Hello Devon!
I’m Elodie, I am french, I live in Burgundy, I will be soon 36 and I have been mostly a self-taught in web development field (it wasn’t called this way when I started in 2001).
About my professional background, after getting my baccalauréat, I did several training in languages (I have a bilingual level in english, a fluent one in spanish and french is my native language) :
-the first one is a very rare training that took 2 years (a french equivalent to the english diploma HNC in trilingual with secretariat skills), included some work in companies that lasted few weeks and I even did two training sessions (one in Spain, it was a great experience and my first time abroad - and the other one in France)
-the second one in a college, a much more languages oriented and much harder. Due to personal issues, I had to quit.
And after that, I took care of myself and tried to find a job for several years, and it ended on a crossroad. The only job I got was working not on a regular basis as maid in various hotels in Burgundy.
While I was searching for a job, I worked for free on a website called Unification France to write reviews, make interviews with actors, translate articles…I did that for 10 years, it was a great experience that helped me improving some of my skills. But, I ended up realizing that it wasn’t what I was looking for, the spark was not there yet.
So… here comes my long way to web development!
I discovered web development in 2001, thanks to my dad’s friend that knew a lot about it. Then I learnt, tried few things and began to launch my first personal websites. But I had limited capacities (I mean by that, great IDEs, hostname, sever…) and I did all of that on week-ends while I had my trainings. So after 12 years of desert road, one day, my dad calls me and tell me to watch the news on TV because there’s a small clip about a bootcamp. After seeing that, I was quite intrigued. So I kept on asking questions about it and I enrolled to an intensive 5 month bootcamp.
That bootcamp was quite a revelation! I learnt a lot of new things and I had that spark, you know, that spark when you find your job, your way, what you want to do! That was it!
I was told I would get hired, I had offers (even one in London - that ended on a deadend), I said no to some because I felt it wasn’t a good choice. I went to several events (including hackathons) too. I also learnt another thing : how I wanted to work. I’m not really a “team player” because in the end, I’m always the one who’s left behind. And I went through that again, and I couldn’t stand it, even if I had to make sacrifices for the good of the project. And too, deep down, I felt (but not right away) I couldn’t fit in a company, working in a developers team and it was so painful to see the others getting a job while you can’t get one and they’re on the same level as yours. I finished the bootcamp on a bittersweet note with 4 facts :
-I work better on my own
-I love web development
-I learnt new things/tools
-I know I am not made to work in a company
So since, the ending of that bootcamp, I applied again to job offers - because I had to- (more that 100!), most of them never replied, I had several meetings and interviews, I almost go a job in a Fintech start-up and thinking back about it, I’m glad it turned out that way. I left the national employment agency (they harrassed me to get a job - and not a web developer job!) last year to go to meetups, conferences, workshops and I felt things were moving. I even met an expert in start-up hiring to see what went wrong on my resume and it also ended on a deadend.
So, how comes freelancing in this ? Let’s say it’s a long-way logical choice and I’ve been told it would be something great for me. Last summer, I went to my local chamber of commerce to know what paperwork to do and I went to a special day dedicated to freelancing and I met a group of freelancers (not just developers!) that are helping each other (whatever it is technical work or finding missions).
As for me, right now, I think I’ve finished fixing most of my technical issues (I mean, upgrading my computer), I am thinking about how to communicate well with my future clients, where I want to work (I want to move from France for years, I would like to start my freelancing activity anywhere else in Europe), I think I have found a name for my future buisness and which clients I want to work with. My professional website is not launched yet but I am seriously thinking about it and I met a company that provides servers, hostnames and other services.
I would like to thank you for your help and reading my message.
All the best,
Elodie
My reply:
This is a wonderful story, Elodie! I’m glad you’ve found where you need to be. Sounds like you’ve not quite arrive yet, but even just figuring out where you should go is a huge step.
What’s the biggest barrier you’re hitting right now? If I could break down one wall for you, what would that be?
Reply:
Thank you Devon!
I would say that right now, the biggest barrier I have right now is communication. I am always trying to find out which words will appeal to my future clients (I know which area I want to deal with), which content to bring to the visitors of my future website.
Would like to work for hotel owners, restaurants, artists and artisans. I advised her to focus on one and nail down what their problems are and how to communicate with them. Advised getting out to meetups and talking to them to discover their problems.
Asked how to segue into discussion of her solution. I told her that, if she’s going to business meetups, it will be a natural segue. She will ask people about their businesses and they will ask about hers.
Asked about writing and speaking to attract clients. Told her I love this idea. Make sure to write and speak for the audience she wants to attract, not necessarily to other people like her. Her goal should be to give away solutions to problems to build credibility.
Likes traveling. Thanks she can add value for restaurant owners from that perspective.
Wants to get restaurant owners to build a new web site but not sure how to convince them. Told her to convince them with money. Instead of telling them they need a new web site, show the results they can expect from building that. Get as close to the money as she can with her pitch.
Suggested working for a restaurant she has relationship with to work with them and measure the outcome. She said she has considered this. I told her to collect data that she can use with her next clients. Told her to start by installing Google Analytics to get a baseline. She said restaurant’s customers tend to be older. I told her to keep that in mind as she’s measuring. What works for this restaurant might be different from what works for others.