My dad invested in an ISP when I was a kid. So I had a homepage at www.fia.net/~caseyf an started putting HTML up there (there was no CSS or JavaScript). Back then you could view source and learn. I was lucky to be on the web as it was being invented: I remember when IE first supported CSS, when mozilla showed up, I got developer previews of macromedia shockwave flash, ms frontpage, etc.
I spent my time playing/recording music w/ my band and building websites for us and our friend's bands.
Then I left on an LDS mission where you don't have a computer. Two years later I got home and went to college, forgetting all about building websites. It was SO DIFFERENT from 2000 to 2002. Suddenly "view source" was full of craziness, JavaScript got big, CSS had great support in IE6 (don't laugh, it was amazing) etc.
It wasn't until 2005 that my wife needed an online portfolio or printed portfolio for her photography degree that I got back into it. A printed portfolio was going to be $200, so I busted out Notepad.exe and built her a website instead. It was hilarious. She'd ask for features, I'd say "not possible" and then the next day I'd figure it out and show her.
From there I got involved with MooTools just by publishing my code to github. A few of them noticed and invited me into the secret #mootools-dev channel. That group of people basically taught me how to program and got me contracts and eventually my first full-time job with clockfour.com. The rest is history.
I don't know if I'm the react guy, but being loud on twitter about stuff you're excited about helps you become something like one :)