Evan Alger

5 results

Away From the Keyboard: Rafa Liou, Senior Partner Marketing Manager

Welcome to the latest article in our “Away From the Keyboard” series, which features interviews with people at MongoDB, discussing what they do, how they prioritize time away from their work, and their advice for others looking to create a more holistic approach to coding. Rafa Liou, Senior Partner Marketing Manager at MongoDB, was gracious enough to tell us why he's not ashamed to advocate strongly for a healthy work-life balance and how his past career in the wild world of advertising helped him first recognize the need to do so. Q: What do you do at MongoDB? RAFA: I’m a Marketing Manager focused on MongoDB’s AI partner ecosystem . I help promote our partnerships with companies such as Anthropic, Cohere, LangChain, Together AI, and many others. I work to drive mutual awareness, credibility, and product adoption in the gen AI space via marketing programs. Basically telling the world why we’re better together. It’s a cool job where I’m able to wear many hats and interact with lots of different teams internally and externally. Q: What does work-life balance look like for you? RAFA: Work-life balance is really important to me. It’s actually one of the things I value the most in a job. I know some people advise against this but anytime I’m interviewing with a company I ask about it because it definitely impacts my mental health, how I spend my time outside of work, and my ability to do the things I love. I’m very fortunate to work for a company that understands that, and trusts me to do my job and, at the same time, be able to step out for a walk, a workout, not miss a dinner reservation with my husband, or whatever it is. It makes a lot of difference in both my productivity and happiness. After I log off, you can find me taking a HIIT class, exploring the restaurant scene in LA, or biking at the beach. It’s so good to be able to do all of that stress-free! Q: How do you ensure you set boundaries between work and personal life? RAFA: I usually joke that if you do everything you’re tasked with at the pace you’d like things to get done, you will never stop working. It is really important to prioritize them based on value, urgency, and feasibility. By assessing your pipeline more critically, you will be able to distill what needs to be done right now and also be at peace with the things that will be handled down the road, making it easier to disconnect when you’re done for the day. It’s also important to set expectations and boundaries with your manager and teams so you can fully enjoy life after work without worrying about that Slack message when you’re at the movies. Q: Has work/life balance always been a priority for you, or did you develop it later in your career? RAFA: Before tech, I worked in advertising, which is a very fast-paced industry with the craziest deadlines. For some time in my career, working relentlessly was not only required, but it was also rewarded by agency culture. When you’re young, nights in the office brainstorming over pizza with friends may sound fun. But it starts to wear you out pretty quickly, especially when you don’t have the time, energy, or even the mental state to enjoy your personal life after long hours. As I matured and climbed a few steps in my career, I felt the urge and empowerment to set some boundaries to protect myself. Now, it’s a non-negotiable factor for me. Q: What benefits has this balance given you in your career? RAFA: By constantly exercising prioritization, I’ve become a more efficient professional. When you focus on what really matters, you are also able to execute at higher quality, without distractions or the feeling of getting overwhelmed. Of course, with prioritization comes a lot of trade-offs and discussions with stakeholders on what should be prioritized today versus tomorrow. So, I think I’ve also gotten better at negotiation and conflict resolution (things I’ve always struggled with). Last but not least: having consistent downtime to unwind makes me more creative and energized to come up with new ideas and take on new projects. Q: What advice would you give to someone seeking to find a better balance? RAFA: First and foremost: don’t be ashamed of wanting a better work-life balance. I often find people living and breathing work just because they don’t want to be seen as lazy or uncommitted. Once you understand that a better work-life balance will actually make you a better professional—more intentional, efficient, and even strategic (as you will spend energy to solve what creates more value in a timely manner)—it will be easier to have this mindset, communicate it to others, and live by it. Something more practical would be to start a list of all the things you have to do, acknowledge you can’t finish them all by the end of the day (or week, or month), and ask yourself: Do they all carry the same importance? How can I prioritize them? What would happen if I work on X now instead of Y? I would experiment with this approach and check how you feel and how it impacts your day-to-day life. You might be surprised by the result. Making time for personal life events, hobbies, and meet-ups with family and friends will also help you have something to look forward to after closing your laptop. This is all easier said than done but I guarantee that once this becomes part of your core values and you find the balance that works for you, it is totally worth it! Thank you to Rafa Liou for sharing his insights! And thanks to all of you for reading. For past articles in this series, check out our interviews with: Senior AI Developer Advocate, Apoorva Joshi Developer Advocate Anaiya Raisinghani Interested in learning more about or connecting more with MongoDB? Join our MongoDB Community to meet other community members, hear about inspiring topics, and receive the latest MongoDB news and events. And let us know if you have any questions for our future guests when it comes to building a better work-life balance as developers. Tag us on social media: @/mongodb

