[MUSIC]
Hey everyone, welcome to
another episode of Gals.
Today I have with me
Jasmine Greenaway.
>> Hello.
>> Jasmine, what do you
do here at Microsoft?
>> I'm a cloud
developer advocate.
>> So I feel like I've had a lot
of cloud developer advocates,
and it's because,
like 50% of our group is women.
In tech, which is really
rare and impressive, so
I have a lot of options to pick
amazing woman to interview.
So what does that even mean,
a cloud developer advocate?
>> Well, the way I like to
describe it is that a cloud
developer advocate or CDA for
short is a person who advocates
for the cloud with words,
English written or spoken,
like in talks or workshops,
and then with code.
So I want to show you code that
helps you understand what you
can do with Azure, and
the limitations and
the boundaries and all the cool
things you can do with it.
There's just so many things
you can do in Azure and
I want to use the things that I
already know, things that I've
learned throughout the course
of my career, to show developers
how they can use Azure too,
in the best ways that they can.
>> Do you also work with like,
product groups to
make the tech better?
You know the pains and
struggles of a developer, so.
>> Yes, yeah, and
that is part of our job.
So, part of our job is, we go
out to these conferences and
we're talking with folks and
we're just having
a general conversation and
then once they open up to us
they give us really good,
sometimes terse and
sometimes very honest feedback.
And part of our job is to
take that back to our PMs and
just those who are responsible
for funneling that feedback and
transporting the right people so
that change could happen,
so that developers can feel more
comfortable getting started with
Azure.
Or being more comfortable with
integrating extra things or
other things into
their workflow and
just making their lives easier.
>> Yeah, what's your specialty?
>> .NET so I specifically
write a lot of C# so
in terms of .NET, I like to work
a lot with web apps, like NBC,
I also like working with
desktop apps, native stuff.
>> Fun.
>> So yeah, yeah.
>> So before Microsoft,
where were you and,
how did you get to Microsoft?
>> So I was at GitHub.
I was working on the editor
tools team, which was
pretty much a team where we
take your GitHub experience and
put them to your favorite
idea or text editor.
>> Okay.
>> And I worked on the extension
for the GitHub extension for
Visual Studio,
so, shameless plug, [LAUGH] with
century Visual Studio you can
make pull requests,
you can make inline comments,
you can make a new repo,
you can make a gist.
You just highlight a bunch
of code, right-click,
make your gist, and
then it's there ready for
you on your account as long as-
>> So
you should go install it, right?
>> Yeah, definitely install it,
check it out and
it's also open source, so
if you have a issue with it,
you can also always go in and
make a issue or fix it.
>> Yeah.
>> [LAUGH]
>> I love it.
>> Yeah.
>> So how did you get
to Microsoft?
>> So I got to Microsoft
the same way I got to GitHub
actually, it's
a really funny story.
I was speaking at a conference
called DotNetFringe.
It was one of the first
conferences of this type to kind
of promote Open Source and
.NET and that intersection.
And I went there.
My first year I went
there as a volunteer, and
I met somebody there
who introduced me to
some folks at GitHub, and
I ended up there in 2015.
Or sorry, 2016, and
then two years later I came back
as a speaker at DotNet Fringe
and I spoke and
my now manager was
the person who asked me,
have you thought about
working at Microsoft?
I'm like, yes.
>> Did you walk off the stage
and then they approached you?
>> Yeah.
>> They were like
have you ever thought about it?
>> It was really funny, so
after my talk I got a few
people who were like,
I really enjoyed your talk.
>> What was your talk about?
>> It was a talk
about UI automation.
>> Okay.
>> Testing UI automation, so
the thing with us as developers,
we love to test things and
make sure that the one thing
that we fixed works like whether
it be a bug or a feature.
But sometimes with that laser
vision we have an issue not
seeing the whole entire picture.
So maybe some things regressed
or something else is broken and
we just don't realize it and
that was a problem that we were
coming across in our very
small team at GitHub.
So I wrote this UI automation
framework to kind of alleviate
that stress.
So after I got off the stage,
Scott Hensley came up to me and
he was like,
hey, some people are wanting to
talk to you about your talk.
