Anthony O'Neill was a designer working at a small company, occasionally touching code. He became more interested in programming and after doing some online courses he snagged a remote developer job, allowing him to get out of debt, work as a digital nomad and make his own indie hacker projects. Anthony today shared his advice for newbie coders in an exclusive interview.
Hey, so can you introduce yourself?
Hey, I’m Anthony O’Neill. I’m from Newcastle, England and I currently do development for my own website and an app agency remotely. My background before development was illustration, design, and some animation. My current location at the time of writing this is Cleveland, Ohio. However, I spend most of my time in Dublin, Ireland.
How has your life improved since becoming a professional programmer?
It has easily been my best decision in my career for two big reasons. Firstly, it has allowed me to live and work remotely without being tied down to a location, so I’ve had the pleasure and privilege to work from many locations around the world in Europe, Asia, and North America.
Secondly, money. I had spent my entire adult life before working as a developer living month to month, with little money left in my bank account by the end of the month. I had spiralled into payday loan debt and didn’t have any savings. It felt like a vicious cycle. I had been hopping metros, not paying bills, and generally just fucking up big time. After a year of working as a developer I was able to pay off all of my debts - it was a special feeling becoming debt free.
