I've taught myself programming since I've been a little kid. Started on Intel 80386 platform with Basic and went all the way up to PHP, JavaScript, later Objective-C and other languages.
Beginning as a teenager, I did projects for big players like major media advertisers, aviation authorities and TV stations.
Many people think they are the master chiefs of the programming universe. However, the most important thing you can do to improve your programming skills is: Be curious and don't be afraid to learn something new. And be nice :-)
That's why I joined StackOverflow. To learn and to help others with things I know.
Cheers!