One Couple. Two Nanodegrees.

Meet James and Laura.

James is a tech-focused educator with a desire to focus his career more on technology than education. Laura is a diverse marketer with a focus in multi-platform advertising, food media and communications.

They are a motivated couple who work diligently at their careers, as well as raising their two boys.

“After working for over a decade, James and I often talk about the opportunity for our future, but we felt that we needed more training to achieve our goals,” said Laura Wallace, Digital Marketing Nanodegree student.

James decided to pursue a Nanodegree in Front-End and Full Stack Web Development first.

“It was just the tech-immersion that I needed. Yes, it was challenging to find the time to learn new skills, but the educational tools and assignments were comprehensive and motivating.”

After seeing James’ hard work on nights and weekends, Laura was motivated to try out a Nanodegree for herself. “I work as a Senior Marketing Manager for chain of gourmet food markets, and a portion of my wide range of responsibilities includes managing agencies that execute our digital marketing and website development. I felt that I could benefit from a deeper understanding of the eco-system and how to use the tools. Frankly, digital marketing is my favorite part of my job, I love the creativity, planning and analytics.”

James is still at work on his career change. He recently developed a new platform for his college’s course catalogue that converted a large online pdf to a dynamic, responsive, website. Additionally, he is freelancing part-time as a remote Full Stack Web Developer for a B2B company. James’ goal is to work full time as a developer and is currently pursuing an Amazon Web Services Certification.

Laura is in the early phase of her Nanodegree, but thanks to the self-study module she was able to get a jump start on learning.

“I completed about 70% of the videos before the class started. In a short time, I was able to apply several new tips and tricks to my current job to help make me more effective.”

Laura aims to complete the degree in 3 months and is interested in starting the Data Foundations degree next. Her hope is to evolve her role at her current job or find a new opportunity that focuses her skill set in digital marketing and (hopefully) offers more opportunity for work-life balance, such as working remotely.

Both Laura and James agree that life-long learning helps you to feel motivated and inspired — keeping you agile and excited to go to work. “Our programs with Udacity have inspired us to be better at our jobs and consider new opportunities for future.”

The kids are even getting in on the tech-fun, “For one of my assignments, I created a two person “Connect Four” style game that can be played through two computers. It’s been several months since I created that game and the boys still ask to play ‘Daddy’s’ Connect Four.”