>> [LAUGH]
>> And just be open-minded,
just be open-minded.
And, for me, being a .NET
developer for about eight years
now, I knew that at some point I
would make my way to Microsoft.
At one point or
another I was gonna end up here.
>> Okay,
that was always the plan.
>> Yeah, that was the plan.
>> All right, all right.
>> So I just didn't know
it would happen so soon.
So I got back home and I had a
DM from my manager Scott Keaton.
He was like, what's your
schedule looking like,
do you wanna come in for
an interview, let's chat.
I was like okay.
>> So that's some good advice.
Give a talk at a conference,
have a Twitter account,
keep open DMs, and
the job offers will come in.
>> Right, for real,
it is all about saying yes and
kind of making yourself
a little uncomfortable,
I have always been nervous
about public speaking, but
that is definitely going away.
>> Yeah,
they'll throw you in there.
>> Just like being uncomfortable
really opens yourself to so
many doors and there's so
many opportunities that you
didn't realize were there.
>> Yeah, for sure.
That's great.
So before all this GitHub,
Microsoft magic and .NET fringe.
Let's go back,
let's go back in time.
Baby Jasmine.
What was your first
introduction to tech?
>> So my first introduction to
tech was technically when my
sister's close friends,
we got this new computer and
we got a printer.
And there were times where
the printer just wouldn't print.
>> [LAUGH]
>> And so this woman,
her name is Concie.
I'll never forget here and
I mean, I don't know,
I hope she's doing well and I
haven't spoken to her in years.
But she would come in and
she, we would call her and
she come in and
she would do her magic.
And I would just kind
of watch her and
a lot of it was just
restarting the computer.
[LAUGH] And sometimes she would
go into device settings or
something like that and
I was like, okay, cool.
And eventually she helped me
learn how to fix it myself.
>> Yeah.
>> So at that point we didn't
have the Internet yet.
We didn't,
we hadn't bought Internet yet.
But then, maybe like a year
later, we finally had AOL.
>> Yeah,
>> That's my ringtone.
>> Are you serious?
>> Yeah [LAUGH].
>> How much was it,
how'd you buy it?
>> It was like $0.99
in the iTunes store.
[LAUGH]
>> [CROSSTALK] That's awesome.
Whenever it goes off, everyone's
like what, that sounds so
familiar, what is that?
[LAUGH] But I had AOL and
I came across this
site called GeoCities.
Now, before I actually
started using the Internet,
my mom bought this program
called Corel Suite
which is pretty much,
it's kinda like
the Microsoft Suite where you
have Word and stuff like that.
So Corel had its own thing,
it has its own word processor,
presentation kinda stuff, and
so I'd use that to make these.
I used presentation to make
these silly slide shows so
they had all these cool clip
arts with blank faces that you
can put all kinds of weird faces
on that and I called it the ugly
show [LAUGH] because it was
just these random faces.
>> You were a cartoon
artist at one point.
>> Yeah, yes.
[LAUGH]
>> Okay.
>> So I was just putting
random clip art,
kinda like Mr. Potato Head.
>> [LAUGH]
>> [LAUGH] This clip art, and so
I wanted to put these
on the Internet.
And so I came across GeoCities,
and I was like, okay, fine,
well, I can do it.
And so
I We put them on GeoCities, and
I don't think anybody
ever went to them,
because I had a guest book but
no one ever signed it.
>> Aww!
>> But then I eventually made
sites about my favorite bands
and just random things.
I think I made one about pickles
because I love pickled foods and
fermented things, it's my thing.
[LAUGH]
>> How old were you when you're
doing this?
>> 11.
>> That is so cool
>> [LAUGH]
>> That's awesome
>> And that eventually went to
when LiveJournal came out,
I was making custom layouts for
friends, and I got paid for
it a little bit.
>> Yes.
>> And then it eventually
went to MySpace, and so
I was making little layouts for
friends and things like that.
But at the end of the day,
I didn't think that I would ever
want to be a computer scientist,
software engineer,
web developer.
My lifelong dream was
to be a meteorologist.
