Humans of Tech is a series that highlights the lives of people building tomorrow’s world. Our aim is to share a kaleidoscope of paths. Entrepreneurs, engineers, investors, product managers, students — we are curious about all stories.
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Kendell Byrd is a Computer Science and Economics major at Swarthmore College.
Kendell grew up in the Chicagoland area and from a very young age developed a fascination for science, engineering, and technology as well as a love for theater and comedy.
In this interview, we go in depth about Kendell’s story and learn about the people and forces that have influenced her path and what motivates her to work so hard.
We explore her multiple experiences in tech as a software developer at Jawbone, JP Morgan, and Facebook this coming summer.
In all of these, what has transpired is Kendell’s strong curiosity for the world, adventurous approach to life and desire to advance the human condition through technology.
It’s a very fun and insightful conversation and we hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
I was thinking we could start off with where you grew up and how everything got started…
I was born in Chicago and then moved to suburb called Flossmoor (which is in the Chicagoland area). Ever since I was a kid, I really loved science, math, and engineering. My dad and my uncles were engineering majors and since elementary school I did things like Science Fairs, Mathletes, Science Olympiad, Robotics, etc.
What traits do you think you take from your parents?
I definitely get most of my extroverted and outgoing personality from my mom. My mom also loves theater and art as well as studied English, which probably sparked my love of theater and comedy. Also, my dad has always liked engineering and math, so I’m pretty sure I got my love and interest in STEM from him. I actually did my first science fair with my dad in 1st grade.
What was the big turning point when you figured out “I want to be an engineer,” this is what I want to do…
During freshman year of high school, I went to this orientation for this boarding school called Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy.
Right after the session I told my parents that I knew I had to go here! “This is my dream school!” I told them. It was a high school with all different subjects and disciplines but specialized in mathematics and science.
So I applied freshman year to attend my sophomore through senior year.
Throughout my time there, I was able to take courses such as problem solving, sound and light, environmental chemistry and all these different engineering courses. I even got to take a computer science course second semester senior year.
What made you like math and science so much at such a young age?
It’s what came most naturally to me and ever since I was a little kid I just loved running around and exploring the world: I was curious about how the planet moved and just how things worked.
It just makes sense and it’s so much fun and STEM can have a huge impact to advance the human condition and just help the world!
How did you get into computer science?
At my high school we didn’t have school on Wednesday. Wednesday was Inquiry Day. We would get to do research projects or entrepreneurship things. My senior year I did a robotics project called “Advancing Communications for the Disabled,” which was inspired by my principal who had ALS.
This project focused on figuring out ways to enable people,who don’t have vocal boxes or can’t use their arms, to communicate! During this experiment we played around with a bunch of EEG technologies, brainwaves, and we started constructing and building an eye writer, using the Playstation camera to track your eye movements.
Also, my advisor was the head of the entrepreneurship program and in this program some students and my advisor would go to 1871 in Chicago, which is this entrepreneurial incubator and hub. Sometimes on Wednesdays instead of working with him in the lab I would go with him to 1871.
The first day I went I was like “What in the world!” It was all of these brilliant people and entrepreneurs working on amazing things. I immediately asked him if he could pair me up with some company so I could learn also start learning about this whole entrepreneurship thing and computer science. That’s when I started learning about coding, and thought it would be neat to start to learn HTML and CSS.
Why Swarthmore, especially if you were so into computer science?
It’s a smaller school so you get so much attention. My boarding school was 192 people in each grade. I really love small, intimate environments. Being able to know all of my professors, students on a personal level.
My first semester at Swarthmore, I went to the head of the engineering department and I was like “Hey can I do research with you” and he was like: “Sure let’s meet in my office.” Instead of interviewing me and making me go through all these processes like they have at bigger universities, he gave me 10–15 projects that he was working on and told me to just pick one. The openness and how much professors care really makes a big difference.
I knew that I would get a pretty similar computer science education wherever I went in terms of the material so the intimacy was more important to me.
