Meet Muhammad Haadi Chohan

We recently connected with Muhammad Haadi Chohan and have shared our conversation below.

Muhammad Haadi, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.

I developed my confidence and self-esteem gradually through experience, rather than suddenly becoming confident.

Early in my career, I often questioned whether I was good enough, especially when I was working with technologies or problems I had never encountered before. As a developer, there were many situations where I had to learn something from scratch, whether it was a new framework, backend architecture, database, cloud infrastructure, or a production issue that needed to be solved quickly.

One thing that really changed my confidence was realizing that I didn’t need to know everything. I needed to be able to figure things out.

Over time, I started taking on bigger responsibilities. I moved from mainly working on individual features to working across the full stack, dealing with systems, deployments, databases, Docker, AWS, microservices, and production problems. Some of those situations were stressful, but every time I solved a difficult problem, I gained a little more confidence.

I also learned to stop comparing myself to people who were further ahead in their careers. Instead, I started comparing myself to who I was six months or a year earlier. That helped me recognize my own progress.

For me, confidence isn’t about believing that I will always have the right answer. It’s knowing that when I don’t have the answer, I have the ability to learn, ask questions, stay calm, and find a solution.

That mindset has become one of the most important parts of my professional and personal growth. My confidence today comes less from thinking, “I know everything,” and more from thinking, “Whatever challenge comes next, I’ll figure it out.”

Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?

I’m a full-stack software developer who enjoys turning ideas into real, scalable products. My work spans frontend and backend development, cloud infrastructure, databases, and distributed systems, which allows me to look at a product from both the technical and business perspective.

What I find most exciting about technology is the process of taking something that starts as an idea and turning it into something people can actually use. I’ve worked on a variety of products and platforms, from SaaS applications and communication systems to fintech and trading-related products. Each project has pushed me to learn something new and become better at solving complex problems.

One thing that has become especially important to me is building technology that can grow. I enjoy working on architecture, microservices, cloud deployments, performance, and reliability—not just making something work, but thinking about how it will continue working when the number of users and complexity increase.

I’m also at a stage in my career where I’m focused on growing beyond simply being a developer. I want to contribute more to product decisions, architecture, leadership, and ultimately help build products that create real value.

For me, technology is exciting because there is always another problem to solve, another skill to learn, and another opportunity to turn an idea into something meaningful.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Looking back at my journey, I would say the three things that have had the biggest impact on my growth are **curiosity, problem-solving, and taking ownership**.

**1. Curiosity and continuous learning**
Technology changes constantly, so I learned early that being willing to learn is more valuable than knowing everything. I’ve worked with different frontend and backend technologies, databases, cloud platforms, and infrastructure, and many times I had to learn something completely new to solve a problem. My advice to someone starting out is not to focus only on learning a specific technology. Learn how to learn. Build projects, experiment, read documentation, and don’t be afraid of technologies you don’t understand yet.

**2. Problem-solving**
A large part of my development journey has been learning how to approach problems rather than simply looking for quick answers. Whether it was debugging a production issue, improving performance, designing a system, or figuring out why something wasn’t working, I learned to break complex problems into smaller pieces. For people early in their careers, I would recommend spending time understanding *why* something works instead of only learning *how* to make it work. That deeper understanding builds confidence and makes you much more adaptable.

**3. Ownership and responsibility**
One of the biggest changes in my career happened when I stopped thinking only about completing the task in front of me and started thinking about the outcome. Taking ownership means caring about the quality of what you build, asking questions when requirements aren’t clear, thinking about what could go wrong, and being willing to take responsibility when things don’t go as planned. My advice is to gradually take on more responsibility. Don’t wait until you feel completely ready. Taking on challenges slightly beyond your comfort zone is where a lot of growth happens.

Most importantly, I would tell people early in their journey not to measure their progress against someone else’s timeline. Focus on becoming better than you were yesterday, keep learning, and give yourself enough time to build real experience.

Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?

I’ve been fortunate to have different people contribute to my growth at different stages of my career. Rather than one person, I would say my biggest support system has been the colleagues, mentors, managers, and teammates I’ve worked with along the way.

Working with people who were more experienced than me taught me the importance of asking questions, accepting feedback, and being open to approaches that were different from my own. At the same time, working alongside other developers challenged me to improve my technical skills and communicate my ideas more clearly.

My family has also played an important role by giving me the encouragement and stability to keep going, especially during periods when work was challenging or things didn’t go according to plan.

Ultimately, though, I’ve learned that people can give you guidance, but you have to take responsibility for your own growth. Every difficult project, mistake, deadline, and production problem became a learning opportunity. The people around me helped me navigate those situations, but the experience of going through them is what helped me develop the confidence and skills I have today.

Contact Info:

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