A day in the life of Odochi Okara, Backend Engineer at Klasha

Here at Klasha, we're tirelessly working to shape the future of cross-border commerce. As a technology-driven startup, our software engineers play a crucial role in providing stability and scalability to our products. We recently caught up with Odochi, a talented backend engineer in our team, to get to know her better and gain insights into the ins and outs of her day.

What motivated you to pursue a career as a backend engineer?

Curiosity motivated me. I saw great apps being released, and it was magical! I was able to learn how these things work while feeding my curiosity. It feels great to know my career makes lives easier by providing solutions to underserved people.

What do you enjoy doing during your leisure time?

I enjoy trying out new recipes the most, and I love shopping for ingredients. My favourite dish to make at the moment is pizza.

Can you walk us through a typical day in your role?

My typical day involves starting work by completing outstanding tasks before picking up new ones. A major part of that is understanding business logic, implementing, testing the task, and shipping it. I also get involved with potential bugs reported by users.

How do you feel your work as a backend engineer contributes to Klasha's mission?

My work as a backend engineer involves creating technology for seamless online payments. It has to be running and available for users to consume, which helps Klasha reach its goals of providing seamless, borderless payments for merchants and users in Africa and beyond. I feel like my work provides technical capabilities for achieving our mission.

What has been your favourite project at Klasha so far, and why?

My favourite project to date is KlashaShop. I was there from the beginning, working on features like guest checkout, promo codes, and more. I found working on promo codes particularly enjoyable due to the intricate business logic involved. The unique design pattern used for assigning each code to a single user was a valuable learning experience, exposing me to new atomic design patterns. It’s a joy to see the project in action.

What would you say if you could advise anyone looking to join our engineering team?

If you're joining Klasha as a remote engineer, seek help and ask as many questions as needed. There are no stupid questions! Be open to learning and change, and be friendly and accessible, especially when working with a distributed team.