
10:11
what was your biggest barrier as an
entrepreneur and how did you overcome it?
10:13
I would say,
My biggest barrier is imposter syndrome.
10:19
So, I'm not
10:25
like a lot of entrepreneurs
that you see on
10:30
TV shows where they're really salesy and
10:35
they're really good at selling.
10:39
And they're really good at talking
about how amazing their company is.
10:43
I think, I don't know, it was drilled
into me as a kid to be humble,
10:48
to not say things that weren't
true to not Promise big things and
10:54
not be able to deliver.
11:00
And I always struggle with that,
11:02
I felt like a lot of other
entrepreneurs really good at talking
11:05
their companies out than, and
I've struggled with that.
11:10
And I've kind of figured out how
to do that and tell the truth,
11:15
you can talk about all the amazing things
you're going to do and tell the truth.
11:19
And that's an important
skills that I've learned, but
11:25
I think that's been hard for me.
11:29
I'm not wildly driven by finances and
11:31
dollar success,
which is my barrier sometimes,
11:34
I think a lot of entrepreneurs seem to
just be wildly focused on profit and
11:39
I don't know why I just
struggle with that.
11:47
And that may sound like a nice thing.
11:52
Well, that's good that you can do that,
but sometimes in business you have to
11:54
focus on dollars and cents and
you have to really know your numbers, and
11:59
I think for
a long time that was hard for me.
12:03
I've learned a lot of skills,
I used to feel uncomfortable with numbers.
12:07
People would say numbers,
numbers, numbers, and
12:11
I just had I struggled with keeping
them on my head and understanding them,
12:15
and over time I've just kind
of drilled it into myself.
12:21
Okay, which numbers are important?
12:25
How do I know those numbers?
12:27
And I feel like I've finally
gotten better at that and
12:29
I feel comfortable with that, but
I struggle with that for a long time.
12:33
So yeah, imposter syndrome,
biggest barrier.
12:39
I'm still battling every day,
it's a great question, thanks for
12:42
asking them and thanks for
hanging out with me, it's a real honor.
12:46
From Michaela, are there going to be other
tech degrees like back end and full stack?
12:51
Like I said, I'm a proud front end
web development tech degree student.
12:56
And I would love to stay and
continue my journey with you all amazing,
13:01
lovely people on, thanks.
13:04
We hope you stay too.
13:05
We are gonna launch a data analytics
factory which I'm really excited about.
13:08
I think everybody should
understand how to analyze data, so
13:13
I'm really excited about that.
13:17
And then we have other really exciting
things that we're gonna be doing with tech
13:19
degree in the new year.
13:23
I've promoted an amazing person
to be the chief learning and
13:25
operations officer of Treehouse.
13:28
Her name is Dr.
Toni you probably have met her.
13:29
She MC's this festival, she's awesome.
13:33
And she is really taking the reins and
is gonna take Treehouse to even
13:36
more exciting levels and she's gonna
be launching with the team some
13:41
really exciting stuff and
New Year which you should keep a watch on.
13:46
So thanks Michaela for
that question, appreciate it.
13:51
From Donna, what have you heard about
the incoming Biden's administration
13:55
focused on upskilling?
14:00
What do you see as the role of government
and upskilling the USA workforce?
14:02
I don't know the specifics
of President-elect Biden and
14:06
and Vice President Harris's plans on that.
14:11
However, I know there's a lot of exciting
things happening with upskilling.
14:16
I think we're seeing the permanent
shift from a college degree,
14:22
a computer science degree let me say,
14:29
being the chosen path into tech to now.
14:32
It being truly accepted that you
can go through boot camp you can
14:38
go through a tech degree at treehouse, or
14:42
one of the other companies
offering certificates and get in.
14:44
It's not better than college or worse than
college, just a different path, right?
14:50
And I think we're starting to see
that path be widely accepted.
14:55
You've heard that from a bunch of students
who have now have gotten jobs at this
14:59
festival.
15:03
Amazon is tripling down on
its upskilling efforts.
15:06
You've seen, they just announced a large
initiative, I think couple days ago.
15:09
So I'm very excited about upskilling,
15:16
I think the pandemic has been terrible and
brutal but
15:20
the one of the silver linings to all
the clouds is that self learners
15:24
learning online has been really
skyrocketed to the forefront.
15:30
That people understand that you
can learn online effectively,
15:35
you can learn from home effectively,
you can do all those things.
15:41
So that's the one silver lining I think
that we're gonna see from the pandemic.
15:47
And I think, Biden and
Harris are gonna support that even more,
15:52
so we're really excited about that.
