We are fortunate to have a vibrant community of thousands of members from all different places across the globe. We come together to talk about tools, tech, no-code and new ways to make creating & building even more productive than before. 

At Makerpad we love sharing our member’s journey through learning no-code, using new skills in their workplaces, building projects and even launching businesses. 

Each week we’ll be highlighting a member from our community and sharing their story, background and previous projects through our Member Spotlight blog post series.

This week we are chatting to Romy Misra from San Francisco.

Romy works at Gigster as a Product Manager.‍

Hey Romy, great to have you be part of the Member's Spotlight. Can you give us some background on how you got into no-code? How long have you been using no-code tools and what got you first interested?

I'm currently a Product Manager at a startup here in San Francisco. I've been using no-code tools since the beginning of this year and initially I was really surprised by the power of it. 

I used to think I needed to find a technical co-founder to be able to fully execute on my ideas but no-code changed my mind about that. It really lets you be independent and for certain kinds of companies you can just get started yourself. Nothing is stopping you and that's amazing. 

As I’ve been learning more about solving problems and building with no-code, I decided to journal all the things I was learning and I started a YouTube channel called Make Something With Romy. I hope that it helps other people just getting started as it helps me to see just how far I have progressed in the last few months.  ‍

It’s so true that no-code reduces the friction to getting an idea out there and helping to get it validated! So can you take us through some of no-code projects have you built in the past and what tools did you use for them?

A lot of work goes into my Youtube channel. I’m not a professional coder or designer but I did spend a year teaching myself how to code. My main focus with my YouTube channel is to share with people that you can make a lot without having to learn to code first! Sometimes code is just not the right tool for the job and I wanted to make sure that people who are just starting out know that! 

I post videos every two weeks using a variety of no-code tools. The main tools that I focus on are Carrd, Zapier, Airtable, Webflow as they can cope with such a broad range of projects and are approachable for beginners to learn too. I’ve also done videos on Notion, newsletters & automations too! I’ve also worked on some other projects. One is SpeakTech, which is a Webflow site that helps people to demystify tech terms. If you’ve ever wanted to understand the tech world better but found the lingo intimidating, that’s what SpeakTech is for. I created a simple breakdown of the 20 most essential tech terms as a glossary. 

Another project I made is CovidHiring and it’s also built on Webflow. It is a job board specifically made to showcase startups that are hiring during the pandemic.

Keeping track of your skills by making videos to help others is a great idea! So let's bring things up to the current day, what are you currently working on and what stage is it at?

I'm pretty focused on growing my YouTube channel, currently it has nearly 400 subscribers. It's been a really fun journey so far. My intent is to get anyone who hasn't learned about no-code, started and making something quickly. This year I decided to get fully into learning how to make things without code and that’s what my channel is, me sharing my journey into becoming better at making things. I hope that I get to share this with everyone who is interested in doing the same! 

I cover projects from building web sites of all levels of complexity, creating products and even building apps. I try to cover a wide range of projects to help others with all kinds of topics. I’m aware that people are busy and don’t have much time on their hands so I try to make my tutorials bite-size and achievable in under an hour per week!

I'm also an Entrepreneur in Residence for Atto, a VC firm which helps female founders build products without code. I spend a few hours every week talking with amazing founders about what they want to build and what approach to take.A lot of your time is spent helping others on their learning path! Do you have any advice for people starting out on YouTube? Also thinking more of the future, what are you looking forward to seeing happen in the no-code space in the years to come? 

I like to analyse other YouTube channels, to see how they got started and what makes them work. My advice for getting started on YouTube would be to start with where you are and with what you already have. You don’t have to have all the tools, just a passion to make something. Be flexible in your tactics, but don't give up on the vision. Try different ideas and see what moves you closer to your goal. 

It’s important to not quit your full-time job right away, be smart about risk. Don��t make big decisions on a whim even when you start to make some money on YouTube. When you do start to make money be sure to diversify and have different income streams from sponsors, adverts, affiliates, merchandise and connect with your supporters through platforms like Patreon and Twitch. Keep experimenting and don't give up. Be a super prolific creator.

‍As for the future, I think as the no-code space matures I’m hoping we’ll start to see more focus on solving problems efficiently and if the best solution just so happens to be no-code, that's great! Rather than focusing on the tools that we use. Technology should help us get to our goal and not be the goal itself. Also I’m hopeful that more women will be encouraged into the space too, to become part of the no-code community and participate in learning and sharing what they make. ‍

It’s great to see the community grow and be a welcoming space! What things do you think are important for people just getting started in the no-code space? Finally, do you have a favourite no-code tool and what are you looking forward to trying next? 

As a Maker & YouTuber I’ve learned that it’s really important to first understand your goals. Understand the why behind what you are working on. Is your goal to get good at the tool or to solve a specific problem? You often don’t need to become an expert in a specific tool, as long as you can solve the problems that you are working on that lead to your goals. You don’t need that many tools, you can start simply. Don’t over complicate a project, you probably need less tech than you actually think to accomplish your aims. Think about what you can achieve in an hour, or just a day. ‍

Be sure to understand your learning style. Everyone learns differently so it’s important to find the ways that you learn best and use them to your advantage. Find your community. Sharing what you make and supporting others on the way too really helps you to build connections. It also gives you knowledgeable people to reach out to when you get stuck!  Sharing what you make opens up so many opportunities. I became an Entrepreneur In Residence with Atto all thanks to my YouTube channel. Picking just one favorite tool is difficult! I really like Carrd and Webflow. The next tool I'm thinking of trying is Integromat. I’m really looking forward to using it. 

Thanks so much for sharing your story with us Romy. We look forward to hearing more about your journey soon! 

Keep an eye open for our next Member Spotlight blog post coming soon!