I am Jasmin, living in one of the provinces in the Philippines. It’s been more than a year now since I switched from working 9-6 (9 AM to 6 PM) to working from home.
I love the freedom that I get from working at home hence I decided to create a blog to share with you the opportunity and for you to get the same freedom that I get.
To build trust with my readers, I will share the summary of my story about how I got to where and who I am now.
I graduated from college with a B.S. in Information Technology and major in Web Development at Central Luzon State University.
A few days after graduation, I applied for a job in Metro Manila and was rejected by several companies.
I was 20 years old and unemployed. I badly wanted to become a Web Developer, so I assessed myself, I learned from all the rejections I had.
I sacrificed my 4 months improving my skills and learning more about Web Development. I also started a blog and wrote about my journey and the lessons I’ve learned.
I finally got my first job as a Backend Web Developer in Makati City. So that means I had to live away from my family.
I worked so hard that I was able to get my own project after one month of being employed, the problem was, this was not related to web development, it was a large automation project.
A few months later, I was still working with the automation project and not in web development related projects.
Automation is a great field, in fact, I’ve learned a lot and discovered something new. But during that time, I really needed to grow and enhance my skills in web development.
I occasionally write on my blog, but one day I found myself writing about depression.
And that was when I realized that I wasn’t happy with my job anymore.
After 6 months, I left my first job and decided to work from home. I don’t know much about freelancing at that time but I decided to try it anyway.
I also decided to re-create my blog and write regularly. The blog was called The Stay Hungry, it was inspired by Steve Job’s quotation “Stay hungry, stay foolish” because Steve Jobs was one of the people who inspired me to pursue my dream job and my passion.
The Stay Hungry doesn’t have a niche, I wrote mostly about self-development, career development, and travel.
Three months after working as a freelancer, I again decided to go back to the corporate world.
As a young professional, I believed that I needed a team and a senior who can guide me.
I was hired by a large company in Makati City as a Web Application Developer.
I worked so hard that in my second month in the company, I was given a project, a large internal web-based system for Operations Department with 8 different sub-departments.
Having this responsibility at the age of 21 made me feel so exhausted, exhausted by the deadlines and meetings with the higher employees; team leaders, supervisors, and managers.
But by being a solo developer, I learned that having a team by your side is good because you can tell them the problems you have encountered and they can help you right away.
However, I also learned that you can still do the work just by yourself.
I realized that having a team by your side is not necessary, because you can also learn a lot by yourself and with the help of the internet.
After 5 months, I started to feel the pain of being an employee. The pain of waking up at 4 AM just to be in the office at 9 AM, the pain of being stuck in heavy traffic while standing on the bus for an hour or two.
I started to feel miserable at work because I had to go from one building to another just to talk to a supervisor or to support the employees who were using the system.
I had to work outside my working hours (overtime) because I consumed most of my time supporting the employees instead of writing codes.
I felt so exhausted and barely breathing.
I sent my resignation letter, without having any plans. All I knew was that I wanted to work from home again and live with my family.
The team leader talked to me and didn’t want me to leave yet. And the director decided to give me an early regularization and increased my salary.
Since I started working, I don’t really care about the salary because as a young professional, time, health, and career development are more important to me.
I told myself that I will give them 6 more months, I will plan everything within these months and prepare myself before I leave.
For 6 months I planned everything and prepared myself. I knew in my heart that I really want to become a freelancer.
I joined freelancing groups on Facebook and read other freelancers’ inspiring stories while I’m stuck in heavy traffic. I learned where and how to get clients, and I started submitting proposals.
I left my job and started working on two projects for college students. I only have my 4-year-old laptop, 12 GB mobile data, some skills, perseverance, and goals.
I was earning less but the reason why I accepted these projects was to re-assess my skills.
A local client found me on LinkedIn and gave me my first web application project as a freelancer.
I was still earning less but I could say that I was gaining more in terms of knowledge, experiences, and skills.
My first project had ended but the client offered another project that would start in a few weeks. I also started to look for another client in Upwork.
The plan for the new project was still finalizing by the client. I had a low balance on my bank account, I had bills to pay, and I couldn’t get another client.
I was at the lowest point in my freelance career, I even started looking for a new office job on the internet. But even the companies in Metro Manila didn’t want to invite me for an interview.
I knew it was God’s plan, and I am so thankful that He didn’t let me go back to the corporate world.
The new project had finally started. Plus I got my second project from another local client on LinkedIn, which was the first website project I had ever launched.
I got my first foreign client, and I was hired to work full-time. I have learned a lot from this client, I was able to gain and enhance my skills in automation and web application development. I also worked with some foreign clients on Upwork for some gigs.
I was recognized as one of the Rising Talents in Upwork.
Currently, I’m not looking for a new full-time client because I’ve found a generous client already. I don’t earn dollars, but I’m thankful for earning Manila rate salary while living comfortably in our province.
As long as I continuously learn and grow I will stay with this client.
But I am always open to a part-time project because when an opportunity comes, we have to grab it.
This is just the summary of my journey and I have a lot to share.
I hope you’ve learned in my story that achieving your goals isn’t always easy.
You have to invest your time and spend it researching, learning, and improving your skills, like how I sacrificed my 4 months before I became a web developer and how I waited for 6 months before entered the freelancing world.
Our struggles determine our successes.
Mark Manson (The Subtle Art of not Giving a F*ck)
Disclaimer: This introduction has also been written on my blog.
Read more about my story at https://freedomchecklist.com/about/