15:57
We also have some big things
in the works that treehouse,
16:01
I'm excited that Tony's gonna be
announcing in the new year as well.
16:03
Really excited about upskilling,
absolutely, good question.
16:08
From Patrick speaking of imposter syndrome
Ryan, which career or field of industry?
16:13
Of career transition since tech is
affected the most by Imposter Syndrome?
16:22
Gosh, I think imposter syndrome affects
everybody, everywhere all the time,
16:28
in every job.
16:33
I think tech is intimidating,
when you see code t's
16:35
as intimidating as looking
at a foreign language.
16:41
And then you know, there's a there's
a culture which we're working on breaking
16:47
down and tack of kind of the bro culture
as well which can be intimidating,
16:53
where people are using advanced terms and,
you know all sorts of technical.
16:57
items that you just don't understand.
17:04
So, but I can tell you though,
you can learn those things.
17:06
You know, it's really fun to
see Cassidy speak just now.
17:10
And Rhea speak before her,
you know They're women.
17:14
They understand the tech.
17:18
They can speak the tech.
17:20
They can hold their own
just like anybody else.
17:22
And I think that their shining
example of how everybody can
17:25
get in if you work hard, and
these paths are open to you.
17:30
So I think imposter syndrome is real for
everybody.
17:35
And the most important thing to
remember is everybody has it and
17:39
if they're not being honest
about it they're lying to you.
17:43
So just remember that everybody
has imposter syndrome and
17:47
the more you talk about it, the more
other people can talk about it too.
17:51
Love these questions,
appreciate you all asking them.
17:56
Let's keep going comment from Jason,
you were the reason I started coding.
18:01
Hey, [LAUGH] You talk
to them in a candid and
18:07
genuine way that shows you
cared about the struggle.
18:10
Thank you, Jason.
18:14
That means the world to me.
18:15
I'm honored that I was
a part of your journey.
18:17
I do wanna encourage you all.
18:21
If you're thinking about
learning how to code, or
18:24
if you're thinking about getting
the tech just just take the first step.
18:26
Treehouse is free for seven days.
18:32
Just sign up and take a course.
18:34
And just get started and
see if you like it.
18:38
And I think if you like it,
you'll find that it's really fun.
18:40
It's like solving puzzles and and
it's not advanced math and it's not,
18:44
calculus and it's not any of that.
18:49
It's actually more like
writing screenplays.
18:52
And it's just super creative and fun.
18:56
So but thanks, Jason, for
saying that, it's very kind of you.
19:00
Liz, I love your questions, Liz.
19:04
What advise do you have for
those concern about scarcity of jobs?
19:07
Is that scarcity based on fact or
19:12
is there really an abundance
of jobs in the industry?
19:14
There are so many jobs in tech and
19:18
it's just going to grow and grow and grow.
19:21
I mean, what we're seeing during
the pandemic with the stock
19:27
market where we're seeing the values
of tech companies explode,
19:32
is because It's 100%
real where we're going.
19:37
What's happening is,
tech is eating the world, every industry.
19:41
Every job is is now supported and
And is run by tech.
19:46
And so if you understand tech, and
you understand how to control it, and
19:54
you understand how to build things with
it, it opens up so many more jobs for you.
19:58
And then on top of that think
about all the tackages and jobs,
20:02
you have data analysis, is a massive one,
marketing now is a tech job.
20:07
And I think the more you
understand tech and how to use it,
20:13
the more powerful you get, don't forget
that there's a lot of low code and
20:16
no code solutions now,
Zapier is an awesome one.
20:20
You can use tools like Coda,
there's so many low code and
20:24
no code tools that you
can get started with and
20:28
you can use to automate tasks and
jobs that make you more powerful.
20:32
So there are so
many jobs that need to get filled.
20:38
And there's a massive need for
junior engineers.
20:43
The computer science universities
are just not creating
20:47
enough computer scientists, period.
20:51
So please keep learning how to code.
20:54
The reason why I care about empowering
people to get tech jobs is actually
21:00
not related to tech, it's the fact
that the pay is so high in tech.
21:05
I care about empowering people
to build generational wealth.
21:10
One of the systematic barriers we have,
is because folks like me have
21:13
been able to build up generational
wealth over the generations so
21:19
we can take more risks,
we can do more things.
21:24
When you don't have generational wealth,
you can't get started, right?
21:28
So getting a job that pays you well,
that allows you to invest in your 401k and
21:31
start to build that
generational wealth for
21:37
your kids is one of the ways
that system starts to change.
21:40
So I just wanted to point that out.
