Once a new technology rolls over you, if you are not part of the steamroller, you’re part of the road.
– Stewart Brand
Careers are hard. When I was a kid in school, I naturally gravitated to finance and related topics. I was good in math, and I found the world of finance and business fascinating. But I wasn’t studious, so instead of going to college, I went off to make my fortune.
That, of course, was harder than it at first seemed. But eventually I ended up working for a bank as a teller, and after some schooling and time, I was able to secure the job of Financial Planner. It was a great job. I made good money, I talked to a ton of interesting people about their family life, their goals and their plans, and I got to exercise my math chops doing financial plans and forecasts.
Despite all that, I never really felt like I fit in with my co-workers. Regardless of how it may seem, financial planning is, in many cases, really just a highly-skilled sales job. And I was never really comfortable with sales culture: the corny sales meetings, ridiculous targets, and the inescapable reality that: “You’re only as good as your last week’s sales numbers.”
So after many years I quit, and let my financial planning credentials expire (so the bridge was well and truly burned). For the last few years I’ve had a great job doing sales, IT and admin for a small company in an interesting field. I also had some success blogging about financial planning topics and investing, but that just wasn’t resonating with me, so I let it go.
What had been chewing away at me for a while, though, was to really understand the world of information technology and how it works. I just loved tech, and I wanted to know more about it. Since I didn’t have kids at home, and I had capacity in terms of both my time and finances, why wouldn’t I pursue something I am passionate about more fully? So in 2021 I set a goal: I’m going to learn about different roles and functions in the IT space, and pursue one that feels like the best fit for me going forward.
After a while, though, I realized I wasn’t so much interested in working in IT as I was in sharing my IT knowledge with others via my YouTube channel and this site. So this site isn’t about making a bunch of money, or changing the world, or even changing someone’s mind. It’s about continuing to increase my knowledge and skills in a field I’m passionate about and sharing what I’m learning with others.
I hope a few folks will decide to come along and enjoy the journey with me.
– Graeme Hughes
My Current Certifications:
