personal Blog Posts

Taking my babies to a conference

But this time it was different. I brought my babies to the conference. I was really worried about doing this as what would people think? And the voices start going off in my head. But why should I care. Cause you know, I just do.

Delivering a Talk

How can we walk on that stage with more confidence, deliver a great talk and not only own the stage but also connect with the audience. It’s not easy, but like everything it does get easier with practice. Let’s go over a few ways you can improve your public speaking skills, either for the big stage or for remote talks, and let’s discuss what is holding you back from becoming an amazing tech speaker.

Not One but Two

On our 9th attempt at fertility treatment, we were super excited when the doctor called us 10 days after the transfer to tell us that we were pregnant. It had worked. I asked him if he was sure and he said "yes, very sure. But then when we had the first scan, we got a big surprise.

2022 Recap - Achieving your dreams Debbie

And there it is, another year gone but when you look back at all you have achieved then really there is no more to say than; what a year. From Google interviews to being hired by Microsoft, speaking at conferences and traveling to so many conferences and lots of sport, 2022 was a great year.

Challenging Yourself

Cycle all around the island of Mallorca for a total of 235km with an expected cycling time of 9.5 hours at a speed of 25km per hour. Just the thoughts of that is scary enough. Was I able for it? Had I trained enough for it? Probably not. But I was determined to give it a go.

Why Microsoft and How I achieved my Goal

I just really liked the idea that Microsoft were willing to send people out to help others, to help them build better software with their products and I said to the two Microsoft guys, "One day I will work for Microsoft".

Fixing Diversity in Tech

When you step back from the nationality, the color, the religion the sex etc you just get a bunch of people who become a great bunch of friends. This is tech. This is what tech should be like always, for everyone.

Finding the Right Work Life Balance

To many people it might look like I have it all worked out and to be honest I do think I have a pretty good work life balance. But it wasn't always that way. I am probably older than most people who will read this and therefore I have had more time to make mistakes and learn from them.

Being an Imposter

If you ever look at the home page of my site or the intro slide of my talks you will probably think I am the biggest show off in the world. However, really I am an imposter. I doubt my abilities and find it difficult to accept my accomplishments and wonder if I deserve them.

Learning about Developer Advocates

Being a Developer Advocate is by far the best job in the world, at least in my opinion and for me. It isn't for everyone and that's ok too. In this post I am going to share a bit about what I do as a Developer Advocate and what I love about it.

2021 - climbing higher and higher

A look back at yet again another amazing year even though times were hard. From lockdowns to in person conferences, to changing jobs and learning a new library, as well as mentoring, teaching workshops, doing lots of sport and so much more.

Amazing Things are Going to Happen

Believing in yourself is hard, especially when for so long people have put you down or not believed in you. Getting those voices out of your head is not easy but I think I have finally done it and now I can finally grow and just be a star.

Discord as a Virtual Office

We use Discord as our virtual office at Bit and I have to tell you all about it as it really is a great way to work and collaborate with others especially when working in different time zones.

Why Live Streams Scare me

What its like to do a live stream, why it scares me and why I know the only way to get over fear is to keep doing it again and again.

Creating Video Courses

Creating video courses can be very time consuming and for sure there is no one way to go about it. In this post I share what I have learnt and how I now find it easier to create courses.

Why I Love Nuxt

I have been using Nuxt in all of my recent tech jobs but why did I start using it? What problems did I have trying to convince the team and more important the clients. And why should you use Nuxt?

Being an Extrovert in a Virtual World

From being surrounded by amazing people to being locked up from the world. 2020 has been an interesting year and a very hard one for those who are extroverts and love being around people.

CityJSConf talks to…Debbie O’Brien

“I guess you could say I love the buzz of the stage but also because my talks help people learn something new. Now the virtual world is not the same at all, but what can we do? I don’t dislike it — I would just prefer to see and talk to people. I am very much a people’s person.”

JavaScript Workshop with Kyle Simpson

It has been a couple of months since Kyle, author of the “You Don’t Know JS” series, visited our trivago headquarters and gave us a wonderful JavaScript workshop. It was such an enjoyable week, being able to meet Kyle in person and walk through his thinking behind the materials.

How learning to code changed my life

A year ago, I was in a very different place. I had come to the end of a very long journey and I just didn’t know what to do next. I didn’t really have the interest or the strength to continue and I believed that I didn’t have a purpose anymore. I was in a deep, dark hole and I didn’t know how to get out of it.

What It’s Like To Work After Studying Online

I was one of the first graduates from the Front-End Web Development course. I had played around with different online courses in coding before, but really found what I was looking for with OpenClassrooms. Fast forward 8 months, I had completed all projects and managed to get myself a job at Logitravel, a holiday booking site based in Palma, Mallorca.