When I started in tech I didn’t know much of anything.

I had a liberal arts degree & and a few more years of experience than my peers (worked as an “online marketer” for local small businesses since high school, making websites and sending emails), but landed at a tech startup simply because it had a copywriting position open.

That copywriting position? Writing SEO landing pages and emailing websites for backlinks.

But when I say I knew nothing, I mean it. I knew nothing. Not how to negotiate or value stock. I knew how to code but not how to get it in production. I didn’t know what a product manager was, or how to design great UX, or how to write SQL. I didn’t know a single venture capitalist or how anyone got all this money. EBITDA? I hardly know her.

But I knew how to write, I knew how to ask questions, and I really loved to make things.

That last piece—loving the building of things—was what propelled me from thing to thing, lesson to lesson, opportunity to opportunity. I had the internet, some kind & patient friends, and determination that nothing in front of me was unsolvable. I wrote bad code and bad SQL and spent too much time and money launching bad ideas but each time I learned a little more and got a little better.

And now many years later I’m in a place where I can be confident in quite a lot.

Which is why I’m thrilled by the progress we’ve seen the past few years. Because I know what it feels like to know nothing, but know knowing is *possible* with the right access. And all the small and big barriers to learning and building are quickly fading away, and people get to learn and build with a speed I could have never imagined.

But I also know how scary it is to be a beginner. How to know how to code, but not get it in production. How to build something you’re proud of, but not know who to show it to (or how to even get in the room.)

So to all those beginners out there: I’ve been there, too!

Ask the dumb question.
Build the ugly thing.
Raise your hand and show it off.

Keep going ✨