From Property Management to Presenting at Apple: Alyssa Gray’s Journey into Software Development

For Alyssa Gray, the path into technology wasn’t paved by a single dramatic leap. It was built through small, scared, imperfect steps, the kind that only add up to something real once you’re willing to take them before you feel ready.

“My journey with software development has brought back my confidence for my creativity and problem solving, despite my personal challenges with switching careers.”

Before tech, Alyssa worked in property management as an administrative assistant at a luxury condominium. It was steady, structured work, but it wasn’t the work that lit her up. Somewhere in the routine of managing paperwork and responding to other people’s emergencies, she started imagining a different kind of problem-solving, one where she got to build the solutions herself.

“My passion is for creating projects that are solutions to real problems and aiding in user accessibility.” That passion became the thread that eventually pulled her out of property management and into technology.

At Miami Dade College, Alyssa learned a lesson that reshaped how she thought about experience itself.

“I learned that creating my own projects and having something to show for it is real experience.” She didn’t need a job title to start proving what she could do, she just needed to build.

She also discovered that networking, with employers and fellow students alike, was far less intimidating than she’d expected going in. “Networking with employers and other students is easier than it seems.” Those relationships became part of the foundation she leaned on when it came time to put her work in front of people. Alyssa put that into practice by attending Miami Tech Works’ Tech Talent Connect and Tech Talent Coalition events, where she continued building connections with employers and peers alike.

Alyssa didn’t just study code, she built something with a purpose behind it. After working through Apple’s Swift curriculum over the summer, she created a voice-controlled TV remote app, designed with accessibility at its core.

When she was invited to showcase a project representing what she’d learned, she pushed herself to present her work publicly for the first time.

“I was able to create a voice-controlled TV remote app using Swift after going through the Apple Swift classes over the summer. When I was invited to create a project to showcase what I had learned, I had pushed myself to ensure I would present my work for the first time.”

The project wasn’t an abstract assignment for a grade. It was built with a specific person in mind, someone Alyssa knows personally who struggles to use her hands. “Delivering this software to her will make it worth more than the work that was put into it.”

The turning point arrived when Alyssa’s voice-controlled remote app earned her an invitation to present publicly at Aventura Mall, inside one of the largest Apple stores in the country. It almost didn’t happen. The week before, personal challenges left her sick, and she nearly walked away the day before.

“The personal challenges I had faced that week almost had me quit the day before because I ended up sick. But after pushing through it, I am happy to say how much it paid off.”

Standing in front of a room and presenting something she’d built by hand, from an idea, that was the moment the work stopped feeling like a risk and started feeling like proof.

Today, Alyssa is focused on polishing and finishing her personal projects, software built as solutions to problems she witnessed firsthand while working in property management, for users she knows by name, not just by user story.

Getting here meant carrying two full-time responsibilities at once. She worked full-time in property management while attending school full-time, and the stress didn’t stay at the office.

“When stress follows you home from your job because there was always an emergency or negative feedback, it had beaten my confidence over time. Now that I am fully pursuing a technology field, I have regained that confidence and time to create something for the bigger picture.”

She’s now looking ahead to an employer who values that same drive, someone seeking a person as passionate about using technology to solve real problems as she is.

Alyssa’s advice comes directly from the week she almost didn’t show up.

“Do it scared. Do it imperfect. Just start.” It’s a new spin on “fake it until you make it,” she says, but for her, there’s nothing fake about it. “You can create a project with errors or user interface issues, but once you start, that will show others your passion for it.”

Alyssa Gray’s story is a reminder that confidence isn’t a prerequisite for starting, more often, it’s the result of it. The admin desk. The Swift classes. The sick week before a presentation she nearly skipped. Every piece became part of a career built one scared, imperfect step at a time.