One User’s Story of Fostering India’s LGBT Community with Divi

This post was submitted by Vicky Lalwani as part of our community themed Divi Summer Sale week. Each day of the weeklong sale we will be publishing new stories submitted by community members about how Divi has helped them build their careers and businesses.

I am Vicky Lalwani and my story is one of a complete WordPress newbie learning to create their first few websites using Divi. The result of which, is a growing national community for the LGBT of India.

But let’s start at the beginning.

Re-Discovering a Passion for the Web

As a child I used to be fascinated by how computers can make our lives easier. Naturally, as I grew older I was curious about how the internet only made computers more helpful and more powerful tools. But as a student I pursued a different path. I dabbled in computer science but ended up getting my masters in business administration.

When I graduated I got a job with a bank and started working—doing something safe. I was happy with my job but something made me feel empty from within all the time. I used to feel as if I were only working for the paycheck.

That’s when I decided I would like to learn a few new skills and see if that would make me more happy. I enrolled in a digital marketing program as a part-time student. Up until that point I just had a basic idea of how websites actually work.

As I started to learn more about how websites are made and other nuances of web design and development I started feeling like I had re-discovered something I could be passionate about. That’s when I decided to create a few websites of my own.

Choosing to Serve a Worthy Community

From an early age I knew that I was gay. So when it came time to choose what my first website should be about it seemed natural to combine my new passion for web design with my desire to participate in and serve India’s LGBT community.

I registered a domain and hosting and was all set to create a website called www.lgbteventsindia.com which would list all the queer events happening in India.

By this time I had learned the basics of WordPress but didn’t even realize how much there was still to learn. I created a basic website with a free theme installed. It was functional, but not very attractive. I also felt like it was lacking the flexibility and functionality it would need to grow and be truly useful.

That’s where Divi comes in.

Taking Things to the Next Level with Divi

I was watching one of the many videos on YouTube about why it’s a good practice to have a paid theme installed on WordPress. As I researched premium themes I quickly discovered Divi. I spoke to few of my web design friends and everyone had positive feedback about it. So I took the plunge, got Divi, and it’s been an amazing journey ever since.

Designing has been so much fun with easy to use modules and sections. I was able to re-designed my LGBT Events India site with Divi and have been able to make steady improvements. I’m more optimistic than ever about the future of the site and my pursuit of website creation.

Moving Forward with Divi & the Divi Nation

The greatest thing about Divi is the community and support that comes with it. Almost all questions are answered instantly and the Facebook groups of Divi users are by far the most useful Facebook groups I have ever been a part of ?

Divi has revolutionized the way I create websites. In fact I have started getting orders from friends/family members to create their websites! I am seriously considering taking this opportunity to start my own small website design firm and make my hobby a full-time career.

Thank you all for reading and thank you Nathan for giving me the opportunity to share my story with the awesome Divi community.

See you all around!