>> So
I watched the movie Twister, and
that changed my life.
[LAUGH] I really want to study
the weather, I didn't want to be
on TV, but it's kind of wanted
to do like they were doing,
throw some of these computers,
tiny computers in the air and-
>> Read the temperature for
the twister is
coming in to town.
>> Right, right, exactly and
just go across in like remote
areas in the Earth and study
climate and stuff like that.
>> [CROSSTALK] That's awesome,
what happened?
Did you go to school for that?
>> I went to school for that.
>> That's awesome.
>> I went to this
college named Embry-Riddle
Aeronautical University.
It was initially a school for
pilots, and then eventually it
started adding more programs, so
you can go there, you can pretty
much go there to be a rocket
scientist, I'll just point out.
>> Nice.
>> And they had
a meteorology program, and
I went there with a minor in
computer science, because it
kinda gives you a competitive
edge as a researcher.
So I was taking
these CS classes and
I'm like,
I like this better [LAUGH].
And so I stopped at
atmospheric physics, and
I was like okay I've had enough.
This is interesting stuff but
I'm gonna finish this class and
then I'm gonna move onto to CS.
And so basically I ended up
minoring in meteorology and-
>> So you switched it.
>> Yeah I swapped, so
my official degree is
Software Engineering.
>> With a minor in Meteorology
>> [LAUGH] A minor in
Meteorology.
>> That's so awesome.
What was it about the computer
science class that made you say,
I love this?
What were you doing that
just sparked an interest?
>> Man.
>> I took this Pearl class, and
part of one of our assignments
was to make a calculator and
I was like, this is really neat,
and I was so proud of myself
when I was getting a good grade,
and I take a look at this like,
I like this better.
>> I built something.
>> Right.
>> Yeah, I built this.
[CROSSTALK]
>> And it does equation.
>> Right.
>> It's just amazing.
>> Right.
Right, and
would take it home to my
parents and be like, "mom,
dad, look what I did."
>> Did they even believe you?
Or were they like, what, no,
that's a computer program.
>> Right, they were like,
we don't know what this is, but
we're happy for you.
[LAUGH]
>> That you're so excited.
>> Right, exactly, we're
excited that you're excited so,
you know, keep up the good work.
And so, I realized, I was like,
this is, I feel more fulfilled
building these things than
figuring out all these equations
or sitting, spending lot
of time in a calculator.
I mean, I still find weather
it is very fascinating,
the hurricane season I'm on it,
I'm looking at the-
>> I know you were talking to us
about that before I'm like
why does she know so much?
The hot weather pods make this,
do this, like, what?
It's a passion, obviously it is.
>> [LAUGH]
>> That's amazing.
>> So yeah, I still love it, but
building stuff is definitely
where I saw myself
in the future.
Because when I was in college,
I was, do I want to do this for
the rest of my life?
What do I want out of my life,
what's going to make me happy?
How am I nna be happy
after I finish college?
>> Because you’re a very mature
twenty-something year old.
I’m impressed.
>> [LAUGH] I’m going
to the real world and
I know it’s gonna be different,
and I want to be happy, so
I really thought about it for
a long time.
My mom definitely was, I went to
a private school and my mom was,
this is really
an expensive move.
You went to this school because
it was one of the closest
schools for Meteorology,
do you just want to come back
to your home town and finish CS?
And I was like, no, let's do
it here, I'm already in it,
let's just do it.
>> Let's just finish it.
>> Yeah. [LAUGH] >> Was
it out-of-state tuition?
>> Okay, it was in-state.
>> Same but it was private.
>> It was private, so
it was a little pricey, but
I wouldn't change it for
the world.
>> Nice,
that's a great experience.
I love that.
What was your first job out of
college?
>> So
my first job was this company,
that it was a Internet as
a service platform for
municipalities and organizations
to send out alerts to
those who might sign up to it,
their notification service.
So it was pretty much, maybe
there is a festival happening or
maybe there is
an emergency situation.
Someone was responsible for,
somebody who had bought
the service was responsible for
logging into a site and sending
out a detailed message or
whether it be a voice message or
a text message or an email.
