Introducing webdeveloper!Becky

New role unlocked

For reasons beyond my comprehension, I have unlocked a new role as a web developer.

In the past ten days, I’ve deployed two websites for two new clients. One is a suite of assessment tools with a student-tracking dashboard for an education consultancy. The other is a self-updating LGBTQ+ community resource directory for a Hong Kong nonprofit (the site manager updates a Google Sheet and the live site updates itself. No code required on their end).

The kicker: six weeks ago, I had zero web development skills.

The last time I touched code, I was 16. High school computer lab. Uploading files through FileZilla with the most rudimentary understanding of HTML and CSS. Those skills peaked when I customised my Friendster page with a pink sparkly cursor. They were thoroughly abandoned when platforms like Squarespace came along.

And then Alex Dobrenko` bulldozed my world.

I started using Claude Code (an AI coding tool that lives in your terminal) and went a bit… feral. Built tool after tool on my computer but couldn’t share them with anyone. So after a boatload of back-and-forth with Claude, I figured out the full chain that gets a site live: domains, hosting, databases, email integrations, payment processing, UX design. Because I’d gone slightly out of control, I ended up repeating the deployment process about ten times in two weeks across my various tools and sites.

My pinnacle moment was cancelling my Squarespace plan and rebuilding beckyisj.com as a D&D character sheet.

So when two work acquaintances messaged me (coincidentally on the same day) looking for someone who knows web development, I had the same reply to both: I don’t know anyone personally, but would you mind if I gave it a go?

Ten days later, both sites are live. Assessment tools, a backend dashboard, a self-syncing directory, automated emails, databases, payment processing, continuous deployment. The full stack that a traditional dev agency would quote thousands for.

I was hesitant about offering this as a service. If I could learn and do this in six weeks, surely everyone can? Especially because the AI tools are accessible to literally anyone.

But then I confidently briefed one client on exactly how I’d connected all the pieces (the email system, the database, the payments, the hosting) and they replied: “…you are top 1% in terms of skills 😅”

It feels weird to say this out loud. But I think what they were actually reacting to wasn’t the AI. It was the judgment calls. Knowing what to build, what to skip, how to scope it so the client actually uses it. The AI gave me the technical capability. Deciding what to connect and why is a different skill entirely.

Buuut this wasn’t meant to be a braggy post. It’s my genuine surprise at what happens when you just put yourself out there.

Yes, AI enabled the web development skills. But those two clients didn’t find me through a freelancer platform. They messaged me because of relationships I’d built over years. Replying to messages. Introducing myself to new people. Staying connected on LinkedIn.

The skill I unlocked wasn’t coding.

It was the confidence to say “I don’t know how yet, but I’ll figure it out.”

And then actually figuring it out.

PS: Life is quite turbulent at the moment 😅 but writing this was a nice reminder that I can survive a rocky boat. Thank you to everyone who keeps reassuring me that I can do things 🥹

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Update log:

• 🤖 Finally bit the bullet and got my own OpenClaw that I’m naming Baymax. I’ve been using Gemini 2.5 Flash as the underlying LLM and it’s been a bit mid so far, but Anthropic (even on Sonnet!) eats up money way too fast for comfort.

• 📖 Still deep in RF Kuang’s hell with Katabasis.

• 🥲 A bunch of friends messaged me saying they cried after reading my last post. Whoooooopsie but also ngl felt really accomplished 😂

• ☕️ Caught up with a few ex-colleagues over coffees and meals - in true non-networking networking fashion

• 🏃🏻‍♀️ Was so slow in my gym’s run club that people thought I did an extra lap

• 📘 Still blown away by how many people bought and read my book. It’s at 36 sales now!

Work with me: https://go.beckyisj.com/workwithme

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