Am I an Indie Hacker?

I signed up this IH account 3 years ago, and this is my first post.

Back then (2018ish) I had newly learned to code and changed careers into tech, and I was looking for good resources I could use to keep learning during off-screen time. I discovered the Indie Hackers podcast, started listening regularly and quickly fell in love with it. It was the catalyst that showed me entrepreneurship was not only a feasible path, but the right one - the only one, for me. (Even though I'm not quite there yet). Indie Hackers showed me that I could.

Over the past few years, I've never quite felt ready to share, never quite thought I belonged here. I've been an occasional lurker, I guess, but still an avid listener of the podcast. I listen to every episode, some more than once, a few more than twice. I love the quality of the conversations, the other great resources and creators the show has put on my radar (shoutout Pieter Levels). There are tons of great podcasts, many that I love a lot, but Indie Hackers hands down has had the biggest impact on my trajectory and decision-making process as I build my current business and figure out what I want my life to look like. The podcast was just exactly what I needed right when I needed it.

I went back and forth for a long time on what kind of project to work on, starting and stopping and starting again. What I ultimately landed on is actually a physical-products, ecommerce business. That's what stuck, and what feels good. It's not code, but it's what I want to work on everyday. I've been iterating on the brand and the products for a couple of years at this point, and we're finally ready to officially launch in the next month or so. We're called Slow Wave, and we're a CBD brand that serves creative people and is obsessed with the creative process.

So, I feel compelled to make this post now for a couple of reasons.

Indie Hackers is why I started, and often what I come back to when I need encouragement to keep going. As the milestone of our launch date quickly approaches, I finally feel like I have something to share, like we're making real progress.

Not everything here is transferrable to ecomm, but so much of my mindset around business and building this brand has come from the mentality I learned and developed here.

And, I want to be a more active member here. I let fear and imposter syndrome hold me back a little bit, but I don't want to do this alone. I want to build with and be in community with likeminded makers, creators, and indie hackers.

I'm not (currently) building with code (or no-code) or making digital products. But, as I anticipate this launch, reflect on how I got to this point, and reach for what I know, I do feel like I belong here.

Can anyone relate to this?