>> Okay, cool.
And alerting those that had
signed up for the service.
>> So you worked on that?
>> Yeah, so I worked,
at that point, I was pretty
much a full-stack developer, so
the story is that I ended up
working there as a part-time
intern, but
then they hired me full-time.
And so I was doing a lot of
JavaScript, C#, I learned a lot,
so and that was around the time
that jQuery started coming out.
So there was a lot of cool
things you could do and
a lot of interactive things,
so it was a lot of fun.
I had to learn a lot, and
I had a really great mentor,
and her and I will try to keep
in touch once in a while.
And I always tell her,
thank you so much for
like sitting behind me and
looking at me.
And at that point I
was running vb.net.
>> Yeah.
>> And so
it was a really great
segway into C#,
because eventually the whole
team moved into C#,
which is a really great
transition for me into that.
>> Nice.
>> And
she was really great at helping
me every step of the way.
>> That's awesome.
So how long where you there for?
>> So I was there for
about two years.
>> Okay.
And then what was the next role?
>> So I went to
Sears Home Improvement products.
>> How did that happen?
>> So I was just ready
to be kind of, so
where I was living at the time,
I was living in Florida and
I was living in this
area called Port Orange,
which is right outside of
this area, Daytona Beach,
where they have the Daytona 500,
and all that.
And I was like, I want to be
a little bit closer to Orlando,
which is maybe an hour
west from Daytona Beach.
So I was just like,
you know what,
I'm going to just apply to
certain jobs in the area,
see what happens,
get some feelers out there.
And Sears was just like, yes,
let's hire you, come over,
come over to our side.
>> Nice.
>> At that point it was
a really good exercise, and
just learning experience in time
management, cuz I was working on
a web app and I was working
on some Winform apps-
>> Okay.
>> And I was also doing some
customer service stuff,
like you sent this ticket saying
that this thing is not working,
what's not working?
Can we get some screenshots and
that kind of thing,
and part of my job sometimes
was to go in and fix it.
>> Wow, that's interesting.
You always forget that every
single company has a huge tech
board within it.
>> Yeah.
>> So you never think Sears,
tech, no way, obviously, Sears-
>> Yeah.
>> Tech, they need support.
>> Right.
>> They build apps,
they have websites.
>> Exactly, and the same thing
happened at my next job,
so at that point I was like,
okay, Orlando's cool,
I'm ready to get out of Florida.
So I came home one day,
I sat at my coffee table,
I spent five hours working
on cover letters and
redoing my resume and
I applied to all over the US.
I applied mostly San Francisco,
Chicago, any large-
>> Big cities.
>> Yeah, big cities and
I applied to New York, and I-
>> How many resumes you
think you sent out?
>> I think I sent out
maybe about, I think ten.
>> Okay.
>> And I was okay-
>> Like every had a customized
cover letter?
>> Yeah, there was one where
I made a mistake where I
accidentally sent a cover letter
that I meant for another one,
it was like oops, and
they definitely said
no the next day
>> [LAUGH]
>> And I was like, okay, sorry.
>> Shut down.
>> It's like my bad,
okay, I totally deserve that But
the cover letter that I sent
to them was actually did go to
the company that it was intended
for, and I got hired there.
So, I ended up at
Rockstar Games, and
I work on some internal stuff
I really can't talk about, but
I was also writing .NET.
>> Gaming is very secretive.
>> [LAUGH]
>> They don't tell you anything.
>> They don't, and
then you sign NDA, on NDA,
on NDA before you even
walk in they're like,
no you gotta sign
this thing [LAUGH].
>> Okay, one gaming question,
did you get free games?
>> I did, I did, and-
>> Worth it.
>> I got my name in credits.
My name is on the PC, PS4 and
Xbox one versions of GTA 5.
>> So what was the transition
from word apps and websites,
to gaming?
It seems drastic.
>> Well,
it wasn't too different for me,
because a lot of
my stuff was like,
it was part of asset management,
so that's as far as I got.
So I didn't really have to fully
immerse myself into the whole-
>> Graphics.
