Read the transcript
Jeroen Leenarts: So welcome to
another special episode with
Stephanie. I actually met her
through clubhouse, or iOS deaf
happy hour, I'm not sure
anymore. What I do know is that
her voice is a very familiar
sound to me by now, because I've
listened to her on numerous
occasions on clubhouse, and a
little bit on Iris deaf, Happy
Hour, which is fun, because she
has some very nice insights on
how people can get into a tech
job. And she actually likes
helping people get into a tech
job. Because she also does some
coaching on the side. She now
works at PayPal, we won't really
dive into that over work there.
Because that's, of course, all
covered by NDAs and horrible
things. If you actually talk
about that too much, but
everything that happened before
that, I think it's going to be
an interesting story with
Stephanie. Stephanie. Hi, how
are you doing today?
Stephanie Chiu: Hi, good. Thank
you so much for having me
Jeroen Leenarts: on. Um, so just
to get things started. You're an
iOS dev app. Just to get things
started, you're an iOS software
developer. What made you decide
to actually pursue a career in
iOS software development?
Stephanie Chiu: Sure. I would
say that it's a little bit of a
like long story. But that long
story short, I got into iOS
development, because I was first
teaching myself UX UI design.
And when I was making mobile app
designs, I found that I liked
doing that a lot more than
creating designs for web. And
then so this was about three
years ago, back in 2018, when I
was teaching myself and the
prototyping tools back then like
envision, they're not as
advanced as they are today. You
can do like simple transitions.
And, you know, if you tap on a
button, it will take you to the
next page or something like
that. And I was noticing that,
in my mind, I was already seeing
like, the transitions to
animations that I would want to
do if this was a real app. So
then one day, I had, I had a
lightbulb moment, I was thought,
you know, why don't I just
actually code the app myself?
Why not? And it still took me a
few years to be able to actually
be transition my career into
Asheville development, because
learning the coding part isn't
that hard, like building a
project is not that hard. But I
would say that the big hurdle
that I had to get across so many
people who teach themselves is
no learning the algorithm, the
data structures, just, you know,
getting past interviews and
having to deal with a lot of
rejections. That was, that was
probably the hardest part. But
then here I am today, as an iOS
developer, finally,
Jeroen Leenarts: it took a
while, because what's actually
interesting is you did chemical
engineering. Back when you were
doing an education, or actually
following an education, how did
you end up with chemical
engineering?
Stephanie Chiu: Yeah, so for
chemical engineering, how that
came about was that, you know, I
was a 17. At least like in the
States, so you are required to
major in something like you can
change your major once you get
into into college, but you have
to, you have to at least pick
something to apply to colleges
to and to get in. And so I
originally picked chemistry and
the reason why was because I was
thinking, you know, how can I
combine my love for the arts and
design with something that's
more technical in the sciences?
And so I can't, I figured out
like, oh, you know, one day, I
could work as a chemist for
L'Oreal. That was actually my
dream at that time, very random
to compare to where I am today.
But I find that you know, I just
have like an intense curiosity
for D sort of the sort of things
that are more like complex to
other people. So for chemical
engineering, how Alanna about
that was, you know, I, I had
this other light bulb moment
where, you know, I had a bottle
of shampoo and then I was
wondering, you know, how do we
have so many different types of
shampoos? Although they all do
the same thing, and they all
have the same base formula. And
then how how does it that you
know, an engineer or a packaging
does packaging engineer would
choose like the appropriate
material to have To like, hold
the essentially chemicals, that
is the shampoo, and to bottle,
and then, you know, how does it
get to the customer things like
that, that was very curious
about. And turns out that
studying chemical engineering
was, was very challenging as you
can imagine, anything that's
engineering honestly. And, you
know, I realized early on, I
think it was by my third year, I
just realized, like, I did not
like it. But in the States, you
know, it's, it's, it can be
challenging to change majors,
usually will take some more
years in order to graduate. And
for me, it was such a specialist
track at my college, that it
would take me an extra four
years if I were to change to
something else. So I just stuck
through it. And it's okay, you
know, because I think that, you
know, when you are studying
something in school, that's
completely different to maybe
what you actually want to do, I
think the most important thing
is to, you know, network, learn
to build, like social skills.
