Stuart Clark is a Developer Advocate, author for Cisco Press and a Cisco Certified DevNet Expert #20220005
Stuart started his career as a hairdresser in 1990, and in 2008 he changed careers to become a network engineer. After cutting his teeth in network operations he moved to network projects and programs. After many years as a network engineer, Stuart became obsessed with network automation and joined Cisco DevNet as a Developer Advocate for network automation. Stuart contributed to the DevNet exams and was one of the SME teams that created, designed, and built the Cisco Certified DevNet Expert. Stuart has presented at over fifty external conferences and is a multi-time Cisco Live Distinguished Speaker covering topics on network automation and methodologies. Stuart lives in Lincoln England with his wife Natalie and their son Maddox, he plays guitar and rocks an impressive two-foot beard whilst drinking coffee. Stuart can be found on Twitter @bigevilbeard
Behind the Chair to Behind the Keyboard: How Hairdressing Prepared Me for Developer Advocacy
In today’s increasingly digital business environment, the need to continue honing and upgrading skills is a given. Whether you’re a CTO reimagining a corporate technical strategy, or a developer creating systems that bring that plan to life, to improve your IT acumen you will need to translate the “people skills” you’ve built through your own unique experience – even if you started out as a hairdresser, like me. Those 15 years behind the chair taught me that success is 50% technical skills and 50% communication skills.
In this talk I will share the “soft skill” lessons from my salon days that have shaped my developer career and will help you apply your own personal experiences in furthering your professional journey