From Quetta to WordPress: How I Became a Web Developer
I want to share how I got into web development, because it wasn't a straight line, and where I started from shaped how I build.
Where I'm From
I grew up in Quetta, Pakistan, in the Hazara Town and Mariabad neighbourhoods. It's not a place most developers you'll meet online have heard of, and for good reason: it's home to the Hazara community, which has faced targeted violence for over two decades. Growing up, safety wasn't something I could take for granted the way a lot of people can.
I'm not bringing this up for sympathy. I'm bringing it up because it's part of why I approach building things the way I do: carefully, deliberately, and with a lot of drive to make something real out of limited resources.
Getting Into Dev Work
I got my start at Icon Pro Solutions Inc., where I was thrown straight into WordPress development. Not just theming, but the full picture: site structure, SEO, how design and function need to work together, and how content and writing tie it all together.
Alongside development, I picked up Figma and started thinking more seriously about UI/UX, not just how to build a page but why it should be built a certain way. Right now I'm pushing further into building custom WordPress plugins from scratch instead of just working inside existing ones.
Writing Alongside Code
I also write, mostly about AI tools, prompts, and the same design instincts that carry over from building websites to writing clear sentences. It turns out structuring a good blog post and structuring a good page aren't that different: think clearly, organize it well, ship it.
What I've Built
Everything from that first job eventually pushed me to build my own thing. That's Slaytic, a web dev and design studio, and alongside it, Slaytic Converter (tools.slaytic.com), a free browser-based toolkit with 230+ tools for PDF, image, video, and file conversion.
The whole thing runs client-side. No server uploads, no third-party file handling. It started because I wanted a real answer to "why do I have to upload my file to some random site to convert it," and it grew from there into a full multi-tool platform built on Next.js 14, TypeScript, and Tailwind, deployed for free on Vercel.
Why I'm Writing This
I'm posting this partly to introduce myself to the Dev.to community, and partly as a reminder to myself: where you start doesn't decide where you end up. You learn what you can, take the opportunities you get, and keep shipping.
Still building. Just getting started.
Top comments (1)
Really appreciate you sharing this, Basit. Going from learning WordPress at Icon Pro Solutions to building your own platform with Slaytic is inspiring. Rooting for what's next.