At IBM in Raleigh & San Francisco

I started my career at IBM in Raleigh, NC working on a team that made applications with Watson AI. I remember going in the first day and being astounded at all the different tech that was being used. Mind you, I had 0.01% knowledge of Kubernetes, and no real experience developing scalable web applications. My tech lead, Tony Diaz, was my go-to for all problems, big or small. We both grew up in South Florida and are both Latinx. I even randomly met Alex Ocampo while working on a product and then we ended up reconnecting in San Francisco and worked on HireHarlem in the Bay Area.

It was in that product team in Raleigh that I learned how collaborate across different engineering disciplines. I remember being amazed that there were entire teams dedicated to DevOps, seeing some of my coworkers that exclusively worked on problems within the AI space of our project, and being amazed at the massive amounts of slack channels that you could go to for help on any problem. I was a bit overwhelmed at first but my managers always gave me room to breathe and reassured me that I was headed in the right direction. By my second project there, I was in the flow of things, contributing with more efficiency, and learning how to pool my resources to get my tasks done. Shoutout to my work crew down there, and my Raleigh family.

Raleigh campus in the spring, and the solar eclipse in 2017.

While in Raleigh I started desiring to learn more about the business as a whole. I felt like I was ready for a change of direction in my life. An opportunity opened up in IBM San Francisco Garage. My friend Danny, who was in the New York Garage told me all about the different projects he was on, the challenges that came from working on client projects, and the change in work lifestyle. I interviewed for an open software consultant position in the Garage and moved to San Francisco.

Coming to SF was kind of a trip, I’d only been in the city once and it was for an interview at Google. I ended up making a bonehead move and rented an apartment in a high-rise for five months and paid soo much for it. I made that move primarily because I was very unfamiliar with the area. The change in lifestyle was crazy, lived in a 500 sqft apartment and slept on my couch the majority of the time. After that time in SF, I moved to a bigger place in South Berkeley and felt like I could breathe.

My time at the IBM Garage was honestly one of the coolest experiences in my career. On my first day there I remember falling in love with the workspace immediately. I loved the ambiance and the way people casually strolled in and out of the office. I remember Juan taking me to the food trucks on Natoma St which was literally across the street from the Galvanize I was working at. On my second day there I immediately jumped on a client project.

With the IBM Garage, I got the chance to travel several times, and I got the opportunity to work from the different Garage locations in Austin/Raleigh/NYC. My coworker Juan is a software developer by day and by night he was DJ Juanton. Juan who took me to a bunch of techno shows in SF, and I got to see a side of the city I never realized was there. Every time my tech lead Andy was in town, we’d get Marugame Udon and talk about life and our careers.

The designers at the work supported my interest in design and my coworker Kurt inspired me to take my first drawing class. After that I took a class on graphic design, and I’m still learning.

Bellagio fountains earlier this year before the pandemic hit.

Some highlights…

• At IBM I went to my first tech conference.
• Had awesome mentor’s and mentee’s.
• Got the chance to be a project lead and work with some awesome developers.
• I spoke (granted for a short period of time) at an SF Design Week event.
• Spent time in Austin during SXSW and spent time after hours going to shows and trying out different restaurants.
• Got to visit Las Vegas for the first time during IBM’s FastStart conference, Andy taught me how to play craps.
• Spent a week in Greenville, NC and Andy and I got tickets to see a Duke basketball game and saw Zion Williamson.
• Spent weeks in NYC just hanging out with Danny and working from the NYC Garage.

One time I took the morning to go to the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum and met Ellen Lupton.

• Got to meet and connect with tons of developers and designers from all over the world during IBM’s THINK conference.

During my time at IBM I made so many friends and wonderful experiences. Just wanted to take the time to put it all on paper. Thank you for the memories. ❤

San Francisco Garage 2019 Holiday Party