21:45
These are great questions keep them coming
in, I can see Cassidy just telling us hey,
21:49
Cassidy I'm a big fan of yours I really
enjoyed Stalk, thanks for stopping by.
21:53
Okay, more good questions from Dave,
how do you feel about automation, AI,
22:00
and the increase,
decrease of jobs as a result?
22:04
I think we are a long way
away from AI taking your job.
22:07
If you're a driver that's different,
I think we are quickly approaching
22:12
autonomous vehicles and
that is a big deal for a lot of people.
22:18
But I think if you are our
tech adjacent or in tech,
22:22
I think it's gonna be a long
time till AI takes your job.
22:26
And the reason why I say that
is just practical experience,
22:30
I just built an app for
fun using Twilio's API, and for
22:35
all the magic things that
Twilio can do for you,
22:39
it's still takes a human to put it
together, to communicate to stakeholders
22:43
to coordinate the project,
it's still very human intensive.
22:49
And that is not gonna change for
a long time, so
22:54
I wouldn't be paranoid about that.
22:56
I'd say it's much more
important to get a tech job, so
22:59
you're a part of the revolution.
23:02
So as that revolution does start
happening, you can be a part of it,
23:04
versus encountering it, so
that's really important.
23:09
Come more great questions,
please keep them coming in.
23:13
From Patrick, has the pandemic increase
the number of new students enrolling
23:19
into Treehouse in 2020?
23:23
Yes, we saw a large increase in March,
April, and May, just skyrocketed numbers.
23:25
And that was really fun to see,
we really were honored and
23:33
proud that we could serve folks who
are looking to rescale and upskill.
23:36
And now, as as brutal and
terrible as the pandemic has been and
23:41
will continue to be,
we're honored that we can play a part in
23:46
empowering people through
these tough times.
23:51
From D Murray, everyone can get in but
what advice do you have Ryan for
23:56
those old bros who need
to let more people in?
24:01
Gosh, if you look like me,
you have work to do,
24:05
you need to get educated number one
about systematic racism and sexism.
24:09
And you can start that actually
pretty easily for free,
24:15
you need to listen to a podcast
called Seen White and
24:20
you need to watch a free
documentary on YouTube called 13th.
24:23
And then there's another
podcast about sexism
24:29
by the same folks that made seeing white,
24:35
which I'm blank on the name.
24:39
So I need to Google that and
hopefully post that.
24:43
Mels is pointing out white fragility
is a very good book as well.
24:48
But I'm pointing out there's things you
can do, you can listen to a podcast and
24:52
you can watch a movie, right?
24:55
Those are two things that you have no
excuse not to do as a white guy like me to
24:56
get educated.
25:01
So please do that number one, and
25:03
then number two,
start working on being an ally.
25:06
So it turns out you
have a lot of power and
25:11
you can use it to empower
other people around you.
25:13
So just start there.
25:17
And that would be a big step
from where we are today.
25:19
So all of you white guys like me,
do the work.
25:25
Here's a great question from Cassidy.
25:29
Hey, a lot of questions I get from folks
are quote how do I stand out as a junior
25:32
developer unquote.
25:37
If you were to give a couple tips to
folks trying to get their first job after
25:39
learning on their own, what would they be?
25:43
Such a good question.
25:45
Okay.
25:47
So, what you need to do is understand
that getting that first job is
25:48
going to be A chunk of work that
you're going to have to do that's
25:52
going to take at least three months.
25:57
So first prepare yourself, okay,
this is going to be three months of work.
26:00
And I'm going to have to step
through it and trust the process.
26:04
So that's thing one prepare yourself.
26:10
The thing two is you need to start
creating your own portfolio.
26:12
And what I mean by that is you don't
have any paid experience so you.
26:18
You can't say, hey, I have this job that
shows I have experience you have to prove
26:22
that you have that experience.
26:27
And the way you can do that is is actually
pretty straightforward, it's not easy, but
26:29
it's straightforward.
26:33
What you need to do is Do your first
project for free for a friend,
26:34
a relative, a local business.
26:39
So say that you're learning
how to build simple web apps.
26:41
What you want to do is go
find a local business,
26:45
a local charity A local project
that you care about and say, hey,
26:49
I would like to build you
this small thing for free.
26:53
You don't have that,
can I build it for you?
26:58
It's often a website, and
they'll say, yeah, sure.
27:01
And then, you build it and
then that's your first Experience,
27:05
you have a real project in the real
world and then you do that again, but
27:09
this time you try to find someone else and
you charge them a little bit of money.
27:13
Maybe it's a hundred bucks.
27:19
And then you do it again.
27:22
And this time you charge
a little bit more maybe two $300.
