People always talk about “career success” like it’s some grand plan, like you map it all out and just follow the yellow brick road straight to the top. But for me, back around 2022, it was more like I just kept bumping into things in the dark until I finally found a light switch, you know?
My main gig was okay, paid the bills, but I felt this itch. Like I was stuck. Scrolling through social media, I’d see all these small local businesses, your neighborhood bakeries, the guy fixing pipes, the small flower shops, they all had these janky looking videos. Just poorly shot stuff, no real flow. And I thought, “Man, someone could really do a better job for them.” Not for big bucks, but just to make their stuff look a little sharper online.
So, the idea just popped into my head: “Why don’t I try making some videos?” I had absolutely no clue what I was doing. Never touched video editing software in my life. But that feeling of being stuck, it was stronger than any fear of looking dumb. I wanted to build something for myself, outside of the usual routine. Just to see if I could.
First thing I did was dig out my ancient laptop. This thing was a dinosaur, barely ran word processing. I knew it wasn’t gonna cut it for anything serious, but it was all I had. Then, I hit the internet. Spent hours, like, actual hours, just searching for “free video editing software for beginners.” Tried one, hated it. Tried another, crashed immediately. Finally found one that seemed, well, less bad. It was clunky, for sure, super basic, but it actually opened.
Next step? YouTube. That became my university. I swear, I must have watched hundreds of hours of those “Video Editing for Dummies” type tutorials. Paused them, tried to follow along, rewound them a million times. My eyes would be burning by midnight. My wife would come in, shake her head, and tell me to go to bed. But I just kept at it. Trying to understand what “cuts” meant, or “transitions,” or why the sound always sounded like I recorded it in a tin can. My first few attempts were straight-up garbage. Think shaky cam, weird sudden music changes, terrible lighting. Honestly, embarrassing stuff.
After a few weeks of just messing around, I figured I needed a real project. Something to actually finish. So, I walked over to the local bakery – the one with the really good sourdough. I told the owner, a nice lady named Maria, “Hey, Maria, your bread is awesome, but your Instagram videos… not so much. I’m trying to learn video editing. Can I make you a short promo video? For free? Just for practice, no strings attached.” She just laughed and said, “Sure, kid, knock yourself out.” She probably thought I was crazy.
I went back the next day, phone in hand. Shot some super basic clips of her kneading dough, pulling bread out of the oven, people buying stuff. Came back home. That’s when the real headache started. Importing the clips, trying to piece them together. The software kept freezing. The audio wouldn’t sync right. I cussed at that laptop more times than I can count. There were moments, late at night, when I just wanted to close the lid, give up, and never think about video again. It felt impossible. My family saw me frustrated. They’d ask if it was even worth it. And honestly, I didn’t have a good answer then.
But I kept pushing. I really wanted to finish it. After what felt like an eternity, I finally had something that looked… passable. Barely. Sent it to Maria. She called me the next day, all excited. Said it was “charming” and her customers loved it. That tiny bit of positive feedback, man, it was like a shot in the arm. It made all those late nights and crashes worth it.
That was the start. From there, I got another gig for a small coffee shop, then a local dog groomer. All for really small money, sometimes just store credit. But each one was a new puzzle. How to make the coffee look steaming, how to make the dogs look cute without them jumping all over the place. I learned to talk to clients, to manage what they expected versus what I could actually deliver with my basic setup. I had one client who just kept changing their mind, literally every day, until I just had to tell them, “Look, this is it, or you get nothing.” It was a tough conversation, but I learned about setting boundaries.
Why did I stick with it through all that hassle and frustration, you ask? Well, it wasn’t some grand vision, you know. My main job, while steady, wasn’t going anywhere fast, pay-wise. And with my youngest getting ready for school, the household budget was getting tighter. I remembered a few years back, during some company restructuring, when I thought I was going to lose my job. That feeling of dread, of not having any backup plan, it really stuck with me. This little video thing, even though it was small, felt like building a life raft. A way to have a bit more security, a little extra cash, just in case. It wasn’t about becoming rich, it was about not being completely dependent on one thing. It was about peace of mind, really.
I didn’t become a famous video editor or anything. But over time, I slowly upgraded my laptop, got better software that didn’t crash every five minutes. The small gigs started adding up. Not enough to quit my day job, no way, but enough to make a real difference in the monthly budget. Enough for those little extras we couldn’t usually afford. More than the money, though, it showed me I could actually learn something completely new and build something from scratch. That confidence, that feeling of capability, actually bled into my main job. I started speaking up more in meetings, feeling more secure. I even finally asked for that raise I’d been putting off. Sometimes, “success” isn’t a direct path up some corporate ladder. Sometimes it’s just building your own wobbly little ladder, rung by painful rung, and finding out what you’re really made of.
