I've personally known a number of people where exactly this thing happened -- from very low paying job to SWE. And on the hiring side of things have hired a few

I've personally known a number of people where exactly this thing happened -- from very low paying job to SWE. And on the hiring side of things have hired a few myself (with varying degrees of workplace success admittedly, but I think that's more on us than them, from a mentorship perspective).