I Quit My Server Job To Become A Professional Software Developer

Pursue Your Dreams

I took a whiff of my clothes and boy did I smell. I had been working at the same damn restaurant job for nearly five years. The restaurant aroma had begun to permanently stain my clothes with the smell of Italian. I knew I needed to change something or I’d smell like Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo pasta forever.

Later that same day as I’m at my good friend Morgan Masters house and he asks me, “Yo man, what do you think about Tahoe?”

With a curious look, I reply, “Never been before, why you ask?”.

A grin begins to appear on Morgan’s face as he says, “I ask because it’s one of the most beautiful places on Earth with epic mountains, amazing wildlife and over fourteen ski resorts including the famous Squaw Valley Ski Resort in Olympic Valley.”

“We have to go scope it,” I exclaim!

Then the rest is history. Morgan and I made the ten hour voyage to Tahoe, got jobs at Squaw Valley Ski Resort, got an awesome lakeside apartment and completely embraced the mountain life.

Pursue your dreams!

Your Actions Create Your Reality

Moving to Tahoe was most definitely, a huge crucial turning point in my upwards ascent in the realization of this one simple idea, “Your actions create your reality.” I had done it! I get to snowboard and live the life my teenage self had always wanted!

The problem is, is that we don’t stay a teenager for long. So the cyclical teenager mentality of work, play, sleep and never save gets old after a certain point. I had just gotten my first taste of the “rat race” and needed to desperately break free. So I sought out knowledge because all great people advise that absorbing knowledge is a key to recognizing opportunities.

Absorb Knowledge

I picked up the book The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, Physics of the Future by Michio Kaku and a basic HTML book. The Alchemist inspired me to pursue my dreams. Physics of the Future opened my eyes to opportunities and showed me possibilities. Surprisingly the basic HTML book was actually the least helpful book.

This technology world changes so rapidly that sourcing information from anything more than two years old is a waste of time. Since I was new to coding I didn’t realize this at the time, so I plowed blindly ahead and used the HTML book to make a simple HTML one page website. My first website was horrible and I’d be embarrassed to share it with anyone today. The important thing is I had made something that was a 100% mine.

I went to Tahoe as a man not yet knowing what path I should walk and I left Tahoe with experience. These experiences included restaurant work, lifeguard work and Emergency Medical Technician skills. Out of all these experiences the greatest skill I acquired was the mindset to absorb knowledge.

Looking back the best thing I did for my career was that simple outdated HTML website. Leaving Tahoe was a tough decision because the alpine atmosphere is one of the most beautiful climates in the world, but I came to recognize that my California Orange County home had more opportunities than small mountains do.

“Out of all these experiences the greatest skill I acquired was the mindset to absorb knowledge.” ~ Justin Estrada

Kickstarting my Programming Career

Fast forward a couple months and entry level computer programming classes back in Southern Orange County, California and I had realized that programming is mankind’s best tool to create products.

I soon discovered Chris LaBonty and Nolan Thompson who showed me a startup world rich with opportunity. At HeadFunder Inc, we created HeadTalker.com a ‘Crowdspeaking’ platform. HeadTalker.com is a ‘Crowdspeaking’ platform that can take anyone’s message viral and has been performing well since 2013. This was my first taste of the possibilities that programming provides and I was hooked!

I saw the opportunity that software development provided and began freelancing and providing digital solutions for many amazing clients. I have truly enjoyed all the digital projects I’ve working on thus far and look forward to working with like-minded motivated people. If you are a motivated person with a digital idea, get in touch with me and together we will create the next big thing.

In Order to Lead Sometimes You Must First Learn to Follow

My journey continued and my newly acquired web developer skills landed me a job on Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA. This was my first salary programming job and I embraced the opportunity to learn from my coworkers and absorb as much new knowledge as possible. At my Hollywood company CauseForce LLC. I lead dozens of new website launches. The most important thing I learned at Causeforce was about taking initiative. There were countless times where a task did not exist for the work I was doing and I had to apply my creativity to the project and find a solution beyond what anyone has ever taught me. This taught me a key concept in life, “Our future is determined by the action takers”.

“Our future is determined by the action takers”. ~ Justin Estrada

Therefore if you become an action taker then you have a say in the future of this world. My life in Hollywood was exciting and fun full of Hollywood Hills parties and underground music venues, just what a young adult needs. I’ve grown since then and actively seek a more professional lifestyle moving forward. Recognizing this and maintaining a humble attitude I still believe that in order to become a successful leader sometimes you must learn to follow. So I am continuing to follow successful programmers at my current job Taylor Digital.

MyDigitalSauce Story Recap

Hopefully my saucy story has inspired you to go out and pursue your dreams. Take action and don’t let your ideas just be ideas. Trust me you don’t want to look back on this time in your life with regret saying, “I wish I had done more”. So go forth and absorb knowledge, use that knowledge to recognize opportunities, then kickstart your career. Be humble and recognize that in order to be a leader you must first be a follower. Then realize that the future of our world is determined by action takers. I look forward to hearing about your success stories and your dreams.

So comment below your dreams and goals, because I want to hear them.