Technical Writing.

Hiroko Nishimura · Posted on

I am an AWS Community Hero and a Technical Writer with focus on introducing Cloud Computing and Amazon Web Services to people with non-traditional technical backgrounds.

I have 5 years of experience working in corporate IT, finishing out as a Systems Administrator at a tech startup in New York City. I left the corporate world to work as a Freelance Technical Writer in the summer of 2019.

I teach “Introduction to AWS for Non-Engineers” course series at LinkedIn Learning, and introductory coding courses at egghead.io.

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Since deciding to work as a Technical Writer, I have been fortunate to be blessed with clients who have been nothing but supportive of my journey.

Interested in having me write for your company blog? Shoot me an e-mail at hiro@24villages.com! I most often write to deconstruct AWS for beginners, but am excited to deconstruct other technical concepts as well!

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In summer of 2018, I founded AWS Newbies after becoming frustrated with the amount of technical jargon embedded in every resource I was reviewing while studying for the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Exam.

As someone without any formal technical education, the industry-specific lingo and concepts made the resources extremely difficult to understand. To help alleviate the issue, AWS Newbies breaks down major Cloud Computing Concepts and AWS Services using “laymen’s terms” to help anyone interested in the Cloud learn about AWS.

That fall, I published my first ebook, “Intro to AWS for Newbies,” which sold over 200 copies in one year.

In 2019, I released a series of video courses in partnership with LinkedIn Learning, titled “Introduction to AWS for Non-Engineers.”

The series goes over the four domains of the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Exam: Cloud Concepts, Security and Compliance, Core Services, and Billing and Pricing.

Each video is only 2~5 minutes long, and the total length of all four courses is less than 4 hours. My goal was to create bite-sized and easily comprehensible exam preparation courses for someone who doesn’t have an engineering background, but want to learn about (and potentially land a career in) the Cloud.

☁️ Check them out: Introduction to AWS for Non-Engineers

In early 2020, I founded Cloud Newbies, a platform for “Cloud Newbies” and “Cloud Professionals” to come together and learn about the Cloud and study for certification exams.

When I was first attempting to wrap my head around AWS, I was looking for a responsive community to join. However, I found that any active community I was able to find was geared towards veteran engineers and solutions architects. Not beginners.

Cloud Newbies is my attempt to bring that supportive and informative community to anyone who is considering a career in the Cloud. Unlike AWS Newbies, Cloud Newbies is “Cloud Computing Platform Agnostic,” so people interested in all kinds of Cloud Platforms are active, including Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and Salesforce.

I also began an interview blog called “Hello, Cloud Newbies!” The blog interviews professionals around the world from all different backgrounds working with, or in, the Cloud.

My goal with the blog is to show that there is a huge variety of career paths available with or in Cloud Computing, and you don’t have to limit yourself to being a DevOps Engineer, Software Engineer, or Solutions Architect!

Hiroko Nishimura
AWS Community Hero. Special Education teacher turned IT Engineer turned Technical Writer and Technical Instructor. LinkedIn Learning and egghead Instructor. Arteriovenous Malformation, Brain Surgery, and Brain Injury survivor. Currently in remission for Rheumatoid Arthritis.