Case Study: Sarah Kornblum

How did you find out about WP Rockstar and GeekPack®?

So I think I found out about WP Rockstar and GeekPack® from Facebook ads when the five-day coding challenge was coming up. And so I learned about the five-day coding challenge, and that's how I initially got in. So I started with the five-day coding challenge, and then I liked it so much. I signed up for WP Rockstar back Awesome.

What was life like before joining WP Rockstar and GeekPack®?

Life before joining WP Rockstar and GeekPack® was very different for me because I was a middle school math teacher and it gave me the confidence to quit my job and become a web designer and web developer full time. I officially quit at the end of June.

What actions did you take as a result of taking the WP Rockstar program and being a part of the GeekPack® community?

So the actions that I took as a result of taking the WP Rockstar program were that I was able to market myself as a developer and not just a designer because I learned how to do the back-end aspects of website development. And I felt like that gave me the confidence to do so. Great. Thank you. And have you earned back your investment in WP Rockstar and GeekPack®? I have definitely earned back my investment in WP Rockstar and GeekPack®.

How long did it take you to earn back your investment in WP Rockstar and GeekPack®?

It took me ten months to earn back my investment in WP Rockstar and GeekPack®. Not just because I feel like in the beginning, it's hard to find clients, but once I started finding clients, then they started coming more frequently.

When did you start with that GeekPack®?

April. 2020? Yeah. That's when I started. But yeah, it took me probably until it took me until like the following February to actually get, like, real paying clients. I was, I did like pro bono work but it took, it took a while, but since then it's been good. But up until that, it just. It takes you a while. Yeah. Yeah. And I also did I did like three for free at first and 11 that is bartering. So by doing that, though, it gives you someone that will speak for you if they like your work, so. Right, exactly. It gives you confidence. It gives you the skills that you may not have had. So there's definitely value to it when you're starting out to do the bartering and to do the free, free websites just to get word of mouth, especially when you're coming from something that's totally different. Yeah. Yeah, I agree.

Do you feel supported when going through WP Rockstar and being a part of the community?

I definitely feel supported in going through the WP Rockstar program and being a part of the GeekPack® community. I still even. I'm coming up on two years of having joined, I still reference back to the things in the WP Rockstar program that Julia made the videos of originally because I'm like, Oh, wait, how do I do that again? And it's nice to have those videos to go back to. And then any time I have a question, I can just pop in and take it back. And there's somebody in there that knows something about what I'm talking about, even though I don't necessarily know what I'm talking about.

Did you feel intimidated by coding before joining WP Rockstar GeekPack®?

I did not feel intimidated by coding before joining WP Rockstar and just because I knew nothing about it. So I didn't know that I needed to be intimidated by it. And then when I started with it, I was just confused because I didn't really understand how like everything really worked or was linked together. I did the five day coding challenge and I made it through and I was like, Am I supposed to have remembered what I did or am I supposed to have, like, understand what was happening? So going from the five day coding challenge to the WP program was a huge, huge benefit. And then even in the beginning of the program, you're still like going through the steps and you're doing it and you're like, Am I supposed to know what I'm doing here? But then by the time you work through the different modules and you get to the end, you're like, All right, this makes sense now. So it's worth sticking with it just because even though in the beginning it seems like you're never going to understand what's happening, you actually do end up understanding what's happening. Oh, that's awesome. I love that you were not intimidated because you didn't know. Usually people are like just the opposite room because they don't know I. Just I didn't know. Like, I was like people are like, Oh, this is so hard. I'm like, I don't even. Know what this is.

What are your future plans?

I have no idea. I actually. So I don't know what my future plans are just because I feel like I'm new to being a business owner. And every month brings new projects and new people that I interact with on different levels. And so I'm right at this point, just seeing where that all takes me and and how I can work everything that I'm currently doing into my business moving forward and how I want to take that in a future direction. That's awesome. Yeah. Yeah. I find it hard to plan too far. Yeah. You just an adventure. And for me, I'm just going with the flow. Yeah. So my first. Barter for. A website was for a life slash business coach, and this was like this was last year, but she and I are still we're still in contact. Like, I still we meet like every couple of months to like go over what my plans are and like, she calls me when she needs help with her website. But I met with her last night and she was like, so where do you want to be a year from now? I'm like, I don't even know where I want to be a month from now. Yeah. Like, things change so quickly. I don't know. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, things change. And I change her mind all the time, so I won't even bother. Thank for. I'm always interested to see where people pivot their businesses to and like how they got there and why, because I have no idea. So I just talked, so I just talked to everybody because I don't know, like, I don't know what I want to do and how I want to take things. So I'm always interested to see how other people chose the direction that they chose. Yeah, I agree. Yeah. And I'm still doing like I saw like maintenance clients. And there's one you saw to, but now I have one designer, brand specialist that I get subcontract work from. So I saw that. But I'm not like actively seeking that type of work. So I might do a little bit of advertising. I was thinking like just a little bit like a post or something, but yeah, just like you go with the flow one day and you buy up and that's wonderful.

What would you say to someone on the fence about joining WP Rockstar and GeekPack®?

I would say to somebody who's on the fence about joining WP Rockstar and get back to do it. If they have any interest in web design or development, it will give you a good measure of it. If this is something that interest you and if it's something that you want to do, and if it is something that you're into, then it gives you a really good foundation to be able to start working on your own or if you want to, to be hired out and work for somebody else. It could work in either direction for you.