“A year ago, I wasn’t a developer. Today, I’m building features.”

Julie Plantey is a front-end developer at Strapi. She loves the combination of logic and creativity, and values the company’s strong culture of caring. 

Meaningful work

It was really important for me to have a job that has meaning — that isn’t just trying to make money, but that has really human values. During the interview process with Strapi, I immediately noticed that people were honest with me, and that they were caring and kind. 

I also learned that they care a lot about mental health and work-life balance, which is really important to me. I don't think I could work in an environment where people wouldn't care about mental health at all. Another thing is how open-minded they were. I was 30 years old, fresh out of bootcamp with little experience, but they gave me a chance to prove myself, and showed a genuine interest in my past experiences. For all of these reasons, I decided I wanted to join the company. 

Supportive career development

Today, Strapi is trying to manage a need for growth while trying to preserve its culture and its values. That's not always easy, because we are growing fast, which is why it’s great to see that we still try to stay transparent and care for each other. 

I arrived as an intern in July and it was in the middle of the Strapi version 4 (V4), so just ahead of a big release. It was intense, but I joined a team with lots of senior developers who knew where to go exactly. So they managed to create a safe space for me to learn without too much pressure. I worked a lot with the lead front developer, who was my mentor. Despite being very busy he taught me everything about the job.

Baptism by fire

I learned a lot very quickly, because in January I moved from the V4-team that was mainly a product team to a small squad with a new developer that arrived in November. Now I'm in a new team that is still in the process of being built, with lots of topics that are important, like dark mode and customization. I feel like really quickly they gave me responsibilities that I didn't dare imagine.

I was scared at first, but that's just a part of trying new things. The most important thing, I think, is to feel comfortable showing your limits — to have the freedom to say, maybe I need more time for this specific task. It’s been amazing: one year ago, I wasn't a developer, and now I'm really participating in building a team and creating features.

Creativity and logic combined

I discovered that what I love the most about front-end development is the mix of logic and creativity. You need to be creative in solving problems, because there are a thousand different solutions, but the goal is to find something that is both robust and elegant. 

Moreover, you also have to participate in the making of creative design and UI choices, and pay attention to many little details. But you cannot realize your creative vision unless you also master the logical part. That’s why learning the basics of JavaScript is really important. I’d also advise anyone starting out in this field and interested in front-end development to play with the UI (shadows, animations), or anything that adds creativity to your process. Codepen is a great resource to find ideas.