Employee Spotlight: Sam, Software Development Manager
In this episode of the Direct Farm Podcast, we're excited to host Sam one of Barn2Door's very own Software Development Managers. Listen as he shares how he came to join the team and and how he was able to grow with Barn2Door.
-
Sebastian: 0:26
Welcome back to the Direct Farm Podcast, everybody. My name is Sebastian on the Marketing team. Today we have an employee spotlight here with Sam. Sam, could you introduce yourself for all the listeners that are listening?
Sam: 0:36
Yeah. So hi, I'm Sam. I'm a Software Development Manager at Barn2Door and I've been working here since May of 2017. So about 4 years now.
Sebastian: 0:47
I was going to ask you, like, how long have you been here, but you've been here pretty much since the beginning of then, at Barn2Door or pretty near the beginning.
Sam: 0:53
Yeah, Barn2Door was founded in 2015. So I joined a couple of years after, but yeah, it's been quite a journey, a wild ride I'd say.
Sebastian: 1:00
Yeah. So you've seen everything from like, all the ups and downs and how have you kind of seen it change or evolve over these last 4 years you've been here?
Sam: 1:08
Yeah, I, I started off actually as a software development intern just as a summer job while I was in college. And then that transformed into the full-time job after I graduated, which was a great opportunity. But in terms of how it's changed. Oh, I could, there's a million ways I can answer that question. I mean first the most obvious one is just the, the number of employees. Back when I started, it was me one other intern, and then Janelle the CEO. And then now the company is much larger than that, and there's different departments and just much more of a real company at this point.
Sebastian: 1:39
Back then there wasn't an office, so you were coding in Janelle's basement, right?
Sam: 1:43
Exactly. Yeah. I I'd go to her house, walked down the stairs and my office was a basement. Yeah, exactly.
Sebastian: 1:50
As a software development manager, can you kind of walk me through what your day-to-day responsibilities are like and then any challenges or any favorite parts that you have?
Sam: 1:58
Yeah, for sure. So my primary role as a software development manager is just making sure the engineering team all the individual developers are unblocked and able to build out features and work productively without any issues. So, that requires meeting with them daily to make sure they're working on their tasks and that they understand what they're supposed to be working on. And then also just checking in with them, to answer any technical questions as kind of a senior engineer kind of role and ensuring that the code they write is scalable and maintainable and just provides a great user experience for all the farmers on the platform. One of the most difficult aspects I would say is, time management would probably be the big, biggest one. As a Software Development Manager, I have to always be on the top of my game in terms of organization and You know, Barn2Door can be working on anywhere between 1 and 10 features all at the same time. So making sure that I understand what everyone is working on well enough to make sure that they understand what they're working on is a big part of the job.
Sebastian: 2:58
Since you also have to kind of be a resource for all the team members there, your hands are in a lot of pies, so to speak.
Sam: 3:02
Exactly. Yes.
Sebastian: 3:03
Right, right. Yeah. Definitely have to wear many hats at a start up.
Sam: 3:06
Yes. For sure.
Sebastian: 3:07
How would you describe, you know, what's really different about working at Barn2Door versus anywhere else that you've ever been, or have you ever seen?
Sam: 3:15
Yeah, I'd say the biggest difference at Barn2door is the ownership of the work that you're doing. So at Barn2Door in the engineering organization you own a feature that you're working on from the bottom up, you decide how to build it the best ways to implement it. And then even the best plan to roll it out to the customers and all of the farmers who will then use the feature. So at other organizations, that's like four different departments doing all of that. And you're just a small piece of the puzzle. Whereas at Barn2Door, you are the sole person in charge with just some people on top, making sure that you're doing it correctly and nothing is going to fall through the cracks. So that's probably the biggest difference.
Sebastian: 3:54
What is unique about building software for farmers?
Sam: 3:57
Yeah, I I'd say the most unique aspect about building software for farmers would be all of the different edge cases is what we call them, that farmers deal with on a day-to-day basis. So on a standard e-commerce platform, you're mostly just thinking about products and how you get it to the consumers hands, but at Barn2Door, we also have to think about what type of product the person is selling. So a vegetable produce farmer could be a much different use case than a meat, or like a honey farmer, for instance. The way they need to sell their products is just vastly different. And our platform has to work best for all of them, not just a single use case as well.
Sebastian: 4:33
Being here for as long as you have Sam, why do you like working at Barn2Door?
Sam: 4:37
My favorite thing about working at Barn2Door is the unique challenges that we face every day. So, and they come from all different angles. So the first one, yeah. How do you turn a company of two or three people working out of the CEO's basement into a company working in an office with a bunch of different departments and making sure everybody's working towards the same goal and on the same page. So that kind of operational scaling of a business aspect is super interesting. And it's great to be on the ground floor of that in seeing it happen in real time.
Sebastian: 5:06
How would you describe what the culture is like here?
Sam: 5:08
I guess the, on the engineering specific team that one of the biggest core values that I think applies to us is hungry. We we're always trying to better ourselves. And, and as I said, like ownership is a huge part of the engineering organization, you, you own a task from the beginning until it makes it into farmers' hands and even beyond that in terms of maintenance. So you have to be hungry and you have to know. What you want and be confident in yourself to build it out or learn how to build it. And then I would say that even extends beyond the engineering department, everybody is here at a startup putting on many hats and doing things they've probably never have done before or they're doing for the first time. And we're excelling and everybody is just doing a great job.
Sebastian: 5:47
They really have to come in with that Gusto, you know, that even if they aren't necessarily prepared for it, they'd have to be prepared to take on the challenge right. And learn about it. And they might not be perfect the first time, but we're always refining each other's skills and always trying to grow. Last question I have for you is there anything you would like to say for anybody that's potentially looking to apply at Barn2Door or any potential team members maybe, any words of advice for them?
Sam: 6:11
Yeah. Ooh, that's a good question. Hmm. I mean, the biggest advice I would have is if you're thinking about applying, just apply and you know, we're a great team to work for. And there's tons of opportunity and you'll learn a lot and you're learning. So you you're interested in Software Engineering or any of the departments at Barn2Door like, you know, we're more than happy to add more to the team.
Sebastian: 6:32
Alrighty. Well, Sam, thank you so much for coming onto the podcast today. It was a pleasure talking with you and, getting to learn a little bit about your history here at Barn2Door and what your experience has been like.