October 29, 2024

Away From the Keyboard: Apoorva Joshi, MongoDB Senior AI Developer Advocate

Welcome to our article series focused on developers and what they do when they’re not building incredible things with code and data. “Away From the Keyboard” features interviews with developers at MongoDB, discussing what they do, how they establish a healthy work-life balance, and their advice for others looking to create a more holistic approach to coding. In this article, Apoorva Joshi shares her day-to-day responsibilities as a Senior AI Developer Advocate at MongoDB; what a flexible approach to her job and life looks like; and how her work calendar helps prioritize overall balance. Q: What do you do at MongoDB? Apoorva: My job is to help developers successfully build AI applications using MongoDB. I do this through written technical content, hands-on workshops, and design whiteboarding sessions. Q: What does work-life balance look like for you? Apoorva: I love remote work. It allows me to have a flexible approach towards work and life where I can accommodate life things, like dental appointments, walks, or lunches in the park during my work day—as long as work gets done. Q: Was that balance always a priority for you or did you develop it later in your career? Apoorva: Making work-life balance a priority has been a fairly recent development. During my first few years on the job, I would work long hours, partly because I felt like I needed to prove myself and also because I hadn’t prioritized finding activities I enjoyed outside of school or work up until then. The first lockdown during the pandemic put a lot of things into perspective. With work and life happening in the same place, I felt the need for boundaries. Having nowhere to go encouraged me to try out new hobbies, such as solving jigsaw puzzles; as well as reconnecting with old favorites, like reading and painting. Q: What benefits has this balance given you? Apoorva: Doing activities away from the keyboard makes me more productive at work. A flexible working schedule also creates a stress-free environment and allows me to bring my 100% to work. This balance helps me make time for family and friends, exercise, chores, and hobbies. Overall, having a healthy work-life balance helps me lead a fulfilling life that I am proud of. Q: What advice would you give to a developer seeking to find a better balance? Apoorva: The first step to finding a balance between work and life is to recognize that boundaries are healthy. I have found that putting everyday things, such as lunch breaks and walks on my work calendar is a good way to remind myself to take that break or close my laptop, while also communicating those boundaries with my colleagues. If you are having trouble doing this on your own, ask a family member, partner, or friend to remind you! Thank you to Apoorva Joshi for sharing her insights! And thanks to all of you for reading. Look for more in our new series. Interested in learning more about or connecting more with MongoDB? Join our MongoDB Community to meet other community members, hear about inspiring topics, and receive the latest MongoDB news and events. And let us know if you have any questions for our future guests when it comes to building a better work-life balance as developers. Tag us on social media: @/mongodb

