I've spent years organising events, watching communities form, grow, fracture, and rebuild. I've seen people pour their lives into building spaces for others and watched those contributions quietly disappear.

I co-host PyPodCats with Mariatta, Cheuk, Teresa, and Mojdeh. Over 10 episodes in, I kept thinking: for every story we tell, there are hundreds we haven't reached yet. And even when we do tell them, a podcast episode can only do so much. We can shine a light, but we can't put money back into the communities and projects that need it.

PyBabies is what a podcast can't be. Every figure puts a spotlight on someone whose work changed lives but never made headlines. Every sale sends real support back to the community or project that inspired it. It's not charity. It's recognition with teeth.

I wanted to make something physical you could hold in your hands that said: this person mattered. Their work is behind so many successes the world celebrates without ever knowing their name.

And I'll be honest: I'm not doing this for free. A community volunteer's time is not free. Meaningful work deserves to be paid work. That's exactly why it's structured as a real business — 30% of profits go back to the community or project behind each figure, and the rest keeps this work alive and sustainable. You cannot preach sustainability while starving yourself.

We use AI as a tool in our process, but the creativity, the culture, the meaning? That's all us.

This is my love letter to the Python community. Thank you for making a difference in my life.