Noe Lopez was quick to enter the WordPress fold. In 2011 as a Web Design and Interactive Media student at the Art Institute of Tennessee here in Nashville, Noe was tasked to create a website requiring audio functionality.

Here, a musician is usually a stone’s throw away, and his neighbor just happened to need a WordPress site for his band. Noe completed his assignment and was on his new career path – a big change from being a supply manager in the Marine Corps.

Noe, then and now, loves WordPress for its ease-of-use. Clients used to have to contact him directly to make even the smallest of changes – now they can make those changes on their own, leaving Noe free to take a client’s big idea and “bring it to life using code.”

To new developers, he suggests two things:

1. Learn PHP
2. Don’t be afraid to break a website (as long as you back up the site beforehand!)

Noe graduated this past December and now works for AhSo Designs where he was previously an intern. WordPress was more than a career change for Noe; it was a life change. Actively involved in the Nashville WordPress community, he is very passionate about what he does and loves sharing his experience with others. You can see his WordCamp 2013 talk “My First 3 Months Working with WordPress” on WordPress.tv.