S22:E8 - From Opera to Code (Anna McDougall)

In this episode, Saron talks to Anna McDougall, Director of Product and Engineering for the tech subsidiary of Europe's largest media publisher, Axel Springer National Media & Tech. Anna grew up in Sydney, Australia, and moved to Germany to pursue a career as an opera singer. At 32 she rediscovered her love for code and technology and made the switch to software engineering. She quickly discovered her mix of software and social skills made her perfect for leadership and technical speaking. Today, Saron and Anna discuss her experience in tech and navigating the career transition from entertainment to code. She is also the author of "You Belong in Tech: How to Go from Zero Programming Knowledge to Hired", and is passionate about getting historically excluded individuals into tech.

Show Links

• Turing (sponsor)
• Microsoft (sponsor)
• Stellar (sponsor)
• Rubberducking
• You Belong in Tech
• React
• JavaScript
• The Odin Project
• CSS
• HTML

Anna McDougall

Former opera singer turned software engineer Anna McDougall is originally from Australia, but now lives in Leipzig, Germany. She currently works as Director, Product and Engineering (Projects and Organisation) for Axel Springer National Media & Tech GmbH, based in Berlin. There, she consults on project teams spanning AI, ML, web development, data science/analytics, AR/VR, DevOps, and more. Her work involves lifting up other engineers to better advocate for their work; representing the company's technical teams at conferences, meetups, and events; and also promoting diversity and inclusion initiatives for technical staff. Anna has consistently striven to motivate and drive practical results for others trying to transition into a tech career.

Episode source