The world is full of power couples: Jay Z and Beyoncé, Angelina and Brad, the President and the First Lady.
Clearly they know what it takes to rock not just on their own, but together. Add Juha and Johanna Mikkola to the list.
Meet the once high school sweethearts, now married power duo, behind South Florida’s Wyncode Academy, “a development boot camp” for computer coding and programming.
They opened their first outpost in Miami in 2014, followed by a second in Fort Lauderdale, and most recently the third on Lincoln Road in Miami Beach.
Originally from Finland, they came to America during their college years, Juha studying business at the University of Southern California and Johanna studying political science and economics at the University of Toronto. Upon graduation, both lunged into two successful careers: Johanna as a manager at the National Hockey League—“the first female to break into management,” she says—and Juha as an entrepreneur, “introducing the sport of floorball (like floor hockey) to North America.”
But it was Juha who was first interested in coding. Thanks to his former entrepreneur work, he had the knowledge of ecommerce, HTML, and CSS, but he wanted to learn more. So in 2013, he decided to enroll in Bitmaker Labs, Canada’s leading school for computer coding.
After that, he was hooked and ready to start his own coding company, and Johanna was the perfect partner to team up with. While Juha had the coding skills, Johanna used her managing experience to help “mold the business curriculum” for what is seen today at Wyncode.
“Everything we do at Wyncode is focused on immersing ambitious individuals in a demanding and inspiring learning environment engineered to develop successful coders with business acumen,” says Juha. “The Wyncoders leave the course proficient in web development and the soft skills required in a fast-paced startup environment.”
According to Juha, Wyncode has a 90 percent placement rate within three months of graduation.
With a successful business and new home in Miami, the couple couldn’t be happier—especially with the rise of tech opportunities in the city.
“There couldn’t be a better time to relocate to Miami,” says Juha. “There’s a renaissance going on in the city with young, driven professionals making a huge impact. It’s a place where someone can make a big difference and not get lost in the shuffle. You’d have a tough time finding a better combination of opportunity and lifestyle anywhere.”
And they know about opportunity and lifestyle plenty. When they aren’t hustling at work, they are usually found hanging by the pool at The Standard, watching a Florida Panthers game, or go-karting with the students and alumni of Wyncode.
But don’t expect them to turn off all office talk easily. For both, their passion is too strong to be tamed.
“When you’re genuinely excited about what you do,” says Juha. “It’s hard not think about it and talk to each other.”
Photos: Giovanny Gutierrez