Throughout high school, I owned my own web and graphic design business. But how did I get there?
While I’ve always claimed to be designing websites since the third grade, I actually started before that. I was fascinated by the internet, and especially after we got our home computer connected to the local dial-up service so that I could do as I pleased.
Despite the slow dial-up service, I enjoyed using the internet and was extremely interested in how websites were constructed. I finally found GeoCities, a free design program provided by Yahoo. I signed up for an account (in the first-grade) and designed my first website using GeoCities’ WYSIWG designer.
In 2009, after Yahoo decided to place GeoCities on the chopping block, I was once again searching for another free design tool. I played around with Webs, Yola, and others before our school moved their site from GeoCities to Weebly. I followed and constructed my own site.
In 2011, I decided that I wanted to learn the “hard way” to create websites. By using HTML and CSS coding, I started creating simple websites to test my skills and improve my knowledge of the syntax. I eventually made better and better websites.
In late 2013, I decided to (re)start my own business. Earlier, in middle school, I had tried to open my own website design business but to no luck. This attempt was somewhat more successful, but it still failed. I ran it as an actual business with advisers. I even pitched the business at a local business pitching competition, the 2014 #BOOM pitch competition, where I won $250 to make the dream a reality. I called it quits on the business sometime in my senior year of high school.
The motivation beyond opening my own business sounds cheesy and crazy: but I really wanted a 1930/31 Ford Model A Tudor Sedan for my first car. I was (and still am) interested in the Model A, as it is an iconic car that’s easy to work on and can be used as a daily driver. Two fellow Model A enthusiasts joined me in the quest to make the Model A dream come to reality, but it never materialized.
Today, I still design websites and graphic design but as freelance projects. While I welcome outside projects, I really enjoy working on personal projects as I have “free range” with my ideas, as I like the “minimalist web” look – a design style that mimics the extremely simple design of websites from the late 1990s. (I still use HTML and CSS primarily, although I’m experimenting with designing templates for WordPress sites.)
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