Coding Isn’t Just For Geniuses
How Democratized Learning In The Digital Age Opened Up A World Of Opportunity For Justin Kenney.
Justin Kenney is fascinated by the idea that anyone can learn a highly specialized skill from the comfort of their own home. Free online resources and supportive communities have enabled Justin to immerse himself in new skills like web development and visual effects — fields that once seemed inaccessible to him.
Now a Project Manager at Moonfarmer, Justin is learning that while it’s possible to teach yourself anything, that doesn’t mean you have to know everything. In his own words: “It’s not about memorizing everything — it’s about being resourceful and knowing where to find the answers.”
I wanted to learn more about Justin’s journey, so I stole some of his time for a quick Q&A. We had a really fun conversation that touched on topics such as the pros and cons of bootcamps, how to create a 3D donut, and the magic of Rocket League.
Hi Justin! Can you tell me about your role at Moonfarmer?
I’m officially the unofficial hype-man, motivational speaker and cheerleader of Moonfarmer. Just to make sure that’s clear and on the record.
Haha, of course! Is that what it says on your business card?
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention we’re gonna have to order those…
But really, aside from all that I’m a Project Manager which means doing things like building out project requirements, managing client expectations, making sure deliverables are on time… you’re basically this big monitor and it’s your job to make sure everything runs smoothly. Like “blood pressure’s good? Check. Triglycerides are stable. Cholesterol’s fine.” You know, we’re actually the project doctors. They forgot a letter — the full title is P.M.D.
Wow, I’m going to have to alter so many business cards.
Yeah, sorry this is turning into a lot more work for you. But it’s a good thing we’re getting this straightened out.
Better late than never! Anyway, next question: You’re relatively new to the tech world. Can you talk about what that transition was like for you?
You know, when I first came into the business I had a very different idea of what this position would be versus what it actually is. I came from retail management, and I figured since the word “manager” is in both titles, they must be the same thing. Of course, they’re not at all.
In retail I was pretty much the expert on everything. If there was a task that needed to get done, I had the final say. I thought being a manager meant that you have to have all the answers, so when I first started web-based project management I wanted to know every detail about how everything works. But there are far too many variables to keep up with. We have experts in these fields for a reason! A great way to illustrate that is with our work center model, which is a strategy for organizing work. It relies on different types of work being lumped together to be worked on by the experts in that field. We have a center for CMS modeling, we have UX handlers, we have site assembly.
I realized that trying to master everything would be way too time consuming and as a Project Manager I don’t need to be quite that involved. It was something to get used to, but ultimately really nice to have.
What inspired you to make such a drastic career change?
I don’t want to say it was like fate or anything, but I don’t know how else to describe it… My wife Gracie and I were meeting up with a group of her friends from college. One of the guys there had his laptop open and I saw just this wall of code. I asked him what he was doing and he told me he’s a web developer for iHeart Radio. I just thought that was the coolest thing I’d ever heard. Then as it turns out, someone else in that group was attending a Flatiron Bootcamp at the time. So he came over and the two of them started talking about all this stuff. I had no idea what I was looking at but I thought it was so interesting!
And then it hit me: I’ve always loved computers and technology, but there was a disconnect between becoming a developer and what it took to get there. I always thought you needed to be some kind of genius in order to do it. But in that moment I realized that these were just normal people! I could do that too if I wanted! So I started to pick their brains and asked a ton of questions. They recommended some free resources to get started.
I started learning just simple HTML. The first time I changed the color of something I was like “oooh this is fun!” Then I started getting into JavaScript and it was like “Oh, I made a pop-up! Cool!” There were all these little tiny achievements. It became such a fun creative outlet for me. So I ran with it and wound up quitting my job to enroll in an online program through Flatiron. It was very challenging but it was also extremely rewarding.
Caption: “Justin finally learned how to tap into the Matrix.”
That’s really admirable. I think a lot of people dream of taking that leap to pursue their passion, but not many actually do it.
I mean, it’s tough. It’s not like it was an easy decision. There was a lot of talk back and forth with Gracie. The program I enrolled in was an at-your-own-pace kind of thing but I was making zero progress because I was working seven days a week. Being a manager in retail can take over your life. So I had to finally make the decision that this is what I wanted and fully commit.
