The day I joined Pearl Lemon Group was the start of an incredible journey. Looking back, I can’t believe how much I’ve grown.
Bianca, the HR rep, added me to a trial group with Deepak (Founder) and Kaushal (Head of Design).
“Hi, guys! This is Usman—applying for the Web Designer role. @Kaushal, can you give him some tasks?” Bianca wrote.
Kaushal wasted no time. My first challenge? Redesign PearlLemonWeb.com—it wasn’t “professional enough.” I designed the homepage in Photoshop and shared a PDF.
“Design it in WordPress,” Deepak said.
I built it in Elementor, but cache issues messed up the display. To clarify, I recorded a video explaining everything. That extra effort paid off.
“I’m happy with his work. Let’s bring him in,“ Deepak said.
And just like that, my trial ended, and my real journey began. 🚀
Bianca sent me the official placement program details, including access to TrackAbi, a time-monitoring tool. I was added to various company groups:
The most memorable moment was when Deepak personally congratulated me on joining. That’s when it truly hit me—I was now a part of Pearl Lemon Group.
My first official project? Designing WeddingChiefs.com.
To build a website, I needed three things:
With a three-day deadline, I gave it my all. When I submitted the completed site, Deepak was pleased. He even gave me a personal shout-out in the Pearl Lemon Updates Group.
That first month was a whirlwind of learning. I had to understand team workflows, manage tasks efficiently, and figure out how to present my work professionally. But the biggest lesson?
Over the next few months, I took on bigger challenges—redesigning multiple Pearl Lemon websites and creating new ones from scratch. Some of my redesigns included:
Along the way, I learned valuable lessons from my teammates:
By my seventh month, I had fully embraced Pearl Lemon’s team culture. I started joining weekly meetings and standups, improving my communication and accountability. My daily routine included:
My confidence in my work and communication skills had grown tremendously. I wasn’t just a designer anymore—I was a core part of the team.
Lydia, the Operations Director at Pearl Lemon, left me an amazing review. Getting appreciation from senior leadership felt incredibly rewarding. More importantly, I could see my own improvement, both in technical skills and in my ability to work within a remote agency.
It’s a really old story.
I got three days off for Eid and came back just in time for Eid Namaz. I was feeling bored because I’m really bad at making friends, so I sat alone. I’m not fond of playing games, so I thought, Why not work on a website?
I opened a website, clicked on the dashboard, and saw that 12+ plugins were waiting for an update. I have a really bad habit—whenever I see notifications or updates, I feel the need to clear them. So, without thinking much, I clicked Update.
A few minutes later, the website crashed.
Panic set in. This was the main website. What have I done?
I quickly texted Ali Yasin, hoping for help. His reply?
“Bro, I’m on leave. Don’t disturb. It’s Eid today—go enjoy yourself too.”
But I was terrified. I kept messaging him multiple times until, finally, he agreed to help. He fixed the website, and at that moment, my mood completely shifted.
I took a deep breath of relief. 😮💨
When my house was being built and my brother’s wedding was happening, I received a loan of $1,000. I repaid it within three months, with $500 from my salary and $500 from my referral program.
I also received my salary in advance during the same period when my house was under construction. Additionally, during Eid (twice or maybe four times), and when my brother was visiting Pakistan after 10 years, I asked Deepak if I could get my salary in advance—and I did.
On my birthday, I worked for more than 16 hours and received a $50 bonus. Apart from that, I never received any other compensation or bonus.
Thank you for all the help, suggestions, and support. It truly means a lot!
Thanks a lot for always helping me and for your incredible support.
Thank you for your great help and support.
Thank you for your hard work at Pearl Lemon. Whenever I feel down, I let you know, and you always suggest helpful things.
When I first joined the company, I didn’t know how to speak English well. I had a few meetings with Catherine, and my English improved. “Thanks a lot, Teacher!” Haha.
You guys are amazing, honestly. Thanks a lot!
My first meeting was with you. Haha. Thanks a lot!
Thank you all for being great team members.
I was never dishonest with the company. I never broke trust. However, once, I had $50 deducted because Deepak said I broke his trust. My brother had messaged someone saying, “We will get you interns if you pay X amount,” and I was completely unaware of it. But anyway…
Even though I messaged multiple groups about taking leave, I never got a full day off. For example, when I said my dad was coming to Pakistan, I mentioned taking two days off, but due to work demands, I only took one. Similarly, when I said I’d take a week off, I ended up working double. I was assigned to work only 30 hours a week, but I did 60 instead.