September 26, 2024

Away From the Keyboard: Anaiya Raisinghani, MongoDB Developer Advocate

Welcome to our new article series focused on developers and what they do when they’re not building incredible things with code and data. “Away From the Keyboard” features interviews with developers at MongoDB, discussing what they do, how they establish a healthy work-life balance, and their advice for others looking to create a more holistic approach to coding. In our first article, Anaiya Raisinghani shares her day-to-day responsibilities as a Developer Advocate at MongoDB; how she uses nonrefundable workout classes and dinner reservations to help her step away from work; and her hack for making sure that when she logs off for the day, she stays logged off. Q: What do you do at MongoDB? Anaiya: I’m a developer advocate here at MongoDB on the Technical Content team! This means I get to build super fun MongoDB tutorials for the entire developer community. I’m lucky where each day is different. If I’m researching a platform to build a tutorial, it can mean hours of research and reading up on documentation, whereas if I’m filming a YouTube video it means lots of time recording and editing. Q: What does work-life balance look like for you? Anaiya: A bad habit of mine is to get really caught up in a piece of content I’m creating and refuse to leave a certain spot until I’ve accomplished what I’ve set out to do that day. Because of this—and because I work mainly from home—if I can anticipate that I’m going to get caught up in a project, I create plans that force me to leave my desk. Some examples of these are non-refundable workout classes, drinks with friends after work (I hate being a flake), or even dinner reservations that charge you if you cancel less than 24 hours in advance. My biggest gripe is paying for something that I didn’t get anything out of. If I’m paying for a single pilates class, I will make sure I’m there trying my best on the reformer. So this has been a fantastic motivator. Being 25 and living in NYC means that my weekends are always booked, so I’m always out and about, and this allows me to not think about work on my time off. I’m also lucky enough to have a great manager and team that keep very great work-life boundaries, so I never feel guilty practicing those boundaries myself. Q: Was that balance always a priority for you or did you develop it later in your career? Anaiya: This balance was definitely something I had to develop and actively work on. I’ve always been an anxious over-achiever, and when coming into my first corporate job I thought staying overtime would be expected. We’ve all heard the phrase: “Be the first one in and the last to leave.” My manager actually used to actively tell me to log off when I first started because he would notice that my Slack was active past work hours (shoutout to Nic!). Having him and my team as a great example helped me understand that there will always be more work and to enjoy the time that you spend away from your laptop. It was also the realization that working shouldn’t be your entire life. You need to develop hobbies and build relationships within your community in order to be a happier human being. Q: What benefits has this balance given you? Anaiya: The biggest benefit this balance has given me both at work and in my life is that I’m incredibly present when I’m doing one or the other. When I’m working during the day, I’m entirely locked in and take advantage of each hour. And when I’m done with the workday, I’m actually done and can focus on my hobbies or my friends. It’s also taught me to plan in advance and it gives me a better understanding of how much work on average is expected for each project. Q: What advice would you give to a developer seeking to find a better balance? Anaiya: If you’re seeking a better balance, I recommend removing Slack from your personal phone and laptop. This way when you’re disconnected, you’re truly disconnected. Of course, there are some teams and companies that require you to be on call or working around the clock, but even then having a specific laptop or device with everything you need that is separate from your personal devices can help bridge this gap. Thank you to Anaiya Raisinghani for sharing her insights! And thanks to all of you for reading. Look for more in our new series. Interested in learning more about or connecting more with MongoDB? Join our MongoDB Community to meet other community members, hear about inspiring topics, and receive the latest MongoDB news and events. And let us know if you have any questions for our future guests when it comes to building a better work-life balance as developers. Tag us on social media: @mongodb #AwayFromTheKeyboard

September 3, 2024

Welcome to the (Tech) Olympics!

Welcome to the Tech Olympics, where code meets competition! With the 2024 Summer Olympics starting today, we thought it’d be fun to imagine developers as athletes, showcasing their skills in a series of thrilling events. From relay races to coding challenges, the Tech Olympics would bring together the brightest minds in tech for a competition like no other. Whether you're a coding wizard, a bug-squashing maestro, or an AI aficionado, there would be something to test your limits and celebrate your talents. Opening ceremony The opening ceremony is one of the most iconic aspects of the Olympics. From the lighting of the torch to performances by local artists, the opening ceremony encapsulates the spectacle of the games, and is a necessity for the Tech Olympics. The Tech Olympics opening ceremony would kick off with a grand procession of teams involved, adorned in attire representing their area of expertise. Next, there’d be a performance by artists and developers using augmented and virtual reality to blend art with cutting-edge technology. Finally, there would be the lighting of the torch, but instead of the flame being run across the country, an application would be written and passed between developers from around the world that, when run, would light the torch and start the games. Now that we’ve kicked off the Tech Olympics, let's consider what its events might look like. Code sprint relay The "code sprint relay" would be a collaborative coding event where teams of developers would tackle a series of coding challenges in relay format. The twist would be that each member could only code for a set period (say, 5-10 minutes) before handing the code off to the next person. This setup requires clear communication and strategic planning, as each coder must quickly understand and build upon their predecessor's work. Code sprint relay challenges would range from algorithm problems to debugging tasks, demanding various skills and swift adaptability. This event would be fast-paced and dynamic, with a lively atmosphere filled with the buzz of coding and quick exchanges of ideas. Success would be measured not only by the completion of challenges but also by the efficiency and quality of the code, making this event a test of teamwork and technical skill under pressure. Security capture the flag Capture the flag might seem more like a kids’ game than an Olympic event, but trust us, there’d be nothing childish about this event. The "security capture the flag" event would be an exciting cybersecurity competition in which participants would need to solve security-related challenges to capture hidden "flags." These challenges would range from web application exploits and reverse engineering, to cryptographic puzzles and network forensics. Working in teams, participants would race against the clock to uncover vulnerabilities, exploit them, and find the embedded flags within a controlled, simulated environment. At the end, a debriefing session would highlight the most innovative solutions and techniques used. Success would be measured by the number of flags captured and the ingenuity of the approaches, showcasing participants' technical skills and strategic thinking under pressure. Bug hunt Have you ever built out your code and then, upon running it, realized that you made a mistake? If you have, you’ll understand just how intense this next event could be! The "bug hunt challenge" would be a fast-paced competition in which participants are tasked with finding and fixing bugs within a complex codebase. Each individual would be given the same software project with numerous hidden bugs, ranging from simple syntax errors to intricate logical flaws. Participants must use their debugging skills and tools to identify and resolve as many issues as possible within a set time limit. The event would be marked by intense focus and strategic problem-solving as competitors meticulously comb through the code. An automated system would verify the fixes instantly, ensuring accuracy and efficiency. Success would be measured by the quantity and severity of bugs resolved, along with the quality of the fixes, making this event a test of attention to detail and technical proficiency. AI arena We’d be remiss not to include an AI event! The "AI arena" event would be a competitive showcase where participants create machine learning models using a provided dataset to solve a specified problem. Teams would have several hours to analyze the data, create features, and train their models. The objective would be to develop a model with the highest accuracy and performance, balancing technical innovation with practical application. In the end, teams would present their models to judges, explaining their methodologies and challenges faced. Judging criteria would include model accuracy, creativity, and clarity of the presentation, making this event a comprehensive test of technical and communication skills. Location Finally, you can’t have an Olympics without a city to host it. There are plenty of tech hubs to choose from—San Francisco, London, Beijing—but we thought it’d be more fun to pick a growing tech hub like Ha Noi, Vietnam, as our location. Vietnam had the highest digital economy growth in Southeast Asia in 2022 , putting it on the path to be named alongside other “tech giant” cities. Also, Vietnamese food is excellent! During the games, local startups and tech companies would showcase their work on the world stage, and visiting developers would see the innovations that Vietnamese companies are working on. Sadly, there won’t be an actual Tech Olympics this year, but maybe in the future, there will be. An event that will bring the world's best developers together to showcase their skills, foster friendly competition, and allow the world to see just how amazing developers are. If you have some ideas about other events you would want to see at a Tech Olympics, connect with us on X (Twitter) and let us know what your ideas are. Interested in learning more about or connecting more with MongoDB? Join our MongoDB Community to meet other community members, hear about inspiring topics, and receive the latest MongoDB news and events.

