

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

Mar 23, 2020 • 42min
Indie Hacking
This week we have a super exciting episode, we’re chatting with Courtland Allen, the founder of Indie Hackers. We’re going to talk about what indie hacking is, how to get started with it, and his advice for gaining traction with indie products. Let’s get started!

Mar 16, 2020 • 53min
What's on Our Computers?
This week we’re giving you all the details about our computer setups including our hardware preferences, browsers, desktop software, code editor and CLI settings, and top productivity tools. We’ll also tell you some of our miscellaneous preferences like most used emoji and current desktop photo.

Mar 9, 2020 • 50min
Behavioral Interviews
Show notes
1:43 - What is the flow of the technical interview process
6:50 - The salary conversation
15:25 - Behavioral questions
27:32 - Interview prep strategies
34:17 - Red flags
45:17 - Shoutouts
Resources
Star technique
Data structures & algorithms episode
Frontend interview episode
The Culture Map
Levels.fyi
Thread on Negotiating
Radical Candor
Adam Grant podcast
Andrew Certain
Brotopia
Bad Blood
Society 6
Transcript
We provide transcripts for all of our episodes. You can find them here.

Mar 2, 2020 • 50min
Engineering Management
In one of our previous episodes, we talked about different jobs within tech, one of which is engineering management. Today we’re joined by the wonderful Amal Hussein, engineering manager at NPM and we’re going to chat more in-depth about her career path.
1:27 - Tell us about yourself
3:10 - Last fall you transitioned into a new role as an Engineering Manager at NPM. How did you make that leap?
5:38 - What does your day to day schedule look like?
8:32 - What’s the hardest thing about being a manager?
13:37 - Hands on vs. hands off management style
17:01- How long have you been in engineering management?
18:33 - What’s the best thing about being a manager?
21:49 - Do you think someone should be an engineer prior to being a manager?
30:15 - Do you still write code?
33:13 - Do you have any book recommendations for management?
36:53 - How do you build personal relationships w/ employees while working remotely?
42:13 - Advice for those looking to become an engineering manager
46:44 - Where can we find you online?

Feb 26, 2020 • 1h 20min
Invisible Women
Imagine a world where your phone is too big for your hand, where your doctor prescribes a drug that is wrong for your body, where in a car accident you are 47% more likely to be seriously injured, where every week the countless hours of work you do are not recognized or valued. If any of this sounds familiar, chances are that you're a woman.
This month for the Ladybug Podcast book club we read Invisible Women: Data Bias In A World Designed For Men by Caroline Criado-Pérez. In this episode we’ll discuss our thoughts on the book, what shocked us, what felt a bit forced, and have a discussion about gender bias in the world around us.

Feb 24, 2020 • 52min
Frontend Interviews
Programming interviews are terrifying. There’s so much to learn and nobody enjoys answering technical questions in front of a complete stranger.
In this episode, we’ll dive into the frontend technical interview and give some tips and tricks for nailing it.
2:06 - Our experiences with technical interviews
3:36 - The interview process
14:15 - Phone screens
20:32 - Take home challenges
34:43 - In-person interviews
46:08 - Resources to get better at interviewing
49:00 - Shoutouts

Feb 17, 2020 • 41min
Building a Resume
Whether you’re seeking your first developer job or you’re looking to move to a new company, your resume is the first thing employers will see. Having a strong resume is what sets you apart from the competition. In this week’s episode we’re discussing all things resume-building, including what’s important to include, what can be skipped, and best practices for creating your resume.
1:24 - What do our resumes look like?
3:40 - CVs vs. Resumes
12:20 - Resume design
17:09 - What if I don’t have formal computer science education?
23:44 - Should you have an objective or a summary?
25:00 - Should you put references on there?
29:02 - How can I create a resume?
35:57 - Using social media and personal portfolio to back up your resume
37:57 - Shoutouts

Feb 10, 2020 • 29min
Game Development
This week we’re talking all things game development! Joining us today is Arianna Rudawski, a software engineer with a super cool job. We’ll be discussing what a career in game development is like, the skills needed to become a game developer, and advice for getting into game development.

Feb 3, 2020 • 54min
Data Structures and Algorithms
Computer science concepts like data structures and algorithms can be super intimidating, especially if you’re cramming the night before an interview.
In this episode, we’ll discuss common algorithms and data structures and give you some tips for your next whiteboarding challenge.
01:44 - Our experience with data structures and algorithms
05:00 - What are algorithms?
06:17 - What is Big O notation?
13:57 - Sorting algorithms
17:55 - Graph traversal
19:20 - Searching algorithms
20:04 - What are data structures
23:05 - Arrays
26:03 - Linked Lists
29:15 - Sets
30:22 - Objects, maps, heaps
34:50 - Binary Trees
35:47 - Stacks and queues
40:08 - Graphs
41:00 - Common interview questions
43:27 - Tips for interviews and where to learn more

Jan 29, 2020 • 33min
Book Club: Atomic Habits
We're so excited for the first-ever Ladybug Podcast book club episode! This is a bonus episode which will occur at the end of each month. This month we’re discussing Atomic Habits by James Clear.
If you want to follow along you can check out our Goodreads group and ladybug.dev/books.
0:36 - Our thoughts on the book
04:15 - The importance of habits
06:16 - Systems vs. Goals
08:01 - Layers of behavioral change
09:58 - Stages of habit formation
13:43 - Steps of breaking a bad habit
15:52 - Habit stacking
17:40 - Reward systems
22:00 - What makes habits attractive
28:49 - Our ratings of the book