27:23
So you're kind of building your paid
experience with these small projects.
27:25
If you can't get someone to pay you
then just do projects for organizations
27:32
that you're passionate about,
if you're passionate about Animals then,
27:37
find a nonprofit that serves animals and
ask if you can build a project for them.
27:42
If you go to church or
you go to any kind of local organization,
27:48
try to build something for them.
27:54
So essentially create your portfolio
Do this as you're learning, right?
27:57
And then when you finish
your tech degree or
28:03
you finish your online certificate, you're
not gonna feel ready to apply for jobs,
28:05
you're gonna feel like
you're not good enough,
28:10
you're gonna feel like an imposter and
you just have to remember that's normal.
28:12
And you're never gonna feel that
moment where you think, yep.
28:17
I'm ready to apply for jobs,
it's you're never gonna feel that way.
28:21
So, then what you wanna do is,
28:24
prepare yourself to apply 200 to 300 jobs,
right?
28:27
So, Remember, during the festival,
we had speakers who explained, you know,
28:34
they applied for, you know, seven to 10
jobs a day and just did it like clockwork.
28:40
And then, through that process,
I think that they got, you know,
28:47
you'll see typically,
maybe 5% five to 10% of people reply.
28:53
So out of, 200 applications, you may get,
five to 10 replies out of that.
29:00
And then, those will be phone screens and
then out of that you'll get two to three
29:08
job interviews and out of that,
you'll get one job Right.
29:12
So just trust the process.
29:16
It's, it's gonna be so hard but if you
don't quit, you will get that first job,
29:20
right and just remember you All
the jobs are going to say, you know,
29:25
two years of experience required.They're
never going to say it's cool
29:30
if you you know, have a tech
degree from treehouse, just apply.
29:35
None of them are gonna say that none of us
are going to say hey, we're just looking
29:39
for Bootcamp, grads.They're all
gonna say two years of experience or
29:44
junior developer,
you are qualified for that job.
29:48
So if it says three plus years of
experience, I would avoid those.
29:52
Or if it says senior or
mid level avoid those.
29:55
But every other job, you can apply for.
29:59
The final tip I'll give to this
question is network, network, network.
30:02
And as an introvert I hate networking.
30:08
You probably hate networking too.
30:11
But just think of it as
I need to make friends.
30:14
Because those friends are gonna
help open up doors, right?
30:17
So look for people that work at
the companies you wanna work at.
30:21
And, friend them on Twitter or
follow them on Twitter.
30:26
Follow them on Instagram,
follow them on LinkedIn.
30:31
And, start noticing what they're doing,
start caring about what they're doing,
30:34
start commenting what they're doing.
30:39
And then at some point you can say hey,
I'd love to work at your company,
30:41
let me know if anything opens up.
30:45
And, that's very likely
how you'll get that job.
30:47
So, woo, that's kind of whirlwind
how to get your first job.
30:50
But you can do it, just remember that.
30:54
Okay, looking at my questions over here,
comment from CJ.
30:58
I found Treehouse right after
losing my job to COVID.
31:03
Used to work in sports and live events.
31:06
Have definitely dealt with imposter
syndrome due to transitioning to a career
31:08
that is so different from what I've known.
31:12
But I'm excited to keep moving forward.
31:15
I would recommend Treehouse to anyone
who's getting started in coding.
31:17
CJ, Thank you.
31:20
Appreciate the support.
31:22
Thank you so much.
31:24
We're proud to serve you.
31:25
I appreciate you saying that.
31:26
From Anne will Team Treehouse,
create an app for
31:28
someone of your trainings or
maybe a code game?
31:32
So much is done on smartphones now.
31:35
A game or code on the go would be awesome.
31:37
We don't have plans to do that.
31:40
We have a small but feisty team.
31:43
And we have to be really, really careful
about what we spend our time on so
31:45
we can stay focused.
31:49
I'm afraid we're not going to be
releasing a mobile app anytime soon.
31:51
I'm sorry, I just wanted to be,
clear with you.
31:54
From Caden, I did two years of
college in computer information and
31:59
find myself in a job that I like,
project management.
32:03
But I'm concerned about the longevity
of the skills I'm using.
32:07
I wish I was doing more coding, but
32:10
didn't feel like I could hack
it at a professional level.
32:12
What advice would you give
someone concerned about
32:16
their future career in tech?
32:18
So, Caden, I would encourage you to
learn some low code or no code tools.
32:20
So Zapier is a very powerful tool.
32:28
You can use it to start automating
important tasks at work.
32:32
And that's a good way to kind
of start doing technical things,
32:38
but not necessarily doing pure code.
