
> “I believe that on the journey to becoming a Senior Software Engineer, the more you challenge yourself, the more interesting things become.”

**Life at Dwarves #01** is a rather secretive member with a healthy life and gentle personality. [@antran](https://memo.d.foundation/contributor/antran), Senior Software Engineer with 7 years of experience working from start-ups to Project Lead at Dwarves Foundation. 

Before joining Dwarves, [@antran](https://memo.d.foundation/contributor/antran) held the position of Tech Lead at a start-up and remote Frontend Lead for a company in the US. After giving himself 3 months of rest, An joined Dwarves' Gravity project, becoming a full-time engineer and lead builder of the project.

To An, things would become quite boring if they were only focused on Frontend. If you get too familiar with one fixed thing and don't expand into many other aspects, work will no longer be interesting. He has worked in many roles, from Android to Web, from Backend to Frontend. So the title Full-stack Engineer is somehow still true for this Senior. 

![](assets/life-at-dwarves-with-an-tran_the-more-you-challenge-yourself-the-more-exciting-it-gets-an-tran_life-at-dwarves-with-an-tran-the-more-you-challenge-yourself-the-more-exciting-it-gets_9e2ac4cd6681cdf0a45399021f20a4cd_md5.webp)

### What does it take for An to become a Senior?

“If others need advice, I also give my own perspective and personal experience. I build trust with them, as that is how I leave an impact in my role as a guiding figure.”

### How does being a Senior at Dwarves differ from previous companies?

“Each project comes with its own difficulties and responsibilities. I will have to find ways to adapt to the project and determine the approach to meet the client's requirements in any given environment.

During the initial phase of building Nghe Nhan system, our team had limited resources. The client's demands had to be balanced with the speed of delivery given the available resources. It was indeed a challenge. From planning and task allocation within the team to ensuring the quality of our work and the final product.

Nghe Nhan system is more complex than previous projects. I have to strike a balance between keeping up with the customer's pace as new features are continuously added. I need to ensure that the client understands that pushing for faster product development can sometimes be challenging in terms of maintaining quality. Working at Dwarves, especially in a senior role, presents various challenging scenarios for me to learn from and enhance my capabilities.”

### What is your opinion of a true Senior?

“I believe that I can learn a great deal from a genuine Senior. From task management, team communication, to problem-solving and providing solutions, there is much to gain. The clearest indication of working with a true Senior is the sense of comfort. They would be the first person I think of when encountering difficulties.“

![](assets/life-at-dwarves-with-an-tran_the-more-you-challenge-yourself-the-more-exciting-it-gets-an-tran_96b7765a-86b3-43d2-8f4a-8ee09d21b695.webp)

### Dwarves is a fast-paced environment where things can get chaotic for Seniors who have many responsibilities. How do you manage your own tasks and teammates?

“I realize that leading someone who is fresh out of school can have a big impact on their career path. Working together for a long time, their working style may start to resemble mine, and even their code style may reflect my mindset. I believe that is how I leave an influence in my role as a trailblazer.

If you need advice or want to learn something specific or take additional courses to enhance your knowledge, I can provide you with my perspective. I share my insights and experiences based on what I have personally gone through. I won't share if I haven't experienced it myself. There's no secret formula, but I aim to build trust with you. Once you trust me, you'll be more inclined to listen to my advice”.

---
**Life at Dwarves** is a series of stories about people, perspectives and lives at the Dwarves Foundation.


Life at Dwarves 01 is a rather secretive member with a healthy life and gentle personality. An Tran, Senior Software Engineer with 7 years of experience working from start-ups to Project Lead at Dwarves Foundation.

An Tran

Meet An Tran: Senior engineer's growth journey


[@anna](https://memo.d.foundation/contributor/anna), in short, is the UI wizard behind most of our branding identity. You'll be seeing her work of art on every Dwarves's digital asset.

>
> "I work for the graphic side, mainly on UI, app appearance, and app research to gain more insight for the team."

### A person can take care of both UX and UI design if the project is small. As a product designer, you're expected to know both.
“I work for the graphic side, mainly on UI, app appearance, and app research to gain more insight for the team. Our workload depends on each project. A person can take care of both UX and UI design if the project is small. As a product designer, you're expected to know both.