Taking it way back, I only went to college for one year before I realized I was wasting time and money. So I went to Rockland Community College and got my Associates. After that I still didn’t know what I wanted, so I figured I’d just work retail until I figured it out. And you know what? It finally happened!
What was your experience with doing a bootcamp? I’ve heard mixed opinions on them…
My experience was mostly great, though it was definitely a lot of work. Flatiron’s big claim is that over 95% of the people who enroll get a job within X number of days of completion. So of course I was like “Yes! Let’s do that!” but then when you get to the end it’s not like they’re handing you that job — you have to go get it yourself.
So I mean it’s work! You have to be committed. But do I think a four year degree would have been a better way to do it? Absolutely not. I’m not trying to say it’s a complete waste of money, but if I was to compare it to doing six weeks of committed work where on the other side you’re at least good enough to become a junior, maybe mid-level developer? It seems like a no brainer.
Once you start getting into specific bootcamps, you have to do some investigating because there are so many different technologies you can dive into. Flatiron does a lot of Ruby, so that’s where I started. But as I started to network and reach out to other developers, the first thing out of everyone’s mouth was, “why the hell are you relearning Ruby?” Which was pretty disheartening. So getting to my point; there’s no bootcamp where you’ll learn everything. Not even remotely. You can commit yourself to an intense bootcamp on JavaScript for six months, but by the time you’re done with it something new will have come out. But it’s not about memorizing everything. It’s about being resourceful and knowing where to find the answers.
On the topic of learning new things — I know you’ve recently started playing around with a 3D software. How’s that going?
The technology is called Blender. It’s a free and open-source 3D software tool that allows you to sculpt, mold… you can really do whatever the heck you want with it! I’m working towards making a 3D version of the Moonfarmer logo, but I’m not quite there yet. So right now I’m working on a donut. It’s a great, great donut if I do say so myself. Or maybe not. It’s probably not. It’s probably terrible, haha.
I was inspired by this YouTube channel called Corridor that’s run by these VFX artists. In one of their early episodes they interviewed this guy named Andrew Price who is the Blender Guru. He created an extremely popular tutorial on how to make a donut in Blender.
The guys on this channel often compare the technologies from back in the nineties with what’s available now. Some of that old stuff looks so terrible! But it was made by experts who spent a lot of time working on it. Now there’s technology that makes it so anyone can create absolutely amazing 3D visual effects from their home computer. It’s fascinating!
I think that’s true with coding and developers too, actually. Both of these communities are very open and everyone just wants to help everyone else out. It’s not like the person who created blender was like “I have the best 3D modeling tool ever and I’m going to make everyone pay a bajillion dollars to use it!”
That’s why we love free and open-source software!
We do love free/open-source!
Ok, one last thing — and this is just for fun — you organize a weekly Moonfarmer game night. Would you say that Rocket League is the future of team building exercises?
Rocket League is wonderful. It is fun, free, easy to pick up and hard to master. Nothing says “Team Building” better than a little competition. I actually had an idea while diving into this 3D Blender thing about making my own Rocket League arena. Which got me to wondering what a Moonfarmer Rocket League arena would look like.
That would be amazing!
Right? I think it would be so funny if we took a 360 photo in the middle of the Moonfarmer office and put silly, crude cardboard cutouts of everybody in the background. The conference table in the middle would be the playing field!
Oh, I want that to be real! Can you make that happen?
Oh no, I’m not taking responsibility for doing any of this! I’m just the idea guy. Actually, can we go back to the first question? What am I? What’s my role here? Hi, my name is Justin Kenney. I’m the professional idea guy at Moonfarmer. I’m excited to start this interview.
Moonfarmer is a creative digital studio specializing in home grown software, websites, and art. To make contact, or simply to learn more about what we do, visit our website: www.moonfarmer.com.
If you would like to challenge Justin in Rocket League, send him a message at hello@moonfarmer.com.
For more content like this, check out these other Q&As on the Moonfarmer blog:
- Business Growth And The Merits Of Being An Outsider with Zack Stone, Director of Business Development
- How Robot Ants Can Inspire More Inclusive Design with Noelle Morris, UX Designer
- The Art of DIY Technology Customization with Ryan Monaghan, Front End Developer
