

Ladybug Podcast
Emma Bostian, Kelly Vaughn
Back after a two-year hiatus, engineering leaders Emma Bostian and Kelly Vaughn return for Season 7 of the Ladybug Podcast, giving you a deep dive into all things engineering leadership.
With nearly 1 million total listens, Ladybug Podcast covers tech, career, and code, bringing unique viewpoints from a variety of guests and co-hosts.
Check out our website!
With nearly 1 million total listens, Ladybug Podcast covers tech, career, and code, bringing unique viewpoints from a variety of guests and co-hosts.
Check out our website!
Episodes
Mentioned books

Oct 4, 2021 • 1h 2min
A Day in the Life of a Software Engineer
 What is a typical day in the life like for a software engineer? To close out Season 6, we thought it’d be a great idea to give you some insight into our workdays, as we all have very different roles and are in different stages of our careers.
Show Notes
[02:54] Morning routines
[16:09] Beginning of the workday
[28:15] The rest of the workday
[49:03] Evenings and weekends
[53:57] Top 3 tools for productivity
Resources
Any.do
Fantastical
Canva
Things
Superhuman
Trello
Apple Watch
Markdown Notes
Asana
Resilient Management
Animedoro
Can Do writing
The Little Memory
Ali’s Trello Setup
Transcript
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4 snips
Sep 27, 2021 • 47min
What is an API and How do You Use One?
 APIs are part of our daily roles as software developers, but what are they? What different types are there? And how can you design a good one?
Show Notes
[01:53] What is an API?
[03:37] Types of APIS
[15:02] GraphQL
[19:49] REST
[28:25] API Design
[44:35] Shoutouts
Resources
The Happiness Project
Shopify developer community
BrainF**k
OneGraph
Scott Moss's YouTube
Transcript
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Sep 20, 2021 • 0sec
All About Agile
 The definition of Agile is the ability to create and respond to change. Ultimately dealing with and succeeding in an uncertain or turbulent environment. I think we can all say with confidence that in the world of software development, being agile and agreeable to change helps you learn faster, connect with others better, and makes coding more fun.
Today we are talking about the agile framework of software developers, its significance in the workplace and the familiar steps an agile process takes to go from a project’s concept, to the physical minimum viable product.
Show Notes
[03:00] What is Agile?
[04:43] Agile Software Development
[15:44] Agile Manifesto For Agile Software Development
[16:00] 4 values
[19:33] 12 Principles
[34:07] Benefits
[35:45] Drawbacks
[38:34] What is Scrum?
[44:05] Careers in scrum
[53:56] Shout-Outs
Resources
The agile Manifesto
The Agile Subway Map
Sprints
Scrum Alliance Certifications
SAFe Certifications
Transcript
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Sep 13, 2021 • 0sec
Getting Started with Java
 Java is a high-level, class-based, object-oriented programming language. It’s a general-purpose programming language designed to let app developers: write once, run anywhere. Today we’re diving into the world of Java.
Show Notes
[01:30] Our experiences working with Java
[04:34] History of Java
[07:45] Five goals of Java
[13:06] Object oriented
[14:00] Threaded language
[15:35] Interpreted language
[17:39] Terminology
[22:04] Basic Syntax
[23:33] Inheritance
[26:51] Interfaces
[28:00] Classes
[29:56] Modifiers
[31:30] Constructors
[33:11] Enums
[34:39] Basic Data Types
[35:56] Overriding
[42:51] Shoutouts
Resources
Learning Java
Interpreter vs. Compiler
Access Variables Oracle
Angie Jones course on Test Automation U
Angie Jones
Jocelyn Harper
Git Cute Podcast
Transcript
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Sep 6, 2021 • 60min
How to Start a Company
 Whether you’re looking to start your own side business or create a lifelong career, the process of starting a new business can be overwhelming. This week on the podcast we’re discussing how to start your own business. We’ll dig deep into setting you up for success from the beginning and then answer the most common questions I receive about building and scaling your business.
Show Notes
[02:00] What is our experience with running a business?
[05:47] Business plan
[13:58] Who are your customers?
[18:03] Market opportunities
[35:50] Boostrapping vs. raising capital
[39:41] Do you need to incorporate?
[40:54] Banking and Taxes
[51:52] Health insurance (USA)
[53:30] Understanding the bookkeeping process
[55:32] Shownotes
Resources
Quantic
CORe
Clerky
Stripe Atlas
Inc. Article
Polywork
Freelancing episode
Indie Hackers episode
Mercury
Transcript
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Aug 30, 2021 • 0sec
Diving Deep on Databases
 If you have data for your application, you’ve probably used a database to store it. There are so many types of databases, NoSQL, SQL, graph, etc. Let's learn about their benefits and how to use them!
Shownotes
[02:08] What types of databases have we used?
[03:43] SQL vs. NoSQL
[15:52] How to model data
[19:20] ORM, SDK, Queries
[24:02] Horizontal vs. Vertical Scaling
[27:21] How to choose
[30:22] indexes
[37:16] Sharding
[46:44] Shoutouts
Resources
The DynamoDB Book
Little Bobby Tables
Ladybug Algorithms episode
Ladybug System Design episode
Hidden Valley Road
Peloton app
Your friend’s guide to entrepreneurship
Transcript
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Aug 23, 2021 • 0sec
How to Create Great Documentation
 It’s easy to overlook documentation when building an application, but documentation can make or break a consumer’s experience. Today we’re diving into the world of documentation to discuss what it takes to write good documentation, the ethics of documentation, and some popular tools you can use to get started.
Show Notes
[01:58] Why does a company or app need good documentation?
[04:09] Who do we write documentation for?
[06:01] What makes good documentation?
[11:05] Ethics of documentation
[32:47] The structure of your documentation
[34:35] What types of documentation should I write?
[40:22] Documentation tools
[44:51] Shoutouts
Resources
Alex.js
Carolyn’s talk
Self Defined
Hemingway
Bookstack
Storybook
Writing Technical Documentation video
Notion
Nuclino
Docusaurus
Next.js
Nuxt.js
Gatsby
Jekyll
Transcript
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Aug 16, 2021 • 43min
Getting Started with TypeScript
 TypeScript is an open-source programming language built on JavaScript that provides static type definitions. It has taken the front-end development community by storm over the past few years and today we’re going to give you a beginner-level rundown on the language.
Show Notes
[02:07] What is TypeScript?
[06:46] What is our experience working with TypeScript?
[08:35] Is TypeScript a replacement for JavaScript?
[11:11] Advantages of TypeScript
[13:09] Core Types
[15:19] TypeScript Types
[28:34] Union Types
[30:29] Literal types
[32:30] Aliases
[35:40] Function Return Types
[38:41] Unknown Type
[39:23] Resources for learning TS
[40:21] Shoutouts
Resources
Ladybug JS episode
TypeScript in 50 lessons
Crying in H Mart
People we meet on vacation
Transcript
This week's Transcript 

