Meet the Writer: Hacker Noon's Contributor Daine Mawer, Associate Director of FEE

If you’re seeing this interview draft, it means you’ve recently published on HackerNoon a story that the community found interesting and/or valuable. For this reason, we would like to help the community get to know you better as well as find out some writing tips from you.

While this template is automatic, our interest in the answers below is genuine and our human editors (and some cyborg wannabes) will review it before publishing.

So let’s start! Tell us a bit about yourself. For example, name, profession, and personal interests.

Hey! Im Daine! I live in Cape Town, South Africa and I’m the Associate Director for Front-end Engineering, EMEA at 10up. I’m an avid runner and surfer! I have 2 dogs - Archie and Grace and I travel a lot!

Interesting! What was your latest Hackernoon Top story about?

I wrote a post about the benefits of intermittent fasting, specifically centered around the lifestyle and habits of software engineers. I began intermittent fasting last year and it has yielded amazing results for me. I feel better, I’ve lost weight, I feel more confident and it has helped me focus more on my work. More importantly, it’s a healthy practice (in moderation) - doesn’t cost you anything and doesn’t require you to go lift weights at the gym!

Do you usually write on similar topics? If not, what do you usually write about?

I quite enjoy the intersection between software development, culture, and personal development. Trust me, I know what it’s like to fall into all the stereotypes of software engineering (the long hours, poor diet, not taking care of your body, always being burnt out, etc) - as an engineer myself I have always prized my work on simple, clever and effective solutions and combining those mantra’s with personal development creates great content!

Great! What is your usual writing routine like (if you have one?)

I try to carve out an hour a day to write. Though to be honest, most of my writing happens on the weekend as my job responsibilities can be rather demanding during the week. I try not to spend countless hours writing as staring at a computer any longer than I already am is also not a great habit. Writing brings me a lot of joy and confidence and I try to do it when things are calm at home and I need to get into my head a bit and get creative.

Being a writer in tech can be a challenge. It’s not often our main role, but an addition to another one. What is the biggest challenge you have when it comes to writing?

Great question - for me it’s about making sure you have your facts straight. Developers who read technical content generally have strong opinions and as most of you will know, there’s not one correct way to solve an engineering problem, there are just better ways or more correct ways. This makes writing pretty difficult at times.

You have to fact-check and you have to be aware that you may have someone tell you that you’re just wrong.

It’s important to learn from these situations. More often than not, what you write will help someone understand. They may be junior, or they may be an executive in a business - but what you write will always be a go-to for at least someone in the community and that’s important.

What is the next thing you hope to achieve in your career?

That is a big question - I made a call last year to slowly begin moving out of coding every day. As an Individual Contributor you generally only have 2 options in your career (generally speaking):

1. Stay an Individual Contributor and grow in seniority - you master your craft and likely will be able to eventually tackle any technical problem that comes across your desk.
2. Move into Management - ensuring project success and mentoring/helping others to achieve their career goals.

I took door number 2, mainly because I thought there was more growth for me in that regard. I do really enjoy the strategic side of software engineering, leaning towards business ops - but I am, before anything else a developer and that experience has got me really far.

I would like to carry on climbing the ranks and perhaps achieve a full directorship in the next few years.

Wow, that’s admirable. Now, something more casual: What is your guilty pleasure of choice?

Hah! I definitely have a weakness for a good glass of red wine! It definitely my guilty pleasure after a long work day. I take a lot of interest in wine, it’s a real “adult” hobby but I find tasting and learning about wine, especially living in South Africa a great pass-time.

Do you have a non-tech-related hobby? If yes, what is it?

Indeed! I love surfing. Growing up in South Africa, there’s no short supply of surf spots. I live around 10 minutes away from a local beach and generally surf 2-3 times a week. There are few things in this life that can compare to the feeling you get when standing up on a gentle wave. It’s good for the soul!

What can the Hacker Noon community expect to read from you next?

Great question! My next post will be centered around the benefits of waking up early! I know right? Totally goes against the night owl approach to software development. Since the start of COVID, I practiced the 5AM club almost religiously and the benefits it added to my professional and personal life have been huge! Definitely stay tuned for that one!

What’s your opinion on HackerNoon as a platform for writers?

Love it. HackerNoon has a great brand and a unique approach to writing. I have always followed the site and really enjoy the articles and its community. Creativity is huge for success in writing and it can often be muted on other sites. HackerNoon holds opinions high and encourages great conversation and thinking.

Thanks for taking the time to join our “Meet the writer” series. It was a pleasure. Do you have any closing words?

I’m really excited to be writing again and sharing knowledge within the community. What better place to do that than HackerNoon? Thank you for all the support and affirmation!