The Plot Twist
Remember when I was all hyped about pivoting to Salesforce? Well, life had other plans. After months of grinding through Salesforce courses, studying for certifications, and applying to countless jobs with little to no response, I realized something important: sometimes the best career moves aren't the ones everyone tells you to make.
What Actually Happened
Instead of landing that dream Salesforce developer role, I found myself drawn back to what I genuinely love - building things from scratch. The freedom to create, experiment, and iterate without being locked into a specific platform's constraints felt liberating after months of wrestling with Salesforce's rigid ecosystem.
Enter Personal Projects
This shift led me to focus on personal projects that actually matter to me. The biggest one? orbitandchill.com - a project that represents everything I learned about building modern web applications with technologies I'm passionate about.
Unlike the confined world of Salesforce development, building personal projects like Orbit and Chill allowed me to:
- Use the full React/Next.js stack I actually enjoy working with
- Implement real user experiences without platform limitations
- Learn by doing, not just by studying for certifications
- Build something people can actually use and interact with
The Tech Stack That Actually Works
While I was forcing myself to learn Apex and Lightning Web Components, I was neglecting the technologies that brought me joy in the first place. Going back to React, Next.js, and modern JavaScript felt like coming home. The documentation is better, the community is more active, and the creative possibilities are endless.
Lessons Learned
Sometimes the "smart" career move isn't the right one for you personally. The Salesforce market might have great potential, but if you're not genuinely excited about the technology and the day-to-day work, you're setting yourself up for mediocrity at best.
Building personal projects taught me more about development, user experience, and product thinking than any certification course ever could.
What's Next
I'm doubling down on personal projects and the technologies I'm genuinely passionate about. I'm planning to extend orbitandchill.com with new features and content, diving deeper into the astrology and occult space that genuinely fascinates me.
I'm also working on an Android app called WitchTok - another project in the occult realm that combines my development skills with topics I'm actually passionate about. It's exciting to build applications around subjects that spark genuine curiosity rather than forcing myself into a tech stack for purely career reasons.
Beyond my own projects, I'm actively looking for co-founders to collaborate with on their ventures. I want to work side by side with people who genuinely love what they're building - that passion and authenticity I've been missing. I'm eager to be part of something bigger, to contribute my development skills to projects where everyone involved is truly excited about the mission.
Sometimes the best career pivot is the one that brings you back to what you love.