The Underdog Advantage: Why Being Counted Out Could Be the Best Damn Thing That Ever Happened to You (Especially in Web Design)
It was raining like the sky had something to prove.
I remember the buzz of a dying laptop fan, the stiff plastic chair, and the smell of cheap kopi o’ drifting through the air like an omen. Amir—scrawny, quiet, hoodie pulled low—sat at a cracked table in a run-down coworking space in KL, pitching a site redesign to a franchise café chain that probably didn’t even see him.
They had agencies from Singapore and Tokyo lined up. Shiny decks, smooth-talking project managers, high-res mockups with perfect grids.
Amir had a PDF. Two pages. He printed it at 7-Eleven.
He also had something they didn’t: fire. The raw kind. The desperate kind. The kind that says: “This has to work, or I’ll be stuck freelancing banner ads on Upwork until my bones turn to dust.”
And… guess what? He got the gig. Blew them away. Three months later, the café’s revenue jumped 40%—website traffic doubled. Amir? He’s booked six months out now.
That’s what I’m talking about when I say underdog. Not just “the beginner.” I mean the underestimated. The ignored. The ones who have to claw their way into the room and still get told they don’t belong.
But the underdog has weapons no one sees coming.
Let’s pull back the curtain.
1. When You’re Invisible, You’re Unstoppable
Nobody expects anything from you. That’s the good news.
They look at you and see “newbie,” “junior,” “hobbyist.” Not realizing, of course, that invisibility is a superpower. You can experiment. Screw up. Try something weird. Then do it again—louder.
Sarah Doan—if you don’t know her, Google her now—built fake landing pages every Sunday for things like scented bookmarks and vegan umbrellas. Pointless? Nope. Her designs? Raw, wild, stunning. She posted one, it went viral on Twitter (er—X?), and now she works with Shopify and Nike.
She had no “rules” to follow, so she broke them all.
Try this:
Pick a weird idea. Like, really dumb. A website for frogs that write poetry or something. Design it like you mean it. Then post it. People don’t remember what’s perfect. They remember what’s different.
2. The Grind Isn’t Glamorous, But It’s Gold
You don’t have a cushion. No safety net. No uncle in the industry or brand name on your résumé.
And that hurts. But also—it’s the edge. While others sleep, you’re up tweaking CSS and wondering why your div won’t align. You Google like a surgeon in an emergency room. You learn because you have to.
I once had a client who paid me in store credit—yep, legit, $800 in meat pies. I took the deal anyway. Because it meant portfolio work. Because I had rent due. And because I knew I’d outwork the ones who turned their noses up at it.
And I did. Eventually.
Grit, like Angela Duckworth says, beats genius. But it’s not cute. It’s 3 a.m. panic. It’s imposter syndrome whispering in your ear—then you silencing it with another iteration of the hero section.
So yeah: work like you’ve got nothing to lose. Because maybe you don’t. And that’s power.
3. Outsiders Make the Best Insiders (Eventually)
There’s something about not knowing “how it’s done” that lets you do it better.
You weren’t trained in the “official” way. Maybe you never touched Sketch. Maybe you don’t even know what a design system is (don’t worry, half the pros don’t either—they just say they do). You don’t carry the baggage. So your eyes are clearer.
Ayo Balogun—Nigerian guy, learned web design on a dusty Android phone using free Wi-Fi from a roadside bar. Designed a site for a farming collective that was so simple, so brilliant, that an NGO in Germany flew him out to teach them how he did it. (He didn’t even have a passport when they called.)
He didn’t know Figma. But he knew people. He knew what they needed.
Reminder:
Your weird path is not a weakness. It’s your creative DNA. You see things the experts can’t. Don’t dull that. Lean in.
4. Clients Don’t Want Robots. They Want Heart.
Honestly? Most clients don’t care how fancy your stack is. They want someone who listens.
Underdogs—real underdogs—know what it’s like to be ignored. So they pay attention. They ask questions. They obsess over the why, not just the how.
There’s a warmth in that. Clients feel it.
I once pitched a real estate agent who literally ghosted me mid-call. Like, hung up. Two weeks later? She came back. Said my follow-up email “felt human.” That site I built her? Helped her close 3x more listings. All because I gave a damn.
Do this next time:
Ditch the tech talk. Ask your client how they want users to feel. Ask what bothers them about their current site. Connect. The rest follows.
5. The Rejection? Use It. Let It Burn. Then Build.
They’ll say no. A lot.
They’ll ignore your DMs. Leave you on read. You’ll lose gigs to people who aren’t half as hungry. It’ll feel like being punched in the stomach while underwater.
Good.
Let it hurt. Then turn it into fuel.
You think Beyoncé got handed a mic? You think Elon (well… okay bad example) was always taken seriously? Nah. They got laughed at first. So will you. And then—you’ll surprise them. And it’ll feel so good.
Try this:
Keep a “Prove Them Wrong” folder. Fill it with every rejection. Every passive-aggressive comment. Every ghosted email. Every “you’re not ready yet.” Look at it once a month. Then do something great.
Final Thought (That’s Not Really Final)
You’re not broken. You’re not behind. You’re not too late.
You’re just starting from a different place. Maybe messier. Maybe darker. Definitely louder.
But you’ve got something most people don’t:
A story.
And that story? It matters more than any algorithm, portfolio, or “10 Best Web Designers in Kuala Lumpur” listicle ever could.
So—build the site. Post the project. Reach out to that dream client. Suck at it for a while. That’s okay. Get better. Slowly. Suddenly.
Own your weirdness. Your flaws. Your late nights and duct-taped laptops. That’s not baggage—it’s armor.
You are the storm they didn’t see coming.
So go. Make chaos. Make beauty. Make noise.
Make your name.
And if no one claps? Clap for yourself.
You’re the underdog. That’s your edge.
Now use it.
