I spent 15 years being good at systems. I just didn't know why, or what it was costing me.
I'm Amanda Nelson, the Pythoness Programmer. I'm a senior full stack software engineer, late-identified neurodivergent, and a chronic illness navigator. I built the reflection skills I teach during the hardest stretch of my life so far.
Here's the part of my story that explains why you're here.
How I Got Here
Before code, I spent 15+ years in communications, customer service, and systems building. I had the pattern recognition and attention to detail, but not the neurodivergent label yet.
In 2020 I enrolled in a pandemic-era bootcamp. By 2021 I was at Zappos.com with a new ADHD diagnosis, fibromyalgia and chronic migraines, and a body that had been asking me to slow down for years. I was laid off in January 2023. It was clarifying and painful, and it pushed me to build Pythoness Programmer.
What helped wasn't another productivity system. It was community: late-identified neurodivergent adults naming patterns I'd blamed on myself, and people explaining that tech and productivity systems were built for one kind of brain, while everyone else was expected to adapt.
I'm near Richmond, Virginia. Watching Confederate statues come down in 2020, during the BLM reckoning, opened decolonization up for me. I started looking honestly at inherited systems and stopped blaming myself for struggling inside them. That changed how I think about my tools, and it's where the Pythoness Programmer comes from.
How I Work
I philosophize with other decolonizing neurodivergents about what tech friction reveals: what you have internalized, and what your brain needs.
Together we ask: What is this struggle trying to teach you?
- Reflect on the patterns you keep repeating, and why they fail
- Uncover what you absorbed from ableist, productivity-obsessed tech culture
- Discover tools and frameworks that fit your brain
- Build understanding so you don't make it a third time
I share that work through free guides, Lab Notes, and Pythoness Perspective.
What's in a Name
Pythoness comes from the Pythia, the priestess of Apollo at Delphi. English later called her the Pythoness. People brought her hard decisions at a crossroads, and her work was demystifying complexity, not giving orders.
I keep the colonized English form on purpose. Apollo's temple sat on ground that once belonged to an older earth-and-serpent cult. Names get overwritten, and pretending inherited systems are neutral is its own kind of erasure. That runs through my work: looking honestly at what we absorbed and what was never built for us.
The Programmer half is the craft: software engineering, and a habit of looking at the messy side of big tech, like the incentives, defaults, and infrastructure most product stories skip. The goal is clarity for brains the stack was never designed for.
My Core Values
Learning
Digital fluency, not dependency. Your aha moments, not reliance on mine.
Resourcefulness
Hidden-gem tools and approaches mainstream advice skips.
Serenity
Calm guidance. No pressure, judgment, or false urgency.
Inclusion
Affirming space for LGBTQIA+ folks, sex workers, and anyone marginalized by mainstream tech culture.
Humor
Levity about systems that were never built for us. It is part of the work.
Resilience
Understanding that makes the next hurdle survivable, not just a quick patch.
You're looking for a guide who helps you understand your tech struggles, not just patch them.
Who This Is For
- A neurodivergent creative who keeps hitting the same workflow walls
- Someone newly diagnosed (or still figuring it out) revisiting old patterns
- A small business owner tired of tech that does not fit how you think
- Someone who has tried every productivity tool and wonders if the tools are the problem
Who This Isn't For
- People looking for emergency tech rescue
- Anyone who wants you to "just fix it" without understanding why it broke
- Folks who aren't interested in reflection or pattern work
Stay in the conversation
Read Lab Notes, browse free resources, or subscribe to Pythoness Perspective. If we've worked together before or you have a specific need, you can still email me.
One-on-one sessions aren't publicly offered right now. If you're a past client or have a specific need, email me.