Quick Profile: Meet Ryan Blunden, the technical master behind Start Small - Achieve Big. Ryan is 29 and is a husband, father, web developer and musician, and is currently living in San Francisco working for Williams Sonoma’s eCommerce division.
What was your big goal / dream?
To work as a Web Developer in the USA.
To work as a Web Developer in the USA.
After visiting the USA for 6 weeks in 2009 on a Rotary International leadership development program, I was drawn to the rapid pace of innovation, flourishing development community and heightened entrepreneurial attitudes of the web developers and programmers I met while in the USA.
After returning home, I briefly thought about the skills and experience I could get if only I could work in the USA, and the long term benefits it would have for my career. It’s important to note that at this stage though, I did not see it as a realistic goal.
How did you make it happen?
After returning home in 2009, all I knew was that I wanted to have new opportunities available to me for web development and I knew that in order for my opportunities to change, my behaviour had to change as well.
After returning home in 2009, all I knew was that I wanted to have new opportunities available to me for web development and I knew that in order for my opportunities to change, my behaviour had to change as well.
As a result, I:
- freelanced for several months to get experience in areas of which I previously had none,
- joined Flight Centre’s eCommerce development team to gain experience in a large Java enterprise environment in which I eventually became the technical lead of the front-end development team,
- started “Start Small - Achieve Big” with Laura Chee to gain more experience in running a service and socially oriented website,
- attended and presented talks at many local meet-ups about web development and made great friends and contacts along the way,
- tweaked my LinkedIn profile, and
- continued to work hard after hours in researching new trends in skills and technology in the US jobs market.
Then in March 2011, I was contacted by a global recruiting firm that was presenting a job opportunity in San Francisco. After some intense paperwork and a 45 minute phone interview, I had the job.
What was your Start Small step / goal?
My first task was to update my LinkedIn profile as I wanted to get an idea of what I would look like from a recruiter’s/company’s point of view, as well as what important skills and experience I thought I was missing in order to land a great job in the US. From then, it was figuring out how I had to “be” in order to “have” the outcome I wanted which was essentially a lot of research, hard work and helping to contribute to my local development communities.
My first task was to update my LinkedIn profile as I wanted to get an idea of what I would look like from a recruiter’s/company’s point of view, as well as what important skills and experience I thought I was missing in order to land a great job in the US. From then, it was figuring out how I had to “be” in order to “have” the outcome I wanted which was essentially a lot of research, hard work and helping to contribute to my local development communities.
What was the outcome and where are you at right now?
The outcome is that I now live in Haight/Ashbury in San Francisco, I work for a wonderful employer, helping their eCommerce sites contribute to their multi-billion dollar yearly turnover while meeting the best developers in the world at local conferences at Meetups at Google, Microsoft, LinkedIn and Twitter HQ.
The outcome is that I now live in Haight/Ashbury in San Francisco, I work for a wonderful employer, helping their eCommerce sites contribute to their multi-billion dollar yearly turnover while meeting the best developers in the world at local conferences at Meetups at Google, Microsoft, LinkedIn and Twitter HQ.
Did you have any obstacles along the way?
So many obstacles! And all of this happened while juggling band commitments and becoming a husband and a father to my beautiful daughter. I had visa issues, financial concerns, and it presented some of the most stressful times I’ve ever experienced.
So many obstacles! And all of this happened while juggling band commitments and becoming a husband and a father to my beautiful daughter. I had visa issues, financial concerns, and it presented some of the most stressful times I’ve ever experienced.
What helped you to Achieve Big?
I never gave up on my dream. That doesn’t mean I was always positive and believed it would happen. Sometimes I would lose sight of my goal, sometimes I would get lazy, sometimes I simply needed to focus on other things in my life.
The battle was won one very small victory at a time and most importantly, I learnt a huge amount and grew as a person in pursuit of my goal. Even if I had never gotten the chance to work in the US, I still would have been a better person for the effort, and it would have opened up new opportunities in Australia at the least.
The thing I was always mindful of was, “is the way I’m acting and what I’m doing in this day contributing to this goal?”. If I could answer this question in the affirmative, then at least I could sleep happy that I was giving it my all.
Final thoughts from Ryan
Goal setting is not something I’d say I’m good at (which is another reason I’m on this journey with Laura :) but persistence is, I don’t give up easily! If there is something you really, truly want in life, just make sure you’re moving towards it little bit by little bit, every day, every week or whatever you can manage.
Goal setting is not something I’d say I’m good at (which is another reason I’m on this journey with Laura :) but persistence is, I don’t give up easily! If there is something you really, truly want in life, just make sure you’re moving towards it little bit by little bit, every day, every week or whatever you can manage.
What I did to achieve my goal not only enabled me to achieve it, it's also set me on a trajectory to greater opportunities in web development for the rest of my career. It's not just about "achieving", it's about creating good habits and behaviours.
With goal setting, what matters most to me is not whether I achieve the goal or not, but being able to look back and say with 100% certainty that I gave it my best shot.
Well done Ryan! You started small and you have achieved big! Your determination and commitment has paid off!!!
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