Today we’d like to introduce you to Matthew Justice.
Hi Matthew, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
It all started about 8 years ago when I met the woman who is now my wife. I was at a place in my life where I was comfortable just working my way up at an entry-level job and maybe one day retiring as a manager or some similar position. After I met my wife, someone who suffers from some serious health issues, and became her full-time caregiver, this no longer became acceptable to me. I wanted a way to provide a good, comfortable life for both of us that allowed us to do the things we wanted AND allowed me the freedom to care for her as much as I needed. Enter: COVID. During the lockdowns, I took a risk on what is generally referred to as a “coding boot camp”. I have always had a love for technology and computers, to the point that building computers was a hobby of mine (whenever friends or family decided they wanted to buy a new one). This coding boot camp gave me my first introduction to web development and the overall world of programming as a whole, and I instantly knew that I had found my “thing”. Unfortunately, after I finished with the boot camp program, finding an actual job was next to impossible. Every employer I applied to either wanted a 4-year computer science degree or an equivalent amount of experience, and I had neither. I spent a couple of years looking for “official” jobs in my chosen field of web development, all the while working on side projects and contributing to open-source projects (websites/software whose code is completely public and anyone is welcome to make contributions to) that I could find. After still no luck finding a job, I decided to heck with it, I would make my own. Thus, my company Majic Web Design (Majic spelled with a J for my initials MAJ), was born! It was slow going at first, but through continuing to increase my knowledge through side projects and further open-source contributions (along with a HEFTY amount of networking), Majic is now finally what I would consider a success. With numerous small one-off websites for local businesses as well as 3 ongoing contracts with larger corporations spanning the globe, I could not be happier with how things have turned out. Most importantly, I’m my own boss. I work when I want and how much I want, allowing me to not only care for my amazing wife but also provide a comfortable life for us, exactly what I wanted.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The road has been very rough indeed. Making a career change, as I’m sure many know, is already a difficult prospect. I knew nothing about web development and was quite literally starting from scratch. On top of that, due to my wife’s health conditions, I was not only her caregiver but also the sole breadwinner for our small family of two. If it were not for the help of my family and hers, I am not sure we would have made it this far! I faced constant rejections from employers who listed jobs that I KNEW I had the skillset to do amazingly well at, but I lacked that crucial piece of paper from a college, telling them I had said skillset. I applied for literally hundreds of developer jobs to no avail. However, through my self-study and persistent, abundant networking in the web development spaces I wanted to be a part of, along with my decision to form my web development agency Majic, things have finally smoothed out.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Majic is here primarily to help local/small businesses by enabling them to have high-quality and well-performing websites at a fair and reasonable price, so they can compete with larger corporations that have infinite money to throw at these types of problems. We are proud to offer companies premium web design services and websites that are extremely fast and well-performing from an SEO (search engine optimization) perspective. We also take on freelance work from any company, regardless of size, billed at an hourly rate. With clients ranging from World Population Review (a population statistics website with thousands of monthly visitors whose data points have been featured on the news) to a local pest control business that’s been around for 20+ years called B&C Pest control, Majic aims to be a one stop shop for anyones web design and development needs, making sure to always offer fair affordable prices for smaller businesses.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
The most important thing I’ve learned is that I can learn anything. The internet is an amazing resource that most people have access to and contains the entire collected knowledge humanity has generated. If you want to learn something, you can. It might not be easy, but there are tools and resources out there, free ones, where you can learn the things you want. That, combined with networking in the spaces you want to be in, will lead you to companies/individuals that will recognize your knowledge and experience, as well as your drive, and enable you to better your future. Even if you don’t have that degree, even if you get denied hundreds of jobs like I did, I promise you can do it.
Pricing:
- $1000 – Single page marketing/portfolio site, great if you are just starting out
- $1500 + 100/month – Fully managed website for your small business including updates and maintanence (max 3 pages)
- $2000 + 100/month – For larger sites (3+ pages/e-commerce shops) also including maintanence and updates
- Consultation services/freelance work for larger companies, billed at $80/hour.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.majicwebdesign.com/
