I started playing around with programming around the age of 13, but never anything too serious.
After getting a degree in mechanical engineering, I applied for jobs in booth mechanical engineering and software development.
The software development jobs just seem like more fun and I went that direction.
I have been a software developer for 9 years now, the last 2 years as a successful freelancer and at the moment partial owner of a software consulting firm (couple of employees, but growing fast)
The lack of a CS degree never has been a problem. All the developers I work with value a person by knowledge and skill, degree is not that important.