I've been with the Dwarves for 5 years already. Graduated as a Graphic Designer and after 2 years working on this, I didn't feel so good about my career path. There are just too many designers in this sector. By that time, UX & UI were becoming a thing. People started to know about it. So I decided to try it out. As graphic designers, you're welcome to work on ideas & creativity. But product designers are bound with technology, rules and terms. It was rough at first, but my decision stayed solid.”

### It’s the environment that matters.
“Newbies usually seek big firms or local companies to start their careers. Since those corps have been structuring their projects, everything was well-developed. Our job was only to maintain and update. But somehow, this blocks me from learning and exploring. I used to jump between 2-3 local corporations since I couldn't find a fitting place to grow in UI & UX design. That's when HR reached out to me, and I knew about Dwarves.
At the moment, Dwarves was still a startup. This gave me more opportunities to learn since all our projects are brand new. Dwarves have chosen hard mode since then. They were always ahead of their game, and I learned a lot from them. It's the main reason that convinces me to stay this long.”

![anhtran](assets/life-at-dwarves-with-anh-tran-how-its-like-to-be-a-head-of-ui_life-at-dwarves-anh-tran.webp)

### Communication over everything.
“The office was very active before the pandemic. It took people a while to cope with the whole work-from-home mode. But I'm glad everyone was able to catch up with the productivity.
It's a great experience working here. The journey includes high notes and little stuff that gets on my nerves. 

There are times that people have their subjective opinions and are ready to protect them. I used to be the only designer on the team. That makes the communication issue between me with the rest of the developer team much harder. Our work scope is different, and so are our perspectives. We ended up arguing over everything. 

So the team began to hold seminars, mostly to remove the roadblock once a for all. I got the chance to explain my work as a designer and understand things from a developer's point of view. It helped us to walk in each other's shoes. That move revamped our collaboration real fast. We know what others need and prepare to back them up.”

>
> "The journey includes high notes and little stuff that gets on my nerves. But to sum up, it was quite an experience."

![asste](assets/life-at-dwarves-with-anh-tran-how-its-like-to-be-a-head-of-ui_life-at-dwarves-anh-tran-2.webp)

---
**Life at Dwarves** is a series of stories about people, perspectives and lives at the Dwarves Foundation.


Anh, in short, is the UI wizard behind most of our branding identity. You'll be seeing her work of art on every Dwarves's digital asset.

Anh Tran

Meet Anh Tran: Crafting Dwarves' visual identity as Head of UI


**Life at Dwarves #27** shares the journey of [@datnguyennnx](https://memo.d.foundation/contributor/datnguyennnx/), an AI/LLM intern. Starting out remotely, Dat soon saw the benefits of Dwarves’ hybrid working model. With guidance from [@tom](https://memo.d.foundation/contributor/tom) and others, he’s been able to dive into real-world learning, picking up skills on the go. Dat’s journey is all about practical experience, quick exchanges, and real teamwork - exactly how we like to do things here.

### Learning by doing at Dwarves
Starting at Dwarves remotely, I dove into LLM/AI. Remote work gave me focus, but being in the office changed everything. Learning here doesn’t happen through formal meetings - it’s quick, spontaneous exchanges with everyone, from CEO to teammates.

### Real-time learning at the office
Hybrid work became a quicker way to learn. In the office, instant feedback and casual conversations on LLM trends pushed my understanding forward much faster than working alone at home.

> “The quick chats turn into real learning moments. In an environment where mentors and seniors are always learning, newbies feel encouraged to do the same. It’s all rooted in Dwarves’ mentorship culture.”
> 

One time, I was stuck on an LLM model, and a quick whiteboard session with [@tom](https://memo.d.foundation/contributor/tom) and the team solved it in minutes, saving me hours of trial and error.

![](assets/life-at-dwarves-dat-nguyen.jpg)

### Learning by watching and doing
Observing how others, like [@tom](https://memo.d.foundation/contributor/tom) or CEO, handled challenges taught me more than online guides, my learning feel more real. One session where my mentor optimized code gave me insights I couldn’t have gained from remote tutorials.