And, yeah, there's a lot,
there's still like a lot of
things that I have learned back
then, that I use today, like,
you know, learning how to be
very organized, and stuff about,
you know, how to schedule
something, how to deal with,
like, complex situations, or
something, like very relevant
today for me is when you're
given a problem, or you're given
a ticket from a manager, and
it's, it's not very detailed. So
you have to teach yourself, you
know, how you're going to
research and come up with like
solutions within a certain
period of time. Okay, cool.
Jeroen Leenarts: That's, that's
quite a mouthful in your
explanation there. But I really
agree with what you're saying
that that's no matter what
formal education you you do at
the college level, or the
university level, it all ends
you up with a set of skills that
allows you to work in a
structured way. tackle complex
problems and dissect the
problems into smaller components
that you can then try and solve
individually, with the help of
your colleagues and your peers,
of course, but just breaking
down a complex thing into
something that is more
manageable. That's such a, such
an important skill that really
takes some, I think formal
education to really get the hang
of, I think, in what year did
you finish your education?
Stephanie Chiu: So I finished
and John 16 and took me five
years to graduate no shame.
Jeroen Leenarts: So and and
after your education, what, what
was your first role that you did
as a profession?
Stephanie Chiu: So my first Ra
was a production supervisor for
Colgate the same Colgate as
toothpaste that a lot of people
know about. But they also own a
personal care division. And so
that was like the soft soap hand
soap, soft soap, body wash,
speech dish, deodorant. And
yeah, so that was very
interesting, because it was in a
startup manufacturing
environment. So similar to how,
you know, there's a lot of
challenges in tech startups.
Same thing in manufacturing
plants, you're going to have a
lot of situations where you
gotta wear different hats.
You're gonna have to learn how
to tell another team or a
manager that you might not be
able to miss meet a deadline,
you have to push it out, things
like that. Okay.
Jeroen Leenarts: So you really
have to be the DD cat with, with
eight legs to be able to operate
in such an environment, I'd say.
Stephanie Chiu: Pretty much
Pretty much yeah. And
Jeroen Leenarts: so it's it's
fun, though, that you you ended
up at Colgate. It's not shampoo.
I had the lightbulb moments that
you had either under the shower
or the bathroom or wherever. And
he then Well, it's not exactly
shampoo, but it's close enough.
Right at
Stephanie Chiu: at Gogo. Yeah.
Honestly, it's very similar.
Jeroen Leenarts: It's all
chemistry in a container. So
what happened then, because on
your profile online, your
coaching side business, you
specifically mentioned that you
had some challenges in your
career that were part of your
switch into tech. And can you
like, dive into that a little
bit and explain what happened
there and, like, up to the point
I got into tech.
Stephanie Chiu: Mm hmm. So some
of the challenges I was facing
when I was working In
manufacturing was that, for one,
I didn't realize it back then.
But having to go into work by
630, every morning was slowly
wearing on my body and on my
mental health. On top of that,
other stresses as related to,
you know, working at a start up
facility. Because I was a
production supervisor, it also
meant that I had to work the the
workers shifts. But like at that
time, with Colgate, these were
12 hour shifts. And I often had
to had to stay late for the
night shift, to update them on
what had happened in a day and
what's like the expectations for
the night like what they got to
do. But yeah, slowly started to
take a toll on me. And for a
long time, I didn't understand
why because I was seeing my co
workers who were doing exact
same job, but they were able to
perform well. And I think it's
also just a mix between learning
to balance, personal life, so
you know, taking care of your
health, getting enough sleep,
eating healthy exercising, on
top of, you know, the high
stresses that you might face
like at work. So I ended up also
working at two other
manufacturing facilities, they
were also in the startup phase.
So also similar situations that
I had to go through them. But
interestingly enough, I was, I
had quit the job with Colgate.
And unfortunately, like I was
laid off from the other two.
Yeah. So that
Jeroen Leenarts: those were
outside influences that had like
a big impact on your life that
were mostly out of your control,
and then ended up with a
challenging situation and having
to pivot into something else, I
guess. Yes, yes. Um, so if you
now look at your work as a, as
iOS developer, in what ways is
it different compared to the
work that you did at these
manufacturing plants?
