Alumni Q & A with Kate Franks

Say hello to Kate Franks! After a 12-year long career as a dental hygienist and the reality of the pandemic, Kate found herself ready to take on something new. Carolina Code School provided not only a new kind of career but a new passion for work. Keep reading to learn more about Kate, her journey to CCS, and her new career!

Tell me about yourself!

I was born and raised in a small town in Connecticut, where both my grandfather and father were dentists, which led me on my path to becoming a dental hygienist. I didn’t grow up in a very “techy” family, my two older brothers and I spent most of our childhoods outdoors and playing sports. This continued throughout my life as I got into distance running and then long-distance triathlon. 

Dental hygiene was a very steady career, the hours and pay were good, and I had as much or as little work as I wanted… at least until 2020! Pretty early on in my career, I realized that I didn’t love being a hygienist. I have always been a “people” person, and very much enjoyed getting to know my patients, but it was a very monotonous career, I did not feel challenged, and there was minimal room for professional growth. Although I didn’t feel fulfilled at work, it fit within my lifestyle which allowed me to be very involved in my passions outside of work - running and triathlon. 

What was your first exposure to the computers/tech industry?

Like so many, in March 2020, my world came to a halt. The dental office I was working at was forced to shut its doors due to state Covid precautions, and for the first time in my career, I found myself out of work. At the same time, all of the 2020 races I had qualified for were canceled. Out of work and without any concrete athletic goals in front of me, I took a step back and examined the current path that my life was on. 

Throughout my career, I considered other career paths, but they always fell within the medical or dental field, as healthcare was the only industry I was familiar with. When the Covid shutdowns started, many of my friends were able to transition to working from home, and I was a bit jealous that I was in an industry where this was not possible. I also decided during this time that I needed to find other areas of my life that would challenge me outside of athletics. 

In November 2020, after living in Jacksonville, FL for 10 years, I moved to Greenville to be closer to family that had relocated to the Upstate. I started working at a dental office in Greenville, but I was actively searching for other career paths where I would feel challenged and have the flexibility to work remotely. 

A couple of months after moving, I made two friends that were software developers. I knew nothing about software development before meeting them, nor did I personally know any women that were in the tech field. The more I learned about what they did for work, the more interested I became in the field. One of the women had attended a coding “boot camp,” which is what prompted my finding of the Carolina Code School and the 12-week immersive web-development course.

By March of this year, I started doing some basic courses on FreeCodeCamp.com, and I was instantly hooked. I was still working full-time as a dental hygienist, so I would do the courses at night after work. Soon after that, I started bringing my laptop to work and doing the courses on my lunch break. In April, I attended CCS’s Cohort #8’s “Demo Day,” and I was mesmerized by the incredible students and the fascinating projects that they had all built. I made the decision that day that I no longer wanted coding to be something that I was doing on the side, I wanted it to be my career. 

April 30th was my last day employed as a dental hygienist, and on May 3rd I started at the Carolina Code School as a member of Cohort #9. 

What was your experience like during the 12-week boot camp?

Code school was the most challenging 12 weeks of my life. I put in 10+ hour days, 7 days a week, for 12 weeks straight. Coming from zero tech experience, everything that I learned during those 12 weeks was brand new to me. It was extremely challenging and overwhelming, but I was committed to succeeding. 

During code school, someone in the tech community that had learned about my endurance sports background asked me, “what’s your next Ironman?” and I realized at that moment that this career change was essentially my next “Ironman.” While software development was new to me, setting a goal, creating a plan, and executing that plan to achieve my goal was not a new concept to me. 

You've joined the team at Kopis, congratulations! Tell me about what you are doing now? 

I am on Kopis’ “SmartGov” team, and working on a project utilizing .Net and C#, which are new technologies to me since code school. The transition from code school to working as a developer has been challenging, yet also very rewarding. I am extremely grateful to have an amazing team around me that has been very supportive throughout this journey. 

How did CCS prepare you for the job search? 

During code school, it was important to me to try to network as much as possible to form connections within the Greenville tech community. Networking to me is not attending large events where business cards are passed around, it’s saying “hi” to every person you encounter and forming true connections with those you meet. I was able to connect with several locally based tech companies on which I set my sights for potential employment post-code school. 

Kopis stood out to me immediately. I did not want “just a job,” and Kopis’ four core values of “Lead, Impact, Respect, and Simplify,” were very much in line with my values. I also found Kopis to be unique in that they had a very high employee retention rate, with many employees having worked there for over 10 years. 

What was the most valuable takeaway from your experience with CCS?

Introduction to the Greenville Tech Community. That was the most valuable thing that code school gave me. This is an incredible community and I still feel like my cohort is on my side if I need them. We lean on each other and ask questions as we are all still learning in our new careers.