Mandy had always been curious about coding. With a bachelor’s degree in animation and a background in coordination, she wanted to understand how websites worked, how applications were built and how she could bring her creativity into web development.
But she kept waiting for the right time.
She had also been told that computer science required strong mathematics skills. Having struggled with maths, she questioned whether a technical career was for her.
What helped change her thinking was a different question: instead of asking what would happen if it didn’t work, what if it did?
Mandy had tried online learning through Codecademy, but something was missing: collaboration. She wanted to work alongside other people and build things together.
When she had the time and funds available, she joined Le Wagon’s bootcamp at the start of 2025.
“You’ll never feel ready,” she recalls being told. “Ready isn’t a feeling.”
Taking that step introduced her to new friends, practical projects and an appetite for learning that surprised her. She found herself working on problems late into the evening, losing track of time because she wanted to understand how things worked.
The hardest part wasn’t coding. It was discovering how she learned best after spending time away from education.
Reading and writing alone didn’t make concepts stick. Talking through problems, explaining ideas to a teaching assistant and building things did.
Her coordination experience also proved useful. Breaking problems into manageable tasks, communicating clearly and collaborating with a team were skills she could bring into development.
As projects started working, her confidence grew.
At the time of the interview, Mandy was balancing two part-time roles: coordination at an online college and full-stack development at a small company.
She had also received an offer to move into full-time development.
Her experience reinforced the importance of giving herself credit for her progress—and being patient while learning something new.
Mandy uses AI to challenge her understanding, asking it to question her coding decisions and explain its reasoning. Her advice is to keep learning the foundations so you can understand and evaluate its suggestions.
Above all, she encourages people from different backgrounds to give themselves a chance.
“Everyone belongs in this space,” she says.
Watch Mandy’s interview to hear:
Le Wagon Interviews
Jamie Speight – Interviewer
Mandy – Le Wagon alumna and full-stack developer
Jamie (00:00): Hi Mandy. Thanks for joining me.
We’re trying to help current students, alumni and people considering upskilling or wondering what comes next in their lives.
I’ve had the privilege of working with you in workshops and coaching you. I’ve appreciated your honesty, the way you challenge me and the hard work you’ve put in.
I thought you’d be a good person to give an honest view of upskilling: what motivated you and where you see yourself going.
Tell us about yourself. What are you doing at the moment?
Mandy (01:01): Thank you for having me.
I did the Le Wagon bootcamp at the start of 2025. It’s wild to think a whole year has gone by.
I’ve been working two part-time jobs. I started full-time in a coordination role at an online college. That’s now part-time, and I’ve started a part-time job as a full-stack developer at a small company.
Even better, I’ve recently received an offer to transition into full-time development. I’m very excited.
Jamie (01:50): Am I hearing this before LinkedIn?
Mandy (01:54): Yes. The full-time move hasn’t been announced yet. We’re transitioning, and it should happen by June.
Jamie (02:04): Congratulations. What made you decide to upskill in web development and AI? What motivated you?
Mandy (02:24): I’ve always been interested in web development. I have a creative background and a bachelor’s degree in animation.
I always wanted to try coding and programming, but never thought it was the right time.
I wanted to explore web design and interactivity. I’m curious about how web pages work and how applications are built.
Jamie (03:00): You understood your creative side. What pushed you to take action and choose a bootcamp rather than continuing with online courses?
Mandy (03:17): There were several factors.
Primarily, I chose Le Wagon because you work hands-on with your peers.
I’d tried online courses such as Codecademy. They were great, but I missed the collaboration. I wanted to work with someone and build something together.
At that point, I had the time and funds available.
Before I made the decision, someone said something to me—I don’t know where the quote comes from—but you’ll never feel ready, because ready isn’t a feeling. You need to put your best foot forward and take a chance.
Le Wagon was a fantastic experience. I made friends, we built apps and I learned so much.
Jamie (04:21): It’s about taking one action, building momentum and finding clarity.
While coaching you, I saw significant progress each week or month, and you were doing the hard work behind the scenes.
People often ask, “I don’t have a technical background. Why would I go into tech?”
What made it possible for you? What gave you the confidence?
Mandy (04:59): I don’t have a specifically technical background, but I have worked in technical ways.
You don’t have to be a professional to give it a go. I challenged myself and was determined to make it work.
These are skills you can learn. Giving it a go and having that mindset made it possible.
Jamie (05:29): Did you have doubts or fears that delayed your decision?
Mandy (05:39): A hundred per cent.
I was reluctant to start. I think many people will relate: I wasn’t good at mathematics, and I’d been told it was essential for computer science—that you needed algebra.
That stopped me taking the next step.
In this bootcamp, what I needed was problem-solving skills and to learn ways of building things, including how to use AI.
Those were fears I had to confront.
Jamie (06:21): How did you overcome those beliefs? Was it research or speaking to people?
It takes courage to challenge how you’ve been taught to think and say, “I can do this.”
Mandy (06:51): I always asked myself, “What happens if it doesn’t work?” I didn’t feel smart enough to take it on.
But what happens if it does work? There are so many possibilities. It’s invigorating to think about the doors it could open.
I made sure I had a support network and spoke to people in the industry.
They came from different backgrounds: university, bootcamps and self-teaching. It was about the actions they took.
That helped me see the possibilities were open to me too.
Jamie (07:38): You spoke to people and explored what was possible.
Nobody knows exactly what will happen with AI or tech, but you can lean into curiosity and what you know about yourself, including your creativity.
Speaking to developers and other people in tech can help you see that path.
Mandy (08:11): Definitely.
Jamie (08:12): What surprised you most when you started learning?
Mandy (08:21): How hungry I was to learn.
