The experience of singer & songwriter Adiam at Le Wagon

Before Le Wagon I was an artist, a singer and songwriter. I started my music career at the age of 15 in Sweden. I quit school and went into the music industry. I had friends who were already in the music industry. I recorded my first album, wrote and co-produced songs. My latest album was released in 2017 with Universal. At one point, I got tired of the music industry and was not stimulated by it anymore. When starting Le Wagon, I knew that music would still be something I’ll be doing, I just needed to do something else for a little while.

I decided to learn to go after one of my friends who was coding spoke to me about it. I was pregnant at the time and bored and was looking around for things that I could do. I started doing some online courses on Codecademy and I enjoyed the similarities between coding and creating music:  you have  a vague vision and then create an actual product. When I decided to do this transition, I was worried that I would not achieve the goals that I set for myself. Yet, I learned to trust myself and the process of learning to code with Le Wagon.

My whole experience at Le Wagon was a very pleasant one. There is always help and a very warm and welcoming atmosphere. I always felt taken care of by the team and teachers with their words of encouragement. I also enjoyed that there were so many women and mothers in my batch. The bootcamp can be overwhelming and you will question yourself and your ability to learn but that’s part of the learning process.

The biggest challenge during the bootcamp was not comparing myself to my other classmates. Everyone learns at their own speed and has a different learning process. The best and funnest part of the programm was the buddy system - during the first weeks of the bootcamp you’re paired with a different person everyday. I enjoyed working with people from various profiles everyday while trying to solve the same challenges. 

Now that I finished the bootcamp, I can see myself using my new coding skills with my music skills by being more patient and having a more logical thinking when creating music. However right now I’m looking to start a job as a junior developer. Ideally, I’d like to find a position in a music company, where I can use my previous knowledge there. This would be a great stepping stone before starting my own business in the music industry.

One thing that I will take with me that is not coding related is the experience of getting to know different people regardless of their background. And also the confidence to adapt to something completely different and being able to adapt. 

My biggest advice for anyone would be to go for it, trust the process and learn to code! It’s extremely fun and you challenge yourself in no other way you do.