Steph Smith

Inclusion

12 Scholarships in 12 Months: Announcing the AMPLIFY Scholarship Series

Update: In 2021, I gave away 12 scholarships in 12 months. I'll likely be launching additional scholarships in the future, but in the meantime, I would encourage you to start your own scholarship [https://calvinrosser.com/scholarships/how-to-start-a-scholarship-fund/] or set up a scholarship in memory of someone [https:

Personal Growth

Another Year Under the Sun ☀

Each new year, the world gets a little bit older...and so do we. This end to an era nudges us to take a step back and reflect on “how we’re doing”.I like to call it “a look in the mirror”. This article is mine.

Writing

Writing is Thinking: Learning to Write with Confidence

Learning to write is learning to think, because writing is thinking. They are two peas in a powerful pod. This article goes over my writing process, focused on minimizing the activation energy to get started.

Personal Growth

Antifragility at Work: Change is the Only Constant

After 3 years at Toptal, I decided to move on. This article pieces together my thought process in deciding to pursue something new, in a world where change is the only constant.

Psychology

Gaining Perspective Through Untranslatable Words

What do you do with words that don't translate? You gain perspective from them. Learn from examples of how different cultures approach colour, time, and mathematics differently, to better understand how language may be impacting your own wiring.

Leadership

Must-Have Qualities for Effective Leadership

500 days of thoughts around what characterizes effective leadership, including a focus on humility, prioritizing others, and leading through influence.

Tech

An Ode to Excel: 34 Years of Magic

In an age where "software is eating the world", what can we learn from the tool that has withstood the test of time? This piece illustrates how the fundamentals behind Excel can be used to envision the next wave of bulletproof technologies.

Remote Work

Finding Top Talent: Stop Looking Inside a Box for People Thinking Outside of One

When you're looking for innovative and action-driven talent, why not open your doors up to people that have already pioneered their own lives?

Personal Growth

How to Be Great? Just Be Good, Repeatably

A thought piece on what it takes to truly be great and what that even means in the first place.

Remote Work

A New Age: Finding Non-Tech Remote Jobs

The world is evolving. Remote work is no longer reserved for technical roles. This article walks through how to think about, search for, and land non-technical remote jobs.

Tech

3 Approaches for Using the Google Sheets API in Node.js: A Tutorial

A tutorial outlining 3 approaches for connecting and authenticating Node.js with the Google Sheets API (v3 and v4), along with utilizing the data in an express application.

Making

Finding Programming Inspiration: Learning to Code and Launch in Months

A personal story about the shifts that allowed me to put development in an accessible place, allowing me to learn and launch four projects within a year.

Tech

When Do You Become a Developer?

After polling 300+ people, it's clear that many people associate different meanings to the idea of when you "become a developer". Perhaps that's the beauty of an industry that is continuously growing and open in nature.

Tech

Step by Step: Setting Up Ghost with a Digital Ocean Droplet

Setting up a blog on Ghost with Digital Ocean is quick, but not always intuitive. This step-by-step tutorial helps you get through the installation process so that you can self-publish in a beautiful interface for $5/month.

Remote Work

Best Practices for Managing Remote Teams: A Psychological Perspective

As we enter the future of work, we need to consider how we can design remote environments to be most successful. This article draws on frameworks from Give and Take, Algorithms to Live By, and the Four Tendencies to produce more thoughtful best practices for remote leaders.

Making

You Don't Need to Quit Your Job to Make

The startup storyline being told may not be the most optimal. The mental clarity of separating your lifeline from your projects may be the most thoughtful choice.

Tech

The Best Medium Publications in 2020

A list of ~30 high quality Medium publications which are not only alive in 2019 but also accepting submissions.

Tech

The 7 Myths of Learning to Code

Learning to code products doesn't take as long as you think - more precisely, 300 hours to learn, build, and launch. Learn about the history and misconceptions of development preventing you from even starting and then hop on that tech bus.

Remote Work

The Guide to Remote Work That Isn't Trying to Sell You Anything

This guide goes over the state of remote work, the pros and cons, and tangible tips to transition to location independence.

Women in Tech

The Best Conferences for Women in Tech in 2020

Conferences offer the opportunity to connect and be inspired by others with the same interests. Here is a list of conferences specific to women in business and technology.

Making

2018: A Year of Sponge

My year of sponge. A reflection on a self-inflicted learning period that led me to learn to code and develop a new framework for sustained progression.

Tech

A Talk at Dojo Bali: Learning to Code Products in <1 Year

Learning to code products doesn't take as long as you think - more precisely, 300 hours to learn, build, and launch. Learn about the history and misconceptions of development preventing you from even starting and then hop on that tech bus.

Women in Tech

A Talk at Dojo Bali: Women in Technology

A talk to women at Dojo Bali focusing on integrating more inclusion in technology including tips for all women to be more confident in any field.

Women in Tech

FeMake — Understanding Inclusion in Making

This article was part of my submission or FeMake to Product Hunt’s Makers Festival, which came first in the Inclusion category. FeMake is the home of data on female makers, leaving us with more insight into the status of diversity in this space.

Travel

The Minimalist-ish Digital Nomad Packing List

There’s a lot of articles on the internet. There's also a lot of packing lists. This one will share with you the 10 most useful purchases from a nomad of over 3 years.