Tearyne Almendariz has one of those internet-origin stories that makes perfect sense: Sailor Moon fandom led to learning Japanese, which led to building websites, which eventually led to Drupal — and to a career shaped as much by community as by code. In this Season 2 kickoff of Community + Code, we talk about the messy, real version of identity: handles that become public, titles you inherit versus titles you choose, and what happens when you stop fragmenting yourself just to fit into someone else’s box.
We also dig into the practical side of belonging: why accessibility clicks the moment you need captions, why event culture shouldn’t assume alcohol is the default social glue, and how Tearyne has built her co-working streams on Twitch with intention using structure, body-doubling, and a lot of encouragement. If you’ve ever felt like community is something you stumble into by accident, this episode is a reminder that the best versions are built on purpose.
Listen to the episode now — and if you like conversations about the humans behind open source, subscribe to Community + Code for Season 2.
Leave a Reply