Career

Last time I wrote about why I keep saying yes to open-source mentorship. This post is the how: specifically, how to be a mentee in 2026. I’ve spent the last few years on the mentor side of CNCF LFX LFX Mentorship — the Linux Foundation’s structured mentorship program. Cohorts run quarterly, projects are scoped to ~12 weeks, and mentees receive a stipend. , Google Summer of Code ( GSoC A Google-funded program where students contribute to open-source projects over the summer, paired with mentors from those projects. ), and GoBridge, through Thanos, Prometheus, and now OpenTelemetry projects. Every cohort I’ve run, the same questions keep coming up from people who want to apply but don’t know how to start. ...

Startups can be exciting arenas of innovation, filled with ambitious goals, rapid development cycles, and the allure of shaping the future. But when the pace becomes unsustainable, and personal values clash with company culture, the dream can quickly lose its luster. My recent experience at a machine learning inference startup taught me invaluable lessons about overwork, alignment, and the balance between idealism and pragmatism. Why I Decided to Leave The decision to leave wasn’t easy, but it became necessary when I realized that the environment was not compatible with my personal and professional priorities. ...

A new chapter in my professional journey As the flowers bloom and the world awakens to the bright colors of spring, a season of renewal and growth, I find myself making a significant transition in my professional journey. (Too cheesy? I know, but bear with me.) This year, I find myself absent from the familiar buzz of KubeCon, a place of learning and connection that I hold dear. Instead, I’m on a different kind of duty — one that involves embracing new roles and responsibilities in life. ...