Youssef Mahmoud
The Warrior's Journey
The Natural Athlete
Since I was young, I was an athlete. I started with **Gymnastics** and was a naturally talented boy. Then I moved to **Karate** and earned my Yellow Belt. After that, I transitioned to **Kung Fu Sanda**, competing in multiple local championships winning every single one of them, the first one I faced 2 boys 2 matches, one was fit for me and the other was taller and more experienced than me, but I won, I fighted like I do not have a choice, I derived my self like a bullet toward the taller one.
The last championship was the best one, it was after I trained well, I was training in 2 gyms, one for Kung Fu and one for MMA, I was training hard. Alongside Kung Fu, I was practicing **MMA (Mixed Martial Arts)**. I was remarkably talented; whenever I walked into any gym, everyone was amazed by my speed and power. I was fast, I was strong I was a beast.
Parkour Man
I was intersted in Parkour, I loved it and started watching videos to learn, I was practicing it alone and with friends, I was jumping from walls and I let my self go further and further.
I love Quran
I love Quran and I try to read it every day, I love to listen to Quran so much, I learned how to read and prounce Quran
I started to be Emam in the mosque when I was 25 years old, I was praying in a mosque that the Emam not show regular to pray, so I said to one of the mosque workers that I can pray for people, and they liked it, so I started to be Emam in the mosque.
Then Every Ramadan I was praying Tarawih for people.
Shaping the Mind
Parallel to sports, I was a voracious reader. I dove deep into **self-development, religion, and novels**. I consumed countless motivational videos about studying and work. This fueled my **discipline mode** I learned English, and continuously shaped both my body and my mind.
The Academic Grind
To be honest, I didn't like traditional studying at all; I hated it so much. However, I pushed through, graduated, and finally earned my Bachelor's Degree in Social Work.
The Real-World Hustle
Working across these multiple fields taught me the value of the grind. Each role was a lesson in resilience, but I knew I was destined for something more.
The Starting Point
The last Medical store I worked in was the true starting point of my programming journey.
I can't pinpoint exactly what drove me to start; I just remember that I needed to **change my life**.
I felt lost, with no real goals, despite the reading and the workouts. It wasn't enough.
In that store, there was a PC we used for stock management. I was managing the store alone, I organized my life and fixed my mindset to be more disciplined. Every day at work, I would sit at that PC and watch YouTube videos about programming. When a customer came in, I'd serve them, then immediately go back to learning.
Started with HTML & CSS with Osama ElZero → JavaScript → Bootstrap.
The Indian Connection
LinkedIn was my gateway. While building my first projects and portfolio, I found a post by an Indian guy. He needed someone with HTML, CSS, JS, and Bootstrap exactly what I had mastered. I reached out, we had a meeting, and I was terrified. "Is this real? Working with Indians? Salary in Dollars?" can I apply what I learned? I couldn't believe it until the first payment arrived. It was low, but it was the start. I even had to ask a friend to receive it on his visa because I didn't have one yet!
After 3 months, I knew it was time for more. white I was working in the medical store and also with the Indian guy I kept building, kept applying, when I back to home I learn and work, and forged a new mindset: **"Go to the interview to hear 'No', not 'Yes'. It's okay. Just go, try, and never mind the outcome."**
I got my first interview on a freelance platfrom, but I was not fit for the job yet, the second one what on site,I got a call from one of the the company, he said: you have applied in Front end posistion at our company, I said when ? what company ? he said the information about him and his company and i Just said yes of course, I realy forgot that I applied to this company hahaha, then when it comes the interview day, I closed the Medical store, I went to the interview, I with a mindset of: just go to see what is that company, what is it look like, just do not panic, just be calm
Before I go I studed a little to refresh my mind, and I went to the interview, and I can not believe that It was so so easy, a back end developer did the interview with me, he was know a little about what he asking, but he just wanted to know that I understand the code, concepts, logic, then he told me: we will call you .
after about 1 week, I got my call to go to a 3 months training with a basic salary as starting, to insure that I am ready for the job and the annual contract, I was so happy, I left the medical store, and I started my journey as a front end developer with React.js .