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It's my honor to interview and introduce our newest team member and developer, Arielle Shamash! We're very excited to have her on the team, and it's been a pleasure getting to know her. Welcome, Arielle!

Q: How’s everything going so far?

A: So far so good! Everyone has been super welcoming and helpful, even if they’re busy when I reach out with questions. Leadership has been great at helping me adjust and feel supported while I ramp up.

Q: Can you tell us a bit about yourself? Where are you originally from and where do you currently live?

A: I grew up in Los Angeles and have moved all around the country, but the last 2 years I’ve been in Eugene, Oregon. Go Ducks!

Q: What initially drew you to Foster Made?

A: The idea of working on different projects and with new clients sounded like a great experience, but then I learned about how long many of the developers have been with Foster Made and I wanted to see what it was about this company that keeps people here! Just from these last few weeks, I can see all the support within the development team, and also the encouragement that comes from leadership.

Q: How did you get into web development? What do you enjoy most about React development?

A: It was sort of a leap of faith. I had taken a few Python classes and thought it was cool and interesting but never tried to go further with it. I was bartending for a few years and had reached my breaking point in the customer service industry. Pretty much on a whim, I signed up for a coding boot camp (that started 10 days later) - I loved it, and here we are!

Q: What types of projects do you consider most gratifying?

A: Honestly, I love doing full UI/UX refresh-type of projects. Where none of the core functionality is changing, just the visuals. I find it super satisfying to see the instant updates and look back on a day’s work and tangibly see the work that was done. 

Q: What do you like to do in your free time?

A: I play a lot of tennis, both for fun and in league tournaments. I also love to hike, do jigsaw puzzles, bake, and chill with my cat, Ella!

Q: What gives you pause? 

A: A stop sign.

Q: What were some of your favorite subjects in school?

A: My favorite was math. I loved that everything was methodical and always had a definitive solution that could be explained. There were no opinions, it was just clear-cut solutions that worked every time. Also science, for basically the same reasons except we also got to do fun experiments to prove some of the theorems and laws.

Q: What are some of your most memorable hiking experiences? What is the most challenging trail you’ve hiked?

A: This summer, my partner and I were invited to a wedding at a nature recreation site.  After the ceremony, we went to take some pictures along the river. A trailhead post stated this was a 1.5-mile loop so we thought, why not? It seemed like an easy enough trail, considering we were all dressed up in wedding clothes. We walked along chatting, thinking nothing of it until… Well, spoiler alert — somehow we both misread the trailhead post because it was 1.5 miles TO THE NEXT TRAIL. So long story short, we ended up on a 4.5-mile hike, in wedding attire in the middle of August, and still somehow made it back in time for dinner.

Q: What are you most looking forward to in your new role here at Foster Made?

A: I’m looking forward to the massive learning and growth opportunities that come from working for a company like Foster Made. I love that I will get to work with all kinds of new libraries and tech stacks and each week will be a different challenge.

Q: Let’s play favorites! What are your all-time favorite…

• Board games:

  Scrabble, Set, Cards Against Humanity

• Movies:

  Lion King, Harry Potter, Bridesmaids

• Foods:

  pizza, hummus, anything pumpkin spice

• Holidays or traditions:

  On the first night of Hanukkah, we all got new (sometimes matching) pajamas!

• Music:

  Disney movie soundtracks, Taylor Swift, Bon Jovi

• Podcasts:

  National Park After Dark (nature/travel/true crime) and Crime Junkies (true crime)

•  Books:

  Harry Potter will always have my heart

• TV shows:

  Superstore, Schitt’s Creek, Bob’s Burgers

Q: Lastly, if you could have dinner with 3 celebrities (alive or deceased), who would they be and why?

1. Serena Williams because she is the GOAT.

2. Henry Cavill because I just want to stare at his beautiful face.

3. Melissa McCarthy because I think she is the funniest person ever and I’m sure she could make me laugh so hard I spit my drink out.