Design Your Ideal Life with Code

From the desk of Kaelan Moss

RE: - Coding is a Recession Proof Skill

This is my coding journey - I hope this inspires you.

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The Ideal Code Life: (My Story)

For most of my life, I never wanted to code.

I was too scared.

The fear of not knowing this "Language" was too much for me to bear.

Learning how to code felt like learning Arabic.

It just seemed too difficult.

So I stuck to Marketing Cloud Admin or Email Specialist roles for most of my career.

I was a master at configuring your Salesforce or Marketing Cloud org.

But as time went on, I started to feel stagnant.

For 4 years, I helped people become marketing cloud consultants at Revolent.

I felt like I hit a plateau.

I knew the admin side really well.

But I knew there was more.

AndI I didn't want to stop when I knew i had a higher ceiling.

Plus, I knew that I wanted to make more money if I want to live in southern California

So, I couldn't stay where i was at.

Something had to give.

And that "something" was me.

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I decided to go out on my own and become an independent marketing cloud consultant.

It was the first time I felt free to step out on my own.

I knew that my marketing skills would open doors for me to meet clients.

I just needed a new opportunity.

Thats when a pharmaceutical company asked me to write AMPscript for their emails.

I told them I'd be happy to help.

They signed me for a 3 month project and I was off to the races.

I learned a lot with that client.

I learned how to do business requirements (The right way)

Yes, there is a right and a not so right way to gather requirements.

I got to see how a serious project manager operates.

Great project managers focus on the product deliverables and very little else.

From a functional Consultant Perspective, (aka the people side of consulting), I learned a ton.

I learned how to write user stories.

I learned how to write efficient test scripts (which is kinda like making a training course for your end users).

And, I learned how to code.

Coding was the part that pushed me the most.

I knew I could figure out the people side of marketing cloud.

It was the coding part that scared me.

I remember sitting in my room working on an email, frustrated beyond belief.

But those times were the most pivotal for me.

I was able to learn through trail by fire.

I had to get the emails built and sent out the door.

So I read:

• Official documentation

  
  

• Blog posts

  
  

• StackExchange posts

  
  

• Reddit posts

  
  

• Trailblazer posts

  
  

• Anything I could find really

And I learned to understand things from a 1st principles perspective.

I couldn't cut any corners.

When you're dealing with code, you have to know things at a ROOT level.

I learned so much about marketing cloud during that time frame.

I learned things that I never had to know as a marketing cloud admin or email specialist.

But as a marketing cloud developer, I learned the structure of marketing cloud (under the hood)

Fast forward 3 months, and I finished that pharmaceutical contract.

But, I wanted a break.

I had to take time and digest everything I learned from that contract.

So I took a python class that summer.

After I did that Python class I knew I was ready for more coding.

I walked around with more confidence than before.

So I was looking for my next marketing cloud client.

And I wanted that client to give me more coding work.

And thats exactly what happened.

My next client wanted me to build a custom preference center in marketing cloud.

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So I went all in

I learned the structure of marketing cloud (even more than before).

Understanding how subscribers flow through marketing cloud is like a plumber who knows the drains of a house.

You know how marketing cloud works if you know how subscribers flow through marketing cloud.

Everything else is just the code that it takes to power the movement through the pipes.

The data needs to move to different parts of marketing cloud.

You just need the code to move it around.

And that's exactly what I learned.

I learned the inner workings of marketing cloud and I just needed to know how to push it where I wanted.

That's where the DEEP level of coding knowledge started to kick in.

• I had to learn AMPScript on a deeper level

• I had to learn SSJS on a deeper level

• And I had to hone my HTML and CSS skills

A custom preference center teaches you soooo much about marketing cloud.

Its one of the most holistic projects to teach you how the whole marketing cloud system works.

You have to know marketing cloud at its roots to build a proper custom preference center.

As I built this custom preference center, i learned how to code even more than before.

And i didn't think too much about it.

Until my client asked me to build ANOTHER custom preference center.

When I took that on, I learned even more!

When I realized how much I still didn't know, I thought to myself:

"What else do i not know"?

I knew that there were levels to the game of marketing cloud (*and coding)

And I was still at level one.

So I learned how to build the next custom preference center in marketing cloud.

Around that time i would listen to Alex Hormozi a lot.

Alex said something along the lines of:

A Quote I heard from Alex Hormozi

I'm probably butchering what Alex said.

But it was along those lines.

After hearing that, I thought to myself:

"If I learn how to code, I wont need to worry about job security because so few people want to do it."

Clients need coders because:

The harder it is, the fewer people who know how to do it.

There aren't many people who know how to code simply because they think its too hard.

I used to think the same way.

If you want to upgrade:

• The projects you work on

• Your work life balance

• Your job security

• And your income

Then give coding a chance.

Especially if you already work in tech.

The world is moving towards most of the jobs being either coding jobs or AI jobs.

And the more you know how to code, the more you'll know how AI works.

It's the wave of the future.

Everything is going that way.

Soon, everything will be either handled by:

• AI agents.

• Or someone who can code WITH the agent.

Now is the time to learn how to code.

Now is the time to do the hard projects.

Now is the time to study a coding language

If you want to separate yourself from the pack, coding is a good way to do it.

If you don't want to worry about job security, coding can help.

If you want to make more money, coding can get you there.

I made the decision to take coding more serious.

And as I've taken it more serious, I've seen more opportunities to make more money.

At this point, i have the skills to make $150,000 bare minimum for a client who needs a marketing cloud developer and consultant.

But that's what I wanted out of life.

I wanted more job security.

I wanted to make more money (and work less).

This is a part of the ideal life that I'm building.

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The goal is still southern California.

And I'm closer to it today than I was before.

And it's because i learned something that was hard at the beginning, but well worth it in the long run.

When you think long term, you accomplish a lot more.

Coding is a long term game.

Its not a get rich quick scheme.

Its a skillset that will serve you many times over.

I highly recommend learning how to code.

You can truly design your ideal life with code.

Kaelan Moss - MinuteAdmin Out ✌🏽

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PS - When you're ready, here's how I can help:

The Marketing Cloud Career Development Program.

I put all my knowldge as a marketing cloud consultant into this program.

If I do a new project, the lessons get added into this program.

It grows with time (so you can grow your marketing career with it)

The Marketing Cloud Career Development Program