32:45
There's some other fun things.
32:49
I'm Currently loving Twilio,
32:51
just cuz I've been building
a fun personal project with it.
32:52
You can sign up for
apps like Twilio to build
32:56
SMS notifications for your employer.
33:01
There's a lot of low code, no code stuff
now that I encourage you to learn if you
33:06
don't wanna go hardcore developer.
33:10
And that'll make you even more
valuable to your employer.
33:13
But I would encourage you to try one
of our tech degrees for instance.
33:17
Just to help you feel
even more comfortable
33:23
with the code technical side of things.
33:27
What you may find is that actually
you're comfortable with it.
33:31
You can talk about it in meetings.
33:35
It kind of will open up more options.
33:37
Cassidy says Airtable, yes.
33:40
Airtable, Webflow these are all low code,
no code tools that are awesome.
33:42
Like Airtable is basically
a database that anybody can use,
33:47
and it actually feels normal.
33:51
[LAUGH] Versus when you look at
something like MySQL, or PostgreS or
33:54
DynamoDB it's just,
it looks like technical magic.
33:59
Whereas, Airtable's a really
easy to use database.
34:04
So if you combine Zapier and
Airtable, for instance,
34:09
you can build a ton of stuff without
even writing a line of code.
34:14
This is fun, okay.
34:19
I got some more stuff to go through.
34:21
Brian B says, do you feel coding
slash tech is getting congested?
34:23
I wonder if I'm too late?
34:28
Absolutely not.
34:31
Every job is going to be
a tech job in the future.
34:36
I mean it's just going to be everywhere.
34:38
I think, if anything,
we're at the very beginning of all this.
34:42
Tech is absolutely eating the world,
for better or worse it's happening.
34:47
And so you are absolutely not too late.
34:54
Get in now, enjoy it.
34:57
The thing that's wonderful about learning
how to code is it's so creative.
34:59
Anything you can imagine, you can build.
35:04
And so I think if you love creating
things and you love building things.
35:06
You love helping people or
starting businesses or
35:12
making projects,
it's just such a fun thing to do.
35:16
It's like learning how to use Lego, right?
35:21
It's just amazing what you can build.
35:23
So definitely not too late.
35:24
And I wanna be clear, yes, there
are systematic barriers, age, color, sex.
35:27
All of these things still exist and
they still make it easier for
35:36
people that look like me to get in.
35:41
But organizations like Treehouse,
we exist to empower more people to get in.
35:44
So, if you feel like you're being held out
of tech because of systematic reasons,
35:50
we care about you, we wanna empower you.
35:56
That's why we exist and you can do it.
35:59
All right, more questions from McCage.
36:03
I'm hoping I'm saying that right, McCage.
36:08
How is Treehouse cooperating with
businesses regarding the job market?
36:11
So, what we're gonna start doing,
especially in the new year,
36:18
is talking more and more to employers.
36:22
And Toni, who is our Chief Learning and
36:25
Operations Officer, Dr. Josato.
36:30
She cares deeply about connecting
our graduates to jobs.
36:34
So we're gonna be really leaning
into that even more in the new year.
36:39
So I'm really excited about that.
36:44
All right, from Jason, do you recommend
freelancing while you're looking for
36:48
work with a legit company?
36:52
Absolutely, if you can freelance,
36:54
it's a really good way to build your
experience, to build your resume.
36:57
So if you can do freelancing,
it's a really good thing to get going on.
37:03
I would not advise people
to do unpaid internships.
37:11
I think a lot of folks can't afford that.
37:16
And I think if a company is hiring
interns, I think they should pay them.
37:20
And, so I would look for
internships that are paid.
37:26
All right, Dave, what are your
outside interests, music, baking etc.?
37:32
[LAUGH] So
I love a couple things outside of work,
37:39
one is movies, I love movies.
37:45
I actually love watching movies by myself,
like I said I'm an introvert.
37:49
So a little bit of heaven for me is just
being by myself and watching movies.
37:53
[LAUGH] So that's one thing.
37:58
I've really gotten into sailing.
38:01
So my job is 100% digital,
it's 100% over Zoom now.
38:04
And I was really craving
something very analog and
38:10
something very attached to nature and
reality.
38:14
So I thought, gosh,
it would be amazing to learn how to sail.
38:20
Especially during the pandemic
because you can be safe.
38:23
Because you can be away from people and
still be sailing.
38:26
So I joined this little Sailing Club.
38:28
It's nothing fancy, trust me.
38:32
It looks like a shed here in Portland.
38:33
And I learned how to sail on these
cute little 22 foot sailboats and
38:39
it's just been a blast.
