Day 1 of #100DaysOfHustle: Introducing Jax!
Hey there!
This is the beginning of story about how 2 people found 30 like-minded individuals, and came together and started a movement. We are currently on week 4 of the Catalyst Programme, we have learnt so much in just a small space of time, not just about each other but about the tech and digital marketing industry. We all have different backgrounds, jobs, motivations… but we have the same goal, to better our future and to teach others how they can change the world!
So where did the idea of #100DaysOfHustle stem from?
A few members of the group had seen #100DaysOfCode on Twitter, which is a @FreeCodeCamp challenge encouraging more people to learn to code. Everyone is welcome to take part in the challenge, only if they commit to 1 hour of coding, per night, for 100 days. Tech is moving at a quicker rate than Programmers are being born, so the @FreeCodeCamp community is a great initiative to get people coding, all ages and genders are welcome. As our group members studied different disciplines it made sense to expand the 100 days out to more creative fields, such as design and copy writing. So, from here we created #100DaysOfHustle, this would give us the opportunity to dedicate time to build our own portfolios.
A bit more about you?
I’m Jax (short for Jacquie), I graduated in Events Management in 2012, after struggling to find a job within Events, I decided to take an unconventional route into the digital industry and started my career as a Commercial Graduate for a tabletop manufacturer in Staffordshire. After I decided I wanted to learn more about Marketing, I decided the time was right to apply for a Marketing Assistant role at a Students’ Union where I learnt everything from managing events to creating webpages. Unfortunately, as much as I loved the role, it was only to cover maternity leave.
With my new set of skills, and hungry for more experience I started life as a CRM Marketing Executive. Working for an automotive group in the North West, I learnt everything from email marketing, data cleansing, to customer analysis. I met a Software Engineer, who told me that with my curiosity I’d make a great Programmer one day, he is now my mentor. We both moved to Liverpool as career opportunities opened up and we moved to the city from a small town we built the foundations of our relationship on.
Following the move, I had the opportunity to work within a hotel chain, which fed my hunger for data, email marketing and customer analysis. Sadly, this wasn’t for me and the commute to their head office was taking up most of my free time, meaning I didn’t have time to enjoy living and to continue to learn to code. I currently work at a digital marketing agency just outside of Liverpool, during my time there I have found the desire to apply myself to become a developer (it was always there, I just needed to open up my mind to the idea of changing careers), I’m learning through my mentor, and by using all the tools available online.
What’s the future looking like for you?
Since joining the Catalyst Programme, I have learnt so much about myself, others, and the industry (it’s huge, and getting bigger). I’m feel fortunate to be part of a group of amazing people, and we all encourage each other to succeed. In just 4 short weeks I have been offered 3 interviews within the area, for Junior .NET Developer roles. All 3 have offered me a job within their company, which is an amazing feat, especially for someone who has always been called a ‘weirdo’! Now I just need to decide where it is I’m going to go…
What will you be doing during #100DaysOfHustle?
I have decided to actively learn to code, I will be committing an hour (if not more) of my day to get to know as much as I can within the 100 days. Someone once told me that girls can’t code… so I’m doing this to prove to myself and them, that girls are just as good at code than anyone else!
I’ll admit that I started my 100 day journey over 2 weeks ago, this was calculated based on me achieving 100 days by New Years’ Eve. I’m currently on day 15, and my mission is to master C# — think Mr Miyagy teaching Daniel the craft of waxing on and off.
Once I have mastered C#, I’ll be conquering JavaScript!
What have you done today?
C# — Obviously!
I have been following Scott Allen’s (the C# Legend) on Pluralsight, today I am learning about classes and objects. His analogy of the class definition being a cookie cutter has blown my mind and suddenly so much makes sense. Maybe that’s because I love to bake and eat cookies, too. I’m hoping to start writing some simple code using C# within the next week, I have set myself a goal of 4 weeks to get to know the language, let’s say in 4 weeks I’ll be a yellow belt!
