Work with Michelle
Supercharge Your Job Search: Flexible Package
Starting at
$688.75
Unlocking Hidden Opportunities: Skills to Thrive in Tech
Starting at
$688.75
Land a Software Engineering Offer — Complete Package
$2,320
About
Customer favorite
In the top 10% of Software Engineering experts on Leland
Michelle Brenner is a seasoned Senior Software Engineer with over 15 years of experience in the tech industry. Transitioning from engineering support to spearheading expansive development projects, Michelle found her passion in both engineering and coaching and empowering others in the field. A Philadelphia native who currently calls Los Angeles home, she is an art school graduate and a self-taught engineer. During her career, she has most enjoyed creating software that enables others to succeed, from digital artists to restaurateurs to fellow engineers. Beyond her engineering expertise, Michelle enjoys guiding and mentoring aspiring engineers. Having spoken at over 30 conferences, hosted podcasts, and contributed as a writer for esteemed publications like STMPE, 97 Things Every Cloud Engineer Should Know, LeadDev, dev.to, and OpenSource, she has shared her technical insights, team-building strategies, and invaluable career growth techniques. Michelle has worked with numerous organizations, including the Diana Initiative, AnitaB.org, Write/Speak/Code & Learn Teach Code to help new engineers break-in, and senior engineers thrive. She shares not just her successes but also the challenges she has faced on her path. She aims to inspire and guide others on their journey, whichever background they have.
Michelle also coaches for Communication & Public Speaking and Career Coaching. View all.
Michelle’s Software Engineering Qualifications
Experience level: Manager
70+ Software Engineering clients
Open to working with clients outside the U.S.
Michelle has helped clients get into these companies:
I am a Senior Software Engineer with 16 years of experience. I began as an art school graduate in engineering support and now oversee large-scale development projects and distributed systems. Throughout my career, I've found immense satisfaction in crafting software that empowers various individuals, from digital artists to restaurateurs to fellow engineers. In addition to my engineering expertise, I am a Professional Speaker, Author, and Mentor, helping fellow engineers and business leaders boost collaboration and productivity and grow their careers. I have spoken at over 30 conferences worldwide, sharing my insights on technical skills, team-building advice, and maximizing ROI. If you want to unlock your engineering team's full potential or need guidance in your career, let's connect and discuss how I can help you reach your goals.
Michelle can help with:
Architecture
Behavioral Interview Prep
LinkedIn Review
Networking Strategy
Promotion Strategy
Resume Review
Salary Negotiation
Skill Building
Technical Interview Prep
Why do I coach?
Many people who learn about my career are surprised that I have an art degree, not a computer science degree. By not following the traditional path, I have a unique perspective on how people can find career success. While I worked diligently, I truly succeeded because of the many excellent coaches along the way. To give back, I have mentored many people over the years. It brings me immense joy to see them thrive in tech. I have decided to start coaching to work even closer with aspiring engineers. I look forward to learning about your goals and how I can help you achieve them with customized lessons, exercises, and coaching. Over the years, the most important thing I have learned is that I learn best when collaborating. Textbooks and tutorials are helpful supplements, but being able to discuss and solve my problems with an expert has been invaluable to me. I am the right coach for you if you are ready to invest in yourself and take advantage of my over a decade of experience to get to the next level of your career.
Work Experience
Senior Software Engineer
Netflix
December 2019 - Present
A technical leader and significant individual contributor to Netflix Workstations. Published a Netflix Tech Blog post, SMPTE paper, spoke at conferences including AWS Re: Invent & Strangeloop, and guest on multiple podcasts promoting Netflix Workstations. Technical team leader on distributed system projects, including conception, MVP, delivery, and support. Management of several projects; organizing roadmap, stakeholders, tasks, and demos. Streamlined backend processes with Java Springboot, Spinnaker, Packer & Python to eliminate manual systems and increase automated testing. Developed hiring questions and interviewed prospective teammates.
Podcast Host
Self Employed
January 2019 - Present
Host and creator of From The Source podcast. I interview working professionals in tech to answer the question of what tech jobs are really like, both the good and the boring. I focus on featuring underrepresented voices with diverse stories of their careers and lives in tech.
Paid Public Speaker
Self Employed
September 2018 - Present
Michelle is a Professional Speaker who helps engineers and their teams who lack focus maximize their ROI. She has spoken at over 30 conferences, from the Dominican Republic to Copenhagen.
Senior Software Engineer
ChowNow
April 2018 - December 2019
Contributed significant technical and leadership work to major initiatives, with a focus on partner integrations. Promoted diversity equity and inclusion by organizing and hosting both internal and external events focused on gender and intersectional awareness Championed mentoring and collaboration both in and out of the backend department.
Support Engineer Manager
Technicolor
August 2017 - April 2018
Responsible for backend development and managing large feature deployments. (70% Coding/30% Project Management) Project management of features requiring cross-departmental coordination Delegation, prioritization and completion of bugs and features for RESTful API Optimize endpoints to decrease processing time while scaling Delivering self-service task management tools for operations team Responsible for improving support processes for entire team Creation of on-boarding tutorials for all new hires
Backend Developer
Technicolor
October 2015 - August 2017
Responsible for creating and maintaining Web apps for B2B clients (90% Coding/10% Project Management) Designed, implemented and tested new APIs for live apps Maintained and refactored old APIs to streamline services Responded to client needs by converting requests into development tasks Trained new developers and provided in-depth code reviews Implemented task manager (Fireworks) and created ~50 tasks Lead redesign of internal wikis to enhance knowledge share Consistently sprint leader in features, bugs and commits Saved clients thousands by automating their production pipelines
Education
The Art Institutes
B.S., Media Arts & Animation
2005 - 2008
4.9 average review
18 reviews
Overall rating
Michelle has helped clients get into these companies:
Supercharge Your Job Search: Flexible Package
Starting at
$688.75
Unlocking Hidden Opportunities: Skills to Thrive in Tech
Starting at
$688.75
Land a Software Engineering Offer — Complete Package
$2,320
Nail Your Software Engineering Interviews
Starting at
$688.75
Advance Your Software Engineering Career
Starting at
$1,305
Land a Software Engineering Offer — Getting Started
Starting at
$688.75
Craft a Winning Software Engineering Resume
Starting at
$284.20
Michelle also coaches for Engineering, Communication & Public Speaking, and Career Coaching. View all.
Michelle’s Leland+ Resources
Access expert resources from Michelle and hundreds of other coaches on Leland+
No posts yet
When Michelle posts, it will show up here.