Embracing the Unknown
Personal essay on career change and embracing uncertainty
This story is a reflective dive into a career that has spanned the late 90s to the digital age, the uncertain paths from a love for the arts, and the challenges of a saturated market, to an unexpected career in the film industry, to finally embracing the digital revolution in digital product design. This journey highlights the transformative power of embracing uncertainty, the importance of lifelong learning, and the value of curiosity and resilience. It's a compelling narrative for anyone standing at the crossroads of life or career, offering insights and inspiration to forge your path in the face of doubt.
In the late 90s, as Google was founded and significant events unfolded in a world filled with promise, my journey into adulthood deepened with a love for graphic design, photography, typography, illustrative arts, you name it. Yet, no matter how much I loved the arts, I also knew the market for graphic design was in dire straits, and a saturated market planted seeds of doubt. At eighteen, could I work through 4 years of college, get a degree, and still make it in this field? It wasn't like today, where social media juggernauts like Instagram and design-centric platforms like Dribbble and Behance were around.
These questions nagged at me as I juggled various jobs, searching for my path. My parents, reaching their limits with my indecision, pushed me towards a fitness degree, thinking I'd excel given my health consciousness. Well-intentioned as they may have been, that intervention only added pressure, making me question rushing into something I wasn't excited about, let alone confident in pursuing.
Despite enrolling in Kinesiology, I eventually dropped out, continuing my adventures in part-time and full-time jobs. One of these jobs, working at a coffee shop, led me to a nearby film studio — a world I had long admired and dreamed of being part of. Growing up loving all manner of films, I harboured aspirations of one day writing and directing. I even did a screenwriting course, which earned me a place on the Dean's List. While I honed my craft of writing, I figured out my teamster and production assistant connections to the film studio would be my 'in' — it turns out it was. Before long, I got my foot in the door, and it was exciting! The work was gruelling, but the thrill of being so close to the real thing was like catnip to a chunky main koon! In my first year, I had a steady gig on Battlestar Galactica and did various day calls on productions like Fantastic Four and Night in the Museum. I was drawn to combining my pent-up creativity with my love for storytelling. The pay was excellent, but I realized I had to make a tough choice. I could either move to Los Angeles and fully commit myself to the gruelling lifestyle of 18-hour workdays, high divorce rates, and rampant substance abuse, all while leaving my family behind. Or, I could stay in Vancouver at a job that wouldn't help me achieve my aspirations of becoming a writer and director.
When you work in the film industry, you work weeks, sometimes months at a time, and you also have weeks and often months at a time off. It's very erratic. During my time off, I was still flexing my creativity. I was printing t-shirts and selling them on set. I was in love with photography and constantly pushing my skills there. However, my exploration into website design made me reconsider everything. The rise of motion design, the access to Photoshop and Flash, and the seamless integration of photography platforms like Flickr put me in a creative renaissance, making me realize how naturally I still fit into the new creative world.
By 2005, as the internet stabilized post-dotcom boom and bust, the promise of adaptive, expressive websites like FWA inspired me deeply. I started avidly teaching myself web design, HTML, JavaScript, CSS and animation using the tools above, merging my technological curiosity with my creative sensibility.
Enter the career change.
Needing to harness this technology and creative expression, I discovered BCITs New Media Program. A perfect fit, immersing me in it all. What followed was an intense, transformative period of exploration and growth.
Within a week of graduating the program, I secured my first professional gig as a designer at a small webshop. This proved ideal, as I was surrounded by colleagues who strengthened my skills as a front-end developer, UI designer, and project manager.
Two decades later, I lead product design for a $100 million SaaS company. Now, this is by no means a full biography because, let's be honest, that would be pathetically boring. Here's where we jump into some lessons and the true reason for this reflection on my professional journey.
Never be afraid of making mistakes!
They are inevitable, but when you embrace uncertainty and forge your path, that habit will help you endure. However, I also learned that the old adage of 'faking it till you make it' is misguided, and it's crucial to have a solid grasp of your craft and be genuine about where you need to grow. We are so lucky (and in some respect unlucky) to have such a wealth of knowledge at our fingertips, and education has transcended brick-and-mortar institutions to being something we can literally 'plug' into anywhere. So read, take a course or two in your spare time, become self aware enough to identify what needs attention and improve.
Learn from those around you!
It is also essential to have good people around you. My winding journey was enormously enriched by supportive colleagues, mentors, and loved ones who strengthened my skills and my resolve to keep on going.
Stay Curious
As a parent myself today of two amazing girls, I've carried these and other lessons into raising them, but none more often than the power of curiosity, exploration and lifelong growth. There is no guarantee of a 'sure thing' regarding a prescribed career plan. While we fully support higher education, degrees don't determine capability either — it's your mindset and the diverse perspectives gained along the nonlinear path one takes.
My journey underscores the notion that it's okay not to have all the answers. I used to think I had all the answers when I was young, ambitious, and somewhat arrogant. However, as we all know, the world is far more complex and nuanced than we initially thought. When plans derail, that uncertainty can be a valuable teacher if you embrace it. Your resilience and adaptability become paramount in keeping your momentum.
Let this be a call to those who feel lost in the sea of choices, to those who are daunted by the pressure to choose the 'right' path, and to those who fear they are too late to change direction: it is never too late to embrace the unknown. The most beautiful destinations often lie beyond the map's edge, in the uncharted territories of our lives.
Please share your stories of uncertainty, change, and discovery in the comments below. How have you navigated the unknown in your life? What lessons have you learned along the way? Let's inspire each other with our journeys, for together, we find the courage to step into the unknown and discover what we're truly capable of.