happy thursday devfriend!

I missed you so much!!! I truly hope you're having a great week so far, and good things are happening for you. 💕

Since it's been a while, you maaaaay have forgotten who I even am. I'm Nicole, creator of La Vie en Code, a resource blog/podcast/membership community for self-taught web developers!

You may also know me as tech's oddball programmatic problem solving savant, and/or my presence on Twitter as @lavie_encode. 😁

Generally speaking, I've been doing well! I moved down to South Florida—the "Gunshine State", ugh—at the start of the year, because it's beautiful here, I was tired of Massachusetts, and my partner (whom I met through Zoom during the pandemic!) is from Broward County.

But, mannnnn... my mental health has skyrocketed as a result of the physical environment change.

I've been spending almost every day by or on the beach. Yes, the people here are off their freakin' rockers and despite being pretty quiet and kept to myself... but maybe the chaos junkie inside me likes it a little? 👀😂

Anyway, when you last heard from me back in October 2021 (yeesh), you were getting some announcements from me about the launch event for my amazing, unique new membership community for self-taught coders, LaunchPad. ⬅ click for more info!

Well, I had the launch event, and... nobody signed up. 🥲

I was a little discouraged because it was so much work to put together, it was such a major passion project of mine, and my heart was truly in it. 😔

But check this: a couple of months later, I actually ran into urgent issues that facilitated my move to FL, and it didn't slowed down until July.

So, as it turned out, I probably wouldn't have been able to give you the personal attention you needed anyway. Remember: sometimes, things happen for a reason.

But what even is LaunchPad?

It's a fantastic (paid) membership community that I built from the ground up, to provide self-taught devs (especially new ones!) with the support, learning, and coaching that you need to succeed—all in one place.

My dream for LaunchPad is to help you become a better programmer and human. And this has been my personal mission since I started teaching myself to code in 2015, when I nearly gave up.

I was floundering, I didn't know what direction I was supposed to go in, and I definitely didn't feel ready to apply to jobs or get hired.

No amount of courses seemed to be able to help, because I insisted on going it entirely alone.

I think I know why I did that now. I was afraid that having accountability and support would make me look weak.

Plus, who was I going to ask anyway? Do you know a single person who provides dev coaching on a personalized basis? I definitely didn't.

I was also pushing myself HARD to become a full-stack dev off the bat, because I was under the (INCORRECT AND HARMFUL) assumption that to be taken seriously as a woman in the industry, I couldn't just rest at the front-end.

I was the one who made things so much harder for myself, when learning to code is already hard as hell.

It took some time, but this month, I decided to renew my commitment to you. 💕

So, I started back learning the front-end from Step 1 on platforms like freeCodeCamp and Treehouse.

My friend... if you're going through this, I (still) have nothing but respect and admiration for you. I definitely take for granted how much I know, and even knowing what I know, I *STILL* got my ass kicked on a lot of topics. 😬

I'm back on the newsletter for good now, so let's talk more about LaunchPad next week. I won't fill your ears (or eyes) any more for this week.

In the meantime, if you want to learn more about LaunchPad, feel free to check out the home page! And if you're interested, feel free to sign up!

Learn more about LaunchPad!

(One thing about signing up—I'll likely be doing another launch event in September, and offering some bonuses for folks who attend.

BUT, if you sign up beforehand, I'll give you any of those promos too, because that's the right thing to do, and I'm just so happy to have you as a member! I want you to get started as soon as you're ready. 😊)

And one last thing—I just want to say thanks for letting me back into your inbox! It really means a lot to me, because I have lots of good things to say. You mean a lot to me, and you give me a deep sense of purpose. 💜
​

​P.S. If you're not already, be sure to follow me on Twitter @lavie_encode! :)

🎙 LVEC Podcast episode of the week: Learning to Think Like a Programmer!

The La Vie en Code Podcast has been kinda dead for a while as I was dealing with life, but I'm coming out with brand new episodes in the next couple of weeks—so stay tuned!

In the meantime, here's one of my most popular episodes:

In Episode 39, I talk about the "developer mindset" and what it means to "think like a developer".

"Think like a developer" is kind of a nebulous term, so I break down some of the common traits you may see in yourself as a programmatic thinker. By being aware of those traits, you can maximize them and use them to your advantage while progressing through your career!

Listen now!

You can also find the podcast on iTunes, Spotify, and Stitcher!

Please SUBSCRIBE to the podcast, too! It's on iTunes and Spotify!

And of course, if you like what you hear, please leave me a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review! I love hearing feedback from my listeners. 😊

Ok, onto the hand-picked resources, and I hope I'll get a chance to see you in the courses! ❤️

💻 dev goodies

Some really helpful and supportive freeCodeCamp forum posts! I ensure they have full threads packed with compassionate, valuable feedback. Definitely go sign up for their forums, even if you don't use FCC!

• ​Can I complete FCC's JavaScript course with basic math skills?​
• ​Feeling slow/seeking encouragement​
• ​​​Lost a LOT of motivation and feeling lost ​
• ​I'm quitting my job to pursue programming​

📝 My First Year as a Professional Developer (by @CoccaGerman)

📝 Do You Solve Programming Problems or Complete Exercises? The Difference Matters. (by Amy Haddad)

📝 Lesser-known CSS display values (by @Ekaterina_Vu)

📝 The Ultimate Python Beginner's Handbook (by @renanmouraf)

📝 Fraction Math: How to Do Fractions for Beginners (by @sandroarobeli)
​lmao I suck at math and this was useful as heck

📝 How to Increase Your Chances of Landing a Development Job (by @harbind_k)​

🎥 FREE COURSE: Learn the basics of computer programming and computer science with this free course (by @beaucarnes)

Psssst... you're awesome! ✨