Stephanie Chiu: Yeah, I would
say probably the biggest
difference is that I get to work
from home. It's really nice. And
then the second part is that I
don't necessarily have to be
starting work until about 10am.
Because that's when the rest of
my team is like, online. So
that's really, really nice
change. You know, I still wake
up early, I actually wake up
about 630 to seven every
morning, because I find that I'm
most I have the most energy and
the clearest, like minds before
I work, so during that period of
time, I'm just doing doing stuff
related to my coaching business
answering some emails or
messages. maybe making some
content for Instagram, things
like that. Yeah.
Jeroen Leenarts: Yeah. Chris,
you're you're quite active on
Instagram, right?
Stephanie Chiu: Yes, I am. And
it's very interesting, because
there's, there's a lot of people
who are software engineers on
Instagram, but it's not as
common as Twitter, for example.
And I think it's because
Instagram is very visual. And it
does take time to make all that
content. And developers are not
necessarily people who care a
lot about making all that stuff.
But I personally enjoy it.
Because originally, it started
off as a just a simple like,
microblog of me when I was like
teaching myself to code,
particularly in 2020. And as I
found like, Instagram would be a
good way to keep myself
accountable. Because I'd be
posting online, you know, it's
more like a public obligation,
if you will, now that I'm coding
every day, you know, and it
became a, something that's
related. So I pivoted into
pivoting into career coaching as
a creative career coaching type
of Instagram, Instagram page,
because after I got my job with
PayPal, you know, I started to
share some advice about like,
how I became an iOS developer.
And I ended up getting a lot of
questions from people wanting to
know like, how I did this, how I
did that. And I started to make
some more posts that's related
to things that people were
struggling on. I learned that,
you know, over my journey. Over
the past three years, there's a
lot of people who had helped me
and people who are kindly, like,
mentored me or given me advice.
And I thought, you know, it'd be
great to give back to the
community and give that advice
for free. There's not. There's
like a lot of info online about
how to become an iOS developer.
But it's more like the tutorial
part, like just the learning
aspect, there isn't as large of
an emphasis on technical
interviews, and how to craft
your resume when you are
changing your career. And also
how to use LinkedIn so that you
can get more interview
opportunities. So that's what I
ended up doing on Instagram now.
Jeroen Leenarts: So it's
basically the skills you had to
learn to make this pivot
yourself. You're now Yeah, well,
providing that to the community
in a way that, yeah, of course,
you have some benefits from it.
But mostly the people that you
coach with that they have a lot
of benefit if they are able to
execute successfully on the
information that you provide
them. Is it like really a side
thing that creates some form of
income for you? Or is it
something that you just do on
the side, because you enjoy
providing this surface?
Stephanie Chiu: I would say
both, because if you don't
really love something, it's
really hard to continue through,
so it does. So it's not like a
steady stream of income right
now. So I only officially
started taking clients and
whatnot, in the beginning of
January, so it's only been about
two months, two to three months.
But I, I started to like expand
my circle now. So I'm active on
Twitter, if people ask me
questions on their clubhouse, as
you've seen over the past few
weeks, over the past few weeks,
I've enjoyed putting together
some clubhouse rooms to you
know, have more people dive into
topics that I don't see a lot of
conversations around. Like,
there was one recently that I co
hosted about AR in iOS. So I'm
very interested in AR, but I'm
not like an AR developer,
although I was thinking, oh, you
know, what if we can get people
who are experts in the AR space,
or who are AR engineers to like,
talk about it with, with, with,
with all of us. And yeah, that's
what I really like with
clubhouse. And then a few weeks
ago, I decided I was going to
like launch a discord community.
I call it the self taught
Academy. Because I remember when
I was teaching myself to code,
it was it was a very lonely
process, because you don't know
anybody else who's teaching
themselves to code and like,
like, your parents think you're
crazy. Because like, oh, you
know, you're not looking for a
stable job, you're like trying
to pivot to something completely
different, you have like no
experience or connections and,
and so I wanted to provide a
space for other people to be
able to connect with others who
are also on the self taught
journey. And, and within it, I
have a program I call lead
accountability buddies, so that
people can submit some
information on a Google form.
And I personally will match the
person to somebody else. And
that way they can help keep
themselves accountable or keep
each other accountable. Just
build that sort of like
relationship with somebody else.
