After the agency she worked for cut dozens of jobs in 2008—including hers—Adda Birnir noticed something important: The tech team was left untouched. She decided then and there to get into coding, and help other women do the same. Today she runs Skillcrush — an online education company teaching tech skills such as coding, web development, and web design.
Adda has been named one of the “20 Women to Watch in Media” by the Columbia Journalism Review, one of the “30 Most Important Women in Tech” by Business Insider, and has been featured on BBC, PBS, Fast Company, and Mashable. I’m honored to have this recent client of mine on this episode of Glambition Radio.
Skillcrush focuses on helping women ramp up to a full-time income as fast as possible from the coding skills they learn. On our show Adda dives into some powerful success stories from women who have increased their income and made career transitions from taking the Skillcrush courses.
(Did you know web development is one of the highest paying jobs that does not require a college degree?)
Adda also shares her fascinating story of immigrating with her family when she was just 10 months old. She says her parents just didn’t understand U.S. culture, and that led to her having to figure things out on her own and become self-sufficient.
You have to hear the big a-ha moment that led to her teaching herself code with one of those big, heavy books from the computer science section of Barnes & Noble. She tells the whole story during our interview.
On the show, we also cover:
* the hardest part for Adda when she first started Skillcrush
* how we both built our confidence in our early days of freelancing (you should do this too)
* her natural lean toward pessimism, and how it serves her (I called her on this one)
* how it took having to hear from her mentor that Skillcrush was a REAL business before she could believe it
* the culture of the tech industry for women (gals, don’t get hung up on gender inequality — focus on the upside)
* the importance of learning tech skills (it’s time to demystify technology we don’t understand)
* how the only opinion you should listen to is that of the customer that you are trying to sell to
* why it’s not only okay to make money number one, but it’s vital to your success
* what Adda sees as the secret answer to wealth and happiness (very true)
On the show Adda and I also discuss how passion can often times lead to fear, our secret alternate careers (mine might surprise you, or maybe not ;)), and how gender inequality has pushed some women to break out from corporate and start the company they’ve wanted to work for all along.
Don’t wait – this is a good one. Listen to this episode of Glambition Radio now (or download for later).
Love and Success,
P.S. I would love your review! If you enjoy what I share in this episode, please leave a review and comment on iTunes. I would really appreciate it. Thanks!
