Success story – Ruta Jakute – “From freelancing to coding my app”

In this story, Ruta Jakute shares how joining the Acceleration Program – twice – helped her move from post–coding school confusion to confidently building her own app. Through mentorship, she refined her Agile skills, strengthened her visibility on LinkedIn, embraced AI tools, and established a powerful practice of continuity that now shapes both her freelance work and product development journey. A reflection on growth, clarity and building with intention.

How would you describe what you do today, in your own words?

Hey, I’m Ruta Jakute, I make web homes for ideas. I’m a web developer and facilitator. I call myself a “2in1” human. From one side, I love digging into technical worlds, while from another side, I am happy with holding a structure for collaboration.

What kinds of projects or collaborations energise you the most right now?

I enjoy projects where I can express the two sides of myself: development and facilitation.

I often work with solopreneurs who need someone to be their mirror, hear their ideas out and turn it into a website as a “home” where their business can continue to grow.

But also I work with small organisations who need someone to serve as a bridge and facilitate a process of extracting the essence of their business between the owner and say, community or their small team, and then translating it into a website.

I love collaborating with brand designers, so that a client gets both – unique brand identity and a robust web home (my part).

You often describe life as a “playground” and co-creation as a core value – what does that mean in practice for your work?

Bringing a sense of fun and joy into the tech world is important to me. Playground to me is a reminder of how I communicate within projects and what vibe and space I create for everyone involved. 

By co-creation I mean that I love involving the client and other technologists into the process of making the website. This involvement goes deeper than just a questionnaire at the start of the project. Co-creation means a shared responsibility and action towards a shared desired result. For example, in practice, it means designing workshops and also holding space throughout the project, so that all people can share their voice. Over years of freelancing in web design I noticed that even the most non-technical clients appreciate deep inquiry and conversations about their business prior design, but also the “voting” part on the design elements.

What was your professional situation before you joined the Acceleration Program for the first time?

When joining in June 2025, I was finishing a year long evening course at a coding school (Full Stack Web Development – JavaScript). After an intense course I felt confused on what I could do next with my new skillset. So I thought a mentor would help!

What felt unclear, difficult, or frustrating at that stage of your journey?

After coding school, I wasn’t sure what I could do practically with my coding skills, and what career path is right for me. Shall I explore jobs? Or stick with freelancing? What ways can I continue deepening my skills in programming? 

What stood out to you most during your first time in the Acceleration Program?

I would have millions of questions before each session with a mentor and then after just 1 hour my head would feel more clear. Having a real person to just be there and help with unpacking questions was surprisingly helpful. 

A continuous ritual of connecting every 2 weeks gave me accountability and a rhythm for making things happen (i.e. applying mentor insights in between sessions). I noticed that sometimes it is not new things that come up but the importance of me continuing with what I started already.

How did working with a mentor influence your thinking, confidence, or decisions?

During mentorship, I started using LinkedIn actively with my weekly sharing routine. Having an active profile helped with nurturing my network – when connecting with new people, my profile gave context on why I want to connect (because we have shared interests!).

Continuity as a habit was something that I named during 1st mentorship. Continuing meant sitting down to reflect every 2 weeks and continuing what projects or practices I have started. This was life changing and really shaped the way I create. Instead of starting something new every few months, I’m more motivated to continue what I started a long time ago.

On top of that from my mentor I learned hands-on how to apply Agile in my freelance collaborative projects which made my work easier to do. I can navigate between multiple clients and projects with more certainty but also flexibility.

One more thing – at the end of our mentorship, my mentor mentioned AI agents and now I have 4 custom GPTs that I built to serve as my “tutors” in different topics. I call them “buddies”. 🙂 This definitely unblocked my fear of AI and helped me to find a useful case for adopting AI into my work and creative life.

Was there a moment, conversation, or insight during ACC that shifted something for you?

“Motivation, continuity and visibility” came to be 3 insights that I took from my 1st mentoring experience. It is like a magical formula that activates me to pursue my goals. Whenever I would be stuck I can revisit this formula and I know how to get unstuck: dig deeper into my interests, start with projects and continue, plus share about the process along the way!

You decided to join ACC for the second time – what made you feel it was the right moment to return?

I really wanted to build an app of my own during winter. But I felt like I didn’t know where to start. And the idea of having a Full Stack Developer as a mentor felt like a dream!

How was your mindset or situation different the second time around?

I wanted to be supported in purely my technical journey and skillset, to focus on code rather than other purposes I have been exploring in the 1st mentoring experience.

What did you want to deepen, revisit, or challenge during your second ACC journey?