>> Graphics, yeah, so
it wasn't too intense, but
a lot of my stuff-
>> Still asset management for
a game is probably intense,
like huge terabytes of stuff?
>> Right.
>> I don't even know.
>> Yeah, so part of my
job was still web stuff.
So it didn't really,
like all the skills that
I had in my previous job,
it still applied at Rockstar.
>> Yeah.
How long were you there for?
>> So I was there for about,
I think maybe a year and a half?
>> And still in the back of your
mind were you still always like,
Microsoft, I'm gonna
come to Microsoft?
>> Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.
So, and at that point, yeah, and
then, I was also, at that same
time, when I moved to New York,
I went to grad school.
I did the grad school online
at University of West Florida.
>> Nice.
>> Cuz for me, I was just like,
I can't afford to
really quit my job.
So I did it online.
I found a solution to take
these classes online.
>> Yeah.
>> It worked out really well
for me.
So, I was thinking about
considering putting
feelers out there when I
graduated and moving on, but
then an opportunity came to me
when I went to .NET Fridge.
>> Yes.
>> It was a really interesting
story.
I just took a chance, and
I just went to Portland to this
conference, and that was around
2014 when they announced to me
that .NET was going over to
source, and all this other
stuff, and I was like,
you know what, I’m gonna go.
I'm just gonna go and
see what happens.
I didn't know what
was gonna happen so
I got like a really cheap
Airbnb, at Airbnb, and
they were like is it
hostile type listing, and
at the same time, there was
a beer festival going on.
So it was a bunch of four
bunk beds in one room.
>> Wow.
>> And so
it's me with all these
other people coexist-
>> And you're interning, right?
>> Sorry?
>> Were you interning at .NET
Fringe or speaking?
>> I was volunteering.
>> Volunteering.
>> Yeah,
that was our first year.
>> Okay.
>> So I was like I don't,
like tickets are really
expensive for
me right now, I'm like, let me
volunteer my time and, yeah, and
that worked out really well.
>> It did.
>> And I'm really glad.
[LAUGH]
>> You went to GitHub,
now you're at Microsoft.
>> Yeah.
>> Love it,
that's a great story.
>> [LAUGH]
>> What was your Master's in?
>> Software Engineering.
>> Okay.
>> So yeah-
>> So how long did it take
you, two years?
>> Yeah, two years.
>> Okay.
>> So yeah,
just a lot of writing,
a lot of researching,-
>> Yeah.
>> And yeah, and
I don't regret it.
It really was another exercise
in like time management.
>> Yeah.
>> Knowing that
there were some times I
had to give up weekends.
>> Yeah.
>> And it really sucked for
someone who was new to the city
to have to like say I can't
go to that party.
I can't go out.
>> I got to study.
>> I got to study.
[LAUGH]
>> That's great.
You have to push yourself.
I love it.
>> Yeah it was worth it.
It was all worth it.
[LAUGH]
>> She's gonna be running some
group.
She's gonna be VP one day,
I promise you.
>> [LAUGH]
>> All right, time for
our lightening round.
Let's wrap this up with
ten questions I've written
down here.
All right, ready?
Don't even think about it.
>> Okay.
>> Coffee or tea?
>> Coffee.
>> Star Wars or Star Trek?
>> Star Trek.
>> First thing you do in
the morning before you
start working?
>> Look in the fridge.
>> [LAUGH]
>> What to eat today?
>> Yep.
>> One thing you spend money
on that makes your life easier?
>> Delivering groceries,
getting my groceries delivered.
>> What do you use?
>> I use this app called
FreshDirect, and yeah, it's just
for me, that's like one of
the chores that I hate doing,
is like going grocery shopping.
>> Yeah, especially in
New York City, it's super hard.
>> Gosh, and it's so packed,
and so I'm just like,
order my groceries, bring
them to my door, and be set.
[LAUGH].
>> Worst buyer remorse?
>> Man smart watch.
I just don't need it.
I don't need to be so-
>> Buzzed in, yeah.
>> Yeah, attached to my phone.
I'm at the point now where
I'm turning off most of
the notifications on my phone.
>> Yeah, I can't do it.
I have to have it shut off.