38:45
So I've been doing a lot of sailing.
38:47
I used to be really into
doing Spartan races.
38:50
But I always injured myself.
38:54
So I do less of that now, but
I still enjoy a little bit of working out.
38:58
Not so much during the pandemic,
I'll be honest.
39:04
I'm still probably drinking
a little bit too much and
39:06
sitting around in my pyjamas too much.
39:09
[LAUGH] Just what I will do later today,
I'm excited about that.
39:10
Okay, from Charlene, Webflow, yeah,
we were talking a little bit about this.
39:16
There's a lot of low-code, no-code
tools coming out and they are powerful.
39:23
What's gonna start happening is,
39:28
the foundational layer of technology
is gonna be built up and built up.
39:31
And you're gonna find, you don't have
to do as many low level tasks anymore.
39:36
And tools like Webflow
are making it easier and easier.
39:43
And I would encourage
you to check them out.
39:47
You don't have to be
a hardcore backend engineer.
39:49
To be successful in tech,
there's a lot of jobs especially and
39:54
in marketing and sales and
that use tools like Webflow and
39:59
they're very powerful,
HubSpot is very powerful.
40:04
We use that at Treehouse.
40:08
So I would check them out.
40:08
I've recently been teaching
myself serverless functions and
40:11
using tools like Lambda on AWS,
and it's blowing my mind.
40:17
I mean this reality that you don't
even have to worry about your
40:22
infrastructure even anymore.
40:26
You can just call a function,
it's amazing.
40:29
So I think we're gonna see more and
more of that where the physical hardware,
40:32
even the stack is gonna to
get abstracted away and
40:38
you can focus more just
on creating solutions.
40:42
So yeah, check out those tools for sure.
40:46
I've got some more slack messages.
40:50
Let me just check.
40:53
Okay, this is really fun you all,
thanks for hanging out.
40:57
Okay, from Jennifer.
41:02
So I love Team Treehouse.
41:04
Thank you, but have found that I read
a lot faster than I can watch videos.
41:06
Is there any thoughts on expanding
your curriculum to include non-videos?
41:12
I also would love to hear what Team
Treehouse has and plans for the future.
41:15
Thanks Jennifer for your kind words.
41:19
So we are definitely introducing
more what we call instruction steps.
41:21
So those are text based.
41:28
We can also update them faster because
we don't have to record a whole video
41:30
to do that.
41:35
So we're introducing more instruction
steps but we are gonna be focused for
41:35
the large part on video.
41:40
We, I believe strongly and I think Dr.
41:43
Sato shares my belief in this that a lot
of what we're teaching is very abstract.
41:46
And a lot of folks benefit from watching
a video to have it explained to them.
41:50
That's why we invest
a lot in motion design.
41:58
I want to call out we have an awesome
motion designer named Michael and
42:02
I think that's important to us.
42:07
So if you're looking for
pure text instruction,
42:10
I don't think honestly we're
probably the best for you.
42:12
You can also the watch videos really fast.
42:17
So if you want to speed up
the speedometer, you can do that.
42:19
I think I watch all of our videos at 1.5.
42:23
It's really funny to watch them at 0.25.
42:26
You should do that just for laughs cuz
it sounds like Gil is drunk [LAUGH].
42:27
So, but thanks for
your kind words about Treehouse.
42:32
We appreciate it.
42:36
Yeah, I see that Cassie's
talking about Jamstack.
42:40
There's just some really fun things going
on with abstracting away the physical
42:42
infrastructure layer.
42:47
And it's pretty cool, but
don't worry about that stuff quite yet.
42:49
I think you could just get started
with vanilla JavaScript and
42:52
local environment and
be just fine for a while.
42:57
But then once you get down with that, you
can start to use these amazing tools and
43:01
it's really fun.
43:05
Gil, I think is around somewhere.
43:07
Hey Gil.
43:10
Okay, let's keep going.
43:10
Lots of good questions.
43:12
From Beth, what is your opinion of someone
at 50 getting into web development?
43:13
Absolutely, amen, you can do it,
you'll be amazing at it.
43:18
So a lot of people that I know,
I'm 43, 44 now maybe and
43:23
I'm having friends that are older and
older and
43:28
what I'm realizing of course is that
as you age, you have life experience.
43:31
You have valuable,
valuable insights, right?
43:37
So yeah, absolutely.
43:40
You do not need to be young to
be a great software developer.
43:43
In fact, the older you are, the more life
experience you're going be, go get it.
43:47
Yeah.
And when you're interviewing,
43:53
remind them of that, hey,
I have life experience.