I definitely had a need to keep a reflection as a practice every 2 weeks. 

Also I felt uncertain on the first steps and phases of how to view SaaS product development. Where do I even begin? What will be the process? What is realistic and possible to do in 6 months with my current skillset?

In what ways did the second experience feel different from the first?

2nd mentorship is focused on mentor’s support for me building a web product and technical challenges along the way (planning MVP, decisions on frameworks and tools, coding various features, evaluating user feedback, using Github – branches, PRs, Projects, Issues; planning next phases in roadmap, etc.)

While 1st mentorship started with more broad career paths exploration, getting familiar with tech industry processes like Agile and establishing a continuity as a practice in all of my efforts (freelancing, coding as a hobby, visibility, etc.).

How would you describe the role of mentorship in your professional life today?

Now mentorship is an essential part of my life. In other areas of my life now I am more willing to accept support and am even actively getting myself into support systems like getting a business mentor for example.

What kind of support or structure does ACC give that’s hard to find elsewhere?

Community of women in tech AND a mentor. It is so cool to see such a variety of tech mentors available in the programme which gives a high chance to find a mentor that fits the mentee’s needs perfectly. 

What skills or perspectives do you now use daily that you developed or refined during ACC?

The Agile process helps to move forward when coding my app but also it helps my freelance collaborations to have a rhythm that is not overwhelming.

Continuity as a perspective infuses my life, work and creativity in general.

You live close to nature and work across Lithuania and Ireland – how does this lifestyle influence the way you work?

Nature is an essential part of my life. My daily walks in the forest make me more grounded and I believe influences my ability to digest a lot of information and navigate between multiple online projects and time zones. 🙂 

How do regeneration, collaboration, and grounding show up in your professional choice

Regeneration to me is about belonging; it means layers of care starting with oneself, keeping a relationship with nature, choosing projects based on my values and always building links with wider communities and ecosystems.

Living close to nature naturally invites a slower lifestyle and more pauses for reflection and noticing ideas. Nature in this way fuels creativity. But on another hand living more remotely sparks a need for a community. 

Collaboration is quite essential in my work. Every day at least 1 call is needed for my wellbeing 🙂 as well as seeking connections with other creators and a local community.

What does “creating meaning out of nothing” look like in real client work?

Typically my clients come to me with abstract ideas or a need to see their business activated online. Through a series of facilitated workshops online (Zoom and Miro), the client gains clarity about their why, values, services/products, target customers, brand identity and a website map (with specific logic like online shop or blog needed). 

This type of work is like constructing a puzzle together where at the end there is one place that summarises all the inquiry we did beforehand: a website with dedicated pages where a client can click on.

How do you balance playfulness with structure when working on complex projects?

I activate my playfulness through what I wear. For a few years now I love playing with the color, patterns, and shape of the outfit. I noticed that clients often comment on what I wear and how it makes them feel. 

Since my web work is online, I love using Zoom backgrounds for keeping the playful mood alive. Also playfulness is part of my communication style. Having small pauses during client calls to have a laugh boost the mood, and this is so helpful when tackling difficult business or technical questions.

What concrete changes have happened in your work since joining ACC (projects, confidence, positioning, collaborations)?

Since joining the Women Go Tech mentorship in spring 2025, I continued and grew my coding club (this is an online community called “Programuotojai Juokiasi”, we connect once a week on a video call, now we live inside the Discord platform, from my solo project we grew into the co-founding team of 3 and 40 members).

This autumn, I have initiated my solo coding project  – Go Back App, which is launching in spring-summer 2026. This project is directly linked to my 1st mentorship experience, during which I established my reflection structure (sit down to review my work every 2 weeks; use Miro board with several ‘threads’; reflect based on questions: what did I do?, where are the challenges?). So the features of the app that I am building are linked to my reflection ritual from 1st mentorship. Plus, continuity as a ritual became the UX foundation of the app itself.

Since summer, my small freelance web projects definitely have more rhythm and benefit from an Agile process. I am an active contributor to LinkedIn. Trusting a non linear path that I walk. 🙂

What does “growth” mean to you now, compared to before ACC?

“Don’t drop the ball” and keep taking even the smallest steps. They accumulate! 

What would you say to someone considering ACC but wondering if it’s “the right time”?

Now is the best time for a small step into the unknown. 🙂

Who do you think benefits most from the Acceleration Program – and why?

Someone who is curious and listens.

If you had to describe ACC in one sentence, what would it be?

WGT mentorship is a springboard into the next chapter of your life in tech career!

Where can people find you online?

My personal website is www.ruta.io