Uploaded March 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago

---

Today we welcome Madison Kana—a self-taught dev who defied the traditional path. From dropping out and navigating a world of homeschooling to launching the Code Book Club, Madison transformed her unconventional journey into a thriving community of coders. In this episode, she shares how bypassing the typical education route fueled her passion, the real challenges of learning on your own, and the power of mentorship in building a dynamic tech career. If you’re ready to break the mold and carve your own path in software development.

Learn back-end development - https://www.boot.dev
Listen on your favorite podcast player: https://www.backendbanter.fm

Madison's X: https://x.com/Madisonkanna
Website: madisonkanna.com
Learn out loud: learn0utloud.com

Timestamps:

00:00 - Intro
00:30 - Where did it all start?
01:40 - Dropping out
08:42 - How Madison started learning code
22:00 - Team leading
30:30 - Code Book Club
38:50 - Learn out loud
46:20 - AI talk
54:18 - Book recommendations
56:05 - Outro

Like & subscribe for the algo if you enjoyed the video!