Wkender features are about exposing to the world the next generation of Moguls, Craftsman, Creatives, and Entrepreneurs. These are the people that will be running the world in the next decade and who better to introduce them than someone you know and trust. We will always give you the real. We will always get below the surface. We will always be a resource if you legitimately need access.
That said, the Wkender feature for this month is somebody’s CEO or CTO in the making. A master of all things coding and truly a humble giant (I mean that professionally)… Mr. Kyle Woumn.
I’ve always believed in exposing the journey as it humanizes the myth so here’s a little context. Originally from Atlanta, Ga. Kyle grew up lower-middle class and by his account, “[He] really didn’t have a great concept of what engineering was. My parents sort of engaged with my classmate’s parents and very quickly realized that engineers made money.” From there a dream was built and a directive given (lol) “We want you to be an engineer.” They did everything in their power to position me for success; looked for great programs, stayed on me about school, and essentially just tried to get me access.
The summer of 6th grade year, he was enrolled in a STEM program at Spelman College and it gave him initial insight into the robotics space. After that, he was bought in!
Another defining moment was at the introduction to apple. He terms himself a fanboy and much like us all he desperately wanted an iPod, “mostly because my friends had one”. Once he got one he was enamored by the intuitive design and all of the features, simply put he needed to know more!
Then… The Summer Engineering Institute at Georgia Institute of Technology
“Since 2008, the College of Engineering at Georgia Tech has offered a 3-week residential Summer Engineering Institute (SEI) which focuses on underrepresented minority rising 11th and 12th graders from across the nation. The goal of GT-SEI is to provide students with a real-world engineering experience that prepares them for the challenges and opportunities of tomorrow.”
There were literally people from across the country there and not only did it bolster his passion for engineering but it fostered a love for the school. After leaving his dreams were crystallized, got to Ga Tech, become a Ramblin Wreck engineer, conquer the world!
Three years later he’s making it happen! Enrolled at Ga tech and things are going well he starts to secure internships and network with friends to understand what life after school could look like.
Ga Tech has a major career fair each year, but what he noticed is that all of the big players listen to your story, but ultimately they tell you to apply online. This sparked an interest in start-ups!
“Twilio was a small start-up at the conference in 2014. I’m in line experiencing imposter syndrome and had a guy who was asking me if I had any personal projects outside of my coursework. I explained that was really involved in a leadership capacity in several student organizations and was trying to build multiple skillsets while acquiring my degree. Unbeknownst to me, he was my IN. I interned at Twilio summer 2014 and 2015. They made me an offer!”
What Twilio does, is act as an intermediary between users and platforms. Basically they manage the communications on multiple platforms. One use case is when you’re using the Uber app and the driver wants to call you; Twilio is managing the back end to direct the call from the driver to you from the app.
Kyle’s time at Twilio gave him real-world experience while further building his coding skillset and providing the bandwidth to explore personal projects in his spare time. He’s dabbled in everything from events to app development in his endeavor to create “Dope Technology for the Culture.” He wrote code for the Drakestagram app, he is the co-founder and CTO of Shopr, an early-stage startup that provides personal styling and an in-home try-on service for clothes and is a huge proponent for community creates over the top experiences in the Bay with Over The Top (OTT) where he is a co-founder. Needless to say, Kyle is making plays. One of his most crowning accomplishments to date is giving a talk at Afrotech, 6 AM in Atlanta: How I Built and Scaled Drakestagram.
Can you tell me about your latest endeavor, Shopr? How did you get involved?
While I’m thinking through if I should stay at Twilio, start my own thing, or go to another company I have a friend reach out asking engineering questions about an idea that she had. Essentially the idea was on-demand delivery of clothes. Since the origin of the idea we have
pivoted to a new mission statement “Shopr helps consumers discover new fashion-forward styles that you can try on in the convenience of your own home.” TBH I started advocating for the idea unconsciously and people were buying in. That’s kinda when I knew I had to get involved.
We are solving for multiple questions:
People don’t like to shop
There are too many options
You don’t know the fit of many brands
We start with a personal style quiz and then we curate a look book for you. If you’re interested in trying on the clothes we will send them to you and you have 7 days to try before you buy. If anything doesn’t fit, look, or feel right you can simply send it back at no cost and you won’t be charged for the items.
How did you know when to bet on yourself?
I thought the idea that we had was good. We interviewed with Y Combinator. I had a year’s worth of expenses saved. TBH I was already planning to do my own thing. These were great black people founding a business and I had no reservations about plugging in.
The Pipeline for black people in the tech space, it’s as much a question as it is a concept… What are your thoughts?
There’s this concept of lifting as you climb that we as black people haven’t had as much of a chance to capitalize on as we are behind the curve, specifically with regard to black Tech CEOs. I honestly believe that you can’t be what you can’t see. I want to put together a youtube channel to show the full process of getting the company off the ground. Additionally, I have been fortunate to engage with a few of the black start-up CEOs, and they have been super helpful in the planning and development stages of my endeavors.
What’s your style?
I have three general categories of looks.
Day to Day: Button-up, skinny chinos, brown dress shoes
Chill: Ripped jeans, t-shirt, j’s or Chelsea boots
Dressed up: Slacks, dress shirt, blazer with a silk lapel
I’ve found what makes me most comfortable and I rock it!
In an environment like tech do you find yourself stylistically bending to the market or wanting to chart your own course?
I definitely charted my own course, people would always say you’re really dressed up, but I believe that you are perceived how you’re dressed. Also, it’s not difficult to be “really dressed up” when the guy next to you has on flip flops and cargo shorts. I wanted to be taken seriously and I dressed accordingly.
It’s always a pleasure to engage with the moguls of tomorrow and I literally cannot wait to see what’s in store for you bro. Keep shining and climbing and I’ll meet you at the top! (we saving seats lol)
As always… To a Life Worth Living,
The Wkender