Aug 9, 2021 • 1h 12min
How to Create a Study Plan
 What is it about sitting down building a good study plan that... kinda sucks? Is it the planning? The execution? The Time commitment? Are we committing to learn too much? Regardless of this answer, today we’re sitting down to talk about how to better prepare to learn, how to execute a study plan to meet your goals, build better habits to help you learn and some of our own experiences learning how to learn.
Show Notes
[05:22] What is a study plan?
[14:25] How Do You execute it?
[29:05] Learning how to learn
[42:48] Make a todo list
[47:32] Start with something small
[53:06] At least touch it once a day
[1:02:03] Analyzing Your habits
[1:03:40] Showing or sharing your progress & results
[1:05:39] What If You get Stuck?
[1:09:16] Shoutouts
Resources
How to create a study plan video
Atomic Habits
We Should All Be Millionaires by Rachel Rodgers
Mindset by Carol Dweck
Start With Why by Simon Sinek
Learning How To Learn Ladybug Episode
Coursera's Learning How To Learn
Make It Stick
Moonwalking With Einstein
The Power of Habit
Why We Sleep
Tiny Habits
Trello
Todoist
Asana
Ali’s trello set up
Badass Habits by Jen Cincero
You are a Badass by Jen Cincero
DynamoDB book by Alex DeBrie
Getting Started In Tech
Wellington Johnson
The Beginning Software Engineer’s Playbook
Amy Cruz
Organizing Solutions for People with ADHD, 2nd Edition
Transcript
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Aug 2, 2021 • 1h 13min
How to Choose a Tech Stack
 Welcome back to the 6th season of the Ladybug Podcast!! In this episode, we’ll be chatting about choosing a tech stack for your project is one of the most important decisions you’ll make as an engineer. It will determine many aspects of your app, from development speed, to scalability, to the cost to run it. We’ll talk about how to choose technologies from two angles: one from an individual developer’s perspective: how do you decide what to learn? And the second from an architectural perspective: how do you decide what technologies to use for your project?
Show Notes
[02:53] What is a tech stack?
[06:01] What are some main points to think about when choosing what to learn?
[13:11] Look at job posts in your area
[19:49] How to deal with overwhelm
[25:28] Think Through your app
[31:01] Your engineering resources
[39:51] Is the technology production ready?
[52:18] Technical concerns
[1:00:09] Other important thoughts
[1:08:52] Shoutouts
Resources
Ladybug interview episode
Ladybug resume episode
Ladybug learning path episode
Core-js Article
Colby Fayock
Ladybug Systems Design Episode
Lodash vs. underscore
StackShare
Transcript
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