📣 Announcement
Hello friends!
This post is an odd one.
Summary: I decided to recalibrate my priorities and am changing the focus of my content. The new focus will be on sharing my ideas, processes, successes, and failures working on different side projects as a UX designer who cannot code. My goal is to achieve independence from a salary and geographical location.
The beginning
I started designing (and coding) simple informational websites back in 2003. Macromedia Fireworks, Flash, Dreamweaver and, of course, Photoshop were all the rage.
Since then, I have gone through many career steps, and designed many websites and digital products. I got my first official job as a designer at a company about 10 years ago. For a very long time, I’ve been creating content (newsletter, podcast, and digital products) to help younger designers get a job in UX.
Many of you know that I also have another passion - entrepreneurship. This journey started way before my Design career when I was 8 years old. I decided to start selling my old toys at a local train station 30 min away from my home. A very interesting story that ended in me being shamed by my teacher in front of the whole class. Such business activity as a child was despicable in the USSR.
The vision
I’ve been combining my “day job” and entrepreneurship paths for 20+ years. I can’t recall the exact moment when I came to this conclusion, but I made the decision that running a business (or businesses) was my ultimate long-term goal. In recent years, this vision has crystallized even further.
Firstly, lack of control of your own destiny. You can get laid off at any time or be forced to work from a specific location regardless of your personal situation.
Secondly, the cost of living has and will be accelerating at a much faster pace than salaries.
Salary is a drug companies give you to forget your dreams.
— Kevin O’Leary
Even though some people can start earning a lot of money on the side quickly (e.g. OnlyFans), building a successful business is generally extremely difficult. I’ve learned it the hard way and am still learning.
Nevertheless, I have no intention of abandoning this path. I believe in future reliance on a steady paycheque from the employer will be riskier and riskier.
The next chapter
Going forward, I will keep experimenting with different ways a UX designer can make money online, documenting my entrepreneurship journey, and sharing my process, thoughts, and takeaways with you (newsletter, podcast, YouTube, etc.).
Some of the topics I will be covering here (and on other channels):
My projects’ updates.
My process and decision-making.
Business ideas that come to mind.
Announcements.
My thoughts and lessons learned.
Income/expense status reports.
Q&A.
Behind-the-scenes.
… all in relation to Desingpreneurship.
PS
Occasionally, I will also be sharing my observations and recommendations from our travelling experiences. Perhaps, some ideas, thoughts, and rants here and there 😆
PPS
If you are not interested in my new direction as an indie creator, you should unsubscribe. I am sure you are receiving too many useless newsletters already 😉