Liliana Monge is the co-founder and CEO of Sabio Coding Bootcamp as well as a social entrepreneur that believes in the power of hard work.
Sabio Coding Bootcamp is an Information Technology higher educational enterprise dedicated to teaching cyber security network infrastructure skills and current software engineering to its students.
Liliana was born in Northern Mexico and came to the United States when she was five years old. She lived in Los Angeles for most of her childhood with her mother and older sister always putting great importance on education. She attended Wellesley College and graduated with a B.A. in biology.
Coming from an economic development background, Liliana found it important to find opportunities that empowered the community. Sabio allows individuals to transform their lives through their careers. Throughout her career, Liliana has been driven to help people become exceptional technical professionals and is the heart and soul behind Sabio.
Liliana Monge reveals more about herself and the company during an interview with the Fox Magazine
Where do you consider to be home?
I came to Los Angeles from Northern Mexico when I was 5 years old. I earned my B.A. from Wellesley College and then attended a program at UCLA as a Riordan Fellow. Since then, I’ve lived in Los Angeles for the past 22 years and am proud to call it my home, especially as the tech industry continues to grow and prosper here.
What was the inspiration for the development of Sabio Coding Bootcamp?
Initially, we were inspired by others that were helping develop new tech talent in San Francisco. However, it really comes down to giving people economic empowerment, specifically women, minorities, veterans, and those often overlooked. I partnered with my husband, Gregorio Rojas, in the summer of 2012 to start Sabio. Both Gregorio and I had been working at various tech companies and we were both growing increasingly frustrated with the lack of job candidates with technical expertise from the Black and Latinx communities.
The deeper we dug into it, the more we knew we had to help change this. I also learned that less than 20% of software developers were women, which was another particular motivator for me. Therefore, we set out to create a diverse and inclusive coding Bootcamp that would help push the needle in density in tech while helping our students and alumni thrive in the innovation economy at the same time.
The Fox Magazine is all about inspiration, what/who inspires you the most?
Without trying to sound cliche, seeing the Sabio students and alumni succeed is my biggest motivator. I really enjoy helping others thrive and grow. It’s incredibly rewarding to meet people looking to find a life path and help give them the tools they didn’t even know they already had to manifest their own destiny. The main thing about Sabio that I want to emphasize is really anyone can take this path.
If you are interested in solving problems, any kind of problem, you can learn to code. And once you learn to code, and learn how to learn to code, you can get an incredibly rewarding job in tech, rewarding not just mentally but also in your paycheck. Helping bring people to the table who didn’t even know they could get a seat there, to begin with, is so inspirational to me; it’s making big changes one person at a time.
What was one thing you did that exceeded your expectations when you began developing Sabio Coding Bootcamp?
The fact that some of our grads are now millionaires really inspires us to help more people get into tech. We always talk about how getting a job in tech can get you a six figure salary, because it can, and quickly. Many of our earlier cohorts from the first two to three years of Sabio have worked their way up to being millionaires. These are people who largely had no tech experience, hardly any professional training, and now they are the kings of their craft. This is why I always tell students to stick with it, if you do, you’ll exceed your own expectations as well.
What are some ways Sabio Coding Bootcamp has created more opportunities for people looking to pursue a tech career?
We are one of the few coding boot camps that allow people to come into the program with little to no experience. Most coding boot camps require that people spend months preparing to enter a coding Bootcamp, and at Sabio, we want to help you make your first website! I really feel strongly that especially in these turbulent times, you should still have the option to change your career. No matter what your current financial circumstance might be, or what your credit history says, we want you to feel the excitement and eager anticipation of enrolling without the anxiety that comes from going into debt.
That’s why at Sabio we have a plethora of financial plans to choose from, my favorite one to rep is our Deferred Payment or Income Share Agreement program. It’s very simple tuition: if you enroll in Sabio via our Deferred Payment Plan, you’ll be able to take the entire course without making a single payment. Once you score a job, your first year’s monthly payments will be $199. If you are ever unemployed, you can suspend your monthly payments without your credit taking a hit. We want to do whatever we can to help you get a better job, a better income, and we understand a lot of people don’t have that starting capital to invest in themselves, and that’s why we offer programs like these. We also have extensive veterans benefits such as Vettec, Post 9/11 GI Bill, VR&E, and more.
Technology in itself is a success. What does success mean to you? What are your rules for success?
Rules for success: Always do your best and work as hard as you can. If you stick to these relatively simple principles, you’re going to succeed. At the end of the day if you know you’ve tried your hardest, that in itself is a success because most people are just going to do the bare minimum. I have never encountered a problem or obstacle I couldn’t solve without doing my best and working hard at it.
Also, make sure that you collaborate with other people that also care about moving the needle as it pertains to diversity in tech. If you surround yourself with the right people, they’re going to help motivate you when you need it and vice versa.
How do you handle comparisons between Sabio Coding Bootcamp and that of other companies? What is one way you continue to distinguish your brand and stand apart?
Our brand stands out because we are 100% dedicated to helping more women, military veterans, and Black and Brown people learn to code. We are determined to help more people become exceptional software engineers throughout the country. I hear frequently from students and alumni that a lot of other coding boot camps they looked into or heard about are like a factory.
You put your money in, they teach you the bare minimum, and then they spit you out. At Sabio, we really want to bring you into a community of support. We offer so many alumni services in terms of networking, events, and even just continued outreach to instructors. All of this feeds into our main mantra of wanting to truly see every individual within Sabio succeed.
What advice do you have for the next up-and-coming tech inventor?
Solve a problem that you are 100 percent committed to, and solve the problem in a way that is unique to your specific skill-set. A lot of people will pick an idea or business that they think is flashy or trendy right now, but that’s not going to serve you well in the long run. You need a problem that you can live, sleep, dream, and sweat every day all day, for years if not decades.
That may seem like an insurmountable problem or idea to dream up, but I promise you, it’s there. Also, don’t force yourself to look for it, you’ll be surprised how quickly lightning will strike if you just let ideas come to you at their natural pace.
What’s something people would be surprised to learn about you?
People might be surprised to know that although I am an extrovert and love nothing more than throwing myself into work, I do need some days where I just sit still and do nothing but chill on my couch. It’s sort of like my own reboot in a way.
What is your favorite innovation-related motto, quote, or words to live by?
“Nothing that lives, lives alone nor for themselves,” by William Blake.
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