#51: K. Mannah Kallon – an Educator who became a Software Engineer at Stitch Fix

[01:15] Mannah talks about his passion for cooking, from getting scholarship at a culinary school to traveling and opening his own barbecue spot.

[03:45] He also talks about his love of gaming, why fighting games are his favorite, and lessons he drew from cooking and gaming that he was able to apply into the next steps of his career.

[05:57] After selling his business, Mannah went back to college to study Symbolic Logic. Mannah explains how he’s able to translate this into teaching and programming.

[07:15] How Mannah became a Math teacher through joining the New York City Teaching Fellows program, the lessons he gleaned from teaching, and how he ended up teaching in Harlem

[11:05] Mannah had a unique approach to getting kids excited about Math through a Pac-Man game he built from scratch that led him to grow his influence throughout the school.

[15:23] The biggest lesson he took from cooking and teaching that helped him in the coding space and what led him to transition into tech and move to the Silicon Valley.

[20:40] His thought process for joining and choosing Dev Bootcamp, his mindset in tackling obstacles, and his advice to those who want to learn how to code but think it’s too hard

[26:50] Mannah describes his Dev Bootcamp experience, his job search experience, the power of making connections, and how he dealt with rejection.

[33:07] How he landed a job at Stitch Fix and Mannah’s advice to get better at onsite interviews including an awesome resource you can use called Pramp

[36:21] The best ways to reach out to folks and connect with people in the tech industry in a genuine way

[43:40] Find out Mannah’s favorite Street Fighter character, how this translates into his own journey, and the one question he asks himself every morning before doing anything.