README.md // the story so far

Hi! My name is Aja (pronounced "Asia"). Join me as I learn everything web3, in public, where I keep it real and honest and, well, "normie" as they say. I'm relatively new to the industry and still find myself looking up terms and concepts every single day for work. When I first entered the space I had no idea what L1s, L2s, TEEs, DID's and EVM's were. But everyone has to start somewhere, right? So I'm here to share my learning journey and hopefully make it more accessible, less daunting, and even fun for others entering the space. I'll be sharing my thoughts, reactions, and experiences via this blog, X, and plan to post content on YouTube, TikTok, and even stream my study sessions on Twitch.

So how did I get here? Well, for starters, I absolutely loved school. I know that's a very odd thing for someone to say, but I just loved learning, studying, doing well and being rewarded for it. To be honest, I thrived on external validation and having structure. I was the top student in my class, receiving the highest GPA and being awarded the coveted "Harvard Book Award" from the Mayor of Hawaii my Junior year. I graduated with honors, in a white gown as a valedictorian and got into my dream IVY League college - Cornell University. However, I struggled with mental health issues and was worried about the high suicide rate at Cornell. So I decided to stay home with my family while I completed my GED at a local community college and eventually transferred to NYU. I received a STEM scholarship for Chemistry on the pre-med track. However, I ended up changing my major quite a few times (Nutritional Science, Industrial Engineering) before finally settling on Pscyhology and Business. Because let's be honest, Psychology lectures are a lot more interesting than the chemistry ones.

Fast forward to 2018, my coveted college degree landed me back living at home with my family and my mental health was at an all time low. The past few years, I had a few marketing jobs here and there, but I really wasn't gaining any traction with my career and felt lost and insignificant with no real purpose in life. I finally met Chris (my now husband) in 2019, but still had no idea what I was doing (professionally). I was nannying a few kids to get by and working on a small skincare business with my sister that most people brushed off as a hobby or side project. My stellar grades and past achievements felt like a fever dream with nothing to show for. One day, I saw an ad for joining a coding bootcamp called Lambda School and decided I truly had nothing to lose. When I joined, I will be honest, I absolutely LOVED being back in a school setting (even remotely). I loved the challenge of learning and figuring out solutions to problems. I felt so back. I was spotted (on Lambdas list of graduates) by a women-founded startup called Sunroom and offered a job as the first engineer on their team. I remember the day I received the offer letter. Racing down PCH on the back of Chris's motorcycle, the wind in my hair and a life-changing offer in my pocket, I was beaming and felt invincible.

I ended up working at Sunroom for a little over a year and then eventually worked at a few other startups, and took a break from coding to work as an Ecosystem Growth Coordinator at Livepeer. I took a year off to stay home with my first son and I am now pregnant with my second son, due in January. Now I work as an engineer/devrel at Inlay with the same boss I met at Sunroom, Ellie Day. We are a small but mighty team excited to become the nexus for onchain compute. We have a lot of exciting things to share in the coming months, so stay tuned!

xx, Aja @isforwork