>> It's so overwhelming.
>> Text is the only thing I get.
>> Yeah.
>> It's too overwhelming.
Biggest online time waster?
>> Man.
Ads.
So on Instagram,
they've been like really good at
like tailoring ads just for me,
and so I spend a lot of time,
maybe like, what's this?
What's that?
>> Really?
>> Yeah, and I'm just like,
I got to stop.
I don't need to buy all these
things, and I'm spending my time
thinking, I'm like,
what would this look on me, or
well how would my face look
if I bought this makeup, and
I'm was like, no.
>> That's so true.
I do fall for the Facebook ones.
>> Yeah, I'm just like, I can't.
>> Your friends liked it,
I was like they did?
>> Yeah, [LAUGH], yeah.
>> You're right.
I do fall for that.
>> Yeah,
I was just like I gotta stop.
>> What was the last
thing you fell for?
>> The last thing I fell for
actually it worked
out really well.
I found this hair care product,
like this hair care set.
They tailor it to you, so
you pick what's your hair
composition like, and what
problems are you facing, and
it actually worked
out really well.
>> Really? Yeah. >> And
I actually ordered a second
shipment of it cuz it was great.
[LAUGH]
>> Nice, people are always like
I don't want them to
know my information.
I'm like,
I'm okay with tailored ads.
>> Yeah.
>> Like if it's like
something I need.
>> Yes.
>> Then hook it up.
But I don't like it when I've
searched for it, and I bought
it, and it's still showing.
>> Yeah, that's the worst.
>> Man, that's so annoying.
>> Right.
>> Or
I'm just researching it and
it's showing me the same things
I've already researched.
Like, come on.
>> Absolutely.
>> Give me something fresh
in there.
>> Right?
[LAUGH]
>> Just some advice for
you ad people out there.
>> [LAUGH]
>> Favorite app?
>> My favorite app is,
I would say,
it's this app called Overcast.
So they are, it's a app for
podcasts, and
I like it cuz I can kinda
tailor the speed, and
I think you can do that on the,
I have an iPhone.
So I think you can do it on
the iOS podcast one, and I think
the thing that appealed to me
most is that it's easier for
me to share episodes, and also
share my playlists with others.
So I think that's why I have it.
I haven't opened
the iTunes podcast, or
the other app in a while,
the native one.
So I don't know what
it is like now, but
Overcast I'm used to it,
and it's my thing [LAUGH].
>> What's your
favorite weather app?
>> My favorite weather
app is just the iTunes weather,
>> The iPhone one?
>> Yeah, but I also do love
weather Underground Radar, so
I have their radar app, but
it's like very, very beefy, so
you gotta be very, very careful-
>> Interested
in knowing that kind
of information.
>> Right, but
it works really well for
me, cuz I will look at
the iOS weather app, and
I'm like, okay so
is it raining or not?
40% chance of rain.
Let me look up the radar, let me
see where the rain actually is.
So I'm like, okay, so
I can be prepared for real.
>> Yeah.
>> Like if I'm going out for
an hour I don't
need my umbrella.
I'll make it back
before the rain comes.
>> Yeah, yeah that's smart.
I need you.
I'm gonna text you from now on.
>> [LAUGH]
>> Is it good to go
outside without a jacket?
>> [LAUGH]
>> No, okay.
What is a story of adversity
that taught you a valuable
lesson?
>> Working remotely.
>> Yeah.
>> So
my first experience working
remotely was at GitHub.
I had a team, we were a team
of four or five, and most of
my team was in the EU, so like
about six hours ahead of me.
>> Wow.
>> So
learning how to reorganize
my schedule around like
the times where I need to
collaborate with them.
>> Okay.
>> And it was like a really,
it's been, it's still
like a process for me,
learning what works and what
doesn't with my time management.
>> Yeah.
>> And like my task list.
>> So I've never,
I rarely work from home.
I have to be physically
here a lot of the time.
Time what is that like?
Do you put a set schedule,
do you have to be like I'm
not gonna touch my computer
between these hours
because it's my own time?
And when I go home I look
at my phone and that's it.
