James Sturtevant talks with Dave Rael about a unique career path, working with troubled kids, and the power of mastermind groups to help one another achieve
James (@aspenwilder) works for Microsoft where he partners developers to explore the latest technologies. Prior to Microsoft, he worked in the web development space for 10+ years working with startups and enterprises to improve the way they do business through technology. Recently he has been taking an interest in combining mobile development with backend services as a way to deliver unique experiences. When he isn’t practicing his software craft James can be found running through the woods, climbing mountains, or hiking with his daughters.
Chapters:
- - Dave introduces the show and James Sturtevant
- - James's job at Microsoft
- - The experience of James and Dave meeting in the speaker room at an event
- - The things that "light James up"
- - James's background in Computer Engineering (not Computer Science)
- - How James got started in software
- - The appeal of mobile and James's experiences with it, including a story of great humanitarian impact
- - James's story of failure - challenged with unemployment, depression, and limited options
- - James's success story - progressing from inability to find a job in software to learning core competencies and valuable skills to working for Microsoft; getting involved in the community
- - How James got into blogging, speaking at conferences and user groups, and organizing user groups; including the utility of a mastermind group in James's story and in making progress generally
- - James's introduction to the mastermind concept and the benefits
- - Effective Mastermind groups (see Resources for Floyd Hilton's blog post on the subject)
- - James's book recommendation
- - How James stays current with what he needs to know
- - The things that have James most excited
- - James's causes of pain and suffering
- - James's family
- - The things about which James likes to geek out
- - James's top 3 tips for delivering more value
- - Keeping up with James
Resources:
- James's Blog
- Rob Conery on Developer On Fire
- The Imposter's Handbook - Rob Conery
- Microsoft Acquisition of Xamarin
- Urban Refuge - Student Project at Boston University to Aid Refugees
- Microsoft Description of the Xamarin Solution for Urban Refuge
- Links and Slides from Dave's Lightning Talk on Getting Involved to Which James Referred
- John Sonmez's Free Blogging Email Course
- John Sonmez's Blogging Course Comanion Workbook
- Punch Fear In The Face Book - Dave Rael
- Floyd Hilton on the Mastermind Concept and Benefits
- Floyd Hilton on Lynda.com
- Michael Hyatt
- Amazon Echo
- Donovan Brown on Developer On Fire
- focus@will
- Music to Code By - Carl Franklin
James's book recommendation:
James's top 3 tips for delivering more value:
- Listen - Really listen
- Ask questions - use "Can you tell me a little bit more about that?"
- Do one thing at a time