So they don't feel like it's a
very lonely process along the
way.
Jeroen Leenarts: And and are you
able to help people who
struggled with the question
that, okay, I know how to write
some code, but how do I become
really a software developer
because the people that I've
spoken to that actually are
working on becoming a software
developer are really struggling
with making the leap from just
following some tutorials online
and basically being able to
enter something in in an IDE, so
Xcode in this example, getting
it to run, but then the step of
taking those skills to watch the
step that you are able to
actually develop or actually
participate in creating a
product.
Stephanie Chiu: You know, I do
see that a lot as you probably
have. And I think it has to do
with the material that's online.
You know, a lot of link I'm I
haven't done this yet, but I'm
pretty sure the first thing that
comes up when you type in how to
become an iOS developer are
going to be courses from like
Udemy or Udacity. It's not going
to be. But then again, like the
true roadmap to becoming a self
taught developer, it's not
exactly a straight path. And not
not a lot of that information is
online. And a lot of times what
I tell people, once I, you know,
hear their story is, it seems
like a lot of them. Do just
afraid to make the leap to build
the first few apps, especially
in a very first one, you've
probably seen that before, too.
And yeah, it turns out that is a
problem with one coming up with
an idea and to actually
executing because you've heard
of like, tutorial how you just
have like going through a thing
you don't know. Yeah, yeah,
exactly. And it's a confidence
and an imposter syndrome, sort
of situation that I see a lot.
Jeroen Leenarts: So just as a
side step, what was the first
app that you created?
Stephanie Chiu: So the first app
was what I called lava Kanye
say, that was the title of the
app. Reason thing is that it's a
very simple random quote
generator, all you do is you tap
a button, and some like stuff
that Kanye has said before will
pop up on the screen. And
originally, it was supposed to
be just originally supposed to
be a little more complex, more
complex. So it'd be Oh, you can
choose like, what type of quotes
that you want. And if you want,
like Daisy quotes, so you can
get like push notifications and
whatnot. It turns out that those
quote, API's are out there. The
way they're structured is, it's
pretty complicated. Even when I
use like, postman and I had a, I
had a senior I was developer
friend helped me. I ended up
finding this Kanye API, that was
very simple. To understand the
JSON data structure, I think
that's really important. As
somebody you know, building the
first app is like learning when
to pivot and how to pivot as
well. And then from there, after
I got the core app working, then
it was about like adding some
some flair to it. So ran like
randomize colored backgrounds,
but the background colors are
based off a certain palette
color, adding a little bit
animation to the button when you
tap on it, things like that.
Jeroen Leenarts: So just make it
more playful. Because the core
concept is kind of silly with
like a quote generate from Kanye
West. But that's part of the fun
of the product really. Something
that's something that we didn't
touch upon is I see just because
I have a video here and I can
actually see the background and
your room. And I can actually
tell by the stuff that is around
you're seem to be a creative
person. Is it some of the work
in the background, your own
work, or? Yeah,
Stephanie Chiu: so I have a few
paintings that you see. And I
personally enjoy doing it
because painting is it is hard.
I taught myself oil painting by
watching a lot of YouTube
videos, and watching like time
lapse videos on Instagram just
like learning how people lay
down colors and in what layer in
order and how they blended and
everything. You know, self
taught and everything. But
truly, it's because I don't want
to spend the money to go back to
school to like, go to a boot
camp to take a master class,
although I would really love to
one day take a like a painting
master class. Yeah, I think it's
important for people to have
some sort of hobby, even if
exercising as a hobby, just
because as you've probably
experienced in your life, you
know, having some sort of like
enjoyment outside of work, keeps
you sane, first of all, and then
keeps you more like as a
balanced person. It helps spark
inspiration. And I think that's
really important too, to keep
yourself from like burning out.
Jeroen Leenarts: And the
painting that's that's something
that you do. And you also
mentioned that it sort of like
keeps you level headed. But is
it something that if you would
not be able to do that, that it
would that you would have to
find some One thing that you
could do to replace it as a
creative outlet, or
Stephanie Chiu: you know, funny
enough, I think that over the
past few years, I've so I've
been in a lot of situations
where I had to be by myself,
this was even before I was
coding and stuff. So during that
time, I kind of learned how to
find piecewise myself and find
enjoyment in a lot of like,
small things. So if today, like
I couldn't paint anymore, you
know, I can quickly come up with
like other things that I would
really enjoy doing. For example,
like I actually enjoy writing.
