Introducing Melissa Herrera, Developer Relations

Hello there! My name is Melissa Herrera, and I’m a Developer Relations Engineer here at DataStax. Honestly, I am still getting used to that statement because although I’ve been at DataStax for three years  now, this is my first time working in developer relations. With that being said, I have huge plans for myself in this role and am excited to start building generative AI apps and content, integrating myself into the Bay Area developer community, and helping developers better understand what's possible with AI. 

Let’s go on this journey together! 

My DataStax journey

Right out of college, I took my Computer Science degree with a focus in databases and NoSQL systems and found DataStax. At the time, DataStax was known for their innovations in Apache Cassandra®, and I thought it was a perfect fit for me to continue expanding my interest in this field. Since I've been here,  DataStax has pivoted from a database company to shipping tools for developers building AI applications. Throughout these changes, I’ve experienced the company from many different angles; first starting off as a support engineer Intern, to an onboarding engineer, to lead solutions engineer—and now a developer relations engineer. 

My interest in DevRel began earlier in my career at DataStax when I’d be asked to help the DevRel team create content, including “Getting Started in Astra DB” videos. I enjoyed creating and producing videos and seeing them on our DataStax Developers Youtube channel. As I continued my DataStax journey, I was part of a small team that focused on ecosystems and integrations. This exposed me to different partner tools, more coding, and working on quickstart guides for Astra DB. In my most recent role as a solutions engineer, we created a lot of demos for customers using Astra DB and our other products to help them envision their use cases and achieve their goals. 

Earlier this year, I worked with other solutions engineers to build Fashion Buddy. What started off as an entry for the “Best Demo” competition that our sales organization was hosting turned into a breakthrough project that showcased the power of our platform and GenAI with a real-life use case. The app enables you to upload a photo of any outfit and see similar clothing items along with images and shopping links to make purchases. Fashion Buddy went on to be used as a demo at events like Google NEXT, AWS Summit NYC, and other events as a way to demo the art of the possible with DataStax’s AI Platform-as-a-Service.

Through my work on Fashion Buddy, I got involved with more DevRel projects and attended conferences and events myself. Eventually, I was presented with the perfect transitional path to DevRel when a spot opened up on the team … and here I am! 

Day to day in DevRel 

Now that I’m a developer relations engineer, what exactly do I do?

• Build and develop awesome apps with our AI PaaS and partner integrations
• Create fun and educational content (videos, shorts, guides) for developers to learn how to build great GenAI apps
• Connect with the developer community and build our presence in the San Francisco Bay Area

I’m immersing myself in GenAI, learning how all of these tools work, talking to developers about what they’re building—and having a whole lot of fun doing it! 

My goals in DevRel

When I think about what I want to accomplish, I want to continue learning and growing in this fast-paced AI era, and connect with other folks to join me on this ride. I hope I can become the kind of person that developers and others in the community can approach to talk to about what they're building and how DataStax products can help. Ultimately, my goal is to inspire developers to explore this exciting world of AI. Let’s embark on this transformative journey together!

Connect with me! You can find me on LinkedIn, or join our Developer Discord. Be sure to also check out more of our DataStax Developers content coming soon on our YouTube channel.