Transitioning to Tech and Writing What You Know with Kara Luton

The episode begins with an introduction from hosts Robbie Wagner and Charles William Carpenter, the third, as they welcome their guest Kara Luton. They share a whiskey tasting experience featuring a three-chord bourbon collaboration aged in Pinot Noir barrels from California, with detailed tasting notes and discussions about how it tastes and what they think of it as whiskey novices.

Kara shares her non-traditional career trajectory, starting from a young age with ballet, including her training at the Joffrey Ballet School, and transitioning out of ballet due to injuries and the realization that her career in dance wouldn't last long. She then moved into public relations within the music industry, working as a publicist in Nashville, before finding her way into tech through a bootcamp. Her background in ballet taught her crucial skills like attention to detail and dedication, which she applies in her current role as a UI engineer.

Kara reflects on her experience attending a three-month bootcamp focused on front-end development, especially in Ember.js, which was quite unique at the time. She discusses her thoughts on the value of bootcamps as a starting point for learning to code, emphasizing the importance of networking and community involvement. She highlights how resources like freeCodeCamp and Codecademy have made learning more accessible now, compared to when she started.

Kara explains how she discovered Ember and appreciates the strong, welcoming community that surrounds it. She discusses how many team members at CrowdStrike, her employer, have come from diverse backgrounds and learned Ember after joining. She emphasizes the importance of contributing to open-source frameworks, like Ember, as a way to gain deep knowledge and give back to the community.

Kara describes how her home office has evolved over time, including her use of a quality microphone and good lighting to improve her remote working setup. She shares her personal hobbies such as crocheting, which she finds relaxing and meditative, and discusses her love for dogs—mentioning her two adopted pets and their personalities. She also talks about her interest in Marvel movies, soccer (especially her love for Barcelona and Manchester United), and her passion for animals.

Kara offers her perspective on NFTs, noting that the core concept of owning a digital asset is valid but criticizing the current approach as speculative and potentially a kind of scam. She references humorous content like a website tracking the 'grift' nature of Web3 ventures. The conversation touches on big tech entertainment themes, including the MCU and various streaming content, with an overall skeptical tone on some of the hype around NFTs.

Kara gives advice for people contemplating a career switch to tech, recommending part-time learning, networking, and engaging in communities like Twitter or local meetups. She encourages beginners to understand that all skills are valuable, and sharing knowledge through blog posts or contributions is a powerful way to learn. The episode concludes with her reflections on her journey, her personal interests, and her encouragement for listeners to pursue their passions.