And I found that that's been a
very useful skill, not just
like, copywriting, but also in
the form of like, essays and
stuff. And, you know, that would
be my other creative outlet one
day, and I also enjoy, like
tending to house plants. And I
just love like diving deep into
something once I'm very curious
about it. So that's how I keep
myself busy, besides, you know,
the usual of like, exploring
different restaurants or like
catching up with friends, you
know? So and
Jeroen Leenarts: the, the
creative aspect of your
personality is something that
you can apply in your coding job
as well. Or is there is there
room for that with, with PayPal?
Stephanie Chiu: Yeah, I feel
really lucky and blessed to be
working where I am. Because
there was actually a big
emphasis on, on my manager,
hiring people who, who really
cares about the users. And then
so for me, I'm able to kind of
like channel that on the job.
Because as I'm, let's say, I'm
working on like, design update
that designers gave me, you
know, I'm going to, I'm going to
be very detail oriented. And
then if I think something might
help the user, then I will bring
it up to the designer, or like
the product manager. And so, I
think that's really fun. It's a
lot for me, it's a lot more fun
than when I was working in
manufacturing, where there was
zero creativity, like you can be
creative and other aspects, but
I prefer how to be creative in,
in the tech. So yeah, you know,
there's two different forms. So
there is being creative in terms
of design. But then there's also
creative in terms of like,
coding. So I love having both,
you know, I get to exercise my
both my left brain left side of
my brain and right side of my
brain, like every day, and
that's what makes me happy.
Jeroen Leenarts: It's good that
you can actually enjoy that,
that part of your life that that
takes a significant amount of
hours each working day. So you
mentioned that you work
remotely. And that that's
something of course, due to the
world's conditions right now.
But this is also something that
will be a permanent part of your
working life when the pandemic
is over, or at least in in
handled in such a way that those
kinds of things going back to
the office is again possible.
Yeah.
Stephanie Chiu: So funny enough,
I was actually hired as a
permanent remote iOS engineer,
which I find was is really
great. That was actually part of
my like, my 10 year goal is to
eventually like work remotely,
permanently, whether it's like
if I'm an entrepreneur and
working for myself Wi Fi, and
like that, that company will
allow me to do that. So I feel
really, really blessed about it.
And I think there's always the
concern on team communication,
when you're going to be working
remotely a lot. I think I'm just
fortunate that like my team, we
are very good at communicating.
And also we're open to like
helping each other as well, if
any of us are ever stuck on
something because that was
definitely my concern as a as a
new iOS engineer, who hasn't
worked in tech before, you know,
there's definitely benefits
going into the office, because
you can see somebody and you can
just like go up to your desk,
but then online you're gonna
have to, it's hard to read a
room right online.
Jeroen Leenarts: Yeah, because
there is no room that you share
with the same people. But
considering that you How long
have you been working at PayPal
now?
Stephanie Chiu: So it's been a
really short period of time. So
it's only been since September.
So five, about five ish months,
Jeroen Leenarts: and that's your
first iOS The role that you were
able to attain right? Yes, yeah.
So that's quite amazing that
like in the middle of like this
whole mess that the world is in
you were able to like land your
first job. And how was the How
was the onboarding for like a
first time? employee? Remote?
Pretty much you work on how
onboarding would be in a tech
company, I guess? Yeah. How did
that work for you just, you
know, just getting introduced
just getting like to grips with
your surroundings, which were
like remote. So how did that
work for you as a person?
Stephanie Chiu: Yeah, I would
say that. For one, my, my
manager, she actually has like a
really great onboarding process
for everybody who on boards. So
part of it is to meet every
person on the iOS team, a pretty
large team or about 12 people.
And just to have like, some sort
of FaceTime with them, just like
a 15 minute chat. And I think
that really helped a lot.
