There seems to be a rather large 10 year gap in this story that kinda glosses over the part where you went from installing internet to being a software engineer. It makes it sound like you just magically became a software engineer while road tripping around the country managing a friend's comedy tour. I mean, it goes from managing that tour to suddenly:<p>> Meanwhile, Hightower was starting to get noticed in the Atlanta open-source community thanks to a series of talks at Python meetups when he caught the attention of James<p>It's a bit much of a gap - as that seems to be around 2013 and you seem to have still been installing internet in 2003. I get there was a time of being an IT consultant, and then a store opening with a few people you hired. But - where's the software engineering happening that lead to giving talks and what not?
This is a fascinating and inspiring story! I'm also an African-American in tech working in Silicon Valley. I have a strong interest in systems, and I had the pleasure of interning for Google's cloud division twice: once to work on the Google Cloud SQL team, and another time to work on the Spanner team. It's great to hear of other African-Americans in Silicon Valley.
Was about to suggest adding Kelsey Hightower to the title, as he's someone in the community many may already know of...then I look at the username! :D<p>Always enjoy his videos whenever I come across them, even if I'm not working on anything remotely related to the content. Waiting for whatever random tech surprise he throws in sometimes.
It may be a minor quibble, but but the irrelevant "From McDonald's" is pretty tiring clickbait. Many of us that now work in the tech industry, whether black, white, etc, have worked these shitty food service and retail jobs, but unless you worked your way up through McD's tech statk from the grill, it just doesn't matter. Of course Mr. Hightower here is just reusing the title of the article, so this isn't a slight against him, but journalist should try harder, even in this clickbait world we live in. I'd hate to think my time working at Hardee's, McDonald's and Walmart has any bearing on my current career.
He seems like an awesome guy. Well-deserved success!<p>I do wonder whether the title of the article accidentally (and ironically) reveals a subtle racial bias. McDonald's is a typical shorthand for a lowly job, staffed by the nation's underclass. But tons of successful people in tech flipped burgers in high school (I did!) and it's never worth highlighting in press articles. Their public story usually starts at college or their first job or their first big break. But this article specifically highlights a traditionally menial position as his starting point.<p>Unconscious bias?
Thanks for posting that.<p>I'm impressed by the lack of an Ivy-League sheepskin.<p>My own education is basically self-taught. It served me well (I'm smarter than the average bear), but boy, oh boy, have I looked up a lot of noses.<p>It's given me a fairly irreverent attitude that does not always win me friends.<p>It has also given me a drive to help out others that have challenges breaking through obstinance and prejudice (see "not winning friends," above).
Great over all story. Not sure what the McDonalds part has to do with it - a huge number of kids start there. I did - and in the next 40 years I've been Chief Architect of a startup, found my own startup (with a install base over 12 million), and am currently a Principal Architect at Microsoft (and was a lead in Microsoft Research a few years ago)<p>All good - and I look back at my McDonald days (somewhat) fondly, and it was good experience at doing fairly unpleasant work - but my nights hack and phone freaking and coding had 100x more to do with my success then that first job :)
I've had the opportunity to know Kelsey for a number of years, and we've worked together closely on occasion. He is the genuinely good human the article portrays him as, and unlike some who evangelize - Kelsey understands his technical area (k8s) deeply and is on the CLI daily. Top notch human, and I thought I'd add a POV from a regular HN reader.
I'm very glad the story started with Peter Idah and it's nice to see someone like Kelsey get this recognition for his hard work. The industry (and the world at large) is skewed in ways we can't really understand without being in other people's shoes and this is a small glimpse into that reality. You should be rewarded for the merits of your work and instead we're marginalised by the colour of our skin. I've never experienced what Kelsey has, or maybe I'm just ignorant to the signs, but it's important that more people like Kelsey come to be in positions of "power" and become role models for those who need to see someone like them can make it to where he has.
Kelsey's a great part of the DevOps community - always helping and promoting others and their work in addition to leveling up his own game. I've benefited from every interaction with him for sure, at conferences and stuff - he's super knowledgeable and tireless about spreading knowledge and raising others up. A class act through and through, and I was excited to see the article.
Always wondered were Kelsey got his comedian skills. Now I understand it was working with his buddy Ronnie Jordan, driving him around, coaching him, learning with & from Jordan. Reminds me of the Beatles and their time in Hamburg were they got their Performance skills. Even in his extensive answer her in HN describing his IT career made me laugh a couple of times.<p>Thank you Kelsey, keep up the good work.
Met Mr Hightower for the first time, at a CoreOS meetup, and it was memorable. I wish I was this cool and good at presentations and demos :)
It has been awesome to see over the years, the deserved recognition, and reaching more people !
Good story. I'd be happy to work for you anyday. I wouldn't be too quick to judge the guy who asked for directions, unless he didn't believe you could be an attendee or speaker. I'd never heard of you before, and I'm not afraid to ask random possibly-prestigious people for directions at conferences. I occasionally attend NANOGs, hosted by Edward McNair.
Kelsey! Missed you at CoreOS by a few months. Your shadow loomed large over us. Would’ve loved to have seen you stay and seen what we could’ve done as a team. CoreOS was the big fish that got away from us all. Either way as a brown person in tech I admire you greatly. Keep rocking.
Awesome article, I still remember Kelsey talks about CoreOS it was amazing, that got me introduced to containers and I have the privilege to be his colleague now. Overall great story except the title and the race thing, I find it irrelevant, he is just an awesome human being.
> know that Geordi La Forge was the only Black member of the crew of the Enterprise in "Star Trek: The Next Generation,"<p>What about Guinan (Whoopi Goldberg) and Worf (Michael Dorn)?
Kelsey,<p>How do you feel your early experiences at McDonald’s, in terms of operations, influenced your decision-making or thought processes as part of devops strategies or perspective?<p>Thanks!
Kelsey Hightower is unstoppable. It's the combination of humor, self-deprecation, knowledge and unflagging optimism.<p>He's this generation's Martin Fowler or Uncle Bob.
Not meaning to attack your comment, but want to point out that race quota systems are racist per a supreme court ruling. That's why colleges use a point system (which is still arguably racist by basically being the same thing, but a different topic).
Nice to see another former fast-food worker working in tech. There’s dozens of us! Dozens! My first job was at Wendy’s earning minimum wage, and during my tech career I’ve helped take 3 tech companies through IPO, with all 3 tickers still ticking away on the NYSE.<p>I like Kelsey’s spirit of “hustle” and pursuing what he’s passionate about. Totally agree. Find what connects with <i>you</i>; don’t simply try to fill other people’s shoes! I now work outside of tech entirely, because life is is full of endlessly fascinating things to pursue, and unfortunately life is far too short to try them all.
Wasn't there however exactly a google controversy where an engineer was claiming that people who represent some minority groups get accepted easier and have a lower bar of entry because of diversity recruitment requirement?
My job at 16 was also McDonald’s. I loved it. The floor managers would make sure we all got free food basically any time at our store, so I could go with my friends and we’d all get dinner. Nobody took it too seriously and most people tried but we definitely worked hard.<p>It was fun. I don't think it really should mean one thing or another for one's professional destiny. I definitely don't miss smelling like hamburgers!
Thats cool, but I've never heard of him and this story is a bit "predictable"? Maybe uninteresting, but with less negative connotations? I'm not sure what word would work best.<p>It sounds like he got to where he was the same way most of us probably got to where we are....by working at it and getting better over time. A good public speaker with a passable technical background being successful at a job where they need to speak publicly about technical topics just isn't very surprising to me - regardless of skin tone.