For years I have been doing the work of a Developer Advocate without ever holding the title.
Not because I was trying to check a career box, but because I genuinely love teaching, building, speaking, and helping people unlock what is possible with the Web. My journey into DevRel did not start with a job description. It started with curiosity, community, and an obsession with sharing what I learn.
This is the story I want to tell.
From Teaching English to Teaching Tech
Long before I ever touched WebGPU, AI APIs, or agentic patterns, I was a teacher.
I taught English to pay for college, and I did not know it at the time, but that experience shaped everything. I learned how to explain complex ideas simply. How to read a room. How to make someone feel capable, even if they are just starting.
When I eventually transitioned into software engineering, I did not stop teaching.
I taught through local meetups, study groups, DMs, and later through tech communities I organized myself. Teaching has always been the throughline of my career.
Falling in Love With the Web Again Because of AI
I have always loved the Web. The openness, the flexibility, the creativity. The Web is the most accessible platform ever created.
But WebAI changed everything for me.
The idea that I could use my existing web knowledge, the same JavaScript and browser APIs I had been mastering for years, to create AI powered experiences was mind blowing. It made AI feel native, natural, and ours as web developers.
WebAI gave me a way in.
Vibe coding made the possibilities feel infinite.
And suddenly, I could not stop building.
But I also could not stop sharing.
I started recording videos.
I started writing.
I started speaking, first locally, then nationally, and then internationally.
My first international talk was in Romania, and it changed everything. I realized something important:
This is the work I want to do. This is the work I am already doing.
Becoming a Developer Advocate Before Becoming a Developer Advocate
DevRel is not about clout, stages, or airport lounges.
At its core it is about:
Teaching
Empowering people
Sharing knowledge
Building community
Connecting ideas with the people who need them
Exploring new tools and showing what is possible
And I have been doing all of that for three years, not because it was my job, but because I could not avoid doing it.
I have organized meetups in my city out of passion.
I have brought new technologies to local communities.
I have created videos and tutorials so people can learn faster than I did.
I have spoken at events on my own budget, sometimes using my vacation days to do it.
I did not realize it then, but I was doing DevRel the slow and difficult way.
Out of pure love, not sustainability.
The Burnout: When Passion Is Not Enough
At first it was fine.
But as more invitations came in, as communities grew, as more people asked for help, something shifted. I was doing the work full time without the support or resources of an actual DevRel role.
I was using my free time, weekends, vacation days, and often my own money to show up for communities. Eventually it created a type of burnout that hurts because it comes from something you love.
That is when I realized something important:
If I want to keep teaching, speaking, and enabling builders, I need to do it in a sustainable way. I need to do it as my actual job.
Not as a side passion.
Not as extra work squeezed into the edges of my life.
But as my career.
Because DevRel is not only something I am good at.
It is the way I naturally move through the world.
Why DevRel Is the Path I Want to Commit To
I believe that DevRel is not a performance. It is a service.
I want to serve developer communities by:
Teaching
Helping developers use the Web as a platform for AI experiences
Sharing how I build and experiment in public
Bringing powerful tools to places that rarely see them
Showing beginners and non engineers that they can build too
Creating content that teaches and inspires
Growing communities locally and globally
I have already done all of this. I simply need the chance to do it full time.
Why I Am Sharing This
This blog post is not only a reflection. It is a declaration.
I want to be a Developer Advocate.
Not someday. Not in an abstract way.
I am ready now.
I have built the habits, the skills, the community, and the love for the craft. I simply want the opportunity to keep growing, to keep teaching, to keep building bridges between technology and people.
DevRel is not a title I am chasing.
It is the role that finally matches the work I have been doing and the person I have become.
If You Are Reading This
If you are a DevRel professional, a manager, a founder, or someone who works in community or advocacy, or if you simply know me:
I am open to opportunities.
I am ready to create.
I am ready to contribute.
And more than anything, I am ready to help people build the future of the Web.
The Web taught me everything.
Community carried me forward.
Teaching is how I give back.
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