Because when you're, you know,
sitting behind your computer
screen every day, and you get
like almost no people
interaction, you don't even know
what your coworkers look like. I
think, I think meeting them face
to face of our webcam is really
great way to break the ice for
sure. And other than that, he
also had like technical videos
to watch. So they were basically
like recordings of some of my
other co workers who were
stepping into the role of, you
know, being kind of like,
instructors on certain certain
just to like, explain the code
base maybe or explain like how,
how we use this particular
software, or, you know, how we
capture data and whatnot. And
then the other part is that, so,
so this is my force job. In
about four and a half years,
I've gone through a lot of
onboarding processes. I will say
that the way Pay Pal on boards
is probably like the smoothest
onboarding process I've ever
come across. Like they had
everything ready for me from day
one. And even though it was
online, it was really easy to
get in touch with like it, and
HR if I had any problems on my
first day. And I think you know,
all those things really do
matter to make a good impression
on you, when you know you're
joining a new company for the
first time. So it was
surprisingly smooth process.
Jeroen Leenarts: So would you
say that, that's finding a box
knife to open up the package,
which hardware was the hardest
thing of your onboarding or
Stephanie Chiu: Oh, my gosh,
when I was a, they somehow were
able to send me my my work
laptop on the first day of work.
And I've never had such a nice
laptop, you know, it's like the
latest one completely specked
out, because my personal laptop
is like a as a 13 inch from John
14. And it's one of those things
where it's
Jeroen Leenarts: like all
together by by duct tape and
bubble gum, most likely.
Stephanie Chiu: Pretty much. I'm
just like, I'm just really
hoping that the next MacBook Pro
is going to have the in one chip
and then upgrade. And hopefully
we'll also have some more light
ports on the side too.
Jeroen Leenarts: Yeah, cuz I
have this. This 13 inch and one
pro here and it's like to use
before ports and it's it's
difficult sometimes. And I know
that Otherworld computing is
putting out a USB hub. That is
supposed to be a good one. But
yeah, they delayed it again, I
think so I'm like really, really
hanging in there to till they
are able to deliver that. And
then hope that it's actually
solid because I've had really
bad stories about these these
Thunderbolt based apps that are
available on Amazon. Oh, I see.
And so would you say that I was
deaf Happy Hour is like a good
practice for introducing
yourself to new people because
at iOS deaf happy hour, they
have these breakout rooms that
really caught me off guard the
first time that I attended one
of these events. I was like
what's happening? Yeah, people.
I'm supposed to talk with them.
Stephanie Chiu: I know. I think
it's it can be pretty
intimidating for people who are
introverted and you know, I'm
naturally introverted, although
I I've pushed myself to be more
social. Because having having
great social skills and you
know, working on public speaking
and yours, yours Social
Presence, I think it's it's a
really good skill in the long
run. Yeah, I think those I was
deaf happy hours, I think people
who are iOS developers, or they
are working towards becoming an
iOS developer, it's like a
really great place to meet other
people who are probably in the
same shoes that you are, you
know, it's all about the
community aspect. And like I
mentioned before, when you when
you have when you feel like you
belong somewhere, it keeps you
more motivated, and, you know,
stops more people from deciding
to like, give up, because I see
a lot too.
Jeroen Leenarts: And would you
consider that if you guess you
mentioned that you are, by
nature, an introverted person.
And I also know that you happen
to like cats, because your cat
is called Midnight, and he or
she is blind? Yes. Would you
turn into like this, this crazy
cat lady if you wouldn't work on
social skills consciously
because you are on your own
working remotely? Quite a lot of
your time? Actually.
Stephanie Chiu: Yes. Oh, my
gosh, I would actually like
that. But instead, I would, I
would, I would get some acres of
land and get some goats and like
some chickens. And, you know,
yeah, it's being off the grid,
but like, maybe like in like, 30
minutes drive to like a city or
something like that. So when I
feel like I do want to be social
again, I can just get away from
the animals. And, like, be
social with people.
Jeroen Leenarts: Because you
live in in the city right now.
Right? Yeah. Lawson Yes.
Stephanie Chiu: i Yeah, Los
Angeles. It's a pretty I want to
say like, it's pretty dead. But
I I've been seeing the smog
situation, go back to how it was
normally. So a lot of people
are, are going out and about
again, and yeah.
Jeroen Leenarts: How did you end
up in Los Angeles?
Stephanie Chiu: Right. Ah, so
the short answer for that is
that my last job was a
manufacturing plant that was in
Los Angeles. So that was able to
bring me into the city.
