Hi! I’m Abe, a twenty-six year old millennial from Pakistan.
Be gentle, this is my first time. I’d heard a lot about Medium and wanted to make my own account as well but I did not have anything substantial to write until now. However, things have changed and now I think I have something to share.
What specifically?
Well, okay, so I’ve started this new job at one of the best software development firms in Pakistan called AlphaSquad. It’s been two weeks and I’ve learned more than I ever did in high school, intermediate college, and university.
By the way, full disclosure, I dropped out of university in my sixth semester as a result of an academic scuffle with my Head of Department. He wanted me to work on this PhD level thesis that had something to do with IOT and networking, and here’s the thing: Networking is not my field, never was, never will be. I’ve always been a programmer and that’s all the slice I want from the cake that is computer science. It’s quite a huge slice, obviously, as programming entails everything from desktop application development in C++ to making bespoke websites using CSS frameworks.
So, yeah, he was being a huge pain in the butt, always threatening me, taking me out of classes and harassing me, telling me that he had my degree in his hands and he could rusticate me or expel me or fail me in any subject at any time if I didn’t play ball. He used to take me into his office and lock the door and blackmail me. It was all very stressful, suffocating, and traumatic.
I decided that I’d had enough of it and dropped out. By the way, I was earning handsome money as a freelance ghostwriter. Have been doing so for the past 5 years. I was twenty when I started. I just turned twenty-six on the 11th of September (go right ahead, I’ve heard them all). So, my career track has been a bit unorthodox from an average college educated person’s perspective. When I was twenty, I fell in love with writing and decided that I wanted to make a career out of it, but being the clueless idiot that I was back then, I didn’t know jack about where to start.
So I made an account on Upwork and started bidding on jobs like a madman. I’m talking ten proposals a day. In no time I landed my first client. The client wanted me to write a lesbian erotica. I, who was up for literally anything at that point because I needed the money and the experience, agreed right away to the job and wrote the raunchiest, lewdest porno that I could write and voila, got my first self-earned $30 dollars and a five-star recommendation by the client. I wrote more for her, thus learning that if you provide quality work, you can turn a one-time client into a long-term one.
Then I landed my second client and began writing articles, reviews, and blogs for a gaming website.
It all snowballed and before I knew it, I was earning around $1500 dollars a month just from freelance ghostwriting. I wrote everything, from fiction novels in the fantasy and horror and romance genre to non-fiction eBooks in the healthcare and tech and lifestyle categories.
To date, I’ve written more than 150 books.
At one point in my ghostwriting career, I got a case of tendonitis and joint effusion and short-joint arthritis so bad that both my hands were crippled. That was because I was writing around 10K-15K words a day.
Enter Arslan Qamar Khan, who is without doubt the best web developer in Pakistan, a self-made man, a millionaire, and the best mentor and friend and brother one could ask for.
Right after I dropped out, I went to him from Faisalabad to Abbottabad and told him what had transpired. He offered me an internship at his company, i-Intellect which now is called AlphaSquad. I learned a ton under his guidance, including web development, business management, communication skills, how to be a better person, and how to unlock my potential. That’s the company’s motto as well: Unlocking Human Potential.
By the way, this isn’t a paid promotion or anything. I’m writing organic and I’m writing stream of consciousness.
So, yeah, once my amazing internship was over, I came back to Faisalabad and resumed my ghostwriting business. See, I had a plan all laid out in front of me. From the age of twenty to twenty-five, I’d ghostwrite to a) get experience and b) make money and c) make connections in the publishing industry for when I’d publish my own novels. Being a huge believer of the 10,000 hours rule, I stuck to writing even in the lowest points of my life — and considering that I have bipolar disorder, there have been many low points in my life; too many to count — and gave it 15,000 hours. I have this thing about overachieving.
Then, right before I turned twenty-six, I interviewed for the position of business development lead at AlphaSquad and got the job.
It’s been two weeks since I’ve got that job and I already — with the assistance of my boss, whom I lovingly call Bossman — landed a five-figure client. The client wanted the job to be done in $14K. We negotiated with them to $16.5K.
A little about Bossman: I love him like a brother, he’s the best mentor in the entire planet, and he has a heart of gold. He is kind, compassionate, caring, understanding, gentle, funny, and exudes a vibe that makes you feel like you’re home. I am utterly blessed to have him in my life.
So, how do I, a freelance ghostwriter and someone with an education in computer science, know about business development?
Well, people have a way of underestimating freelancing in Pakistan. The five years of grind that I put in in freelancing was 50% business development and 50% actual work. So, yeah.
I hadn’t been coding for the past 5 years and thus was out of touch with it. But now I am getting back into it. I’m starting with basic HTML. Like, elementary.
Major props to Brad Traversy of Traversy Media and Colt Steele on Udemy. Even majorer (it’s a word; it’s my word) props to Bossman for agreeing to give me a master-frikking-class in web development.
Today I’ve done my fair share of covering the HTML basics. Now I’m moving on to the basics of CSS.
I intend to keep you all updated on the goings-on in my life. I plan to write on Medium on a regular basis.
By the way, I’ve moved from my hometown to the capital of the country, Islamabad. Got my own apartment that I’m sharing with three close friends and fellow employees at AlphaSquad. I eat out almost every other day, I smoke my cigarettes, I work hectically, and I’m carpeing the hell of the diem.
Life is good. Life is on track.
Peace from the East!
Here are the links to my social media and Upwork:
Facebook:
LinkedIn:
Upwork:
Dev.to:
My blog on WordPress:
And here’s the link to the company’s website:
Bt-dubs, we’ve worked with Fortune 500 clients like Toyota North America, SCTE, Comcast, and Warner Bros.
We also work quite a lot in the healthcare sector, having worked with Premier Ortho, FBT, Case Notes Analyzer, and so on. Stac9 comes to mind as well.
Next, I plan to write about my journey into web development, both on dev.to and on Medium. I love writing and I’m gonna make the most out of it. No more ghostwriting. Now I write for myself. The next half of my twenties will be all about building my brand, working for AlphaSquad and for myself.
Thank you for reading my first story. Take care.
Shalom, Abe.