Paris

I begin my story in 2018, when I was working at a company near the Opéra Garnier.

Following the economic layoff of about ten people, I benefited from a Professional Security Contract (CSP).

The CSP is a support program for returning to employment, funded by the company that laid us off.

That year, 2019, I developed my skills in object-oriented PHP and the Symfony framework.

I knocked on many company doors, and in October I found a job as a developer at a company linked to the Solidarity Economy and International Solidarity, which I had practiced in my younger years.

This company was located a 10-minute walk from my home in the 10th arrondissement — at least for my job interview.

No sooner had I been hired than the company moved to the other side of Paris, to Levallois-Perret!

Great atmosphere, I really enjoyed the work, it let me put into practice what I had learned, and it was a pleasure.

Then came COVID-19 and remote work, which I experienced quite well in my 16 square-meter apartment with my wife and my cat!

Remote work became the new norm, and there was talk of continuing to work remotely beyond the health crisis.

Meanwhile, I had received some money from the sale of a family house, and we thought we could buy a house on credit ourselves.

Since we were moving to the provinces anyway, I wanted to discover a new region — I already knew Besançon and Montpellier.

I remembered someone who had talked to me about Albi in my youth, and while browsing listings, I found a house in the area.

So I went there by train to visit; the house had a large threatening crack on the facade, so no — but my heart was set on the region!

I went back a second time to visit 8 houses, driven by my mother and stepfather who live in an adjacent region.

I fell in love with my current house, near Cordes-sur-Ciel.

Cordes-sur-Ciel

We moved in November 2021 and I was still under contract with the Levallois company, working remotely.

I had a large, sunny office and it was great.

Unfortunately, the company was barely surviving thanks to numerous subsidies and eventually had to file for bankruptcy.

The company was acquired by its Dutch competitor, for which I worked for another year on a fixed-term contract.

2023 arrived and I was out of work.

To find a job as a developer, I would have had to look toward Toulouse — and God knows that wasn’t convenient, but I was willing.

So I started searching every day.

At the same time, I took one online course after another to stay in front of the computer every day and not lose my edge.

Long story short, I was unemployed for 3 years.

It turned out that my CSP from 2019 had not been counted as unemployment, so I was eligible for my old benefits, then my new ones.

Barely had I lost my job when I spotted a company I was interested in: the creators of the Symfony framework I use.

In March 2023, I went up to Paris to attend a Symfony conference at the Cité Universitaire, which was quite an adventure.

Before the conference, I participated in training workshops at the offices of this company I was interested in.

Later that year I applied, but the entrance test was too hard.

In 2024, I trained on their online learning platform (paid) for 5 months, then retook the test and aced it!

The company’s CEO congratulated me and I was offered a remote position.

I went through several interviews and was positioned for a junior role, but the company was looking for more experienced people.

So I wasn’t able to work with them at that time, but the experience was valuable.

Late 2024, early 2025, I built an application for myself using Symfony and the Google Calendar API to keep my skills sharp.

After lengthy procedures, in March 2025, I managed to find a VAE (prior learning recognition) through OpenClassrooms to make up for not having a university degree, which had always worked against me.

In April 2026, I received my Software Designer-Developer diploma, which restored my confidence.

Once again, at the beginning of 2025 I had spotted a coaching offer on Instagram for creating or growing a web marketing agency.

I attended the same webinar twice, which explained how to do B2B prospecting, find companies with a need, and sell them websites, for example.

So after my VAE, I followed this coaching and launched my SANDBAVA Web Marketing Agency to compensate for the lack of work opportunities in the region.

And I find that brilliant! Because I built this website, dug out all my old creations, and realized I was talented and creative — and could be even more so in the future.

What I found is freedom!

It took me these 3 years to mature and move from obedience to the system to obedience to myself.

I find it wonderful to be able to interact with the emblematic companies of the village and region where I live.