Dateline: AUSTIN, TEXAS—July 9, 2025
The 12-hour shifts in the Iraqi war zone left Jeremiah Peoples exhausted but restless. Between analyzing intelligence threats for the U.S. military, a realization crystallized: “This wasn’t how I wanted to spend the best years of my life.”
That moment of clarity in 2019 ignited a journey that would land the 28-year-old college dropout at one of tech’s most coveted workplaces—Slack—as a Staff Developer Advocate, all without a degree
From Battlefield to Codebase: The Pivot Point
Jeremiah’s transformation began with YouTube research during deployment. Watching creators who’d become software engineers without college degrees, he reverse-engineered their paths. Starting with Python from a textbook, he quickly pivoted to JavaScript, HTML, and CSS through an online course—a strategic switch acknowledging front-end development’s alignment with his goals
“After 12-hour shifts, I studied coding for three hours daily. There wasn’t much else to do besides work out or study. But I was making progress—and it was exciting.”
– Jeremiah Peoples, Staff Developer Advocate at Slack
His military discipline became his coding superpower. While peers slept, Jeremiah turned a warzone deployment into an intensive bootcamp, blending his intelligence background with nascent coding skills to develop technical projects for his unit.
- The Unconventional Path: How a College Dropout Became a Slack Tech Star Through Military Discipline and Self-Taught Coding
Dateline: AUSTIN, TEXAS—July 9, 2025 The 12-hour shifts in the Iraqi war zone left Jeremiah Peoples exhausted but restless. Between analyzing intelligence threats for the […]
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The Apprenticeship Crucible
By February 2020, Jeremiah secured a breakthrough: a six-month apprenticeship with Section 31, an Air Force unit building satellite applications for Space Force. But triumph collided with self-doubt almost immediately
- Imposter Syndrome Epidemic: “After work, I felt terrible—convinced they’d made a mistake hiring me,” he admits. The doubt persisted for 3.5 months, exacerbated by working alongside veteran engineers.
- The Athletic Mindset: Jeremiah reframed coding through his sports background: “I realized I needed to treat it like athletics—increase my reps, study, and practice. They weren’t expecting a pro coder yet; they wanted me to learn”
- Mentorship Lifeline: Two mentors became his anchors: a senior Air Force engineer and a civilian developer. “They streamlined what to learn, what to ignore, and helped me apply it,” Jeremiah emphasizes. Daily 30-minute sessions with them dissected unfamiliar terms or code snippets
Breaking Into Slack and Breaking Through Self-Doubt
Jeremiah’s enlistment ended in May 2022. That same month, he started at Slack—a feat catalyzed by a viral Twitter teaser video announcing his job search. Opportunities flooded in from Google, Amazon, and ultimately, Slack. His current role epitomizes his journey: he now builds custom Slack applications and teaches global customers through workshops, keynotes, and virtual content.
Table: Jeremiah Peoples’ Skill-Building Evolution
| Phase | Skills Developed | Key Tools/Methods | Outcome |
| Self-Taught | JavaScript, HTML, CSS | Online courses, YouTube tutorials | Technical projects in military intel |
| Apprenticeship | Pair programming, testing | Daily mentorship, note-taking | Satellite apps for Space Force |
| Professional | Developer advocacy, teaching | Public speaking, content creation | Global customer education at Slack |
The Imposter Syndrome Antidote
Jeremiah’s advice for battling self-doubt is battle-tested: “Look in the mirror and tell yourself: The people who hired you are smart. They hired you for a reason.” This mantra, forged during his apprenticeship, helped him transition from feeling inadequate to leading technical education for a multinational platform.
The Unconventional Edge
Jeremiah’s story underscores critical shifts in tech hiring:
- Portfolio Over Pedigree: His YouTube channel (launched in 2020) documented his coding journey, creating a public portfolio that attracted recruiters.
- Cross-Disciplinary Innovation: Blending intelligence analysis with coding created unique problem-solving skills valued in security-conscious tech environments.
- Military-Grade Discipline: The relentless work ethic honed in 12-hour warzone shifts translated into uncompromising focus during skill acquisition.
Today, Jeremiah reflects without regret: “There’s not a single thing I would do differently.” His journey—from dropping out of Butler University’s computer science program in 2016 to teaching Slack’s global ecosystem in 2025—redefines what’s possible in tech’s merit-driven frontier.
Madison Hoff is a careers reporter covering nontraditional pathways in technology. Additional reporting contributed by industry analysts.
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