Especially because it is
expensive to live in. So there's
that part. And then because I
was still looking for
manufacturing jobs at that time.
There are very few that are
located in a big city there.
Usually it may be like 30
minutes to at least like an hour
away from the city. And I think
I mentioned before that like,
ever since I was young, I wanted
to live in a big city, because I
had this feeling that it would
help me in terms of like,
professional and my personal
growth. So I feel really happy
to be here. I have felt myself
like grow a lot. Because I am
living in a big city or now.
Yeah.
Jeroen Leenarts: Yeah. Who
knows? Maybe the the animal farm
somewhere outside in the
country?
Stephanie Chiu: Yeah, yeah,
exactly. So
Jeroen Leenarts: it's always
good to keep on dreaming, I
think. And, like for the for the
talking about dreaming? What are
your plans for the next like,
few years, like two or three
years out from now?
Stephanie Chiu: Yeah. So I would
say like in terms of work as
like an iOS developer, I would
really love to become like a UI
developer. work more on like the
front end. Because you know, as
we have more apps on the App
Store, and as like the older
apps have been on apps or for a
long time, like Uber, or Yelp.
You know, they're, they're
focusing a lot more on the front
end of things. And there is this
emerging, like new sort of role
for engineers who are very
interested in the design and UX
UI aspect of things, but don't
don't but but don't actually
want to become like designers.
So that's something that I'm
very interested in, that I want
to like grow towards. Currently,
I'm just really focused on more
like rounding out my skills,
because previously, I've just
been doing a lot of like UX UI
stuff and a lot of other things
like learning about conversions
or about how to like handle like
internal API's. That's something
that is probably learn more like
on the job and then So, so
there's that aspect in terms of
work, I do want to grow my my
coaching business and be able
to, you know, expand the number
of people that I can help with
those types of like services.
And, yeah, continue just
enjoying life in LA, I think
that's like, the hard part is
trying to balance all three,
because like, My priority is
always going to be like myself,
because if I don't, if I don't
feel awake, then I'm probably
not going to be very productive.
So it'd be like myself, and then
paperwork, and then my coaching
and content creating work.
Jeroen Leenarts: So and if
people want to, like, get in
touch with you, or reach out to
you, what are the best avenues
to do that?
Stephanie Chiu: Sure. So I am
very active on Instagram on on
Twitter. And, of course, I
people can also reach me on my
website. So that is Stephanie
chu.io.
Jeroen Leenarts: With the
coaching business, what are the
things that you can help people
with?
Stephanie Chiu: So with
coaching, there is obviously
like a one to one, long term
coaching. So that what that
really looks like is like I'm my
target audience would be people
who are really interested in
becoming like iOS developers,
but they are just like, too
scared, or they just don't see
like how they can build their
first projects and get to that
dream goal of theirs. So there's
that and I'd be able to, like
help them understand why they're
having like the imposter
syndrome, and be able to do some
pair programming with them to
create their first few projects,
and update, I help them update
their resume and their LinkedIn.
I also do like one time q&a
sessions, because sometimes
people just don't need coaching.
They just want the answers,
either questions answered. And
I'm always happy to do that best
based off, like what my
experiences are. And, of course,
like, I'm always happy to help
people take a look at their
resume and LinkedIn and just do
like a revamp of it. Because I
also have specific methods that
I've used on myself where I used
LinkedIn, to find my jobs,
rather than applying a lot
online or using referrals. So
that's something that i i I
enjoy teaching people.
Jeroen Leenarts: Okay, cool.
Well, I think that pretty much
wraps it up. This was Stephanie.
She had like a lightbulb moment
about shampoo then went into
chemical engineering and ended
up knee deep in toothpaste it
seemed. And after some struggles
there, she was able to like
repurpose herself into an iOS
tech role. It took a while. But
then mid pandemic, she was able
to land your first job at
PayPal. And from what I've heard
from her, she's really enjoying
this new life as a software
developer. And she found a new
way to apply her creativity in
her work. And in her side
hustles and who knows where
she'll end up in the next few
years. I'm really curious to see
what will happen to you as a
software developer and a
community member in the in the
coming decades, maybe even?
Yeah,
Stephanie Chiu: I think there's
gonna be a lot a lot of growth.
I'm very excited about that.