In today’s increasingly digital business environment, the need to continue honing and upgrading skills is a given. Whether you’re a CTO reimagining a corporate technical strategy, or a developer creating systems that bring that plan to life, to improve your IT acumen you will need to translate the “people skills” you’ve built through your own unique experience —even if you started out as a hairdresser, like me. Those 15 years behind the chair taught me that success is 50% technical skills and 50% communication skills. In this talk I will share three “soft skill” lessons from my salon days that have shaped my developer career and will help you apply your own personal experiences in furthering your professional journey: - Listening to Learn and Learning to Relate Across Levels - Walking In a Client’s Shoes - Practicing Professional Patience