I'm not opening up my laptop too
much, cuz I give you my time
here I don't wanna give you
my time else where okay.
>> [LAUGH]
>> So
how does it work for
working from home?
How do you separate the two and
not feel so stress that you have
to do all this work
when you're at home and
how do you divide it?
>> So towards the end
of my time at GitHub,
I learned this really great
process that, I actually let my
manager at that time at
GitHub to help me out with.
She said pick three things,
three things that you need to
get done today, or you really
want to get done today,
and then add some stretch
goals after that.
>> Okay.
>> And know that, and
also always at the end of your
day reflect why didn't these
other things get done.
What was your blockers?
And do you need to figure out,
assess whether or
not you need to ask for help.
>> Okay.
>> And so
doing that really gives me laser
focus especially when you're
working from home.
It's so easy to kind of go off
on tangents because you're by
yourself.
I feel like when you're
in an office setting,
everyone just the environment
the general morale
of the group is work,
work, work, heads down.
But hen you're by yourself
it's so easy to say
I live in New York so I pretty
much live in a shoe box.
So where I work is
also the kitchen.
So I'm looking across
from the fridge everyday.
There's dishes.
And there might be dirty dishes.
I can just be like,
wait these dishes are dirty.
Let me just wash them or
the cat's bothering me.
>> Yeah.
>> So for me being able to say
these are things that I need
to focus on and
then just going for it.
And so in addition to that,
I also use a pomodoro timer and
that basically is just a timer,
you set 30 minutes to dedicate
yourself to one thing.
>> Okay.
>> And
then when the timer goes off you
take a five minute break and
then you go again for
another 30 minutes.
>> Okay.
>> So that's been really helpful
for me cuz I'm like the timer
has gone off yeah let me focus
in and then so I have one that's
integrated into my browser.
And so when its on,
I have it block
other sites on Indigo too.
So Twitter, anything that could
be a distraction, it blocks it.
So it's like nope,
get back to work.
[LAUGH]
>> Yeah, I love that,
that's a good one.
>> So yeah.
Now at the end of the day, there
are definitely some days where I
definitely work
a little bit too late,
but for me what I've learned
is having an evening plan.
So I'm so
excited to go play this game, or
I'm excited to go hang
out with my friends,
it's having something to
do at the end of the day.
>> Yeah.
>> When it's like after work-
>> That's when
you're like, I'm done.
>> Yeah, so it's like,
I have to close my laptop.
Because I have to go.
[LAUGH]
>> Okay, sweet,
that's good advice.
Last question,
what's your advice for
the younger generation that
want to get involved in tech.
>> Man.
There's so
many things I could say.
I would say try doing
one thing at a time.
You see something really cool,
maybe on the Internet or
something like that,
that looks really interesting.
Maybe, let's say, pixel art.
That's something I'm
trying to learn right now.
Just one thing at a time.
Try to make maybe a happy
face with a pixel and
then kind of build on that.
>> Yeah.
>> Make it incremental so
that the point that you're at,
maybe you'll stop at and
come back to it,
you'll be proud of that and
be like, okay.
I learned how to make an actual
character of pixel art and
now I want to make
it into a spider.
I want to make it animated but
I have to do all these other
things let me come back to it.
But I'm really proud that
I did this one thing.
>> Yeah.
>> So just one thing at a time.
It's really important especially
with so many tools and
frameworks and things now-
>> It's overwhelming.
>> It's so overwhelming.
And so you have to just take
piece by piece and bit by bit.
>> I love that,
that's solid advice.
>> [LAUGH]
>> Cuz when I look
at the holistic,
I'm like I freeze.
>> Yeah!
Anything or I'm gonna make a
calculator app or I make a pixel
animation like when we just
focused then we can get it done.
>> Yeah.
>> That was great, love
the advise, love your story.
Thank you so much for
being on Gal.
>> Thank you for having me.
>> See you guys later.
>> Bye.
>> You're so cool.
>> [LAUGH]
>> Can you show me your PhD too?
That should be your next thing
>> I would love to,
it's just, man I have so
much work.
>> I know,
that's a seven year commitment.
>> Right!
[LAUGH]
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