43:55
I've done all these things,
I'm gonna bring a unique
43:57
perspective, bring it because that is so
valuable.
44:01
All right, Kaden, do you have
a personal podcast, blog or book?
44:08
I really enjoy that
hearing your perspective.
44:12
Thanks Kaden.
44:14
I don't, and honestly I'm backing
away from social media a little bit.
44:15
If you go to my Twitter or
44:21
my Instagram now you'll see I
actually posted the letter.
44:22
[LAUGH] So
where I got people to write to me.
44:26
I think that social media is
damaging the fabric of our ethics.
44:35
But I feel that it's taking
away the conversation.
44:40
It's taking away the common grounds and
44:43
I think it's driving us apart.
44:48
And I don't want to be
part of it right now.
44:52
So write me if you go to Twitter,
you'll see my P.O. Box.
44:55
I'd love to hear from you and
I'll write you back.
44:57
[LAUGH] It's kind of
where I'm at right now.
44:59
I might not be there forever,
but it's where I'm at right now.
45:02
I would love to do a podcast sometime.
45:06
I just think they're fun, but
I don't have one right now.
45:08
So I am focusing on being
the CEO Treehouse and
45:13
then learning how to sail and
that's kind of what I'm doing right now.
45:16
But I might get back in the game
with podcast at some point.
45:20
All right from Bee, what are your
thoughts on take home code tests?
45:26
I see some code newbies myself included
experiencing this coding for hours and
45:31
not being able to use it as a portfolio
piece and then not getting the job.
45:37
So what companies should be
doing is paying for your time.
45:43
So if you're being asked to do
a take home test which is really
45:48
creating a piece of work,
they should be paying.
45:53
And if they're not,
I have questions about how
45:58
inclusive they are,
how equitable they are.
46:02
So I would ask hey, I'm happy to do this.
46:06
My hourly rate is 125 Bucks an hour and
they should be fine with that.
46:11
So that should help a little bit with
you not being able to use the work.
46:19
You could also ask if you don't
get the role, just say hey,
46:22
I really enjoyed doing this, do you mind
if I use it as part of my portfolio?
46:26
Now it may be code
specific to their company,
46:33
then that's obviously not gonna work.
46:35
So I'd encourage you ask to get paid.
46:38
And honestly any good company
that knows anything about equity
46:40
diversity inclusion will
absolutely pay for that.
46:45
We do that, so.
46:49
Okay, but Bee I wanna empathize and
say, yeah,
46:52
that that is one of the very hard
exhausting things about applying for jobs.
46:55
Try to view it as you just getting
another chance to get better, right?
47:01
And getting more and more practice and
that might be helpful.
47:07
Okay, we're getting close
to end of our time, but
47:13
we're also getting close
to a number of questions.
47:16
We got three more it looks like,
from Charlene.
47:18
What sorts of things should
you put in your portfolio?
47:22
Things you're passionate about.
47:27
So what I would do like I said
earlier in this call in this talk was,
47:29
create your own portfolio
by doing work for
47:34
organizations that
you're passionate about.
47:37
If you are a member of a mosque, ask if
you can build something for the mosque.
47:41
And then get it live in the internet and
then put it in your portfolio.
47:46
If you're passionate about social justice
and and you want to do something,
47:50
build something, get it out into the world
and then put that on your portfolio.
47:55
So it is a massive, attractive
thing when you interview somebody
48:00
that has built something that
they're passionate about.
48:05
It means they have initiative,
it means that they are hard working,
48:11
it means that they are opinionated.
48:16
Those are all really good things.
48:19
So I would say put those first.
48:21
Now if you have paid expense,
that's awesome.
48:23
Obviously put that up there too, but
48:26
I'd encourage you to really
focus on those passion projects.
48:29
Especially if you are, hey,
my kid is here, what's up?
48:34
Another really great thing to do
is be the center of a community.
48:37
So if you live in Pueblo, Colorado and
48:43
you want to get other women in
tech who want to get together and
48:46
talk like, form a group,
be the center of it.
48:51
Organize the Zoom calls,
get the community together ad then put
48:54
that on your resume as well like hey,
I organized this group.
49:00
That's very attractive to employers as
well plus you'll do good in the world.
49:05
So good, great question.
49:11
From Liz,
I presume this is from Liz Jackson.
49:15
Hello, I love your questions.
49:17
What are some of your favorite orgs
committed to making tech more inclusive?
49:19
Great question.
49:23
I'm a big fan of anitab.org.
49:25
I think they have awesome leadership and
they're doing great things.
