ANNIE INGHAM

Data manager-turned-web developer at Reelio

feat_alum-annie-top_img (1).jpg
 
 

“My main concern was being able to find a job as a web developer once I got out of the program. In order to do Startup Institute, I had to quit my job, so it felt like a relatively high-risk venture.”

Annie Ingham’s career in tech began long before she joined the innovation sector.

After completing degrees in economics, German, and international studies, Ingham spent the next eight years working in finance, academic research, and small business management. Role after role, she dabbled in tech—satiating her innate curiosity by playing with different elements of computing, steadily building up a diverse collection of skills.

Working in operations for a Zambian legal aid office, Ingham liaised with network administrators to solve connectivity issues and performed internal software updates.

She learned to manage website content and update HTML source code as a research assistant at an open-source software company, sparking her interest in code. Subsequent roles designing and maintaining large databases demanded that she learn to address program bugs and filter for information in programming language Perl.

Ingham became a passionate coding hobbyist, and in the year prior to coming to Startup Institute, she studied web development independently through online courses, books, and tutorials. Eventually, it became clear that if she wanted to take her skills to the next level, she’d have to go all-in.

 
 
feat_alum-annie-left_img.jpg

Startup Institute made it possible for me to get my foot in the door with Reelio… Prior to the program, I had never heard of Reelio, or the myriad of other tech companies we were exposed to. I was able to obtain a position doing exactly what I wanted to do with an amazing company and team.

 
 

Ingham joined the web development track in New York, building fundamental programming skills in Ruby on Rails while creating several Rails apps, redesigning websites for responsive browsing, and collaborating with her partner project team on a UX redesign for a local startup, Reelio.

Ingham recalls her cohort—a mix of creative, supportive, and forward-thinking people of all ages and backgrounds—as paramount to her success in the program.

Working as a team, helping each other, and “absorbing more together than I ever could have going it alone” was something she really enjoyed about the program.

Ingham’s execution of her partner project work caught the attention of the tech team at Reelio, which led to a job offer as a Reelio web developer position. A year and a half later, Ingham’s moved on to work at Flashpoint Intelligence, but remembers Reelio as her first coding job in the tech sector.

 
 

Ready to Get Started?

Apply Now