Seeing everyone solve problems in real-time helped me grasp things much faster. Working on projects with input from different team members broadened my view on how to collaborate effectively.

### The value of being face-to-face
Learning here happens naturally. Everyone shares what they know through the work itself. No formal lessons needed - just quick exchanges and hands-on collaboration. Being in the office helped me sharpen skills that are harder to develop remotely, like thinking on my feet.

### Growing with the whole team
The hybrid setup offers the best of both worlds. I can focus remotely but get that extra boost from being in the office when needed. The goal is simple - helping each other improve and push forward, with support from the entire team along the way.


Dat Nguyen’s journey as an AI/LLM intern at Dwarves, where hybrid working and hands-on learning create real growth. Discover how mentorship and real-time collaboration shape his experience.

Dat Nguyen

Meet Dat Nguyen: AI Dev Intern on hybrid working at Dwarves


**Life at Dwarves #6** is all about how Hieu Vu ([@vdhieu](https://github.com/vdhieu)) picked up Golang as his favorite programming, and how human factor happens to be the key element that ties him with Dwarves.

[@vdhieu](https://github.com/vdhieu) is currently a Backend Engineer, who was formerly an intern at KMS Technology Corporation. Through Aharooms project, his interest for Golang began. After 3 years, it’s not just the programming language that he was fond of, but also the human and culture at Dwarves that led to his decision: To go further with Dwarves for its human and the exclusive learning culture.

### Python, Java or NodeJS? Golang!
“Back in 2017, Japanese companies were highly rated. People strived to go for it. Of course, I wasn't an exception. I tried my luck by applying for a Japanese tech firm. They required an entrance test using the Golang language, which I had no idea about. They gave us a 1-week deadline to learn and complete the exercise. I failed, obviously. But I had no regret. That test, by all means, sparked my lucky charm with Golang.

I started working on the Aharooms project before eventually moving on to Dwarves. I was able to learn more about NodeJS, but it was Aharooms that gave me the chance to learn and practice Golang. The excitement escalated, and I knew this should be my go-to language. 

Why not Python or Java? The simplicity and efficiency I found in Golang are unbeatable. The language granted me the joy to work with, and empowered my productivity. It was beyond any language I've ever been with. 

From what I concept, Golang's future development is very promising, as more and more companies and startups incorporate Golang into their projects. More specifically, Go's adaptability is ideal for creating and developing cloud-native applications. 

It was indeed a bit confusing when you first approached a new language. The willingness to learn, and the time spent to find a solution matter a lot. Don't force yourself if you have explored and practiced with a programming language and don't enjoy working with it. Find the language you love, and seek projects in which you can participate all you've learned.”

### It’s normal to be ‘inexperienced’.
"Even though I am an instructor for interns, I often see and refer to myself as a supporter. Most interns have quite a bit of prior experience, and I need to hone my skills to become a better mentor. 

Another issue I discovered is that recently, fresh graduates are afraid to apply to large corporations due to their lack of experience. But it's normal to be inexperienced! The important thing is the knowledge you acquired during school. 

Use that as your confidence to gain your first job." Stay hungry, and stay foolish. At the same time, ask yourself what type of person you want to be in the future. Whether being an "indie hacker" or a self-employed, you should constantly improve your skills and industry expertise, as well as network to expand relationships.”

### It's the people and its culture that keep me at Dwarves.
"During my internship at KMS in 2017, only two people were on the team: The leader and I. As everything was already built, our daily job was to maintain the application. After a month, the leader thought I could do it alone, so he left the team to join another. I soon realized that I preferred working in a team to build a product from scratch rather than working alone. 

By 2019, I had met and worked on the same project with my Dwarves teammates, and everyone had become an inspiration to me in my work; each with an outstanding personality. I always learned something worthwhile from everyone to help improve myself. When I interact with Hieu Phan, his pleasant humor makes me feel close, easy to talk to, and unafraid to share the general grasp. Thanh Pham, despite his being harsh and strict, is often concerned with the teammate's career direction. His biggest strength is to offer advice to every teammate and junior. Bao, on the other hand, is the type of person who sees the bigger picture. And Minh is best known for his work project management skill and dedication. 

