How I became a Shopify Developer: Amy Mick

Welcome Amy! So when did you get into the world of programming?

That happened in college. My degrees were in engineering and business, so quite early on - I knew I wanted to work in tech.  

And right out of university, I worked with Accenture as an IT consultant for some years. Back then, I was programming with SAP, an ERP platform. From there, I went to grad school, worked elsewhere, and eventually went to manage my family’s distribution company.

I really enjoyed that experience, working in a smaller environment around small businesses. I found that you can make a strong impact in multiple areas rather than being too narrowly focused. I later sold and exited that business. And right after that is when I refreshed my coding skills, looking to re-immerse myself in web development, and found a real home in the Shopify ecosystem. Now I’m happy to do what I always wanted to do.

How did you level up your Shopify skills so quickly? 

The Shopify partner academy was useful, as was “Coding With Jan”, and “Chris the freelancer” on Youtube. But of course, ultimately you have to just sit down and do the work to get yourself through the learning curve.

Was it tough to find your first e-commerce projects?  

It was in the beginning. Starting from scratch and building up a network and portfolio requires a lot of work, and sometimes doing projects at a more affordable price, which isn’t ideal.  

But eventually, I found Storetasker in 2021 - and it’s been awesome. I like the autonomy that comes with being on here, while also having access to a fantastic network of other experts that you can ask questions of. And the admin team has also been tremendously helpful. 

Curious because you’ve worked in different capacities throughout your career: Are you enjoying the freelance life?

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I love it. I waited a while to be in a comfortable enough position to do this, and I’m enjoying every bit of it. It’s also great to be in the Shopify ecosystem, that’s still in hyper growth mode. 

Last question: What advice would you give to younger developers?

Time management is the one thing you should crack. In the world of freelancing, that’s the biggest change. When a client has issues with you, that will eat up your time and you won’t have an intermediary to go to - so plan extra buffer on your projects for that or for other personal emergencies. 

And the other thing is: Get good at identifying good and bad clients. You need to weed out the bad ones, who, more often than not, are not going to become any more pleasant over time. Weed them out and focus your time and attention on your good clients. 

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Thank you Amy! Appreciate you sharing those insights with us. 

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