Funny how people ask me about my career start now that I’m doing okay. Real talk? It ain’t been no fairy tale. Back then? I was straight-up lost.
The Complete Muddle Phase
Grabbed some random admin job after uni. Hated every damn second. Stared at spreadsheets feeling my brain melt. Clock-watched harder than anyone. Needed out.
One night, browsing tech stuff online, stumbled on this thing called “web development”. Looked cool. Felt like making things people actually see and use. Bought a cheap laptop on sale. Downloaded some free software.
Fumbling Around Like An Idiot
Okay, “learning to code”. Ha! More like:
- Found free tutorials online.
- Typed what they said, understood maybe 40%.
- Broke everything constantly.
- Searched error messages for hours, feeling dumb.
- Made ugly little websites that looked like trash.
Practiced whenever I wasn’t at that soul-sucking day job. Mornings, evenings, weekends. Felt slow. Felt pointless sometimes.
The “Okay, Maybe This Works” Moment
Kept grinding. Built slightly less terrible stuff. Then:
- Forced myself to make a real project: my own, ugly little portfolio site. Like putting your bad art on the fridge.
- Coded simple pages for a cousin’s tiny side hustle (free labor!). Got real feedback. Ouch.
- Fixed things. Learned HTML, CSS, JavaScript properly. Basics sunk in.
Throwing Myself Into The Deep End
Still had that admin gig. One Tuesday, just snapped.
Quit. No plan. Small savings. Terror.
Went full-throttle:
- Polished that portfolio. Made it suck less.
- Applied at 20+ places online for junior gigs. Radio silence mostly.
- Messaged everyone I knew: “Know anyone needing web stuff?”.
Ghosted loads. Rejection emails. Felt desperate.
The Scrappy First Break
Remember that cousin? His buddy ran a tiny local repair shop.
Needed a simple site.
“Can you do it fast? Budget’s tight.”
Hell yes I could. Took it for peanuts.
Worked my ass off. Slept little.
Delivered something basic but functional. They were happy.
Paid peanuts, but it was proof I wasn’t dreaming.
Keeping That Ragtag Engine Running
Used that tiny site in my portfolio. Landed another small gig. Then another.
Built simple sites for:
- A bakery needing online orders.
- A mechanic showing services.
- A music teacher listing lessons.
Every job taught me something new. Made connections. Budget slowly improved.
Where It Led
Took time. Longer than I expected.
But those stupid little projects? They built up.
Skills got better. Reputation built slowly.
Landed a proper part-time dev role at a small agency.
Then full-time. Kept learning newer stuff.
Turns out those stupid spreadsheets taught me patience. And that burning need to build instead of just pushing paper? That saved me.