It's always the calm ocean before every storm. There comes the point that it hits me: "Why does my day revolve around code? Am I still living like this from now on?". The questions, eventually, shoved me deeper into what they call 'the mid-life crisis" And I had to figure my way out. I began to expand my interest area, starting with financial investment & self-development. None of that would have ever happened if it were not for the guys' input, which I'll always appreciate. 

Earlier this year, a client offered me a full-time employment package. A bigger place to grow comes with a new benefit. It's a risky decision to take that leap - I know. But at the end of the day, I chose to stay with Dwarves. I value its remote culture. Part of me wants to take up more challenges here, to grow from its work-ownership principle and the habit of continuous learning. 
If I take that offer, my life will become a 9-to-5 circle. Everything is settled to get up and work, and it bores me out. Those Radio Talks and sharing offer me two values I'm seeking: 

To interact with people and to learn from them. Folks at Dwarves are more knowledgeable as a result of those sessions. So perhaps, teammates and culture are what connect and keep me staying. 

![](assets/life-at-dwarves-with-hieu-vu_27fe0d8a27cb8fd173cf17003989cd7e_md5.webp)

After three years working here, I grew from someone who would not dare to speak to anyone to a person who can now confidently convey his experience and knowledge to interns. That's also the most challenging aspect of being an intern supporter: Learning to understand people's wants and needs and how to provide the most efficient support."

Swing by our Discord to meet & chat with Hieu Vu and the rest of Dwarves team: [https://discord.gg/dwarvesv](https://discord.gg/dwarvesv).

---
**Life at Dwarves** is a series of stories about people, perspectives and lives at the Dwarves Foundation.


Life at Dwarves 06 is all about how Hieu Vu picked up Golang as his favorite programming, and how human factor happens to be the key element that ties him with Dwarves.

Hieu Vu

Meet Hieu Vu: Golang passion and Dwarves community


>
> "The process of transformation and progress will never be easy, but you need it for a better version".

**Life at Dwarves #5** is the career story of [@nam](https://github.com/namnhce), the Dwarves's DevOps Engineer. During 6 years turning from big corp to Dwarves Team, he lives upon the motto of constantly pushing himself above the limit. Listening to his sharing, we hope you might feel like we do, that Nam has always been and will be the key player who would strive to deliver his best.

### Joining Dwarves? A roller coaster ride.
"2017 marked my first milestone with Dwarves. One of my friends asked me if I wanted to be part of a team that worked on cool projects and surrounded by like-minded peeps. I said yes, without a second thought. Looking back now, it must have been fate. Because my 2017 version was still figuring out how to finish the university degree. Joining any firm as a full-time job can't be the right move.

I became a full-time FE after 4 months of part-time work. Dwarves didn't have any QC at that time besides Huy Tieu, and he became my mentor soon after that. I have worked in various engineering aspects, from Frontend to QC, Backend to DevOps. Until I joined Aharooms, where I finally decided to act as a Backend Engineer."

### Define. Grow. Complete.
"The peers my age tend to throw themselves into gym, movies or dining after work to blow off some steam. And they do that on a schedule. A schedule that I refuse to follow, mostly because I'm used to living as someone who prefers to do things alone. I find it hard to confine myself to meeting the same people, and doing the same thing on a specific timeline.

2019 was when I finally let myself try out new things in different settings. Staying at home too long shrinks my comfort zone, so I need to push myself out of it. That's when I signed up for GopherCon 2018 & 2019. The goal was not only to do another team thing but it also to observe and understand how a well-organized event works from A to Z.

The most intrigued aspect as an organizer is to take the initiative to work with merchandisers, contact and arrange the guest speaker's schedule. Thanks to those experiences, I was able to acknowledge what needs to be improved in my communication skill and was more open to expanding the social connection.

By that time, I was still one of the team's youngest members. So part of the motivation was to catch up with the rest of the group - those terrific in soft skills. Event-organizing work was how I practiced and grew to complete myself."

