Tell me more about what you’re doing.
I recently got hired to work as a Government Associate, but also as an open-source sales rep at Carahsoft. What I do is place calls with government entities, federal, state, or local, so essentially the public sector. I work on the Red Hat team, and we offer them services so they can work with us as partners and get really good discounts and other benefits.
The company is really like a government aggregator. They go out and get these contracts and do everything under the sun to get government entities to work alongside them. We offer IT solutions with Red Hat, but we also have teams that work with AWS, Microsoft, Salesforce, and Adobe. Adobe is big, Atlassian, and any type of software you can think of. We handle that for the government and offer those solutions specifically for their needs.
I’m still learning how to do quotes. It’s a whole system. We use a CRM and have to make sure we’re tagging the correct agencies, vendors, resellers, and customers. If they want Ansible or OpenShift, we have to ensure all the particulars are correct, and we can send it off to the government for use.
Starting from the beginning, how did you hear about Yellow Tail Tech, and what pushed you to start the program?
During the pandemic, I came from a post-video production background. It wasn’t hitting the same anymore because I was working for myself, and the money wasn’t coming in. I realized I needed to make a change and started looking into tech, something I always wanted to do but never knew how to get into. I tried some software engineering and coding stuff, but I needed help.
In 2023, I had been following Simone B for a year. She kept saying, “Learn Linux, learn Linux,” and I was like, “What’s Linux?” I almost joined another company that promised job placement, but a friend told me not to do it because it was a scam. Then Yellow Tail Tech popped up again, and I thought, “They’re going to teach me Linux, and I’ll be around people who also don’t know what the heck it is.”
I set up a meeting. I forgot his name, but I think he still works there. At the time, I was unemployed after being laid off, and I needed about $1,500 to sign up. I had to ask my sibling, partner, and mom to help me. They all pitched in, and I jumped in. They said the next cohort would be in October. I was nervous. I didn’t want it to be a scam, but Simone felt credible. It didn’t feel gimmicky.
When I joined my cohort, it was hard. My neighbor, who’s a senior software engineer, told me Linux is hard, and he was right. But I had a great teacher, David, and awesome cohort mates like Stefan. Everyone was really helpful. I went through the whole process, including the cert prep.
I failed the test the first time, no shame in that. I hadn’t taken a test in over a decade, and the environment was unfamiliar. But once I adjusted, I passed. I was so happy.
And then came the apprenticeship. What was that like?
The apprenticeship was hard, no sugarcoating that, but I learned a lot. I had a great team: Doty, Kevin, and Cassi. One ticket with Doty took a few days, but he helped me get through it. After completing the apprenticeship, I moved on to a job placement.
I worked with you, Courtney, on mock interviews. They were rough because I’d been working for myself and wasn’t used to formal interviews. I was feeling down after getting laid off in 2023. I had odd jobs, but nothing that paid what I needed. I kept applying and getting rejected. It was discouraging.
But I made a promise to myself that I wouldn’t go through another year like that. I stepped out of my shell. I went to Simone’s GovTechOn event and started talking to more people. That helped a lot.
What are your career goals now?
Ideally, I want to become a media engineer because I love video production. It’s another learning process, but I found a group called Women in Streaming Media and reached out. Alicia, the founder, welcomed me. I also spoke with Polly and Megan, and they brought me on. I’m slowly working with them now, but it’s been a bit slow because I just started a new job and am still finding my footing.
I made a thank-you post to them, and I got a DM from Eric, a media engineer who works with Alicia. He asked me about transcoding media into Ubuntu. I didn’t know how, but I figured it out. We got on Zoom, talked, and it was cool learning something new.
A week later, Carahsoft contacted me. Funny enough, before that, I had a weird encounter where someone tried to scam me into running a script as a system admin on my machine. Thanks to Yellow Tail Tech, I knew not to fall for it.
When Carahsoft reached out, I was thrilled. I spoke with Savannah, who said they were looking for a Linux System Admin. Everything they asked for, I had already done in the program. The number one requirement was having my RHCSA, and I had it.
I interviewed with Emma, and then met my team leads, Michael and Noah, and our sales director, Megan. They’ve all been with the company for over a decade. Thanks to my training, learning in public, and becoming more outgoing, I felt more comfortable during the interview.
They called me back for a second interview. I met Rich, whom I think I now report to. He asked me when I could start. I made a little joke about being plugged in like Neo, and he laughed. Then I got the offer letter. My first day was April 28, and I’ve been training ever since. Everyone’s been super nice and helpful.
What do you think was the turning point when you went from “I don’t know if I can do this” to “I’m going to push through”?
I’m just a very resilient person. I don’t like to lose. I had my tough days, but I kept telling myself, “I’ve got to get past these tickets so I can move forward.” Success depends on your motion. If you’re moving slow, that’s okay, but you’ve got to keep moving. You can’t ask the universe for something and not put in the work.
There’s a quote that got me through: “Your desire to reach your goal has to outweigh your fear of not getting there.” I told everyone, and it helped me. You’ve got to put your feelings aside and say, “I’m going to get there.”
I think of my sister too. She’s a professional dancer. One year, she took time off just to practice, and she ended up booking Beyoncé’s Formation Tour. That kind of dedication is what I try to emulate.
What role did the Yellow Tail Tech community play in your success?
It made me feel comfortable to learn. I’d been out of school for over a decade. Relearning something like Linux, which is expansive, was tough. But being around people like Stefan, Jordan, Tara, Britney, and Francis, it made it bearable.
We were all asking questions. Everyone was contributing. Shout out to the Ansible Cohort 1! We all had our different lives, kids, and jobs. But we came together to support one another, and I appreciated that deeply.
What is one piece of advice you’d give to someone just starting in the program?
Keep your head up and practice. This isn’t easy. You have to have that core belief that you can do it. You’ve already invested your money, now invest your effort.
Success takes sacrifice. Sometimes you have to put in a few grand to move ahead in life. I’m lucky I had a great support system. My partner, my mom, and my sister. They watched me cry, lose sleep, have anxiety, but I always told myself, “I’m gonna get there.”
I didn’t know exactly how, but I knew I had to take these steps to reach that point. Do whatever it takes.
Now, I’m proud to say I’m working as a Government Associate and putting everything I’ve learned into action.
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