Happy New Year! 🎉

As a self employed 20 year old hardware developer, 2023 kicked my ass.

I had to take a break from posting but here's a look inside the chaos from my year! 🧵⬇️

(1/11) 🏚️I lived on $300/mo after cutting off a toxic business / living arrangement. In those 4 months:

- Applied to 150+ jobs (got none)
- Designed random shit on Fiverr
- Tutored security & networking

pic 1: doing my first job interview, in a friend's car

(2/11) 👨‍💻 On the side I spent 60-80 hrs/week designing #hardware and learning embedded development.

My favorite #projects were these Astral Heart Earrings I made for my girlfriend, and a cat-themed WiFi-hacking console!

(3/11) 🗺️ I felt isolation weighing on me and pushed myself to speak at as many conferences as I could.

I presented at BSides San Diego, BSides Las Vegas, DEFCON RedTeamVillage, hackaday Supercon, Crowd Supply Teardown, Open Hardware Summit, LayerOne Security Conference, socallinuxexpo and attended more!

(4/11) 🛹 I skated over 400 miles this year.

Delivering 200+ packages, buying groceries, and exploring without a car stacked up fast!

This also rekindled my interest in #warskating and urban exploration 🏙️

(5/11) 📡 I randomly decided to document one of my #wardriving projects on Hackster.io.

My project went somewhat viral, sold a couple hundred units, and was the first time I saw profit this year.

dnsdriveby.com was my first breakthrough! 🚗📡

(6/11) 📹 After my article was discovered, I landed my first job with @ThistleSec creating #hardware content!

This gave me the flexibility to explore #contentcreation and renewed my passion for educational hardware.

(7/11) 🐈 I finally had funds to resume working on my passion project - the Nugget! (now DevKitty)

I was still struggling financially/mentally, but enjoyed developing #opensource hardware and accessible educational tools.

I led multiple classes & started new projects!