Once I started the bootcamp, I wanted to keep going. I’d be up late building or trying to solve a problem, and time would slip away.
I was surprised by how curious I became about the projects. I wanted to learn everything.
Of course, you can’t retain all that information at once. It comes through practice.
It was fun, and I wanted to keep going.
Jamie (08:58): Your development team will have a lot of questions to answer.
Was there a point when it clicked and you thought, “I understand this. I can do it”?
Mandy (09:26): There were two points in the bootcamp when that happened.
I’d be working on part of a project and ask a teaching assistant to explain what I needed to figure out.
Sometimes it wouldn’t click immediately. But when I explained it back to her in a different way and she confirmed my understanding, it was a light-bulb moment.
The skills were sinking in.
As the projects started working and things were being built, I felt more confident in my ability.
It takes time, but those were big moments for me.
Jamie (10:22): What was the hardest part, and how did you get through it?
Mandy (10:49): It wasn’t coding. The hardest part was learning how to learn again after being out of school for so long.
Everyone learns differently. Finding the method that worked for me and understanding how I retained information was the hurdle.
Reading and writing didn’t really click. Talking about it, building things and doing the work helped it sink in.
Jamie (11:26): Were there existing strengths or experiences you leaned on, whether from your career or elsewhere in your life?
Mandy (11:53): Definitely. I already had coordination and problem-solving experience.
Breaking problems into manageable tasks and keeping things simple helped.
Collaborating with the team was essential: working out how to solve a problem, delegate tasks and communicate efficiently.
People can’t read each other’s minds. We have to discuss the problems together.
Jamie (12:38): Has upskilling changed how you see yourself professionally or where you see your career going?
Mandy (12:50): Partly.
One thing that surprised me was realising I should give myself more credit.
You need to look back and see how far you’ve come. Learning and growing take time.
Upskilling is a skill in itself. You have to be patient with it.
Jamie (13:21): Patient with the process and with yourself.
Do you feel more confident about speaking the language of tech and holding your own as you move into full-time development?
Mandy (13:41): Partly. I’ll probably be asking my co-workers lots of questions because that’s how you learn.
Someone once told me that the stupid question is the one you don’t ask.
If you don’t know something, look it up or ask someone.
Learning technical language is another skill. You need to ask questions: is this business logic or technical language?
The more you use it, the better you get.
Jamie (14:15): Has your vision for the future changed, or is it still about curiosity and possibilities?
Mandy (14:34): Both.
Tech changes every year. We don’t know what it will look like in five or ten years, so we need to be adaptable.
That also creates opportunities. There may be jobs in a few years that don’t exist today.
It’s exciting to think about those possibilities and how the skills we’re learning now could be used.
Jamie (15:18): Are you using AI? Does it come up in conversations about your role?
What could people do today to stay relevant?
Mandy (15:45): It depends on where you work and how the company uses AI.
Some companies lean on it heavily. Others avoid it because of privacy concerns.
We don’t use it much, but I use it to test myself.
If I’ve written code, I ask AI to examine what I’ve done and question why I made certain decisions. I might ask it to act as a senior developer and challenge me.
But I emphasise that anyone learning should understand the foundations.
AI is changing, and we need to be cautious about following it blindly. We can adapt alongside it while maintaining our understanding.
Jamie (17:13): Adapt to the change and invest time in understanding it.
Some non-technical people are worried. They think, “I don’t know computers or AI. This isn’t for me.”
What would you say to someone considering upskilling but feeling they aren’t technical enough?
Mandy (18:02): I wasn’t technical when I started, so I was in the same position.
You don’t need to be technical to begin.
Different skills matter. If everyone had the same background and abilities, we’d lose that variety.
You can bring your existing skills and apply them in different ways.
Technical ability is learned. It takes time.
Jamie (18:59): It’s a mindset shift: there’s a process and work involved, but you can do it by understanding yourself and how you learn.
What mindset has helped you most?
Mandy (19:36): Two things: resilience and curiosity.
You need determination to set goals and keep working towards them.
As a developer, you’ll face problems that make you uncomfortable and frustrated. You need resilience to work through them and see the problem to the end.
At the same time, I’m curious. I want to ask questions and understand how things work.
People appreciate that appetite for learning. They want to see what you can contribute.
Jamie (20:55): That ability to adapt matters. People bring different experiences but need to show how they can contribute.
If someone gave themselves six months to grow, what would you recommend they focus on?
Mandy (21:39): Experiment with whatever excites you.
Build things, learn skills and use AI tools to understand how things work.
You could build a small application or automate something.
Keep it simple and stick to your foundations. If AI tells you something, make sure you understand why. Ask it to explain.
Explore the tools and stay curious. You can go back, change things and fix mistakes.
Don’t let fear hold you back. Give yourself a chance to try.
Jamie (23:06): Curiosity and play stand out.
People want all the answers, but you’re encouraging them to explore what’s possible and bring some enjoyment back into learning.
As we finish, what advice would you give someone wondering what comes next?
From coaching you, I’ve seen the work you’ve put into understanding yourself and moving towards your goals.
Mandy (24:06): It’s about the action you take and how that shows what you’ve learned and the skills you’ve developed.
I also want to say that everyone belongs in this space.
We need people with different skills, from creative to highly logical.
For anyone who’s scared to take the first step, I want them to know they belong here too. Everyone is welcome.
Jamie (24:53): Mandy, thank you for your generosity, courage and honesty.
I’d love to revisit this in a year and hear how development is going, what you’re doing with AI and how your perspective has changed.
Thank you for helping people who will find this valuable.
Mandy (25:38): Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.
Jamie (25:40): Bye.
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