Why I’m Writing This (And Why You Might Care)

I’m a web developer, a freelancer, sometimes a leader or a coach, always a learner.

I’ve been doing this for over ten years... writing code, shipping projects, leading teams, fixing things that break. If there’s one thing I know, it’s that the work never really gets easier and there's always more to learn. You just get better at handling it, embracing the obstacles, and enjoying the journey.

I had no idea what to write about to start this off. It's a bit dated and maybe cliché, but whenever I find myself asking

What the hell am I even doing?

I try to find my "why", per Simon Sinek's famous ted talk.

Starting with why

I started this blog for a couple of reasons, I'll be transparent about them:

1. To build an online presence as a freelance developer.
2. To practice building and displaying structured content in a headless CMS and Next.js application.
3. To share what I think are cool findings in tech and in life as a creative outlet, maybe with a different take than what you might find elsewhere.

So, yes, pretty selfish reasons at the end of the day. I'm trying to start self-promoting more instead of self-deprecating. I do also know that of all the posts I read on LinkedIn, the ones that I enjoy and get the most out of are by people that admit their own imperfection while striving to improve, instead of putting on a shiny facade of perfect professionalism that neglects how important struggle, failure, and growth are to reaching a goal that's worth something.

How

I'm a believer in radical candor and, to quote another Ted Talk, the power of vulnerability. I will try my best when writing to admit when I haven't known something that made me feel foolish, struggled for longer than I should have with a silly problem, or took too long to adopt a tool that greatly increased my productivity (spoiler: it was Ai coding assist tools).

By writing with transparency and as a human first, professional developer second, I'm hoping to create some unique content that gives not only insight, but some hope to others trying to get better at their craft. This won’t be a feed of polished tutorials or hot takes on the latest framework. I will readily admit when I had a humbling experience, and what it taught me.

What

You will find technical posts here, I do care a lot about good software and am constantly striving to hone my craft and grow as a professional. You’ll also find thoughts on growth through struggle, leadership, making mistakes, persistence, and maybe the occasional story about trying (and sometimes failing) to balance all of it.

Because whether you’re a developer, a founder, or just a human trying to get better at what you do, the real challenge isn’t the tools. It’s showing up every day, learning from what breaks, and keeping at it.

That’s what I’m writing about here. And if any of it helps you, or even just makes you feel a little less like you’re figuring this out alone, then I think it's worth it.

Cheers,

Jack