Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about how my relationship with career growth has changed.

For the longest time, I thought growth meant climbing a ladder. Moving from intermediate to senior. Collecting titles. Chasing the next level. That was the default path. You move up, not out.

But at some point, that stopped feeling like growth. It started feeling like alignment with someone else’s system. Real growth for me started happening in a different direction.

I’m calling this my portfolio career era. It’s about building range instead of rank. I’ve been spreading my time across different roles, projects, and ideas that teach me new things and stretch me in ways a single path couldn’t.

My new Principal Data Solutions role has been a big part of that shift. It’s part-time, but it gives me variety and ownership. I get to lead projects, work directly with stakeholders, and build data systems that actually impact people’s lives. It’s challenging in the best way, and it doesn’t drain me.

At the same time, my main role as an intermediate developer keeps me grounded. It’s where I stay sharp and practice technical depth. Balancing both has forced me to be intentional about energy and boundaries. I don’t stretch myself just to stay busy anymore. If something doesn’t align with where I’m trying to go, I leave space for what does.

I’ve realized that growth isn’t always vertical. Sometimes it’s sideways. Sometimes it’s about becoming more T-shaped, exploring new domains, and connecting ideas that don’t usually meet.

Building CanadianRecalls.ca publicly was the spark for all of this. What started as a small civic-tech project turned into a gateway to real healthcare data work. I’ve been able to apply the same analytical and dashboarding skills to hospital data, learning how information moves, how it affects decisions, and how to make it more meaningful. I’m slowly stepping into areas like data engineering and machine learning, and it feels like the kind of skill set that will only keep growing in value over time.

Reflection

When I think about my career path, I see two directions it could have gone.

1. The High-Comp Senior Engineer Path

This is the classic one: focus on a single discipline, go deep, and master your craft. You build speed, context, and expertise. Historically, this path could get you around $180–220k CAD in stable companies, maybe more in startups.

But lately, that curve has been flattening. With AI, automation, and low-code tools becoming more capable, the market is shifting. It’s still a solid path, but it can plateau faster unless you add another layer like data, ML, or product thinking.

2. The Multi-Specialist / Hybrid Path

Then there’s the hybrid route, blending software with data, AI, or cloud. It’s about being the bridge between domains. Someone who can build data pipelines, write production code, and still reason about business metrics or ML operations.

It’s harder to keep up with everything, sure. But the payoff is flexibility, higher ceilings, and long-term relevance. Hybrid talent is rare, and it fits where the industry is heading: AI-driven systems, integrated data workflows, and cross-functional problem-solving.

I chose the second path because it makes sense for where I am in life. I don’t have dependents right now, which gives me the flexibility to maximize this window of time. I want to earn as much as I can in a sustainable way, not out of greed, but out of strategy. Every role, every skill, every project is a building block for something long term.

I’m excited about where I’m heading. Not because of titles or promotions, but because it finally feels like I’m growing in a way that’s mine.