49:28
I'm a big, big fan of Change Catalysts,
49:35
big fan of Arlen Hamilton and
everything she's doing,
49:39
a big fan of Black Women Talk Tech,
big fan of Boys and Girls Clubs.
49:44
There's just so many good organizations,
Black Girls Code.
49:52
There's there's a myriad of amazing
organizations that are doing really
49:58
good work to support more
inclusive pathways and
50:03
attack on ramp is doing a really
good apprenticeship program.
50:06
Yeah, there's a lot of good
things going on and tech and
50:12
encourage you to reach out
to those organizations and
50:16
take advantage of all
the resources that you can on that.
50:20
From Josh ,Do you think when we
are living in a post COVID world there
50:25
will be in person
treehouse events to attend?
50:30
Wow!
When that'd be amazing.
50:33
[LAUGH] I would love that.
50:34
I mean, that would just make me so happy.
50:36
So maybe, I don't know, but
it sure would be a lot of fun with that.
50:39
I think Trails festival being online
is also a great way to be inclusive.
50:45
So maybe it's both, but
it's really up to the team.
50:52
Dr. Sato is going to determine, I think,
50:56
what we do next with Treehouse festival,
but I would love to do in person thing.
50:59
It'd be so much fun but good question.
51:03
Also before Treehouse, I also organized
conferences, and they were a lot of fun.
51:09
But they're also problematic, right?
51:15
I mean, a lot of the people that can fly
to a conference are also privileged,
51:17
right?
51:22
They've got the money,
the time to hop on a plane and
51:22
that's just problematic, so
51:27
tricky that maybe it would
be pretty fun on it.
51:30
From Jason, what's an entry level starting
wage with a boot camp or tech degree?
51:35
Has a good question.
51:40
I need to check my notes, but
51:42
I need to check before
I answer that question.
51:45
So, maybe somebody from
my team Kayleen Hey,
51:50
you could message me privately and
tell me what are the what's
51:55
the band that that we see folks
starting at a junior level roles.
52:01
Cassidy answered.
52:07
Okay, good.
52:10
I just want to say a number of that.
52:12
Have we wrong?
52:13
Cause I need to double check it.
52:13
Charlene says, Ryan,
what's your Twitter handle?
52:17
Really easy.
Just Ryan Carson.
52:19
And I'm pretty much Ryan Carson everywhere
and write me a letter at my P.O. box.
52:22
I would be honored to hear from you all.
52:26
That was fun.
52:32
[LAUGH] That was a lot of great questions.
52:33
Thank you so much for hanging out with me.
52:35
I'm always blown away and
honored when people want to hang out.
52:38
It's like gosh, you all are so busy and
have so many options in your life.
52:41
So thanks for spending 50 minutes with me.
52:47
I love Treehouse students.
52:52
I'm honored to serve you all and
I really thank you for
52:54
letting us be a part of your life.
52:58
And it's an honor to hang out with you.
53:03
So that concludes this ask me anything
session I hope you enjoyed it.
53:05
I appreciated your questions and
thanks for all your kind words.
53:10
Remember, we're doing networking and
53:16
networking is such a powerful way
to start making those connections.
53:18
All you have to do is hit the button
on the left of the screen that
53:22
says networking.
53:25
And you just get paired randomly with
somebody you got three minutes you can do
53:26
a video call.
53:29
lt's a great way to meet people.
53:30
If you connect with each other,
you just connect and you share details.
53:34
It's really safe.
53:39
We haven't had any problems at all.
53:40
If you do experience any weirdness,
just flag the person and
53:41
then we'll get notified and
we'll take action immediately.
53:44
But that hasn't happened yet.
53:48
So Cool, Kenny said average Junior
53:51
development salary is 77K.
53:55
Salary range typically
falls between 62K and 85K.
53:59
Kenny.
54:04
Thank you.
You're awesome.
54:05
That's all I thought but
I didn't wanna say the number of facts.
54:06
They're important.
54:10
[LAUGH] Thank you all so
much for taking time.
54:11
I missed you all.
54:16
I wish we could see each other in person
but this is really fun to spend time.
54:17
Thank you to my amazing
team who made this whole
54:21
thing happen I don't really just like
show up and And sit in my chair.
54:24
Liz has done an amazing amount of work.
54:28
Liz, you're a rock star.
54:31
I appreciate you.
54:33
Patrick, Gill, Kayleen, Tony.
54:35
Everyone else that tree house.
54:42
It's made this possible.
54:43
I appreciate you and you are amazing.
54:45
And notice what happened to that you.
54:48
So thanks, everybody.
54:49
And we will see you at the next festival,
right?
54:52
Okay.
54:54
All right.
See you later.
54:55
Bye.
54:56
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