Amber Mercado
  • @amber_01
  • Independent Contractor/Freelancer
  • Fallbrook, CA, USA
  • she/her
My name is Amber Mercado and I am a mother of 5 and a self-taught Python developer- Currently, I am focusing on Django full-stack development and TDD. I was 26 when I had decided that I wanted to finally go into a career field that followed my love for technology and how it was changing the world around me all the time. I was currently a waitress at my local diner, with 2 children already and 1 on the way. I decided I needed more than just the salary of a waitress if I was going to raise my children to have better lives than I do.

I went online to go back to school hoping I could find anything that would allow for me to get a higher salary job that would lead to a life-long career. It was suggested to me that I should go into Python for my first official language after I had learned the very basics of C# and C++. I am so very proud that I did, that I was able to stick with it and become a better developer because of it.

I have begun simply by consuming resources that would lead me to where I wanted to be. A software developer. Specifically, in python- my love of space, tech, and Star Trek is what ultimately lead me to want to be a software developer. I can remember a time when I would play around inside the BIOS of my mother’s old desktop, wanting to know how it all worked, what made the damn thing tick, why was I able to use a mouse to click things and open “pages” and could I one day make robots and machines do my bidding with just a click or a word? 

My love of the stars and how they moved with grand precision, also was a passion of mine and I wanted to be amongst them. Star Trek was all the things I wanted in life, a balance of nature that was good for the soul and space-faring ships with insane technology. 

As I grew older, my passion melded into other things in my life. As it was, it was my want to work as an entrepreneur so I could stay home and raise my children, that led me to want to work remotely in Python. Then the world had shut down in 2020. At this point, I was making just enough money on the side with my knitting and crocheting while transitioning into a Python developer. My metamorphosis had begun and I was slowly transforming from a stay-at-home mother and housewife with a knitting hobby/job to a work-from-home mother who programmed in Python and would continue to work on learning more than her fair share of parenting and programming together.

As I learned what type of apps I could build with Python, my passion for other hobbies soon became side projects I wanted to program into my life. Creating recipe builders since I have a love for food, gardening, nature, and homeopathic health is near the top of my list. 2020 had given most people a healthy dose of reality in that people should always be prepared for emergencies more than ever. 2020 also gave parents a chance to get closer to their children and understand them better. This has me thinking about preschool and homeschooling applications for parents.

Currently, I am working on blogging within my sphere of knowledge, writing python applications, and learning Django REST. I practice my Python and Django by completing puzzles and practices or writing an application for myself in my fields of interest. I go to freelance platforms to search for archived projects that clients will need solved and spend time puzzling it all out. I find it enjoyable for me to work on projects that showcase my skills.

My goal with clients is to learn about their needs and provide them with the best application or website for their business. I really want to spend some time getting to know them, their interests, and what they want from their business. The biggest thing I want to give to my clients is streamlined scalable applications and smooth, fast responsive websites.

Right now, I offer blog content, and websites built with the Django framework and Python or with Webflow. I read many programming books and business books to keep myself current in technology and business. 

I am looking forward to building applications in Python and Django REST frameworks, so the opportunities I am open to are in software development and blogging about Python. I am open to any opportunity that will also allow me to work with a start-up. I spend my free time continuously learning, blogging about tech and my interests, and building applications in Python. I will be earning my PCEP certification by the end of this month.

 I can be found online on many platforms including Facebook, LinkedIn, Upwork, and Fiverr. I have many freelancing platforms I can be found on listed below. I also have a Github where I have been posting my programming work for fellow developers to take a gander at.




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Resume

May 2019 - Present

Python Power, Self-employed

Portfolio

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