Finding Web Development
There are two ways to learn: in a classroom, or by lived experience. Learning theory in a classroom can take less time and it provides a degree or certificate upon completion, but in my experience, the skills learned while in the trenches, figuring things out myself
When I was growing up creating my own Live Journals and Expages, no one I knew had gone to school for website design. In fact, most adults I knew barely understood what the internet was.
It wasn’t until I was working in my first job after graduating university with a B.A. in English that I learned what a marketing team does. And it wasn’t until I was creating my first blog that I realized I had taught myself many of the skills needed to be successful in a marketing role.
Over the years I worked in several broad marketing roles, but I was always drawn to website development and management. Blogging continued to be a learning outlet for me when I wasn’t learning new skills professionally.
My former blog, Molly Does Adulting, which I maintained from 2018-2021
I took a ‘career break’ after I moved to Ireland and had my first child. While I was getting settled and waiting for my daughter to arrive, I put a lot of effort into designing and creating content for my blog at the time. I also honed my social media skills promoting my blog and articles that had been published on other platforms, like Medium and The Mighty. I continued this way while my daughter was young, until life started getting back to normal post-COVID. By then, my current blog felt stale being full of posts about life in lockdown as a first-time parent living far away from family and friends.
Rather than starting another new blog, I continued to write and tried to find my footing in the freelance world, but I missed working on websites. So, I started volunteering to run the website for a social club I had joined. And from there, I created the website for Ranelagh Community Response.
Homepage for Ranelagh Community Response, a chapter of the National Meals on Wheels Network Ireland
I fell in love with the creativity, the flexibility, and the elated response I received from my work on their websites.
Today, I work as Communications and Office Manager at Blackrock College RFC. After an attack on the club’s website left it with missing images and content, I learned more about hosting, DNS records, and redesigning an established website for a better front- and back-end user experience.
Now that the site has been recovered, I manage digital communications and online marketing for the rugby club during the day, and develop my marketing business on the side. I am a seller on Fiverr and hope to expand my list of clients in the next year.
If you or someone you know needs a website, give me a shout. No matter whether you need a digital portfolio built to showcase your creative work, a new business that needs to establish a web presence, or a business with a website in need of a refresh, I would be happy to help.
Check out my portfolio to examples of my work. To get in touch with questions or to work with me, reach out via Fiverr, or by email at mollyshibley1@gmail.com.
