It's a Match! Barbara and Mental Health Startup nilo.health

Barbara (Venezuelan, 32) graduated from ReDI Munich and is now working for nilo.health as a front-end developer intern. Here is an interview with both Barbara and the Co-Founder and CTO of nilo.health.

ReDI SCHOOL: CATALINA, you are the Co-Founder and CTO of nilo.health, a start-up supporting mental health for the workforce. How did you get connected to Barbara, your new ReDI intern?

CATALINA, nilo.health: I met Barbara first on the Orientation Day for the Introduction to Computer Science course that I taught last semester at ReDI School. We also had one lecture together at ReDI, before the classes moved entirely online due to Covid19. When the mentorship program opened, Barbara applied to be my mentee, which made me so happy! We started working together as part of the mentorship program and later also during the Intro to Computer Science course. We worked together on her LinkedIn profile and preparing her for the ReDI Job Fair later in October.

Barbara in conversation with nilo.health: Nebojsa Sokolovic, Mobile Head and Catalina Turlea, CTO and Co-founder as well as ReDI trainer and mentor.

ReDI SCHOOL: Why did you hire Barbara?

CATALINA: At the ReDI Job Fair, I represented nilo.health and Barbara applied for an interview. I was already aware of her dedication to changing her career, how hard-working and how passionate she was about learning more and improving her skills. I believe hiring for potential is most of the time so much more rewarding than hiring for experience. For me, it is so motivating to see people grow, learn and develop skills they would have not thought possible. As soon as we could grow the team at nilo.health, we discussed the possibility of doing an internship with us. My co-founders were on board as soon as they talked to Barbara and the rest is history!

ReDI SCHOOL: How were your first weeks together?

CATALINA: Barbara started in January. Since her first days, she has improved her skills in an incredible way! After a few weeks of introduction to the project, some more advanced HTML, CSS and React talks, she was already able to work independently on user stories, follow the agile practices, use git and get very well integrated into the team. We recently redesigned our website and Barbara was able to do the whole project on her own, with just minimal support from my side. If you check it out at nilohealth.com, you can see what great work she did! The whole team is impressed with her progress in the 2 months she’s been with us and I could not be more proud to have her on my team!

The new website of nilo.health, a project supported by ReDI-alumna and nilo.health intern Barbara.

ReDI SCHOOL: BARBARA, Congratulations on this success. Looking back — why did you decide to start learning with ReDI School?

BARBARA: I wanted to pursue a career in IT as I studied Computer Science in the past for 3 semesters and really liked programming. But I knew, I needed to learn more before I could start to work in the IT-field. Then I heard about ReDI School from a friend of mine. She mentioned the Program and said that it was in English, so I decided to apply.

ReDI SCHOOL: What brought you to the internship?

BARBARA: I heard about nilo.health through my mentor Cata. I knew they were looking to add new members to the team, so I applied for an interview at the ReDI Job Fair.

ReDI SCHOOL: How did ReDI support you?

BARBARA: ReDI School supports me in so many ways! They have given me the opportunity to learn a lot of new things — in class, in workshops and with the mentorship program: My mentor reinforced the knowledge I had been acquiring by explaining everything I had doubts about and helped me create my CV, my LinkedIn profile and many more things. As soon as I got my internship, the ReDI team contacted me and I was told to let them know if I need support to succeed with my internship. I’m really grateful to ReDI!

ReDI SCHOOL: Tell us about your start in the new job…

BARBARA: The start was wonderful! I had the opportunity to meet the whole team of nilo.health at the virtual Christmas party. I loved being able to meet them all before even starting to work, they are not only talented but also very nice and funny. When I started I was carrying out small tasks and learning about the project. After only a month and a half I was able to redesign the website with the help of Cata. It was a very rewarding experience! The trust they placed in me is an incredible honor. I couldn’t be happier to be part of such a wonderful team.

ReDI SCHOOL: Let’s glimpse into the future: What are your career goals for the next 5 years?

BARBARA: I would like to continue studying back-end and mobile development, improving my coding skills and continue growing as a professional. I am fortunate to have my mentor Cata who has experience in these areas and can guide me to achieve these goals, having someone who knows the industry guide you is priceless. I believe that when you have the support of your family and motivation you can achieve anything you decide to do within God’s plan.

Thank you, Barbara and Catalina! Wishing you a lot of success with your next steps!

Written by Birgit Koebl

Birgit is Head of the Talent Success Program at ReDI School of Digital Integration for Germany.