![](assets/life-at-dwarves-with-nam-nguyen-keep-pushing-oneself-towards-goal_d6b7f9003146b59e78897e98860ae7fb_md5.webp)

### The 200% motto.
"My trait of having an eye for details sometimes leads to slower productivity. Thus, I'm still today-year-old thriving to optimize it. While I was still working on Aharooms, staying up working until 1 or 2 AM was an everyday scheme. It bugs me to go to bed knowing I haven't finished the work. It's a principle to work with all I can, despite the role I'm playing as. Looking back at my 2017 version, I've always been amazed by what has been learned and changed.

Last July rounded up my 5th year as a Dwarves. It was one hell of a roller coaster ride. I play by a motto where I'm down to perform at a 200% effort. I guess that motto layers my success at Open Fabric, a recently-wrapped up project where the teammates and the Project Lead himself endorsed me for being an absolute rock star. It's hard to describe the feeling, but 'proud' would be the right word.

Dwarves is scaling up and getting bigger every day. So as a long-time contributor, the newbies would come and ask me how to upgrade their career and self-development. I often come with this: Give yourself the chance to try, and try out everything until you find something you wouldn't trade the world for. Keep up the consistency in what you choose. On top of that, don't force yourself to work on what you hate. Meeting new people will outgrow you. And remember to spend good times with the colleagues, because that can be one of the best moments you remember about that place."

![nam](assets/life-at-dwarves-with-nam-nguyen-keep-pushing-oneself-towards-goal_7a80737e168731ddb08a001e5a9d4062_md5.webp)

---
**Life at Dwarves** is a series of stories about people, perspectives and lives at the Dwarves Foundation.


Life at Dwarves 05 is the career story of Nam, the Dwarves's DevOps Engineer. During 6 years turning from big corp to Dwarves Team, he lives upon the motto of constantly pushing himself above the limit.

Nam Nguyen

Meet Nam Nguyen: From Frontend to DevOps - A journey of continuous growth


### The idea: A path to better software

>
> *“Everything in software architecture is a trade-off, and the why is more important than how." Neal Ford is a Director and software architect at ThoughtWorks.*

At Dwarves, we believe that growth is our universal language, and we always strive to improve ourselves, individual-wise and team-wise. 

At the end of 2021, starting with engineering practices, the core idea behind creating a software design group is to enable engineers to develop the skills required to become software architects. While there is no predetermined path or set of qualifications, several key abilities can help engineers gain the knowledge and experience to advance as architects. Becoming a strong software architect is more about applying skills in practice than just gaining theoretical knowledge. 

### Welcoming All Team Members: Embracing Diversity and Inclusivity.
Outside of work, we encourage the Dwarves to improve their knowledge and skills. Software Design Group - where people can develop themselves and as a team, where the team discusses and collects the point of view on software systems. 

By thriving on diversity, Dwarves welcomes professionals from various backgrounds, skill sets, and experiences to join us, learn with us, and build with us. We embrace inclusivity promote the exchange of fresh ideas, encourage creativity, and help to foster a sense of belonging among team members. 

### Developing Skills and Professional Knowledge: Continuous Growth and Mastery.
After every training session, there was both positive and constructive feedback from the team. The best part was knowing how they were able to advance and hone their skills.

* **Develop a broad technical perspective:** Through the ongoing training, team members were asked to understand how technologies, frameworks, and languages work together at an enterprise level. They should keep up with software trends to see how new tools could benefit their organization.
* **Gain experience with system design:** Designing complex system architectures is at the heart of a software architect's job. The team members themselves have experience in creating scalable, practical software designs and understanding the performance demands to build knowledge that translates directly to architectural work.
* **Develop a user experience mindset:** Providing a good user experience was enforced at all phases. This focus on user experience (UX) encourages team members to put themselves in the shoes of the end-users and consider the impact of their work on the overall usability, accessibility, and satisfaction of the software.
* **Teamwork mindset:** Regardless of roles and seniority, the collaboration between individuals in the team was evident, with everyone clearly understanding their responsibilities and working together effectively.