Also, I love being able to take a broad variety of classes. To be table to take Compilers and Systems as well as Acting 001 and Psychology in the same semester is so great.
Was Jawbone your first tech internship and how did that happen?
In November of my freshman year someone in our Women in Computer Science group sent an email about this fellowship called CODE2040, which is a fellowship that brings talented Latino and Black engineering students to Silicon Valley and gets their foot in the door.
I applied CODE2040 with the help of my professors and peers here and became a finalist and received the fellowship when I got my offer from Jawbone!
Why did you pick Jawbone?
I talked to a previous fellow before me and she told me that she was allowed to redesign Jawbone’s whole career page that people interact with every day and she started off the summer not knowing much about web development. I was super excited to see that a freshman and someone with not as much experience coming in, could make such huge impact at a company. This is what really leaned me towards Jawbone because, as a freshman, I wanted to make a similar impact as well.
At Jawbone, I was allowed to have a long-term project like this as well as short-term projects that I got to push to their live website about every 2–3 weeks.
How did it go & what did you learn?
I was really nervous coming in because I was just a freshman with less than 1 year of experience and so at the beginning I was afraid of asking people for help, it was kind of like impostor syndrome, would they think I’m dumb, etc.
But then I did and they were all there for me and I think the biggest thing I learned was to reach out, collaborate with others around you, and to not be afraid to ask for help!
So it was a successful internship and you got a return offer. Tell me a little about why you chose to go to JP Morgan of ALL places to go, as a tech person in finance.
So I’m also an economics major here at Swarthmore but what I was doing at JP Morgan was computer science and technology related things. I also picked JP Morgan because they had a Chicago location and I really wanted to be in Chicago, which is where I’m from, and I was able hang with my family and friends more throughout the summer.
And also as an econ major, I thought it would be cool to see how tech interacts with finance.
I got a return offer from JP Morgan also but it was a huge culture shift. I preferred the tech industry and Silicon Valley vibe.
The Jawbone office I was in was around 200 people or so and JP Morgan has a quarter of a million people!
What were the main differences in the culture between JP Morgan and Jawbone?
JP Morgan is a much larger company, more bureaucratic, more processes, instead of pushing code every 2 weeks like Jawbone I would have more longer term project over the whole summer.
At Jawbone I had meetings 1–2 times a week. At JP Morgan my team had meetings every single day! It’s a larger company, so a lot of different branches, everyone needs to know what everyone is doing at almost every day.
What I liked about both was that I got close with the interns at both companies. JP Morgan is actually starting to transition into open desk like tech companies.
And now you’re headed to Facebook this summer. Congratulations! Tell us how you made that happen.
Thank you! I’m so excited. I got an interview through the referral process. Anyone who works at FB can refer you, can get you expedited reach out from the recruiters.
I had two 45 minute interviews, prepared using all sorts of resources like Cracking the Coding Interview, YouTube videos, leetcode, etc. I got these resources from friends, teachers and then got an offer from them end of September
I also interviewed with Apple, Lyft, Salesforce and got offers from all of them.
Why did you choose Facebook?
I chose Facebook out of all of them because I wanted to see what it was like to work at a larger Silicon Valley company.
My passion outside of tech is connecting people and serving others, which is aligned with Facebook’s mission to connect the world.
Do you know what you’re going to be working on there?
Not yet but we’re picking our team soon and I’m leaning toward Instagram or Education or the Public Good team or Internet.org.
What does a successful Kendell look like when she graduates?
That is a fantastic question! That is literally the question I am currently facing and unsure about. But, I know it’s totally fine to be unsure about what I do after graduation. Currently, I would be interested in doing more software engineering or product management work at companies that want to serve and connect people together. Maybe like Go Fund Me or a health company or a nonprofit.
I also am interested in working at a startup. When you’re in my 20s, my parents told me it’s a great time to start a startup or work at a startup. Take risk.
How would you find the right startup to work at?
