From Flight Attendant to Developer

Kapehe changed career from Flight Attendant to become a Software Developer after learning to code. In this interview she talks through how she first got hired, how coding has changed with AI and her job at Vercel.

Can you give a quick introduction?

Aloha! My name is Kapehe, I go by Kap for short. I live in Denver, Colorado and yes, I love to ski, I love the snow, and I fiercely love the perfect Colorado summers. I got into tech around 7 years ago, I was a flight attendant before that for a major airline.

Getting into tech was the best decision I ever made, a lot of good happened in my life after that. I am the Head of Developer Community at Vercel where I primarily focus on developer community events, creating and implementing Vercel’s open source program, and engaging with the community. 

Why did you learn to code ?

My Bachelor’s degree is in Aviation Science. I was a flight attendant at the time of graduating from university and aviation was always a passion of mine. I thought I’d transfer into a job working for the FAA, NTSB, or be an air traffic controller. I eventually got promoted to be a flight attendant instructor and kept my feel on the ground during my final years as a flight attendant.

Making the change was really tough because I had wonderful seniority at my Las Vegas base, I had flight benefits, and I could pick my own hours. But for some reason, I felt like this wasn’t it for me. So I started searching for something else.

That’s when I found coding bootcamps. It was enticing because I didn’t have to go back to university to change careers, the possibility of a job after 12 weeks was enough for me. So I did the bootcamp, and let me tell you, it wasn’t enough. But with all the extra time and effort I put into it, I got my first job in tech as a Software Engineer at an agency in Las Vegas about 4 weeks after I graduated from the bootcamp. I felt very lucky to have gotten that.

How did you first learn to code?

I learned how to code at a coding bootcamp with a little bit of HTML/CSS/JS prerequisites. The coding bootcamp moved fast. The stuff that was clicking for me one week was the stuff we had learned the previous week. I always felt one week behind. Class ended at 4pm every day but I would go home and work on a project until 10 or 11 at night. Only to go back to the classroom at 8am the next morning. 

Do you think the coding bootcamp model is dying out now?

Yes, I don’t hear much about coding bootcamps. And with AI, you can learn by just having guided classes and conversations with an AI “teacher”. It’s wild how quickly that changed.

How should people learn to code in 2025 if they don’t have a CS degree?

Vibe coding is a way into tech, but it’s not all the way. You have to “get your hands dirty” with the code and really understand what’s going on. But AI can help you do that. I know many brilliant software engineers who do not have a CS degree. I do not think it’s required, but that just means you’ll have to figure out how to learn the concepts in your own way. A very real possibility.

How did meetups help you get hired as a developer?

I went to one of my first meetups in Las Vegas called Demo Day. That’s where they opened up the stage to anyone who wanted to demo the project they were working on. I nervously signed up and demoed a project I was working on at my bootcamp. That demo got me in front of a group of people, some of them looking to hire. I was approached after that demo and a couple months later, after interviews and conversations, I was offered the job as a software engineer at a local agency. 

What does your job at Vercel involve?

It’s a lot of relationship building, supporting the open source community through our open source program, and planning events to meet the community worldwide. My team also focuses on sponsoring and supporting community-led events.

Why should devs use Vercel?

I truly believe it is the easiest, most straightforward way to host your website. But it doesn’t stop there. We have other tools to complete that developer experience. Like Next.js, AI SDK, shadcn/ui, v0, and more. These power Vercel as well as a lot of the developer community. We care a lot about the DX of our products and internally we are working daily to improve that.

Where can people find out more about you?

Best way to find me is on X @kapehe_ok! You can also find the Vercel community here: https://community.vercel.com/. Ask questions, give feedback, or find out what events we have coming up!