Create Your Dream

That seems to be Ashley Erffmeyer’s mantra and also current Slack status. As KU Coding Boot Camp grad and software intern at C2FO, Ashley has created her dream of working in technology in Kansas City. Discover how Ashley got started in her coding career and why she’s now giving back as a KCWiT Mentor.

What is your current title?
Software Engineer Intern at C2FO

What piqued your interest in learning to code?
I started attending Coding & Cocktails in January 2018 as a way to learn a new technical skill that I didn’t know much about. I loved that I could learn new coding languages and use creativity to make a functioning website at these sessions. After meeting the Coding & Cocktail mentors and other attendees, I realized coding was a skill that was in very high demand here in Kansas City.

How did you get involved with KCWiT?
I always wanted to give back to the organization that showed me it was possible to become a coder. When I had a good grasp on the bootcamp basics, I looked for opportunities to volunteer at events like Coding & Cocktails and Django Girls.

What was your experience going through the bootcamp?
Going through coding bootcamp was both challenging and very rewarding! The six month bootcamp at KU Edwards was fast paced so if I didn’t completely understand a concept that was covered in class, I needed to do research on my own about the topic. The weekly homework assignments allowed me to create deployed web applications using multiple technologies. In addition, each of the three groups projects helped me understand concepts like agile development, minimum viable products (MVPs), and GitHub.

While things moved quickly in class, we had support from staff members (including three Teaching Assistants) who are tech industry professionals here in KC. Between their encouragement and the encouragement of my fellow classmates, we successfully learned so much!

What was your goal in attending Django Girls KC this year?
I volunteered at Django Girls this year because I wanted to get other women excited about tech here in Kansas City. If they were looking to make a career out of tech, I wanted to let them know it was possible to do so.

What words of advice do you have for other women looking to pursue a path like this?
Attending a bootcamp is something you can definitely succeed at no matter what skill level you have! You don’t need to know everything or do each assignment perfectly. There are a lot of resources out there (Google!) to help you when you get stuck and the KCWiT network is here for you no matter what stage of learning you are in!

Do you listen to music when coding?
Yes – My favorite music to listen while coding is any kind of oldies!

Anything else you would like to share?
Thanks for the opportunity to share my coding journey! I definitely could not have been successful in my career change from mechanical engineer to coder without the help and support of Kansas City Women in Technology.

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We are so grateful for women like Ashley who give back as mentors. Are you a KC Women In Tech? Consider mentoring with us in 2020.