Hello, world!

Nearly as soon as I bought my first iPhone, a second-hand iPhone 4, I became fascinated with the Apple ecosystem. Fast forward just over a decade, now I’m a 30 year old insurance professional. But, finally, I’ve taken the leap to turn a hobby into something more.

I think it best I start with an introduction to who I am. Kia ora, I’m Harry. I live in Aotearoa New Zealand, with my wonderfully supportive wife and 2 young children.

Growing up, I didn’t know I was already dipping my toes into the software development world. Obsessed with customising my Bebo (yes, Bebo), I had no idea I was actually playing with CSS in a way.

Down in this part of the world, the Apple events stream around 4 or 5am. I’ve consistently been getting up early and watching these bleary-eyed for years. Not because it affected my livelihood, just because I was curious.

In 2019, partnering with my wife, we started Dream Day. Free online tools for engaged couples to plan their wedding, including an online ‘marketplace’ where vendors could pay a subscription to advertise.

After our contracted developer left us in the middle of the project, we turned to no-code to pivot and get the product out. We were able to release a product using Bubble and Webflow. Unfortunately, we launched at the same time as a global pandemic.

Weddings in Aotearoa were put on hold, and vendors didn’t have spare cash to pay for another advertising avenue. Ultimately, we decided to end Dream Day… but a small fire started burning in me.

Journey to coding

Through school, I wanted to be a builder. I’ve always wanted to create and build things... Carpentry seemed an obvious choice.

I began my apprenticeship and started learning the trade. Unfortunately, I had an injury and lost a lot of mobility in my dominant hand - not a good setup for a lifetime of physical labour.

So what do you do? Get an office job, of course. My entry into office jobs just happened to be with one of the national insurance companies.

Now... I didn’t choose insurance, but it seems insurance chose me. Over the next 10 years, I would work in many different departments and companies. Customer service, claims, learning & development, Leadership & QA, general to life. I’d even meet my future wife at one of these companies.

I’ve had a great time, made some lifelong friends and built some skills to be proud of. But having kids can really shift your view on some things.

After getting our new son to bed one night, my wife and I began discussing the future. “What are you doing, like what’s your passion and end goal at work?” She point-blank stares at me and asks. I honestly couldn’t answer her. I was trying to climb a corporate ladder and earn more to support our growing family. Important, but not fulfilling. I needed to choose a career, not have one choose me.

It didn’t take long to decide on a passion to follow. Honestly, it was staring me in the face. As soon as I said, “Well… I’d like to make apps” I could see the agreeance on my wife’s face. She confirmed, “You’re always up watching those announcements, and telling me about all the new apps and features. Plus, you can’t stop messing with our smart home.” (referring to Homebridge)

Decision made in a night, I started looking into how I could make the shift and where to get an education.

Back to school after ten years

Lucky for me, the government was sponsoring some certifications in the tech industry as this all happened. I was able to gain a diploma in web design and development. Completely remote learning and government-funded. I jumped on that opportunity right away.

I know I said earlier that my passion is Apple products, and that’s truly my ultimate goal. But when it comes down to it, I like making helpful things that look pretty. I got the bug no-coding Dream Day… and web development interests me as well.

This, and the fact no tertiary education provider here in Aotearoa has a qualification for Swift. I learnt the fundamentals of software development and the basics of the web. And at the end of the day, I had a whole heap of fun. I knew I’d made the right decision.

For an entire year, I’d cram coursework between my full-time job, raising a baby and, where possible, some quality time with my wife. It was tough, but the fact that I tirelessly had the drive to keep doing it proved that I really wanted to do this development thing.

Near the end of my course, we discovered we were pregnant with our second child. But I hadn’t learnt Swift yet! I handed in my final assignment and began Paul Hudson’s 100 Days of SwiftUI the very next day.

Committing to daily sessions, I completed the course in just under 100 days. And then I could breathe for a minute. Our daughter was due in 3 months.

Why start blogging?

I am writing this blog to record my journey and help me reflect as I work toward, and achieve milestones. I can’t make any promises on cadence but I aim to check in fairly regularly, hopefully encouraging and empowering others on a journey similar to mine.

The first couple of posts, including this one, will get my story up to speed and share about me. I should then be able to make more relevant and up-to-date posts.