About

About FretCandy

Where Music Meets Code

Hey there! I’m Stacy, the developer behind FretCandy, and this is my story of refusing to give up.

The Plot Twist

Five years as a developer. Building interfaces, solving problems, loving the craft. Then 2023 hit like a bad chord progression – layoffs swept through tech, and suddenly I was on the outside looking in.

For over a year, I’ve been grinding to get back in. Odd jobs to pay the bills. Rejection emails that sting worse than fingertip calluses from steel strings. But here’s the thing about musicians who code: we know how to practice through the pain.

The Comeback Strategy

I could keep sending resumes into the void, or I could build my way back. So I’m choosing the latter – documenting every step as I code my return to tech.

  • Existing toolkit: HTML, CSS, JS, Vue, Python, Flask, SQL, and REST APIs
  • Learning targets: React, Next.js, TypeScript, and AI integration
  • Secret weapon: a guitar and way too many app ideas for musicians

Why “Building in Public”?

Because transparency breeds accountability. Every win, every bug, every “what was I thinking?” moment – it’s all going here on FretCandy, plus X (@stcybrdgs)… and potentially YouTube for those who prefer video format.

The First App: FretTime

What started as “I should get back to basics and build a simple Todo app to learn React” became something much more interesting when I realized musicians need practice organization tools that actually understand our workflow. So, FretTime Phase 1 went live on July 19, 2025 after 14 days of intense development – my first taste of pair-programming with Claude Sonnet 4 (absolute game changer).

You can see the web app here: FretTime

The Mission

I have a lot of app ideas, so I hope that FretTime is just the beginning. Each app will have that “Music + code, let’s go!” DNA.

I like how string players understand the discipline of daily practice, the patience of incremental progress, and the joy of finally nailing that tricky passage. They just show up. Every day. They put in the reps and know that progress trumps perfection. These same principles apply to building software.

This isn’t just about getting back into tech – it’s about proving that setbacks can become setups for something better.

Welcome to FretCandy.

Music + code, let’s go! 🎸🚀

P.S. - If you’re also navigating a career comeback or just love seeing someone build in public, follow along. The ride’s just getting started.