10 Years in Tech: Lessons from the Fold-Up Table to Director
Spoiler: It’s not all shorts and T-shirts, but that part is pretty great.
A couple of months ago, I hit a milestone: 10 years in the software development industry. And like any good dev, I reflected... by writing a blog post.
What follows isn’t just a highlight reel. It’s the real stuff—how I got here, what I learned, and why “just figure it out” became both a survival strategy and a philosophy.
Let’s break it down by chapter.
Years 1–2: Enter the Industry, Stage Left
My tech career started in a very non-traditional way:
Age: 31
Role: Part-time “Associate Software Engineer” (aka intern, but not technically an intern)
Company: Still the same one I’m at today
Stack: Perl. Yes, Perl. Seriously.
At the time, I was finishing up my undergrad degree and working 25 hours a week. The company hired me not because I knew Perl (I didn’t), but because they believed I could learn.
I worked at a fold-up card table shoved against a brick wall. I spoke to maybe 3 people during my first 6 months. And I was wildly overdressed on day one. Apparently, T-shirts and shorts were the move—even in February.
But you know what? I stuck with it.
I asked questions (with proof I tried to figure it out first).
I fixed bugs.
I learned how real dev teams function.
And when I graduated, they made me a full-time offer—surprising, because I was convinced no one even knew I existed.
Years 3–5: Leveling Up, On All Fronts
My first promotion came about a year and a half in: Software Engineer.
I wasn’t asking constant questions anymore.
I was mentoring new hires.
I started grad school while working full-time.
I was learning—constantly—and loving it.
More importantly, I was figuring out how to be valuable beyond writing code. I was becoming a developer who could mentor, think critically, and lift up the team around me.
Years 6–7: Senior, Team Lead, and Teacher
By now, I’d earned my stripes.
I was promoted, twice at once, to Senior Software Engineer + Team Lead.
I became “the trainer” for all new devs.
I switched teams to gain exposure to different clients and technologies.
I started teaching computer science courses as an adjunct professor—because I love helping people learn (not because of the paycheck, trust me).
The code wasn’t as hard anymore.
The leadership part? That’s where the growth kicked in.
Years 8–10: Pandemic Promotions and Impostor Comfort
Enter the pandemic. Chaos hit. Then… an explosion of business.
We went on a hiring spree, 30+ new devs in a short time. I interviewed many. Hired many—mentored even more.
And during all of it, my career went into overdrive:
Team Lead → Delivery Manager
Delivery Manager → Director
Most of my day now is meetings.
I write far less code.
But I still mentor.
I still teach.
And—I still learn. Every. Damn. Day.
That anxious “do I belong here?” feeling from my first year?
Yeah, it never fully went away.
But I’ve learned to be comfortable being uncomfortable.
Because that means I’m still growing.
What I’ve Learned So Far
I’ve learned a few things that have stuck with me. Here they are, no fluff:
Never stop learning
Make real connections with people
Change is inevitable—embrace it
Being different can be your greatest strength
Wearing shorts and a T-shirt to work is glorious
Never forget where you started
Get. Shit. Done.
Final Thought
I’m still at the same company that gave me a shot when I was a part-time developer finishing school.
I’ve seen new faces come and go.
I’ve worked on projects I didn’t think I could handle—until I did.
And I’ve built a career on asking questions, making mistakes, and always standing back up.
Here’s to the next 10 years.
And if you're starting your first 10?
You're gonna be just fine.
✊ mullins.io
Real talk from a dev who started at a card table.
Hey, since you made it this far, you might actually care about becoming a better leader.
Good news: I wrote an ebook that’ll help you skip years of trial and error.
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