### Level Up the Tech Quality
We build software. The primary purpose of the Software Design Group is to create high-quality software solutions. Software architects need to be hands-on, we input the discoveries and new research into practices. By creating an environment where everyone feels valued and respected, we can unlock the full potential of our engineers and drive innovation forward. 

Here are some of our proofs:

**Demo**
- Explicit locking in SQL DBMS: [https://bit.ly/3qoELO5](https://bit.ly/3qoELO5)
- Overview of Hashicorp Vault: [https://bit.ly/3qoEEC9](https://bit.ly/3qoEEC9)
- Postgres implement multi-version concurrency control: [https://bit.ly/3WG9SB5](https://bit.ly/3WG9SB5)

**Dwarves Brainery**
- Some light and casual articles on our Brainery: [https://brain.d.foundation/](https://brain.d.foundation/)

**Radio Talk**
- Software Modeling & Architecture: [https://youtu.be/6hNXFhz0qow](https://youtu.be/6hNXFhz0qow)
- Introduction to Driven Domain Design: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZiS-MFXN28](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZiS-MFXN28)
- Database Sharding: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiUWIyigz4U](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiUWIyigz4U)
- State Machine Pattern: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtxSf1QP1wk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtxSf1QP1wk)
- Database Partition: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoRUFn3UjII](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoRUFn3UjII)

**Articles**
- Design a system for a video streaming platform startup: [https://bit.ly/43yyoWR](https://bit.ly/43yyoWR)
- zk-SNARKs: [https://bit.ly/43n7jXe](https://bit.ly/43n7jXe)
- Database Designs for Multilingual Apps: [https://bit.ly/45HNvPw](https://bit.ly/45HNvPw)

From every piece of collected knowledge, the group can design robust architectures, develop scalable code, and implement efficient algorithms to build developer-focused products that strengthen the software core. The result is the delivery of software products that meet or exceed client expectations, leading to customer satisfaction, increased revenue, and a competitive edge in the market.

So far, collaborating between the software design team has led to creative solutions we may not have achieved by working separately. Always keep learning and coding. 

---
**Life at Dwarves** is a series of stories about people, perspectives and lives at the Dwarves Foundation.


At the end of 2021, starting with engineering practices, the core idea behind creating a software design group is to enable engineers to develop the skills required to become software architects.

Software Design Group

Software design group: Nurturing architects at Dwarves


Been with us for nearly 5 years, [@thanh](https://memo.d.foundation/contributor/thanh) has been taking care of the juniors and ensuring their progress goes alongside the company’s direction. He is also the co-host of Dwarves Radio Talk - our weekly tech training every Monday.

>
> "My job is to ensure a healthy environment for everyone to thrive. Young member needs guidance and advice to orient their path, while seniors need goals to pursue.

### My job is to ensure a healthy environment for everyone to thrive.
“I guide and train people if they are assigned to me. Dwarves Team has a 60-day Program to evaluate, and it usually is a 90-day plan, but based on the company size, the timeline can be adjusted to optimize its teammate growth.

Newbies can find it struggling to catch up. It happens for everyone - though their abilities are excellent. Hence, newbie tends to do whatever their leader instructs. We have a different approach for Dwarves Team. In this woodland, we encourage people to vision their goals and do what it takes to reach them. The target changes flexibly based on their goals and progress - from weekly check-ups, then monthly, and finally rounds up after 6 months.

It was quite an experience to mentor. Young member needs guidance and advice to orient their path, while seniors need goals to pursue.”

### Career path is built based on teammate’s expectation.
“Backed by Team Lead and Engineer Lead, we have 2 tracks for a career path. IC (Individual Contributor) and MT (Management Track). IC is built for teammates who find it challenging to fit in and wish to develop themselves individually. Meanwhile, MT is created for those who want to grow, socialize and work more with people.

At first, I didn't really enjoy sitting in a manager's seat. My focus was on developing the technical skills only. But in the long run, the Team should have someone to pay attention to, connect every teammate and navigate them based on one direction. So I fit in that slot, expanding the knowledge and encouraging everyone to interact and work well with each other. Time goes by, and here I am - in charging as an Engineer Manager.”

