diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index ea741a11..01888845 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -13,3 +13,5 @@ cypress/screenshots
 dist
 .opt-in
 .eslintcache
+/client/other/shared
+/server/other/shared
diff --git a/client/other/shared b/client/other/shared
deleted file mode 120000
index 5b802bae..00000000
--- a/client/other/shared
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-/Users/kdodds/Developer/testing-workshop/shared
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 820c9f70..90db0f3b 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@
     "eslint": "^4.16.0",
     "eslint-config-kentcdodds": "^13.0.1",
     "faker": "^4.1.0",
+    "fs-extra": "^5.0.0",
     "husky": "^0.14.3",
     "jest": "^22.1.2",
     "lint-staged": "^6.0.1",
diff --git a/scripts/install.js b/scripts/install.js
index 3b260f54..0b9eaa05 100644
--- a/scripts/install.js
+++ b/scripts/install.js
@@ -1,17 +1,43 @@
 /* eslint-disable */
 
-var path = require('path')
-var installDeps = require('./workshop-setup').installDeps
+const path = require('path')
+const fs = require('fs')
+const installDeps = require('./workshop-setup').installDeps
+
+ensureExists(path.resolve(__dirname, '../client/other'))
+ensureExists(path.resolve(__dirname, '../server/other'))
+
+symlinkDir(
+  path.resolve(__dirname, '../shared/'),
+  path.resolve(__dirname, '../client/other/shared')
+)
+symlinkDir(
+  path.resolve(__dirname, '../shared/'),
+  path.resolve(__dirname, '../server/other/shared')
+)
+
+const main = path.resolve(__dirname, '..')
+const shared = path.resolve(__dirname, '../shared')
+const server = path.resolve(__dirname, '../server')
+const client = path.resolve(__dirname, '../client')
 
-var main = path.resolve(__dirname, '..')
-var shared = path.resolve(__dirname, '../shared')
-var server = path.resolve(__dirname, '../server')
-var client = path.resolve(__dirname, '../client')
 installDeps([main, shared, server, client]).then(
-  function() {
+  () => {
     console.log('👍  all dependencies installed')
   },
-  function() {
+  () => {
     // ignore, workshop-setup will log for us...
-  }
+  },
 )
+
+function symlinkDir(src, dest) {
+  if (!fs.existsSync(dest)) {
+    fs.symlinkSync(src, dest, 'dir')
+  }
+}
+
+function ensureExists(dir) {
+  if (!fs.existsSync(dir)) {
+    fs.mkdirSync(dir)
+  }
+}
diff --git a/server/other/shared b/server/other/shared
deleted file mode 120000
index 5b802bae..00000000
--- a/server/other/shared
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-/Users/kdodds/Developer/testing-workshop/shared
\ No newline at end of file