After teaching college English for ten years, a trauma left Bekah Hawrot Weigel with depression, anxiety disorder, PTSD, and a sense of not knowing where she belonged. And then she learned to code. Her journey through trauma largely coincided with her career change and informed her person-centered approach to learning, coding, and eventually founding Virtual Coffee, a community of developers at all stages of the journey that provides support, opportunities for leadership, and friendship.

Tech can be so detached from people. We have users and developers and titles. And sometimes, we forget that there are human beings with complex lives behind those titles. This talk both acknowledges that and focuses on the importance of community, psychological safety, being open to growing as part of every experience.