Wendy Randolph
Software Developer | Community Builder
Tampa, Florida, United States
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Wendy is a freelance software developer, community speaker, and conference host, passionate about functional programming and helping others break into tech. A career-changer and founding student of Clojure Camp, she has hosted Clojure Conj, Babashka Conf, and ElixirConf, and spoken at functional programming events around the world. Currently, she's building with Elixir professionally and staying active in Clojure. When not behind a computer or a microphone, she enjoys sewing, jazz dance, sports cars, and Disney.
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When Your Disney Playlist Saves Your Tech Career
Learning is hard. Disney songs help me get my head right and be successful.
I’m going to talk about the first 60 days of my software development journey, from day 1, starting with no prior technical skills or CS degree, picking a programming language, striving for self-driven curiosity, coming up with a workflow, breaking down problems, dealing with frustration, challenging my assumptions, getting used to feeling in over my head, needing an attitude adjustment (repeatedly), taking baby steps instead of acting like a baby, realizing there is no one right way to do a thing, oops I still feel uncomfortable, and I don’t like it. Enter: Disney music!
Can a Disney playlist change my attitude and help me persevere towards my goals? Is there inspiration in “kids music” that applies to more than just software? Let's find out.
Panel discussion: Learning How to Learn
Four friends, brought together by Lambda Days, reunited at conferences across Europe and the U.S., share their stories of learning, teaching, and growing in functional programming. With diverse backgrounds - formal education, self-taught, and mentorship - they explore how different paths shape how we code, collaborate, and teach others. Join us for a lively conversation full of insights, practical tips, and reflections on building skills, friendships, and inclusive learning spaces in the functional programming community.
From Clojure to Elixir: Leveraging Functional Programming for Scalable, Sustainable Web Apps
Clojure and Elixir each offer unique approaches to building scalable web apps. I’ll walk you through the benefits and trials of using Clojure and then Elixir to build the exact same web app. Clojure offers flexibility but requires careful stack decisions, while Elixir’s Phoenix framework offers an opinionated, plug-and-play experience. After walking through both applications, you’ll get a better idea of which one appeals to you more.
Lambda Days 2025 Sessionize Event
Clojure/Conj 2024 Sessionize Event
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