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Tracing Growth: Lessons from My LFX Mentorship with Inspektor Gadget

Emidowojo Opaluwa
· 6 min read

Sometime in June, one evening while at the gym carrying weights, I decided to take a break, drink some water, and scroll through my phone when I saw a new email.
Lo and behold, it was a congratulatory email from the Linux Foundation Mentoring Team letting me know that I had been accepted as an LFX mentee for the Inspektor Gadget team. I was stunned. Grateful, overwhelmed, but stunned — because just a few months prior, I had never even heard of the LFX mentorship program.

Why I Joined​

Earlier this year, in a bid to gain mastery in my chosen field as a Technical Writer, I decided to go all-in on my DevOps career. I enrolled in a very intense program called HNG, which provided rigorous training and hands-on experience across various tech fields. It spanned from January to April and was one of the most challenging experiences I had ever had.

After graduating, I wanted to build more projects, learn more, and document my journey. That’s when I stumbled upon the LFX mentorship portal. Honestly, the projects all looked like technical gibberish to me at first, and I doubted whether I had the right experience in DevOps or cloud to apply. Still, I threw my hat in. The worst that could happen was a rejection.

I narrowed my options to three projects (Cilium, Antrea, and Kgateway) and began drafting applications. But on one last review, I stumbled upon Inspektor Gadget — and three things immediately stood out:

  1. I’m quirky, so seeing a “k” instead of a “c” in the name tickled me.
  2. I vaguely remembered watching Inspector Gadget as a child, which intrigued me.
  3. Most importantly, the mentor was a woman. That representation mattered deeply to me.

So I dropped Cilium (networking never clicked for me) and went all-in on Inspektor Gadget.

My Work & Contributions​

My mentorship focused on increasing the traction of Traceloop, one of the gadgets in the Inspektor Gadget ecosystem. Traceloop is a container observability tool powered by eBPF that abstracts away complexity so users can quickly trace issues in their applications without diving into kernel internals.

I had never heard of eBPF before, so I threw myself into research and prepared as best I could. To this day, I’m not sure why I was selected — but I’m glad my mentor Maya took a chance on me.

Over the course of the mentorship, my work followed a four-phase journey:

At first, I leaned too much on technical details instead of focusing on user experience. Maya constantly reminded me to lead with empathy — framing everything around user needs instead of just features. That shift reshaped not just my work, but my entire perspective on product marketing and DevRel.

What I Learned​

As Steve Jobs once said, “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward.” Looking back, this mentorship was exactly the pivot I needed to move toward DevRel and product marketing.

On the technical side, I:

  • Deepened my understanding of eBPF and Kubernetes internals.
  • Gained hands-on experience building and documenting frameworks others depend on.
  • Used the docs-as-code approach for the first time, and learned how to build Docusaurus sites (something I’d always wanted to try).

On the non-technical side, I:

  • Learned to communicate complex systems with empathy.
  • Practiced user-focused storytelling instead of technical overload.
  • Collaborated asynchronously across time zones in an open-source setting.
  • Grew through mentorship and teamwork, boosting my confidence in contributing to open source.

Challenges & How I Overcame Them​

One of my biggest challenges was trying to grasp eBPF deeply enough to explain it clearly. I often got caught up in technical details and struggled to simplify them for users.

On top of that, I was nervous about conducting user interviews and hosting the CNCF webinar. I worried about saying the wrong thing or failing to connect with the audience.

Through mentorship, I learned to prepare thoroughly, focus on empathy, and trust the process. What once felt overwhelming became turning points that helped me grow in confidence and connect more authentically with users.

Impact​

The mentorship had measurable impact on Traceloop and me personally.

  • Docs clarity: Users who found the docs easy to implement rose from 31.6% → 45.5%.
  • Understanding: Users who understood Traceloop rose from 20% → 63.6%.
  • Reach: Our CNCF webinar drew nearly 700 viewers, amplifying visibility.
  • Ecosystem: Simplified onboarding lowered barriers for contributors, strengthening the community.

For me, seeing these results was incredibly validating — proof that communication, when done empathetically, can drive adoption and impact at scale.

Moving Forward​

Although the program is ending, I plan to keep contributing to Traceloop: updating docs, gathering feedback, and sharing it in developer communities. I want to see awareness grow into deeper adoption.

Personally, this experience has confirmed my path in Product Marketing, Developer Relations, and Open Source. It taught me the value of empathetic, problem-focused communication — skills I want to keep refining so that users not only discover tools but truly trust and benefit from them.

Closing​

I am deeply grateful to everyone who made this journey possible.

  • To my mentor Maya — thank you for believing in me, guiding me with patience, and reminding me always to put users first.
  • To the engineers Alban, Mauricio, Qasim, Francis, Slava, Jose, and Burak — thank you for reviewing my PRs, answering endless questions, and making the experience less intimidating.
  • To the Linux Foundation — thank you for creating the LFX mentorship program.

And to anyone thinking about applying: Do it. It’s a life-changing opportunity.

About Me​

Hello! I’m Emidowojo, a Technical Writer and DevRel Professional. During this mentorship, I worked under the guidance of Maya Singh, focusing on product marketing, documentation, and adoption growth for Traceloop in the Inspektor Gadget ecosystem.