Insights, ideas, and stories

  • Sean Sullivan

    Location: Saint Catharines, Ontario, Canada Age: 43 An unfortunate accident in 2014 may have limited Sean Sullivan’s ability to maintain a full-time schedule, but it didn’t dampen his determination to have a stimulating career anyway  At the time of the incident, Sean had worked for 10 years in the...

  • Rimaz Rauf

    Location: Dubai, UAE Age: 29 Job title: Web developer, SEO Rimaz Rauf has always been a power learner, especially when it comes to developing his IT skills Growing up and going to school in Sri Lanka, he did his own research, bought books, and watched videos to fill the void in his formal education As he put it,...

  • Kyle Truong

    Location: Windsor, Ontario, Canada Age: 23 Job title: Web quality assurance professional Without any other strong passions to guide him, Kyle Truong figured he’d default to what his parents wanted and become a doctor Unfortunately, when he graduated from college with a biology degree, his grades weren’t good...

  • How Udemy made a lifelong dream come true

    For 23 years, David Doost worked long hours at his printing business in Atlanta Until a couple years ago when his business partner, and best friend had a brain aneurysm and passed away suddenly This inspired David to sell his business and move his family abroad, an idea he had been putting off for a long time David...

  • Joe Marani

    Five years ago Joe Marani's mutual fund was bought out and his department was laid off Ten years out of school and without work Marani, of Marshfield, MA,  decided to pursue an untapped passion for art and design, and enrolled in a 3D Animation and Interactive Media Certificate Program at Boston University A year...

  • Mohamed Omar Dessouki

    Location: Cairo, Egypt Age: 29 Job title: Sports content development manager It’s a common assumption that the only people really succeeding with online courses are those who are super-motivated and already have a passion for self-guided learning While most early adopters of online learning may fit that...

  • Hayley Chiba

    Location: Bristol, UK Age: 50 Job title: Financial controller, owner of Better Numbers Ltd Instructor of: Learn Business Finance: Win More Work as a Business Coach It’s fairly common for Udemy instructors to take courses on the platform And sometimes our students wind up inspired to create their own courses...

  • Ken Haile

    Location: Grand Junction, Colorado, USA Job title: Data analyst Can a decades-long career change for the better in a matter of days It can if it’s Ken Haile learning web development on Udemy Ken launched his IT career in the late 70s, and over the course of many years, he’s had a hand in hardware, business...

  • Student profile: Anthony Gracey-Wright

    Name: Anthony Gracey-Wright Location: Los Angeles, CA Age: 29 Job title: Senior UX Designer Anthony Gracey-Wright has a lot going for him Not only is he now working his dream job, but he’s able to pursue his other passions through the creative collective he runs on the side But it wasn’t always like...

  • Student profile: Tomek Osuchowski

    Name: Tomek Osuchowski Location: Poland Age: 40 Enrolled in more than 20 courses We talk to students all the time who couldn’t find jobs after graduation Sometimes they discover college didn’t actually teach them marketable skills or they have no idea what they even want to do with their careers Sometimes...

  • Student profile: Bob Keaton

    Name: Bob Keaton Location: Harrisburg, PA Age: 53 Job title: Senior associate at consulting/lobbying firm Like most of us, Bob Keaton is always striving to get better at his profession And, like most of us, going back to school isn’t a realistic option -- or even an available one -- for what he wants to...

  • Student profile: Jérémie Tousignant

    Name: Jérémie Tousignant Location: Montreal Age: 22 years Job title: Full-time student Jérémie Tousignant loves learning so much, his biggest challenge is figuring out what to focus on In school, he started with science and then switched to math and economics, which he loved but didn’t want to make it his...