After nearly ten years,
a new chapter

I've spent nearly ten years teaching WordPress and web design online.

It's been an absolute privilege.

I've helped people all over the world who don't think of themselves as coders build websites, businesses and sometimes entirely new careers — and, best of all, surprise themselves with what they're capable of.

But it's time for me to move on.

The web design world is changing faster than ever. Keeping courses current has always been part of the job, but lately it feels like I've been running faster and faster just to stay in the same place.

And I've realised something else.

I've now spent about twenty-three years working largely on my own, in a room, staring at a screen for a living.

Maybe you can relate. 🙂

More and more, I've found myself craving people. Real rooms. Real conversations. Real teaching.

And especially, I've felt a growing pull back towards working with kids.

Then, a few weeks ago, my daughter sent me a job advert.

“Dad. This is absolutely made for you.”

Now, the last time I had a proper job was 2003.

So “get a job” was definitely not on my bingo card.

But this one made me sit up.

The job is teaching groups of primary-school kids to play in bands.

Yep. Actual bands.

Drums. Bass. Guitar. Keyboards. Singers.

And if you know me at all, you can probably see why my daughter sent it to me.

Before all this web design nonsense 😁 I was a primary-school teacher. And I've been playing music and playing in bands since I was a kid myself.

So I thought: what the hell. I'll apply. Nothing to lose.

Several interviews, auditions and assessments later, they put me in a room with some kids and observed me teaching them to play together.

And I absolutely bloody loved it.

I was in my element.

A few hours later, they offered me the job.

So after nearly ten years of teaching people through screens, I'm going back into real classrooms.

I'll be helping young kids discover that they can do something they thought they couldn't do. Helping them play music together. And, hopefully, helping them leave the room standing a little taller than when they walked into it.

That feels like a pretty good thing to spend my days doing.

And it means I'm wrapping up my web design education business.

To everyone who watched my videos, bought my courses, came to live calls, replied to emails, sent messages, recommended my work or simply followed along over the years: thank you.

Some of you have been around for almost the entire ride, and quite a few of you somehow went from “people on the internet” to people I count as actual friends.

I've had some of the best experiences of my life doing this. I got to make things I cared about, teach people I genuinely liked, and earn a living doing it.

That's no small thing. I've never taken it for granted.

Thank you for a brilliant nearly-ten years. 🙏
Dave