You can just do things! The Artisan of the Day is Aaron Francis.
Aaron Francis has been a familiar name in the Laravel community for years. He’s the creator of courses like Mastering Postgres and High Performance SQLite, co-host of the Mostly Technical podcast, and a consistent voice of encouragement and insight on Twitter. You can also find him on YouTube, where he shares lessons, experiments, and behind-the-scenes glimpses of his process.
But before all that, Aaron was a CPA at a Big Four accounting firm. His journey from spreadsheets to PHP is exactly the kind of leap we love in this community: bold and unconventional, yet pragmatic. When he pivoted into software development, he found a home in Laravel and hasn’t looked back.
Over time, Aaron became more than just a Laravel developer; he became an educator, storyteller, and creator. He's currently running Try Hard Studios, a content studio dedicated to crafting courses and educational resources that help developers level up. His philosophy is simple: don’t chase clients, just make excellent things.
He’s also refreshingly open. Whether he’s talking about getting laid off, doubling down on a venture, reflecting on a failed launch, or raising two sets of twins, Aaron brings a rare honesty to the tech space. He reminds us that building software is as much about people, pivots, and persistence as it is about writing code.
Aaron recently took the Laracon US 2025 stage with a talk titled “You Can Just Do Things.” It's a refreshingly human look at what it takes to create something from nothing. Whether you're new to Laravel or a long-time artisan, his talk is one worth watching.
Laracon US 2025: You Can Just Do Things by Aaron Francis
Aaron Francis opened Laracon US 2025 not just as MC, but as a voice of welcome, encouragement, and challenge. His talk, You Can Just Do Things, was a celebration of Laravel’s roots, its moment, and its makers.
He started by reaffirming something every developer should hear about the Laravel Community: You belong here. Whether you’re backend or frontend, ops or finance, seasoned or brand new, Laravel has room for you. And the community is glad you showed up!
From there, Aaron offered two reasons why Laravel continues to grow:
1. Pragmatism is back.
Aaron argued that the tech industry is swinging back toward shipping real things, not chasing abstractions. That shift naturally leads people to Laravel, a full-stack, batteries-included framework built to help developers get real software into the hands of real users.
Laravel's success, he pointed out, wasn’t born from a desire to build a framework. It was born from Taylor Otwell’s desire to ship a product and change his life. That bias toward action (we must ship) is baked into the Laravel Community’s DNA. And now it's attracting more developers than ever.
2. The Community is kind.
Aaron praised the Laravel Community for meeting new developers not with “I told you so,” but with “I’m so glad you’re here.” It's a space full of help, honesty, and healthy disagreement.
And then the challenge: you can just do things.
The heart of Aaron’s talk was a call to action: You don’t need permission to build something. You don’t have to be chosen. You can just decide to start.
He backed this up with stories about himself and others across the Laravel ecosystem:
- Zuzana Kunckova, who started Larabelles to support people underrepresented in tech because of their gender.
- Caleb Porzio, who asked “what if we didn’t use JavaScript?” and created Livewire.
- The NativePHP team, who built mobile apps in PHP because why not?
- Povilas and Jeffrey Way, who had the courage to hit record and teach.
- Joe Tannenbaum, who tweeted terminal experiments and ended up on the Laravel team.
Each story shared the same pattern: someone had an idea, and they acted on it. No permission. Just persistence.
Aaron closed with this message:
Laravel is a pragmatic framework. It’s a kind community. But most of all, it’s a place where people who decide to do things can stand out and be celebrated for it.
His challenge? Think about the thing inside you that’s been waiting. And start.
Your Story Belongs Here
You don’t need to have a course, a talk, or a big launch. If Laravel has been part of your journey (a pivot, a side project, a moment of growth) we’d love to hear about it!
Answer Taylor’s questions at laravel.com/stories.
We’re always looking to feature developers from every corner of the community. Beginners, builders, behind-the-scenes folks. If Laravel helped you do something you’re proud of, that’s a story worth telling.