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NestJS Advocate and Educator
Hi there 👋! I'm Tom.
Take yourself back to early 2021.
Covid lockdowns were a thing and I was a frontend developer working from my kitchen table in Brighton, UK.
I was part of a startup's founding team, and over five years, we grew from just two members to a team of over 120. It's been an incredible journey.
While frontend development was fulfilling, I felt a constant pull towards the backend.
Then, I had an idea 💡
I wanted to become a full stack developer, capable of building any project that came to mind. I could add significantly more value to my startup. Also, the intellectual challenges and the potential to create side projects for passive income excited me.
I knew that mastering backend development would open up more opportunities and significantly increase my earning potential.
However, I struggled with feelings of not being good enough and imposter syndrome.
The array of concepts and design patterns in backend development made me feel unconfident and frustrated, despite my proficiency in JavaScript and TypeScript.
In my quest for knowledge, I came across NestJS, an opinionated framework with comprehensive documentation and a large community. It seemed like the perfect choice for learning server-side JavaScript.
I realized that I learn best by building real projects rather than consuming endless tutorials. So, I decided to dive in and start creating.
I began by spinning up the NestJS CLI to create some projects and watched a couple of introductory tutorials on YouTube. My first project was a basic Twitter-like API with CRUD functionality, which helped me get a feel for the framework. I also did some reading on unfamiliar concepts like dependency injection, SOLID principles, and OOP.
However, understanding the various NestJS terminologies and concepts was challenging 🫠.
Finding the time to learn and not having a clear roadmap of resources were significant obstacles. I felt overwhelmed by the deeply fundamental concepts in NestJS that were not well-explained in available resources.
Despite these challenges, I realized that understanding dependency injection was crucial to unlocking a deeper understanding of NestJS. I focused on learning these concepts outside of the NestJS framework using plain TypeScript. I built multiple projects to practice and reinforce my learning.
There were moments when I almost quit, especially when I couldn't find decent, easy-to-understand resources online. The lack of a clear roadmap and the overwhelming number of new terms and concepts made the journey difficult. I had to figure out the learning path myself, which was time-consuming and frustrating.
Then, a pivotal moment came when dependency injection finally clicked.
This breakthrough made NestJS much easier to understand. 
I gained confidence and overcame my insecurities as I became proficient in server-side JavaScript. I felt intellectually proud and more in control of my future, with more professional options available to me. My potential to earn and add value to the world increased significantly through my ability to build and ship end-to-end solutions.
I started publishing posts on my blog about NestJS, receiving positive comments and feedback from the community. I realized that learning by building projects is an excellent way to master the framework and enable frontend developers to go full stack. This hands-on approach allowed me to understand NestJS deeply and become proficient in server-side JavaScript.
I felt motivated to share my journey and insights to help other developers navigate the path to full stack development 💪.
Today, I want to empower other developers to unlock their full earning potential and achieve their professional dreams.
I believe that knowing both frontend and backend development opens up a world of possibilities.
By sharing my experiences and insights, I aim to help others overcome their insecurities and realize their full potential. My journey from struggling with imposter syndrome to becoming a confident full stack developer has been transformative. I am proud of the investment I made in myself and the opportunities I created for my professional growth.
Now, I want to help others do the same ✌️.
