Welcome back to the Plesk monthly podcast, where we explore the world of hosting, DevOps, and more!
This month, we’re taking a closer look at how to get started as a developer. A common story among WordPress developers of a certain age is that they are self-taught. Let’s take this month’s guest, Tracy Apps: her journey into web development follows a similar path, but with some key differences.
You see, Tracy has forged her own path. A path that skilfully combined art and engineering in a way that has allowed her to combine her best skills to deliver fantastic results for her clients. Is what’s her take on entering the web development sphere? Listen in, ‘cos that’s what we’re going to talk about in this month’s ‘Women in Tech’ edition of Next Level Ops.
In this Episode: Using Your Skills to Forge Your Own Path
Tracy got into websites in the mid-90s, when everyone had a “homepage.” In college she was really into engineering… but she was also really into art. Because of that, her teachers wrote her off for not being focused enough.
That trend seemed to continue through her agency work. She enjoyed the work, but wanted variety. So the big game changer for Tracy was discovering the variety offered by WordPress. Learning about and committing to WordPress provided an environment that combined all of her skills into what she does today: a mix of freelance UX Design and Frontend Development that deliver quality results for her customer base.
The lesson? All of your skills can be an advantage when moving into web development. Let’s hear more about it in our interview with Tracy:
Key Takeaways
- Web Development is a diverse skill – Use all your passions and abilities to give yourself an edge, and to love what you do!
- Know your worth. Don’t be cheap just because people think you should be. As Tracy says, “I know I’m not cheap, because I don’t do cheap work.”
- WordPress is a great networking tool. Use it to meet new people, agencies, and potential clients.
- While you’re developing a solution, answer this question: “Does this solve the problem for your user?”
- Working for yourself has its challenges. One could be distractions. Tracy turns off all of her notifications – a benefit of working for yourself.
- If you want to level up, learn the “Soft skills” of working with people. Learning body language, negotiating, etc. These are really crucial to working with clients.
- For aspiring freelancers, a great book on learning how to negotiate is ‘Never Split the Difference’ by Chris Voss.
The Official Plesk Podcast: Next Level Ops Featuring
Joe Casabona
Joe is a college-accredited course developer and podcast coach. You can find him at Casabona.org.
Tracy Apps
Tracy Apps is a freelance UX Designer and Frontend Developer.
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