July 26, 2024

10 Exciting Things About MongoDB.local London

After nearly two years of the coronavirus pandemic preventing in-person events, MongoDB is very excited to once again see people face-to-face at MongoDB.local London! This event is designed to help developers grow and will be packed with educational content to teach you how to build data-driven applications without distraction. MongoDB.local London will be run as a hybrid event, featuring both in-person and virtual attendance options. For those unable to attend in-person, we will live stream most sessions for you to enjoy. All streamed content will be available on-demand for 30 days after the event. In-person attendance for the event is limited, so head over to our registration page and sign-up today! MongoDB.local London takes place on November 9, 2021. There will be something for everyone at .local London. Here are 10 exciting things about our upcoming event: Hear it Here First: The Keynote presentation will provide a recap of the products released in MongoDB 5.0 and highlight the new features in 5.1. Following the keynote, attendees can pose questions to MongoDB CTO, Mark Porter, CPO, Sahir Azam, and a larger panel of MongoDB experts. Customer Stories: During these sessions, attendees will hear from MongoDB customers and community members about how they are utilizing the MongoDB data platform to enhance the way they work with data. These sessions will include speakers from Boots, Vodafone, NatWest, and DWP Digital. “Ask Me Anything" Panels: Attendees can have their questions answered and problems solved live by a panel of MongoDB engineers and product experts. Panel topics include Performance & Security, the Aggregation Pipeline, and Schema Design. Technical Sessions: Over the course of the event, there will be 20+ educational technical sessions that will cover beginner, intermediate, and advanced level content. The information in these sessions has been selected specifically for this audience and will be delivered by the MongoDB experts who build the data platform. MongoDB Product and Feature Demos: The MongoDB product teams will be conducting dozens of demos on everything MongoDB, from Atlas to Ops Manager . This is the perfect opportunity to learn more about MongoDB and how it can work for you. Ask the Experts: Our MongoDB Experts will be offering free 1:1 technical consulting sessions where attendees can ask any technical questions that they have. Only available to in-person attendees. Deep-Dive Tutorials: Opportunity to learn by doing long-format, classroom style sessions on the latest data trends with MongoDB. You will receive 1:1 attention from MongoDB experts while you get hands-on with the data platform. Only available to in-person attendees. Community Café: Come to the Community Café stage where there will be an “up close and personal” with MongoDB CTO, Mark Porter, customer interviews, trivia, and so much more! Happy Hour: In-person attendees can grab some food and drinks at the event happy hour. Here’s your chance to engage and network with other attendees. Swag: Is it really a tech event if there isn’t some free swag? Stop by the event booths to get some swag from our MongoDB team members. Register today to save your spot for the event! Whether you attend in-person or virtually, we look forward to having you join us!

October 27, 2021