Today I had the pleasure of interviewing Breylor Grout. Breylor is a data analyst who has built his work lifestyle around his full time competitive Jiu Jitsu career. He was born and raised in San Diego, and graduated from Cal Poly Saint louis obispo in 2017 with a major in math with minor in statistics. Since graduating he’s been putting more and more time into Brazilian jiu jitsu, which he has been training since 2010 but did not compete consistently until a after graduating from college. More recently, Breylor won the IBJJF No-Gi brown belt pans and was featured on “Who Next” the jiu-jitsu equivalent of the ultimate fighter. In this episode we talk about how Breylor was able to find a role in analytics that matched his training schedule, the surprising similarities between Jiu Jitsu and data analytics, and why maybe you should explore the sport in your free time. This was a special episode for me because we were able to combine two of my passions. I loved talking with Breylor, and I hope you enjoy it!Breylor's Links:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/breylor/?hl=enLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/breylor-grout-77a32a8bWatch Breylor Compete Here: https://www.flograppling.com/events/7785463-tezos-wno-whos-next-finale00:00 Introduction05:16 When did you originally get fascinated by data?10:50 Internship learning experience13:29 The importance of failure22:41 Making the transition to remote work31:09 Intersection of data and Jiu Jitu40:49 Lessons that can be obtained from Data and Jiu Jitsu47:11 The power of unconscious resolution54:36 The benefits of pursing Jiu Jitsu01:04:36 How to handle adversity01:14:30 Jiu Jitsu belt system01:20:05 Final remarks

Today I had the pleasure of interviewing Thu Vu. Thu is a Data Science Consultant with 5+ years of experience in data analytics + data science. She has a background in Economics and Computer Science, focused on building tools to communicate data insights. She also creates videos on her YouTube channel to share advice and help newcomers in Data Science develop their skills. In this episode we learn about introspection and how it can help you find more enjoyment in your career. We also learn about how art and beauty has influenced Thu's career and content.

 Today I had the pleasure of interviewing Ian Greengross. Ian is my friend, a business partner, and a sports agent with over 25 years of experience. He represents: NFL players, football coaches, hockey coaches and now data scientists. In this episode, we learn about how Ian uses data in his work as a sports agent, and how even late in his career he is finding joy in programming. Special thanks to Nick Wan for the introduction.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Jeff Li for the second time on the podcast (Episode 24). Jeff is a good friend of mine and we are currently working on two machine learning courses together. He came to visit me in person to do some recording. While he was here, we sat down and talked about life, data science, books, and the future. Jeff has what many consider to be a dream data science job, he is a senior data scientist at Spotify. Many people forget you have to actually work after you land a job, and in this episode we talk about how his priorities changed after landing his new role. Books Mentioned- Millionaire Fastlane: https://amzn.to/3HplbG4- Principles: https://amzn.to/3tBUcBs

Today I had the pleasure of interviewing Kristen Kehrer. Kristen is currently a Developer Advocate at Comet sharing about MLOps best practices.  Since 2010, Kristen has been delivering innovative and actionable machine learning solutions across multiple industries, including the utilities, healthcare, and eCommerce.  Kristen was a LinkedIn Top Voice - Data Science & Analytics in 2018. Previously Kristen was a Data Science instructor at UC Berkeley Ext, Faculty/SME at Emeritus Institute of Management and Founder of Data Moves Me, LLC. Kristen holds an MS in Applied Statistics from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and a BS in Mathematics. In this episode we talk about how Kristen was able to transform her life and her career after hitting rock bottom after college and how she has been able to break negative cycles in her life. We also discuss how social media interacts with mental health, and we learn more about her new role as a developer advocate at Comet ML. I really enjoyed this conversation with Kristen and I hope it inspires you to break some negative cycles in your life.00:00 Introduction02:20 Becoming a Developer Advocate06:03 How did your data journey start?18:05 How did you change your mentality toward a better life?30:17 How did you pick up the software skills coming from a math background?34:27 How did you start producing blog content?38:08 Social Media Presence47:27 Overcoming mental health struggles during the COVID-19 Pandemic55:23 Final remarks

Quincy Larson is the founder of freeCodeCamp. A Non-Profit with a mission to make learning to code free to everyone. Currently over 40,000 freeCodeCamp graduates have gotten jobs in tech. Quincy worked as a teacher and a school director for a decade before learning to code at hackathons and makerspaces around California. He enjoys reading history books, taking his kids to the park, and trying to teach anyone who will listen to him. In this episode, we learn how Quincy went from being an English teacher to now running arguably the largest free coding non-profit in the world. We also learn the benefits and drawbacks of running a non-profit vs a private enterprise, and Quincy's secret technique for his incredible output. I loved this conversation with Quincy, he is down to earth and clearly cares about his mission. I'm so happy I could share this one with you.

Today is the 100th episode of the KNN podcast! I wanted to do something special for this monumental occasion. Taking a page out of  @Lex Fridman's book, I brought my dad Art Jee in for an interview. This may sound like a weird choice since he is an oral surgeon and has very little to do directly with the data domain, but honestly, this conversation is one of the most meaningful ones I’ve had in my entire life. I was able to learn about my family history and take dedicated time to document the experiences that shaped who my dad is and his relationship with me. I don’t think I’ve ever had quite as much of an appreciation for his life, his work and his individual philosophy as I do now. For those tuning in, I hope this is a window into how our parents and loved ones view our work, our happiness, and decisions. I also hope that this inspires you to take the time to truly get to know the people in your life before the opportunity to do that dissipates. 

In this week's episode I brought back two of my friends and previous guests of the show: Tina Huang & Luke Barousse. I spent the last 2 weeks with them in Arkansas & Texas. In this episode we talk about what we learned from collaborating on content and seeing each others working styles. We also learn about what Tina thinks about the American south and Luke's country accent. 

Today I had the pleasure of interviewing Hunter Kempf. Hunter is a Data Scientist at Cloudflare, a Z by HP Global Data Science Ambassador and is finishing up his Masters in Cybersecurity from Georgia Tech. He completed his undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame and went on to work at AT&T in a variety of data roles over the course of 4 years while earning his Masters in Data Science. In his free time Hunter works on a variety of data science related side projects some of which end up as medium articles and enjoys backpacking and hiking. I had the pleasure of working with Hunter on the Unlocked campaign this year and in this episode we dive into some behind the scenes details. We also learn about some of the incredible personal projects hunter is working on. Hopefully some of his inspire you to look at your own data in a new light.

Zach Wilson is a tech lead at Airbnb and a content creator on LinkedIn with over 150k followers. He is passionate about data engineering and mental health. He also has an awesome YouTube channel, Data with Zach, where he teaches people about data and data engineering. In this episode, Zach explains what it means to be a tech lead, a position that I was personally confused about, how he was able to reach leadership in such a short period of time, and why he finds jumping between engineering and data roles has led to his own personal growth. Zach brings awesome energy to our conversations, and I’m happy we get to share this talk with you all!