Mandy Arola

Mandy has been following developers & tech companies at meetups since 2016. She is NSS’s chief content wrangler, a.k.a. marketing manager. When she’s not writing blogs, managing social media, pestering instructors & graduates for content, or attending meetups, you can find her traveling the world or at home with her beloved dog Lola.
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Recent Posts

Focused On Solutions | Graduate Spotlight
Jul 5, 2017
Software developers are modern day builders. They do not use a hammer and nails; instead they use languages and frameworks. When Michael Watson and Luke Woodard see a problem, they want to build the solution. Read More

Topics: Student Stories, Hiring?

Customer-Focused Software Developers | Graduate Spotlight
Jun 29, 2017
Many of our graduates come to NSS to change their careers. When they start their first job as a junior software developer, not only do they bring problem-solving and coding skills, they also bring their prior work experiences with them. Jared Fuller and Jesse Waddell both come from customer-focused careers. Their experiences in serving customers' needs will help them work with both clients and end-users as developers. Read More

Topics: Student Stories, Hiring?

Cohorts 18 & Evening 4 Celebrate Successful Demo Day
Jun 27, 2017
On Friday we graduated 45 junior developers from Cohorts 18 and Evening 4. To showcase all that they’ve learned at NSS, the graduates presented their front-end and back-end capstones to prospective employers one-on-one. Get to know these 45 graduates. Read More

Topics: Student Stories

Advanced Degrees Allowed | Graduate Spotlight
Jun 20, 2017
Is a bootcamp right for someone with a master’s degree? If you want to learn the craft of software development, absolutely. Everyone’s educational journey takes different paths. These two Cohort 17 graduates have master’s degrees, but when they decided to pursue software development, they opted for the accelerated, hands-on learning environment that our bootcamps provide. Read More

Topics: Student Stories, Hiring?

Coding Is For Creatives | Graduate Spotlight
Jun 13, 2017
There’s a common misconception that if you are creative, you will not like coding. The reality is that many of our students come from creative backgrounds. Whether you are a musician, writer, graphic designer, or express your creativity in other ways, you can bring your creativity into your role as a software developer. Today we meet Sorrel Brigman, an audio engineer, and Ashley Irwin, a writer, from Cohort 17 who both use their creativity to code. Read More

Topics: Student Stories, Hiring?

Find A Career That Challenges You | Graduate Spotlight
Jun 8, 2017
If there’s one thing guaranteed in life, it’s that life changes. Sometimes after being in the workforce for a few years, you discover that your job has no career path, doesn’t challenge your mind, or it’s lost the enjoyment it once had. When that happens, often something inside us pushes us to look at our options and we begin talking with our friends, family, and networks. That’s what these three graduates of Cohort 17 experienced. They each desired a new career that would give them the mental challenge that was missing in their jobs. Read More

Topics: Student Stories, Hiring?

Cohort 17 Graduates With 21 New Developers
May 24, 2017
On Friday we graduated 21 junior developers from Cohort 17. To showcase all that they’ve learned in six months at NSS, the graduates presented their front-end and back-end capstones to prospective employers one-on-one. Get to know these 21 graduates. Read More

Topics: Student Stories, Hiring?

Code For Nashville | GET INVOLVED
May 23, 2017
There are meetups that focus on learning or networking opportunities and then there’s Code for Nashville, a group that seeks to make a difference. Code for Nashville leverages technology to improve access to government services and is changing lives in big and small ways. They lead the way through hackathons and community discussions with software developers, journalists, legal minds, designers, and you! Find out how to get involved. Read More

Topics: Community, Get Involved

Coding Your Passions | Graduate Spotlight
May 8, 2017
Zoe LeBlanc loves history. Nathan Baker loves board games. While these two graduates have very different backgrounds and interests, they’re both combining their passion with a new love for coding. Zoe created apps that help academic researchers. Nathan created an app that shows you the most popular board games and was featured on a well-known board game podcast. Here are their stories. Read More

Topics: Student Stories

Capture + Build + Sell | Graduate Spotlight
May 2, 2017
What do a photographer, a welder, and a salesman have in common? They’re all NSS graduates! Our students’ prior work experience is as varied as a 120 count box of crayons. Abby was a wedding photographer who wanted to reclaim her weekends. Ben was a welder who was seeking a career with advancement opportunities. And Trent was afraid of becoming a tired, old salesman. Here are their stories. Read More

Topics: Student Stories