My story at Vonage begins with hummus, as most good stories do. It was June of 2019, back when we were all traveling. I had just landed in San Francisco for DevRelCon SF; I was jet-lagged, painfully tired, and very nervous for my talk the next day, but I couldn't surrender to my hotel room slumber until after the speakers’ dinner.

I arrived late, and hesitantly approached the table nearest to the entrance and introduced myself while stealing glances around the room, evaluating the situation. They were serving pita, falafel, and hummus.

“I’m guessing you’re Israeli? We were just talking about my daughter’s Bat Mitzvah.”

Another look told me that I had, unsurprisingly, walked straight up to the “Jewish Table”, featuring Rabbi Ben Greenberg and a couple of others. Suddenly, I didn’t feel so anxious anymore.

The next morning after my talk, in which I discussed the recipe for homemade hummus and its proper pronunciation (hoo-mousse), I spent time chatting with Ben Greenberg, mostly commiserating about the pains of traveling from Tel Aviv to the West Coast. We remained friends after the conference, and I found myself in the Vonage Tel Aviv office three months later, running a DEV.to IRL meetup with Ben. Incidentally, Benjamin Aronov, another future Vonage colleague, was also present! It was a great success: great people, great food, incredible view.

A year later, I am writing this from my own desk in the Vonage TLV office, as a member of the Community Team, charged with the task of creating a local developer community here in Israel. Covid-19 adds its own challenges to this feat, and I must say I’m excited. I’m a people-person by nature, and a pandemic won’t stop me ;)

I was born and raised in Miami Beach, with Israeli parents whose strict views on internet access led me to an obsession with the internet and all things tech. I studied Computer science and Studio Art in NYC, joined the adult world as a Java developer, and moved to Israel 4.5 years ago - in search for a little more meaning, and much better weather. I continued programming until about two years ago when I discovered the world of Developer Relations and API advocacy.

I love public speaking. I love the challenge of turning dry technical subjects into magical fairytales. Even further, I love empowering other tech people to find that creative voice when sharing what they’re working on. I especially love cooking, and how it applies to the rest of life: learn the rules that you mustn't break, and then everything else is just art and exploration.

Other things I love: planning events, riding my scooter, playing piano (poorly), inventing cocktails, ecstatic dance, Spotify, creative writing, and cherry tomatoes.

Things I love less: poor documentation, cold weather, and horseradish.

So, here I am one year later, and it’s cool to look back and reflect on how nothing happens by chance. I’ll be lucky if my story at Vonage continues with hummus, but hey, I am ready for whatever comes my way. I’m incredibly happy to be here at Vonage, as well as here on the Community team, and excited for this upcoming adventure filled with great people, products, and purpose.