S1:E5 - How Hobbies Like Powerlifting, Auto Repair, and Music Can Make You a Better Developer

Sometimes, as developers, we can get so wrapped up and absorbed in our work that that it becomes an all-consuming force in our lives. We get into why we shouldn't forget to have outside hobbies and passions, and how they can even help in mitigating things like burnout, imposter syndrome, and can also help with problem solving, as well as soft skills. To talk about how their own myriad of hobbies have made them better developers, we are joined by Milecia McGregor, senior UI engineer at Mediavine, and author of the DEV post, "Why It's Important To Have Hobbies Outside Of Tech," and Kayla Sween, user experience engineer at Dogly, and author of the post, "Powerlifting has made me a better developer."

Show Notes

• DevNews (sponsor)
• CodeNewbie (sponsor)
• DataStax (sponsor)
• Cockroach Labs (DevDiscuss) (sponsor)
• Swimm (DevDiscuss) (sponsor)
• Stellar (sponsor)
• JavaScript
• Mediavine
• Dogly
• Front-end development
• Why It's Important To Have Hobbies Outside Of Tech
• Kung fu
• Ukulele
• Harmonica
• Automobile Repair
• Chevrolet Monte Carlo
• Powerlifting
• Powerlifting has made me a better developer. (Part 1: Interpersonally)
• Powerlifting has made me a better developer. (Part 2: Intrapersonally)
• Olympic weightlifting
• Rock climbing
• React
• Angular
• Saxophone
• Chess
• Xiangqi (Chinese Chess)
• Impostor syndrome
• Soft skills
• Improvisational theatre
• TED
• Magic: The Gathering
• Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game
• Pokémon Trading Card Game
• Dungeons & Dragons
• Warhammer 40,000
• Skateboarding

Milecia McGregor

Milecia is a senior software engineer and has a master's degree in mechanical and aerospace engineering, with published research in machine learning and robotics. She started Flipped Coding to teach people how to code with real-world projects and she publishes articles covering all aspects of software.

Kayla Sween

Kayla Sween is a front-end developer who is passionate about UX and inclusive web design. She strives to make the web easier to use for everyone. Kayla also is a competitive powerlifter, proud dog mom, and wife. Job Info: UX Engineer, Dogly