@WordCampLanc @bethsoderberg @JosephHHoward @leedrozak @TaraClaeys @charlie3 “The WordPress community, there is nothing else like it. Sort of competitive nature, seeing what other people are doing helps me stay motivated. So open and sharing and giving back.” @TaraClaeys

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@WordCampLanc @bethsoderberg @JosephHHoward @leedrozak @TaraClaeys @charlie3 “Thought I wasn’t going to like managing people, leading leaders, making bigger things happen than he could do on his own. Might not be for everyone.” @JosephHHoward

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@WordCampLanc @bethsoderberg @JosephHHoward @leedrozak @TaraClaeys @charlie3 Staying motivated, personal traditions for success

Coming to WordCamps, talking to customers, helping people, and the team he built @JosephHHoward

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@WordCampLanc @bethsoderberg @JosephHHoward @leedrozak @TaraClaeys @charlie3 Having a support system like a partner with health insurance benefits makes the transition to solo work easier says @TaraClaeys

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@WordCampLanc @bethsoderberg @JosephHHoward @leedrozak @TaraClaeys @charlie3 Started business part time, tried the stay-at-home mom thing, decided to start her business full time instead of commuting 1.5 hours each way for a traditional job @leedrozak

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@WordCampLanc @bethsoderberg @JosephHHoward @leedrozak @TaraClaeys @charlie3 Was let go. Started his company 9 months before so he had something to fall back on. @JosephHHoward

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@WordCampLanc @bethsoderberg @JosephHHoward @leedrozak @TaraClaeys @charlie3 Moonlighting often leads to easing in to leaving and working on your own.

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@WordCampLanc @bethsoderberg @JosephHHoward @leedrozak @TaraClaeys @charlie3 “When did you know you could leave a traditional job and run your own business?”

Since I started learning to code. I recognized I was not a good employee – @bethsoderberg

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@_pbrocks @WordCampLanc @aaronjorbin Try at 4am when he is usually most awake.

Ending @WordCampLanc with a panel

Working & Thriving Solo or as a Small Agency

– @bethsoderberg
– @JosephHHoward
– @leedrozak
– @TaraClaeys

Moderated by @charlie3

@WordCampLanc @aaronjorbin Job Levels Metaphor

Level 1 (Entry) – Learning about Rope
Level 2 (Developing) – Can tie basic knots, participates as others tie complex knots
Level 3 (Career) – Ties complex knots, calculates rope length, knows a lot about knots

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@WordCampLanc @aaronjorbin If you’re trying to become a senior developer but don’t know where to go, reach out to @aaronjorbin and he will see how he can help.

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@WordCampLanc @aaronjorbin A couple of years ago Core added the term taxonomy database table. Took several releases to get done in an iterative work. Those are not simple for some of the biggest WordPress sites on the web.

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@WordCampLanc @aaronjorbin To get away from being on a team of one was to work on open source. Let the whole world review your code and get feedback on it for free, for the good of the project.

“Contribute to WordPress. Most of us are nice.”

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@WordCampLanc @aaronjorbin What if you’re a team of one?

“I was really bad at being on a team of one. The boss was horrible” – @aaronjorbin

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@WordCampLanc @aaronjorbin Align what needs to get done with learning.

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@WordCampLanc @aaronjorbin “How do you focus in a team with learning and getting work done?”

Communicating. Not learning is a risk. Not getting better is a risk. At times you want to take a risk. Others you want to ship quickly. If your team isn’t investing in you time to find a new team.

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@WordCampLanc @aaronjorbin As an intermediate developer:

– Grow your knowledge
– Learn to breakdown work
– Be kind to one another

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@WordCampLanc @aaronjorbin The person writing this code isn’t intending to write bugs, to include vulnerabilities. It underscores the importance of code reviews to teach others.

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@WordCampLanc @aaronjorbin “The best code is written when people work together, collaborate, and find and solve problems together.” – @aaronjorbin

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