Meet The Team: Jen Beltran, Full Stack Developer

Tell us a little about yourself, Jen!

Hmmm. I’m going to follow Jeannie’s lead and answer with bullet points:

• I started taking aerial silks classes as a form of exercise because I found it really boring staring at myself holding a dumbbell for 20mins at the gym. It’s been 4 years and, even though I still can’t do the splits in the air, I can at least do one pull-up!
• I got my cat (Tuna) from a bulletin ad I found as I was scrolling through my phone during a summer trip in Halifax. Even though she was free, she’s my most expensive impulse purchase to date. Cat furniture and vet bills really do add up. Does my cat really need 4 beds, 2 towers, 3 halloween costumes, 2 water fountains, and a high-end electronic feeder? No…but I bought them anyway LOL. 
• I switched my undergrad major 4 times, so I’m surprised I still ended up graduating within 4 years. Actually, I’m surprised that I graduated at all. I then ended up doing not one, but TWO post-grad certificates afterwards. And since all my schooling was done at YorkU, they definitely got a lot of money out of me.

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‍How did you first get into software development?

I spent the majority of my career in the financial industry so I was very late learning about the tech scene. (Commercial banking only sounds nice on your resume, it’s actually really boring.) At the time, I really wanted to be a product manager at the bank so I took an online intro course about product management. The instructor for the course pretty much said that it’s more beneficial to have developer experience. It was a $20 course which I got on sale for $15, so I should’ve known to take his knowledge with a grain of salt. But, because of that advice, I contemplated enrolling in a coding bootcamp for exactly one year. I eventually met a senior web developer at a networking event who used to be in my exact same shoes. We even had similar roles in the banking industry. I didn’t know that my 20-minute conversation with her would have the biggest impact on my career. Because of her, I ended up going ahead and enrolling in coding bootcamp.And here I am now, post-graduation, as a developer and NOT a product manager. Ta-da!

Why did you first join CoLab and what are you most excited about?

I opened up LinkedIn one day and this post was the first thing on my newsfeed.

I just had to see what was up with this Design Systems Architect named Cheryl, so I applied. :)

If you’ve read up until this point, then you either already know how awesome CoLab is or are curious to learn more about us. We’re constantly building cool new features, everyone is super supportive and cares about the work they do, and we have the best and most open leadership team.

‍If you had to be shipwrecked on a deserted island, but all your human needs—such as food and water—were taken care of, what two items would you want to have with you?

Is there unlimited wifi on this island? Does wifi count as a human need? If so, I’d bring my cat Tuna and my phone. I’ve always wanted to turn Tuna into a Tik Tok celebrity.