Where are you from?

I'm from London originally, but I have lived in Brighton on and off for about 13 years. My ethnic origins are half English and half Libyan-Italian.

What did you do before development?

I've had around 13 different jobs in my time, from being a car mechanic after leaving college to working as an activities manager at a holiday resort. My main job was working on my own market stall in Brighton's north lanes about 5 years ago.

How did you get into development?

After travelling around Asia and Australia for 2 years, I found myself living in Bangkok and quickly running out of money. I realised I didn't want to live back in Blighty for the rest of my life and really wanted to stay in Asia and needed to find a source of income. After ruling out becoming an English teacher, due to the fact, I can't stand children. I tried my hand at learning some HTML and CSS.

Finding the joy I got from changing the colour of some text on a screen. I decided to take it more seriously and move back with my grandparents to New Milton, also known as the land of wind, wealth and widows. With little distractions and not needing to work full time, only working part-time in a local pub and helping my grandparents with the gardening. I could really focus on studying web development.

It took me about a year to teach myself what I would consider a junior Javascript dev level. While I was studying, I was unsure I would actually make a living from what I was learning. Let alone actually get a job with a company! But somehow, I got a fantastic offer from my first company called stratum five, where I met Jozef. I now work with again at Pixelhop and probably the best mentor I could have possibly asked for.

I feel incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunity to live with my grandparents and study without worries. I know a lot of people might not have that opportunity. And also to have had such a fantastic team to learn from in my first job. Because of this, I hope to be able to help people less fortunate than me.

What's your favourite thing about what you do?

The satisfying feeling of using a computer and an internet connection and making things that people want to use and the impact I can have on the world by making these things.

What are your favourite things to do in your spare time?

I love making my personal web apps, even though I sometimes struggle to finish them before moving on to something else. I also love music, not playing it, mind you but just listening. I am really looking forward to being able to go to some live gigs/clubs again.

What made you choose Pixelhop as your next step?

Mainly to work closely with some fantastic developers, which I think can teach me so much and I have massive respect for. Plus the super exciting and varied projects that Pixelhop works on.

How many pints did you have last night?

Blimey, this is a hard one. At least 6, I would say 😳

How are you finding your first week at pixelhop

So far, excellent; I have never had such a lovely introduction to a job and felt so welcomed. I'm really excited to really get stuck into some of the projects we have lined up!

Anything else that you want to add?

Thanks to Jozef and Gemma for allowing me to work here. Also, double thank Jozef, as he taught me almost everything I know about this industry. And has massively improved my life by helping me get to this position. ☺️