who is jaclyn?

Someone who wants to do for work exactly what she would do if no one paid her. That used to be marketing in the outdoor industry, until she found coding.

Jaclyn Applegate has a successful career in marketing in the outdoor industry. She is currently the Sports Marketing Manager at Decathlon, the largest sports retailer in the world, with over 1,600 stores in 80 countries. At Decathlon, Jaclyn sets the strategy and goals for Decathlon’s marketing efforts to build the Decathlon brand in the U.S. and drive the company's growth and U.S. expansion. She also participates in branding, strategic marketing, consumer strategy & insights, public relations, and creative campaigns. A veteran marketing manager, Jaclyn was previously in marketing at Specialized Bicycles and Clif Bar & Company.

In 2021, Jaclyn discovered web development and coding. Her draw to coding was akin to that of metal to a magnet. The intersection of the creative elements emblematic of marketing with technologies like HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and React to create responsive, adaptive website and applications that engage the public, help companies, are adaptive, reusable, and fungible is intoxicating to Jaclyn. When Jaclyn became aware of big-tech developer programs, she decided she could and would make a career change to have the career of her dreams: being a developer.

Unwilling to let her goal become a wish, she made a plan. Jaclyn enrolled in and completed the SheCodes Pro coding boot camp, which has been rated the best coding boot camp in 2020 and 2021. She can’t get enough of coding and is constantly reading, learning more, and practicing by completing developer projects for herself, friends, family, and colleagues.

When she’s not coding, Jaclyn is a doting dog mom, loving partner, and outdoor enthusiast. She hikes, bikes, swims, and runs. Her energy is her currency. She’s a champion of women’s equality, especially in sports, and LGBTQ+ initiatives. She completed two years at Syracuse before transferring and to the University of Arizona. She lives in Oakland with her partner, their Portuguese Water Dog Billie-Jean (who also has a passion for equality and adventures), and their bees.