About Kurtis Pykes
Welcome to Kurtis Pykes’ Medium page! Updated March 11th, 2023
--
Table of Contents
About me
I’m an ex-professional footballer (soccer for my US friends), pastor, and postman but the best description for me now is probably a digital nomad — I’m still figuring it out. I know what you’re thinking, “that’s some career progression,” but it wasn’t planned.
My problem with football was its lifespan; Footballers typically retire around 33–37 years old. This means a professional career is about 18 years, given you signed your contract at 17 years. When I was 17, I turned my back on a professional contract offer from Dagenham & Redbridge FC, and at 19, I turned down the opportunity to continue my trial for Nottingham County FC. Some would argue that my long-term perspective hindered my progress, and they may be correct.
Either way, I ended up in church — it was no ordinary church. Youths were enthusiastic about God and willingly devoted themselves to the cause. I was there for four years. I committed myself wholeheartedly to learning more about God and helping others on their paths. This got me ordained as a Pastor at just 21 years old, which is extremely young by traditional standards. As time went on and I got deeper into the organization, I realized some extremely shady practices and began distancing myself until I completely detached in Jan 2019. It turns out, I was in a cult.
I left the church in debt, but towards the end of my time there, I was already thinking of what I wanted for my life. Ultimately, it boiled down to this: I wanted to learn a skill that didn’t require me to exert myself so it could outlive my body physically. That’s when I came across artificial intelligence and machine learning. I took up roles as a postman and then later a postroom assistant to fund my education which started in late 2017.
In June 2019, I landed my first internship as an ML engineer; The Covid-19 pandemic hit us in March 2020. I was furloughed and thought writing would be a good use of my time. In September 2020, the company was forced to make me redundant due to a lack of funds, but by that time, my freelance career had begun taking off.
Freelance opportunities came pouring in, and I haven’t looked back since.
Now we’re here :)
Subscribe to my newsletter for a pearl of wisdom on building a thriving freelance business once a week.
Publications
I have created two publications to make it easier for readers to find the topics they are interested in reading from me. Those publications are:
- Pykes Notes — I share thoughts on freelancing, productivity, and self-improvement.
- Pykes Technical Notes— I share how-to’s, listicles, essays, opinions, etc., about python, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.
Note: My contributions to these publications aren’t as frequent.
I’ve contributed to several other platforms and will likely continue this practice as we advance. These contributions are generally about machine learning, python programming, and freelancing.
Here are the four most recent publications you can find my work:
Social media
I’m a stout believer in Cal Newport’s deep work philosophy. Consequently, my status on any active social media account I control is often “busy.”
Most of my content is shared via social media schedulers, so please don’t mistake my activity for availability — I am not ignoring you.
I do this because I wish to devote most of my efforts to developing my skills, serving my clients, and helping others to thrive in the gig economy.
The remainder of my time is set aside for family and friends.
I do my best to respond to everyone, but sometimes circumstances do not allow me to do so.
Anyways, here are the social media platforms you can follow me on.
Contact me
My Website and LinkedIn are the best places to reach me for freelance-related opportunities.
I have Twitter just because. I spend the least time there.
Instagram is the worst place to contact me for business inquiries, but it’s great if you’re interested in keeping up with what I’ve been doing in my personal life.
My Newsletter is the best place to keep up with my freelancing advice.
Final word
I am truly grateful to you,
Thank you.
KP.