As I’ve been told, when people interview you make sure you interview them as well. The big factors for me are the mission of the startup and the relevant scope I would be able to do: such as being able to be a software engineering and do management things too (being able to put on different hats). Salaries don’t matter to me as much at all. I’m a big fan of mission, the impact I would make, and the people I would get to collaborate with. I want to work somewhere open minded, inclusive, open to diversity.
Favorite companies right now…
Facebook, Google, Lyft, Jawbone, Buzzfeed
Why do you like BuzzFeed so much?
I really like BuzzFeed. I’m part of the sketch comedy group as well as theater at my school. I think it would be really interesting to combine entertainment media and technology, both of which I really like.
What is a successful Kendell 5 years out of college?
Start in software engineering and transition to more management and leadership roles, hopefully something high in management or product management. I would love to be COO somewhere. Or maybe even be successful in a start-up that I founded.
How about 20 years out?
Also more management roles. Service work, philanthropic, helping bridge different gaps in the tech industry, especially minority groups and different things like that, education, starting computer science at an early age.
What are your interests outside of tech?
Playing soccer and basketball (or any type of sport), doing comedy or theater, watching musicals, hanging out with friends, and going to other schools and helping people learn about computer science/engineering!
Why do you like comedy?
I really enjoy making people laugh and smile and brighten up their day. Sometimes school can be really stressful so to be that person that brings joy to people really excites me.
What is your advice to incoming freshmen to make the most out of their time?
“Act like it’s impossible to fail” is a quote I like to use when people ask me for advice. Explore, try out new things, don’t be afraid to reach out to people. Learn, ask questions, just be curious about the world, be open to meeting new people, and new ideas.
Favorite books?
I really like Flowers for Algernon and Quantum Processes (it’s a superhero book)!
If you were going to be famous, what would it be for?
I would hope it would be for being this awesome executive, making people laugh somehow through an intersection through comedy, entertainment, and technology, or maybe a person who started this huge philanthropic or startup company that is using technology to help to improve the quality of human life such as serving individuals who have disabilities or also helping improve this gap of minorities in tech and women in tech.
Describe yourself in 3 worlds
Energetic, adventurous, and not perfect
If you could have dinner with anyone in history, who would it be?
I have 2 people. Martin Luther King of course and Ellen Degeneres too!
I’m sure you’ll be on the Ellen show someday soon! Tell me what is one thing you believe is true that most people disagree with (the Peter Thiel question)…
I think that everyone in the world is smart. A lot of people have this conception that smart is only academic but there’s all these branches of smartness that people are good and excel at too. There is even this conception of certain majors being more academically challenging than others. However, people are just doing what they’re good at: I’m a computer science major but if I wrote a paper or did something with English I’d be horrible at it. People are athletic smart who play sports, people who are good at communicating with others are interpersonally smart, etc…
Which person who you know personally has influenced you the most, and how?
I would probably say both of my parents, starting from day 1, through sharing their experiences with me, they taught me to not be afraid to be myself, to reach out to people, to work hard, and to have fun in the process. They are two of the people I still talk to most today, even in college. I wouldn’t be who I was today and have the successes I have without them.
How did they teach you that?
All our dinner talks, and putting me into all these different clubs and activities and saying “Hey, this would be awesome to try out” as well as the things they do every day. They are not afraid to take risks and try things out and be kinder to people.
Which person who you have never met has influenced you the most?
Probably Ellen Degeneres. She is just such a positive, energetic person. She embodies many of the qualities that I admire including leadership, activism, service, and self-determination. Her life epitomizes the principle that people can be leaders in their professional and personal life by staying true to themselves and fearless about their beliefs. At the same time, she honors the humanity in people from all walks of life. I just love how Ellen surprises and gives back to her guests all the time and makes people’s life better. Ellen’s quick wit and quirky personality never fail to make people smile. As a talk show host she values everyone whom she encounters. In my life, I practice the phrase that she says at the end of every episode, “Be kind to one another.”