### The key for a stable product quality: Connecting the key roles.
“There are four key roles to deliver a good project outcome: Product Manager - who provides the answer for the "What"; Engineering Lead - who understands the "How"; Developer - who manages the deadline and connects all the joint of the codebase, and Engineer Manager - who allocates the right ones for the job. The solid collaboration of these fours forms a stable product quality.

I have conflicts to resolve too, either in the workload of the people. I once met a fresher who wanted to experience with startups. At that time, the company's demand was something different. One thing led to another, and he left. It's one of the problems you bump into once you're sitting at this place - It's to find the balance point between people's expectations and the company's direction.”

### Omw to becoming CTO.
“What makes this team stand out is their hustle. 

I rarely have to worry about the team being lazy. It's like a code of conduct here - People know how to use their time and get things done.

My future goal is to become a CTO, maybe in around 5-6 years - or sooner if I'm lucky. That requires working and understanding people, a lot. So I'm upgrading myself for the next big thing with what I'm doing now.”

>
> "I'm upgrading myslef for the next big thing with what I'm doing now."

![thanhpham](assets/life-at-dwarves-with-thanh-pham-ensure-a-place-where-people-can-thrive_life-at-dwarves.webp)

---
**Life at Dwarves** is a series of stories about people, perspectives and lives at the Dwarves Foundation.


Been with us for nearly 5 years, Thanh has been taking care of the juniors and ensuring their progress goes alongside the company’s direction. He is also the co-host of Dwarves Radio Talk - our weekly tech training every Monday.

Thanh Pham

Meet Thanh Pham: Ensuring a healthy environment for everyone to thrive


A catch-up with [@tom](https://memo.d.foundation/contributor/tom) - our Data Lead, and hear how remote working has fit him perfectly. Tom is one of our core contributors of Dwarves Brainery, and he'll be playing as a key mentor for our upcoming Apprenticeship.

>
> "The office creates a good vibe for work, but it also blocks us from having real work. Working from home allows you to have time for yourself and still get things done."

### Working remotely fits me well. It keeps me from distraction.
"I'm always at home, so WFH is awesome. My previous workplace required people to be at the office and hang out for drinks afterward, and it was a bit overwhelmed in my pov. Working remotely fits me well, and I get work done without being distracted.

Going to the office can make you focus on your work. But it's more enjoyable at home! We still catch up through casual talks or sync up for a few minutes to ensure the work is good. The office creates a good vibe for work, but it also blocks us from having real work. We somehow can be disrupted by tedious & lengthy meetings, food ordering, or random discussions.”

### If you need suport, just tell the team.
“I used to work for a Singapore firm that enabled me to work remotely from Vietnam. Ths working style has been a thing for me ever since. Working from home allows you to have time for yourself and still get things done. I can literally turn on the 4G and continue my work anywhere. And Dwarves Foundation gives teammates huge support for this. If you need equipment, just simply create a ticket. Whether it's a microphone, a webcam or an ergonomic chair, the team is willing to supply it if it backs you up.

![](assets/life-at-dwarves-with-tom-nguyen-remote-working-at-dwarves_4c39af0ca3f74b8a4f41d92a6eecadd8_md5.webp)

### Remote working can significantly benefit when you use it wisely.
“Sometimes the people I work with don't feel so comfy working from home. In that case, I'll invite them to go out and try pair working, if we're lucky to live in the same city. I'm glad to help the mates adapt to this working culture because I know how remote working can significantly benefit when you use it wisely. In reverse, the team even reserves support costs for co-working space for the extroverted peeps.

In short, working from home only minimize our chances of verbal communication. It doesn't, and can't affect our work if you make it right. For me, it's the greatest work style ever. "

![tom](assets/life-at-dwarves-with-tom-nguyen-remote-working-at-dwarves_life-at-dwarves-tom.webp)

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**Life at Dwarves** is a series of stories about people, perspectives and lives at the Dwarves Foundation.


A catch-up with Tom - our Data Lead, and hear how remote working has fit him perfectly. Tom is one of our core contributors of Dwarves Brainery, and he'll be playing as a key mentor for our upcoming Apprenticeship.

Careers > Life