Episode 157 – A Chat With Aurooba Ahmed Hallway Chats

Aurooba Ahmed is a freelance WordPress developer and contributor.

Show Notes

Aurooba’s Blog: https://aurooba.com/

Twitter | @aurooba

Episode Transcript

Topher: Hey everyone, my name is Topher.

Cate: And I’m Cate.

Topher: And this is Hallway Chats. Before we get going, I want to thank our sponsors at Nexcess, a Liquid Web brand. They have some new tools for eCommerce that really make them stand out from other options. WooCommerce automated testing, Sales Performance Monitor, and Plugin Performance Monitor give you data you need to stay powerful and profitable. And they’re free with every Nexcess plan.

Okay, our guest today is Aurooba Ahmed. Welcome.

Cate: Hey, Aurooba.

Aurooba: Hi. Thanks for having me. Hey, Cate.

Topher: Did I get the… not accent… the emphasis, right, on your last name? Is it Ahmed?

Aurooba: Yeah, that works. I would say that it’s more about the emphasis on the first name where it’s Aurooba, not Aruba. It’s A-U.

Topher: Ah right. It is an A-U.

Aurooba: It is.

Topher: I’m looking at the spelling. For those of you that are just listening, it’s A-U-R-O-O-B-A.

Aurooba: It’s pretty common.

Topher: So no relation to the island.

Aurooba: No relation at all. And yet I have heard that song many, many, many times.

Topher: I don’t know the song.

Aurooba: Aruba, Jamaica, oh I wa-

Topher: Oh, the Beach Boys. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Aurooba: My gym teacher, the first time he read my name off of the attendance list was like… He didn’t read my name. He just sang the song.

Cate: That’s got to be exciting.

Aurooba: It gets old after a while but I love it.

Cate: I mean, it is a positive association. I mean, I would happily be associated with a Caribbean island where people go on vacation and have a good time. So I mean, there are worse facilities, yeah.

Aurooba: 100%. Very true.

Cate: And do you live in Aruba? Like are you in Caribbean island?

Aurooba: Oh, I would love to go there one day, but I’m in Calgary by the Rockies in Canada.

Topher: That’s cool.

Cate: And is it warm and tropical there?

Aurooba: Only in my mind.

Cate: Right.

Topher: We realize the Rockies are close to Calgary.

Aurooba: Oh, it’s like less than an hour away from my house. I can see the mountains from my bedroom window.

Cate: Nice. Awesome.

Aurooba: Mm-hmm. But it is not tropical here. It is very cold right now.

Topher: One of the first things we’re going to ask is who you are and where you live and stuff like that. So now we know you’re in Calgary.

Cate: And we know she is Aurooba.

Topher: Yes.

Aurooba: That’s true.

Topher: Have you always lived in Calgary? Are you a Calgarian?

Aurooba: Oh, no, I am not a Calgarian, although I met a Calgarian yesterday. They are a rare breed. I was born in Pakistan, but I never lived there. I spent my childhood in Saudi Arabia in a small port town called Yanbu by the Red Sea. And then we moved to Toronto, Canada, when I was 10.

Topher: You even say it like Torono.

Aurooba: Oh, I did live there. We moved there when I was 10. And then my dad got a job with an oil company in Alberta in a small town called Fort McMurray, where the oil sands are. And we moved there when I was 15. And then I went to university in Edmonton. Then my parents moved to Calgary partway through my university career. And eventually I also ended up here because I want to be close to them.

Cate: Yeah, that sometimes happens. It must have been fun moving from Toronto to Alberta when you were 15...