[ ← blog ](/) Nov 12, 2021  ·  2 min read 

# 9 years as a professional developer



While I don't precisely enjoy using Facebook anymore, the memories feature can be helpful. Like, today! Nine years ago, I had my first day as an official web developer. The local marketing agency [Dooley & Associates](https://dooleyandassociates.com/) hired me as their first in-house web developer. Before that day, I delivered beer, and coding had just been some fun activities I did alongside gaming. I didn't think I could get a job as a real developer since I didn't have a university degree. But, as I said in my DrupalCamp London  2017 keynote, "from delivering beers to speaking in London in just five years."

     ![memory of hire at dooley](/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/2021-11/Screen%20Shot%202021-11-12%20at%201.36.41%20PM.png?itok=SKyTRA3w) 

 

I can't believe the wild journey I have had. I started to go back to school for a software engineering degree while I was at Dooley. They are great, but I knew I wanted to work on and build something *more.* While in school, I got a lead to work on a WYSIWYG website building and hosting project at an ed-tech company. And from there, to Commerce Guys, we spun out into a separate entity and branded at Centarro. And now, my venture with Bluehorn Digital.

 Nine years ago, I would have never imagined

- That I would land a job doing web development
- Get to travel to Europe (5x times!)
- Travel around the United States
- Work from home most of my career (7 out of 9)
- Attend and speak at conferences across the United States and even in Europe
- Work with incredible people all across the globe
- [Write a book!](https://mglaman.dev/blog/drupal-8-development-cookbook-second-edition)

This definitely was not a lonely journey.

I sincerely appreciate my wife's support. I've done some pretty daring and risky things (😬 she was eight months pregnant with our second son when I quit my job to go to Commerce Guys, losing employer benefits. Thanks, [Ryan](https://ryanszrama.com/), for making sure it all worked out.)

I also wouldn't have achieved any of this without the wonderful Drupal community. You opened so many doors and pushed me to places I never thought I could go.

 

  ![](/themes/custom/mglaman/images/headshot.webp)Thanks for reading

I write about Drupal, PHP, and the quiet infrastructure behind large sites — caching, config, and testing. New posts land every week or two.

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