Great piece overall, resonates. However I would be careful with the advice about becoming something else first, especially UI developer. I know it worked for you, but looking at the future, isn't it exactly this kind of role that will disappear first with the advent of AI?

Also, when you advise juniors to study something else first, while that can definitely give them a competitive edge in the future, they have to be warned that the path to product design will probably be long. Imagine you are a hiring manager and you have the luxury to hire a junior designer. Now there are two candidates with practically no working experience. The first one studied design several years (not just a short online course) while the second one studied something other than design. Who would you pick?..