Hello, I’m Stefanni Brasil. Brasil is my real name, how cool is that?! :)

I am the co-founder of hexdevs, where we help you become an expert Ruby developer through our training programs and courses. I’m the co-creator of Get to Senior, an online program to help mid-career Ruby devs get to senior level.

I am a self-taught developer, avid reader, and cats lover. I write here on my blog, host live Open Source Thursdays coding sessions and co-host the hexdevs podcast.

I’ve been giving lightning talks at local meetups, RubyConf Sao Paulo, RailsConf. In 2021, I delivered a talk at RubyConf on “Perceptual Learning == More Ruby Experts?”. For Speaking inquiries, please see my Speaking page.

I am a huge believer that everyone is capable of achieving whatever they want for their lives. I’m driven by curiosity and kindness.

I write on the hexdevs blog and newsletter about Software Development and Career. Sign up here to get actionable insights, tools, exercises, product launches and invitations to events.

Talks & Podcasts

I’ve done a few talks and interviews:

Fun facts about me

I am from Brazil and I live in Vancouver, BC ⛰️🌧️

I’ve worked with lots of things in the past: as academic research, writer and translator; English and French teacher. The latest one was as a Ruby developer.

I love learning, including how to learn more effectively. I like to see how much I can change, and how much I can become a better version of myself. And help others avoid the mistakes I made (and continue making).

Once I get interested in something, I’m pretty good at extracting what’s useful for me and changing my habits until I get a positive feedback loop. A few things I’m proud to have learned by myself:

  • I learned English when I was a teenager by listening to songs and watching movies. My family didn’t have lots of money to invest in my Education. Also, I lived in such a tiny city that school languages didn’t even exist.
  • I adopted a whole foods plant-based diet at the end of 2019. I’m super healthy effortlessly. I help the planet and reduce animal cruelty as a bonus.
  • I completely rewired my brain to have a growth mindset and be more positive. I even read self-help books now. All thanks to CBT - Cognitive-Behaviour Therapy and Mindfulness Meditation.
  • I read a lot about anything. I basically eat books for breakfast. I also apply what I learn from them, and share my lessons throughout my writing.
  • I have a degree in Portuguese & French Literature. I also won a scholarship to study at the University of Coimbra - Portugal - for 2 years. I loved spending my time researching Science Fiction and Media Culture.
  • I learned how to code when I was finishing my Literature degree. I enrolled in a Computer Science degree later but dropped it after 1 year to achieve my dream of moving abroad.
  • I’m on my path to being the first millionaire in my family. I want to democratize Mental Health and Coaching services. I believe that gaining economic power is key to do the changes I want to see in the world.
  • I love exercising! I run, I ride my bike, I do yoga, I do lots of bodyweight exercises. I do ~15 pushups every day (a tiny habit).
  • I dream of crossing North America in an R.V., but I don’t think my cats would like this idea.
  • One of my hobbies is Hand Lettering with Procreate.

I am @stefannibrasil on Twitter. Say hi :)

If you have something interesting to ask or to discuss, you can find me at stefanni at hexdevs dot com.