How I went from self-taught doodler to Google illustrator in my twenties

Pete, my office manager, cackled on the phone to one of our clients.

The vein on my neck throbbed harder.

‘I’m never working in an office again,’ I thought.

In my early twenties, I worked in an office as a property magazine researcher.

I knew that life wasn’t for me.

I just felt restricted and needed more of a sense of autonomy and creative expression.

I had been developing a portfolio of designs online for a few months, hustling on the side, looking to make online income from selling my designs.

All self-taught. All from lessons I learned on YouTube.

I made a few hundred bucks a month from that.

Soon after, I landed my first illustration client on Elance — with The Singapore Business Times newspaper.

That was all the validation I needed to ditch the job and go it alone.

So, at 24 years old, I did.

I’m now 38. I haven’t worked in an office since.

I’ve been making money with my skills on the Internet for 15 years.

No sane person would have suggested I go fully freelance without 6 months worth of…