Once, someone was buying backlinks for a few dollars and reselling them to the company at a higher price, and people thought I could be involved. But I wasn’t.
Another time, leads were getting leaked. The company thought it was me, even though I wasn’t doing it, and I felt hopeless. Later, the company found out someone from India was responsible.
One day, out of nowhere, I got a message saying, “I’m not sure I trust you.” I felt really bad.
Once, I was given client tasks while also working on two other clients and internal tasks. One of the client’s websites was a gaming site, and I only had two hours to work on it. My cousin saw my work and said, “Usman, you designed it really well. I’m so happy.” I sent it to Sebastian and Themwani, and both said, “It looks great. You did an awesome job.”
At the same time, Deepak shared a meeting link and said, “Just fix the menu part and share it again.” His words were, “Great work, my man!”
Later, I got too many messages saying, “Dude, just because of you, we lost a £5K client.” I was shocked. I was already overloaded with work and only managed to get two hours for that task. If the client was that important, why was I assigned two other clients as well? Why was I given hundreds of internal tasks labeled as “Urgent” and “Important”?
Why wasn’t I told, “Hey dude, you have one week. Don’t do any other tasks. This client is super important. Focus only on this.”
Anyway, we moved on from this part.
A luxury site with a stylish look, a professional site with a clean design, an old site transformed into something beautiful, a Genz vibe website, and a site made using templates.
Disclaimer:
This is my personal experience at Company. The updates and stories I share here reflect my journey and don’t necessarily represent the company’s official views.
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My journey at Pearl Lemon Group has been a rewarding experience. I started with challenges and quickly grew as a designer and professional, thanks to a supportive team. I learned valuable skills, managed projects, and built strong relationships. I’m grateful for the opportunities and flexible work environment that helped me succeed. Pearl Lemon has truly shaped my career, and I’ll always cherish my time here.
Nope. I worked 4 hours for the first two months, but I was actually putting in 8 to 12 hours most of the time. Later, I increased my hours from 6 after a few months, but I was still working around 8 hours. 😞
No! If it was, I wouldn’t have referred 17+ people to work there.
It all started when my brother encouraged me by asking, “You wanna do a company?” I agreed, and soon my video was shared with Deepak Shukla, the founder of Pearl Lemon Group. I joined a trial group alongside Kaushal (Head of Design) and Bianca from HR, who set the stage by introducing me to a test challenge. My first task was to redesign pearllemonweb.com—from creating a Photoshop mockup to implementing the design in WordPress using Elementor. Despite some technical hurdles like cache issues, my extra effort (including recording a detailed walkthrough video) impressed Deepak, and that’s when my real journey began.
My first official project was designing WeddingChiefs.com. To tackle it, I had to quickly understand the niche, work closely with Joanne (the Head of Content who provided all the necessary materials and a Loom video), and work with WordPress credentials—all under a tight three-day deadline. I poured my energy into the task, and when I delivered the finished website, Deepak personally congratulated me, which was incredibly validating.
After my trial ended, Bianca shared all the official placement details, including access to TrackAbi, a time-monitoring tool. I was then added to several company groups—such as the Internal Pearl Lemon Team for daily start and end-of-day updates, the Design & Dev Team for showcasing our work, and the PL Company Updates group where leadership shared news. This structured integration not only kept me informed but also made me feel like an integral part of the team from day one.
In the early months (months 2–6), I was constantly challenged with new and larger projects—from redesigning multiple Pearl Lemon websites (like Pearl Lemon Cafe, Pearl Lemon Boba, and more) to building new ones from scratch. I learned to manage higher volumes of work without compromising on quality, honed my technical skills, and, importantly, learned the dynamics of working in a remote team. The mentorship from colleagues like Kaushal, Ali, and Daksh played a crucial role in my professional growth.
Absolutely. One memorable incident happened during Eid. I had three days off but returned to find myself bored and clicked on a website dashboard, only to see over 12 plugin updates pending. When I updated them, the website dropped, and I panicked—thinking it might be the main site. I immediately reached out to Ali Yasin, who was on leave for Eid. Despite the holiday, he responded, fixed the issue quickly, and reassured me. This episode perfectly illustrates the supportive and collaborative spirit within the team.
No. I was never dishonest. Some misunderstandings happened, but I always stayed loyal.
