Will Johnson has a very interesting and inspiring story to share.
Will originally reached out to us through Twitter and asked to be on the show. We thought, sure why not, and started to dig into something to talk about.
We learned that Will is a father of 6, and codes between 12-hour shifts at a powder factory. He also knows how to leverage social media to help others and build his brand. And then if that isn't enough, he also helps out at the Kansas City Coder's Dojo where he shares his love of coding with kids through MIT's Scratch.
I think the most important thing we learned from speaking with Will was to stay motivated and positive on our own journey. I hope you are as inspired by Will as we are.
Show Notes:
- 1:10 - Will's Intro
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5:18 - Will's Social Media Strategy
- "You can use social media to turn strangers into friends, friends into customers and customers into salespeople." - Seth Godin
- 7:03 - Convincing Employers that you have "Passion" through Social Media
- 10:10 - Twitter Strategies and Growing Followers
- 14:15 - Will's Success Stories from Posting on Social Media
- 16:32 - Getting Help by Helping Yourself
- 18:16 - Getting Offered to make an Egghead Course
- 20:19 - Working for Kansas City Coder's Dojo
- 21:49 - Lessons Learned in Teaching Scratch
- 25:43 - How do you keep kids interested?
- 28:06 - Kano Kits, Smart Mirrors, and getting into IoT
- 31:49 - Advanced Courses for Kids at the Coder Dojo
- 34:22 - IDEs for Kids
- 35:30 - Keeping the kids coding between sessions
- 38:33 - Getting your kids to code at home
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40:47 - Favorite Self-teaching Resources
- Practical JS by Gordon Zhu
- Udemy
- Treehouse
- 43:11 - How Will finds the time to Learn
- 44:34 - How to get un-stuck when you're teaching yourself
- 46:53 - What motivates Will to keep working at CoderDojo?
- 48:52 - Looking for a job even though you don't feel "Ready"
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Follow Will!
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Check out the KC Coder's Dojo
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52:24 - Nerd Minute!
- New Blade! (Mahershala Ali) - YouTube
- Dark Phoenix
- Black Clover
- Rising of the Shield Hero