Open To Work

I won't bury the lede, I'm looking to go back to work full-time. I'm thankful to not be under financial strain, so I'm not rushing into anything. Instead I'm coming at this from a place of genuine interest in finding the right opportunity for me. Recently I've had some great conversations with interesting companies, and it helped me realize that there are some things I miss about not being an indie.

I'm putting this post out into the universe to find the right fit, and the best place to start is to tell you why I'm going back to work and what I'm looking for.

Why?

1. I miss working with people. Being an indie has always been a dream of mine, but working with people is something I haven't been able to replicate, and it's easily the biggest reason I want to go back to work. An obvious sign of how lonely this can be is that I cherish the time I work with contractors. It's not that I'm paying people to work with me, I have real work that needs help — but I find it much more fulfilling than working alone. There's something deeply rewarding about working with people, building relationships that outlast many products, and moving together in the same direction to make something special.
2. Being an indie is rewarding as heck, but also hard. When I went indie I imagined a life with full creative control over my product. And truth be told I have that, and I freakin' love it. But marketing, sales, and running a business are roles that drain me. I need a break from that and want to focus on what I do best: engineering, product, teaching, and mentorship. I take my work seriously because it's a large part of who I am, so I'm not looking for just any job. I want one where those qualities are respected and appreciated.
3. I'm moving into a new phase of my life, and I'm ready to go back to work. I left Twitter in 2022 to pursue my indie dream, but I left the workforce sooner than I planned. I was dealing with a sudden onset pain all over my body that no doctor could diagnose, and it consumed a large part of my life. I needed time to figure out what was happening, and after seeing close to 100 doctors, six months ago I was diagnosed with a genetic condition. I've been in treatment since and have recovered enough to work full time again. The silver lining is that I've been working 40+ hour weeks as an indie through all of this, so a full time job may even feel like a break. 😅

How I Got Here

When I started building Plinky, my career had been spent as an iOS developer with generalist tendencies — doing whatever the team needed. But when I became the only person working on a product, I had to become the product manager, designer, marketer, and business person too. I built something small enough that it wasn't a full salary, but much bigger than I'd ever made on my own. And I've kept building it every day since.

At the same time came the ChatGPT moment. I became obsessed with it immediately, feeling strongly this technology would change how many people use technology and build products. From the first time I taught someone how to build an app using AI, I discovered something: I love to teach.

These days I spend a large portion of my time teaching AI workshops, and help teach AI and everything software at the non-profit Pursuit. I also teach every chance I get. And it turns out I'm really good at it. I've run almost 30 workshops in the last year, and people come back telling me it's changed the way they work. I get great feedback about my writing at build.ms, my conference talks, and my open source work too.

A few weeks ago I met Cassidy Williams at Deep Dish Swift, and she said something I'd never considered before. Everything I've done and my innate skillset fits really well into a developer relations role. Once she said that, I couldn't stop thinking about it.

I wear many hats and I'm a domain expert, but what matters most is that I'm a great teacher. When I lean into those strengths I'm at my best, and 15+ years into my career I just want to use them to help others.

What Am I Looking For?

I'm looking for a role that combines my technical knowledge with my passion for teaching and helping others grow, so I'm focusing my search in on these four roles.

1. Developer relations. I never thought about this role despite running an iOS community of 5,000 developers for 11 years, speaking at conferences, and always finding opportunities to teach and mentor. But running 30 workshops and teaching hundreds of people over the last year proved to me that I don't just love it, I'm really good at it. I've spent 15 years working in open source, building communities, giving talks, and running meetups. In a way, my whole career has been building to this. A common theme throughout has been empowering others to be the best versions of themselves — by meeting them where they are — and I'd love a job where that's my primary goal.
2. Agentic engineering. I don't just teach AI, I build with it. I "write" code with AI every day, I build AI tools, and I help people and companies integrate AI into their workflows. People have told me my work has transformed what they thought was possible to do with technology, and I want to keep experiencing that professionally. Thanks to AI I'm not only solving more problems, but taking on bigger challenges than I have ever before. There's a real thrill in that, and I'd love to build that experience into products that serve a greater purpose or mission.
3. AI adoption and organizational readiness. Beyond building with AI myself, I've found a real joy in helping organizations adapt to the new ways of working with AI. I've spent the last year helping companies think through AI adoption: choosing the right tools and services, building internal infrastructure, and helping teams make space for AI while keeping their work moving. Every company will have to figure this out, and I see it as an opportunity to make real impact.
4. iOS development. I've done this for 15 years and you can see from my resume that I'm very well-respected in this space. But honestly, I'm more interested in a new challenge than I am at being the best. Growth has always mattered more to me than mastery, and the computing landscape has changed enough that I want to do more than iOS alone. But exceptions apply: if you're a company doing social good, I'd love to hear from you. I only have so much time to make the world a better place, and I'd be fulfilled using my iOS skills toward that. (Sorry, that means no fintech, crypto, or gambling apps.)

So what about Plinky?

Good news, I'm going to keep working on that! I love the app too much to abandon it, it's something I use every single day. I have an exciting roadmap that includes Reader Mode (in beta now), APIs and AI automations, plus some features I'm not ready to discuss yet. And with a salary I'll also be able to afford some more help to keep Plinky moving forward.

Another reason I'm confident about this direction is that for the last year I've been running two businesses, between Plinky and my AI Workshops. And yet, the pace of development hasn't slowed down. This is in large part due to the work I've done to make Plinky an agent-friendly codebase (beyond vibecoding), so I feel confident I can continue supporting Plinky on nights and weekends.

Let's Talk

If you'd like to work together, please do reach out. Here's a resume for developer relations roles, and one for AI/product engineering. My career is far more interesting than two single-spaced pages can capture though, so I'd love to talk to you.

And thank you to everyone who's supported me as an indie. While I may not be an indie full-time soon, I'm still going to be one! Most of all I feel so lucky to be in a position where I control my own destiny, and can choose whatever happens next.