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Reflecting on a Year of Unexpected Achievements

When I think back over the last 12 months or so, I can barely believe some of it has happened.

The most recent example is that I now have a course with Frontend Masters.

This was a big deal for me because I signed up for Frontend Masters when I first started getting into web development.

It was one of my favourite resources for high-quality course content, including WIll Sentance's JavaScript the Hard Parts, which is one of my favourite courses that I've completed.

So when they approached me to create a course, I was kind of blown away.

I had to say yes because it was something I never imagined I'd do.

Having my name up amongst the people who have courses with Frontend Masters seems unreal, even though it's up there right now for me to see.

But it wasn't just that course.

I also started doing public speaking, which led to some incredible opportunities:

  1. CSS Day: This was my ultimate goal when I started doing conferences. I wanted to build up to one day being able to speak at it... and then it was the first main-stage talk I ever did, and I had Miriam Suzanne, one of my CSS heroes, introducing me on stage 🤯.
  2. Smashing Conference: Before I got into web development (back when I did print design), Smashing was a conference I had always wanted to attend. Being invited as a speaker was mind-blowing. I shared the stage with people like Jessica Hische and Brad Frost, the two of which I've been following since before I started teaching and both of which I've looked up to for a very long time now.

The "Accidental" Expert

I realize that a lot of people see me as an industry expert within the CSS niche.

I see myself as this random dude who likes writing CSS.

I guess I probably should see it like everyone else does, but as I often tell people, I sort of accidentally got here because:

Someone once asked me why I always say I got here accidentally. They pointed out that it sounds like I'm discrediting everything I've done to get where I am now. And yeah, that's true, I probably am!

Acknowledging Skills and Success

I do think I'm good at communicating, and I think that's why my channel has been successful. I'm good at understanding something well enough to be able to communicate it in a way that other people can understand when they're struggling with it.

But I still don't see myself at the same level as those other people I mentioned - the ones I'm going on stage with or the experts sitting in the front row listening to me at conferences.

The way I see it is I learn everything from those smart people and then find use cases for it, and I am decent at communicating those ideas and concepts.

Again, that might be discrediting myself, but it's hard to acknowledge that maybe I know what I am doing.

The Reality of Imposter Syndrome

The reason it's so hard is imposter syndrome lives strong in me, lol.

I get major imposter syndrome bouts whenever these opportunities come up.

I worry that, as soon as I get on stage and start talking, all those heroes of mine that are in the front row will realize I'm a fraud.

Or, when I show up to record a course at a professional studio like that of Frontend Masters, where they've already had a bunch of people who know what they are doing make courses with them, they'll regret having asked me to come and wonder how the hell I ever made a name for myself.

Obviously, I wouldn't be where I am today if any of that was true.

The analytical part of my brain realizes that.

But it doesn't mean those thoughts don't still happen.

It's been a dream come true

But, at least so far, I haven't been found out 😆.

Every talk I've done has gone really well.

The Frontend Masters course turned out amazing (at least in my own humble opinion, lol).

Honestly, these last 12 months have been a bunch of my wildest dreams, all coming true at once.

And, while I've put in the work over the last 9 years to make this all possible, I also wouldn't be here if it wasn't for everyone who's watched and shared my videos, enrolled in my courses, and helped support me this entire time, so a very big thank you to you for helping make all of this possible.