The Next Chapter

I have been (f)unemployed for around 5 months after leaving a startup at the start of Q4 last year. I was burnt out, creatively frustrated, and just generally unmotivated. The tech industry’s trajectory was uninspiring and the thought of doing SCRUM again sent chills down my spine. I had essentially hit rock bottom by my standards.

I spent most of my funemployment playing games, trying to relax, learning new skills like 3D art, improving existing skills in art, and trying to find a spark again. I got back in to drawing and digital painting, and seriously levelled up my skills after abandoning art to focus on my design career. I got in to 3D art and model making and animation. Whatever I felt like doing, I did.

I started to realize I was just creatively stunted after all those years of product design. "But design is a creative job!" you say. Well it hasn’t felt like it lately. It feels very much like product design is more science than art these days and people use testing as a crutch (users only know what they know!) I knew that coming in to 2023, I’d want to find a new gig and given the state of the industry (mass layoffs) I was dreading the typical interview loop of the tech industry. 5-6 rounds of interviews only to be told no. I was dreading having to settle for something I wasn’t so gung-ho for. Well I’m happy to say I have found my next home and it is in fact a company I am super gung-ho about!

I’m excited to say I have taken a position as Design and Art Lead at VShojo! VShojo is a talent agency tech company that works with popular Virtual Streamers (VTubers). What excites me the most about this job is that it will be a mix of product tech work (which I have been doing for some time already) as well as creative work (which will tickle the creative side of my brain!) Oh, and it helps that a bunch of former Twitch colleagues also work here.

I want to extend a huge thanks to my friend Bryan, who is the VP of Product and Design at VShojo. Without him pushing for me, this never would have happened. It was a great feeling to know that even in my worst hour, there were people looking out for me. I just had to ask.

I want to end this post with a little photo. I started promptly on a Wednesday and by Thursday I was invited to a company party where I met all the talents in VRChat (everyone was so nice!). It was daunting as I was going to be meeting a bunch of new people, but it turned out to be the most fun I’ve had in a long long time and reminded me of the Twitch parties from back in the day. Anyway here is the photo:

Yeah, I think I’ve found my people. 😋