Growing Into a Leadership Role, and Pairing With Strangers | Ben Holmen, CTO at The Boutique Hub
Jul 9, 2024
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Ben Holmen, CTO of The Boutique Hub, discusses his journey from programmer to CTO, challenges of using Laravel, and the Pair-amid Scheme for collaboration. Topics include leadership transitions, Shopify integration, and pairing with strangers for growth.
Communication and trust are key in a remote setup for a CTO.
Pairing with strangers can spark collaboration and growth in the developer community.
Deep dives
Pairing with Strangers Experiment
Ben has been conducting an experiment where he pairs with strangers to help them go from zero to experience pairing. Through this experiment, he has paired with many people and encourages others to engage in pairing sessions with different individuals.
Promoting the Use of Laravel Shift
Ben advocates for using Laravel Shift, a tool in the Laravel community, to automate updates and stay current with the latest conventions. By utilizing Laravel Shift, developers can easily keep their projects up-to-date and leverage the newest features of the Laravel framework.
Exploring Career Development
Ben shares his journey of transitioning from a programmer to a leadership role in business management. He highlights the importance of learning how to effectively lead a development team, motivate team members, and align technical tasks with business objectives.
Dream After a $100 Million Business Sale
If Ben were to receive $100 million from a business sale, he would take a long hiking trip, possibly along the Appalachian Trail. In this scenario, he would prioritize indulging in a lengthy outdoor adventure as a way to unwind and explore new experiences.
In this episode of the Business of Laravel podcast, host Matt Stauffer sits down with Ben Holmen, CTO of the Boutique Hub, a community of boutique owners and brands dedicated to strengthening small businesses. Ben shares insights into his role, where he juggles infrastructure, people, code, and business objectives.
Ben discusses the challenges and successes of using Laravel, key decisions as a CTO, and integrating with Shopify. He also shares his personal journey from being a programmer to leading a team, highlighting the critical role of communication and trust in a remote setup. Plus, we explore his latest experiment, the Pair-amid Scheme, where he pairs with strangers to spark collaboration and growth in the developer community.