From Therapist to six figure freelance dev [Podcast #176]

On this week's episode of the podcast, freeCodeCamp founder Quincy Larson interviews Kelly Vaughn. She's a self-taught software engineer who ran her own developer agency. She was also the founding CTO at financial technology startup. Kelly runs the p...

Jun 20, 2025 - 15:00

From Therapist to six figure freelance dev [Podcast #176]

On this week's episode of the podcast, freeCodeCamp founder Quincy Larson interviews Kelly Vaughn. She's a self-taught software engineer who ran her own developer agency. She was also the founding CTO at financial technology startup. Kelly runs the popular Ladybug Podcast focused on women in tech.

We talk about:

How to freelance and ultimately create a developer agency and get clients
Tips for navigating the current developer job market
How to move from freelance to working for someone else
Tips for recognizing burnout so you can know when to take break

You can watch the interview on YouTube:

Or you can listen to the podcast in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app. Be sure to follow the freeCodeCamp Podcast there so you'll get new episodes each Friday.

Thanks to the 11,384 kind folks who support freeCodeCamp through a monthly donation. You can join these chill human beings and help our charity's mission by going to [https://www.donate.freecodecamp.org

Links](https://www.donate.freecodecamp.orgLinks) we talk about during our conversation:

Kelly's website: https://kvlly.com
The Ladybug Podcast talks about tech, career, and code lead by women in tech: https://ladybug.dev
Kelly's engineering leadership newsletter: https://modernleader.is
Kelly's new burnout-focused newsletter: https://afterburnout.co