#25 Steffie Harner - Cyberpunk Model and Software Engineer

On this week's episode of the KoreKara Podcast, we spoke to Steffie Harner, a cyberpunk model, software engineer, and entrepreneur based in Tokyo. We hear about how she dropped her job in the health tech industry in San Francisco to pursue her dream of moving to Japan, along with the ups and downs she faced during the journey. We also talk about her entrepreneurial endeavors as well as how the path she took to become a software engineer in Japan with no initial experience. Steffie's Links: ► Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/steffieharner/?hl=en ► Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCy4DU6U7N_pYOwItvrU9YLA ► Twitter: https://twitter.com/steffieharner ► Github: https://github.com/steffieharner Our Links: ► Join our Discord and talk to us anytime: https://discord.gg/Cp2Fdhh ► Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Korepoddo ► Buy us a cup of Coffee: https://ko-fi.com/korekara ► Twitter: https://twitter.com/korepoddo ► Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/korepoddo/ ► Visit our Website: https://korepoddo.com/ ► Other Platforms: https://anchor.fm/korepoddo About Steffie: Steffie grew up in the United States and loved consuming anime, manga, and video games growing up. It was always her childhood dream to go and live in Japan and experience the culture. However, it wasn't until she graduated from the University of San Francisco and spent a couple years working in Health Tech where she got her opportunity to do it. In 2016, Steffie fulfilled her dream of moving to Japan and moved to Tokyo. Her ticket there was attending a language school in Tokyo where she wanted to learn Japanese and gain a working proficiency. While at the school, she found a couple jobs on the side to make ends meet, such as singing to children over the phone to help them learn English. She also began modeling with her cyberpunk aesthetic. Afterwards, with the help of some friends she co-founded Startup Lady Japan, which is a community that supports female entrepreneurs in Tokyo and beyond. She met many female entrepreneurs who were pushing the bar in their respective fields and changing the world. But, there was one person she met in particular that would shape the next path she was about to take. That person was Yan Fan, the co-founder and CTO of the coding boot camp, Code Chrysalis. After hearing her speak, Steffie started to get interested in the software engineering space. She started with the introductory course and soon found herself taking all of the advanced courses. She grew to love coding and software development as a whole throughout the process, despite how tough it was overall. It gave her the necessary skills to become a software engineer in Japan, and now she's embarking on a new chapter in her life in Japan.