You had a very big transition between your current role and your new role. Can you

tell me about that?

There will definitely be a learning curve, but it’s one that I’m hungry to take

on, and ready for. This job actually integrates my degree (Economics), real job

experience (business/ product development) and the direction I want my career to

go (web development) together nicely, and at a time when I was worried that they

seemed to be diverging more and more.

In some ways, I’m not sure what to really expect, but I’m very confident that I

’ve got the tools to address whatever comes at me. At some point you have to stop

thinking about the safety you’re walking away from and realize that the potential

value of the risk you’re taking on – even just in the trying, let alone success

to follow – is worth much, much more.

How does the political presence in DC overlap with tech?

The government certainly has a need for tech innovation (and good developers!)

just like everyone else, and DC tech has done a great job of incorporating

government as a professional sector into the content of meetups, panels and

everything else because it’s such a huge part of the economy here. Plenty of tech

companies are trying to serve the government, so there’s definitely a connection

in that way as well as others. It’s easy to complain and  think of government in

terms of popular caricature of big bureaucracy, and for good reason, plenty of the

time, but how will that ever change unless innovative people get involved and try

to help? That said, I’d love to spend extended-time working in both public and

the private sector throughout the rest of my career, and I think there are chances

to transition between both, especially if you know how to network and play your

cards right.