Real Talk with Christine Beaubrun
Meet Christine Beaubrun, Web Developer at Crew and member of /dev/color.
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
Education: Smith College
A Quote You Live By: "Success is married to stress. Rarely do they appear separately." and "If at first you don't succeed, try and try again."
Connect with Christine: on her LinkedIn.
Tell us a bit about your early years.
I grew up in a family of seven — my mom and dad, my twin brother and three younger sisters — in Brooklyn, New York. Having so many siblings meant there was always someone to play with and when I wanted alone time, I would draw and read. The combination of the two is what led me to learn cursive on my own, create comic strips with my brother, and to create cut-out dolls (complete with their own wardrobe) for my sisters.
How did you get started in software?
My start in software began because I wanted my graphic design skills to extend beyond print. After five months of learning Javascript, HTML, and CSS, I decided being a Front-end Engineer would be my next career move because it best combined my interest in art and hospitality. I then joined Intel.
What are you focusing most of your time on now?
Work, traveling, and reading.
What is the most interesting technical challenge you’ve worked on recently?
The most interesting technical challenge I worked on recently was using local storage. My company decided to build its own internal tool so we could move away from Google event tracking. Local storage is a simple component to use but the pressure of building something with such financial impact is what made this project a challenge. It had to be built from scratch. Thankfully, after many discussions, I was able to build a module that enabled the company to successfully switch over!
Please state 2-3 of your current career goals? Why are these important to you?
There are three career tracks at Crew: technology, people, or product. My ultimate career goal is to decide which one of the three tracks I want to pursue. Consequently, my immediate three career goals are becoming a Javascript architect, delivering projects that impact both the web and mobile team, and lastly releasing features to the public that help solve work-related problems. Dabbling in a little bit of everything should provide me with the information I need to pick a career lane.
In what areas can /dev/color members reach out to you for help?
Members can reach out to me about Javascript and front-end engineering.
As a member of /dev/color you are also committed to developing yourself. Can you share some areas you are looking to improve?
My immediate career goal is to improve my skills in technology, people management, and product. Open to advice, suggestions, and/or recommendations 🙂
Can you speak about any passions outside of programming?
Outside of programming I enjoy traveling. I’ve visited Zanzibar, Cuba, Thailand, Shanghai, and Greece in the past three years with plans to visit Italy, Paris, and London this year.
Why is being a part of an organization like /dev/color important to you?
Being a part of /dev/color is important to me because I’m always reminded of how much I know, how much I know I need to know, and how much more I don’t know I need to know. Thankfully, there is no shortage of members to help me fill in the blanks with their varying professional experience and technical expertise.
Anything else you'd like to say/express?
I love working at Crew because it’s an amazing company with amazing people. We are committed to solving work-related problems by creating awesome software for more than 100m frontline workers. In addition to pushing the Crew team to be the best professionally and personally as individuals. We’re hiring!
/dev/color is a non-profit organization whose mission is to empower Black software engineers to help one another grow into industry leaders. We create environments where Black software engineers can learn from one another and hold one another accountable for reaching ambitious career goals. To learn more, check out our website and follow our blog & twitter account.
