I developed my passion for tech young. I was maybe 9 when I begged my parents for my own laptop, one with the shiny new Windows 7 on it. Before that, I had my dad’s old beige machine running Windows XP, where my love for animation began. I remember using a free program called Pivot 3.0, frame-by-frame stick figure animation. I had so much fun with it.
Eventually, I convinced my parents and bought my very own Toshiba Satellite 650D (or something along those lines). Pretty crappy by today’s standards, but for an ambitious 9-year-old, it was a Lamborghini compared to what I had before.
I spent the next few years experimenting. Like any kid lucky enough to have their own laptop, it wasn’t long before I Googled “Make video game free” and “Free animation software.” In 2013, I got my first job and saved every penny for months to upgrade to an Alienware 14″, thicker than a dictionary, but those RGB lights… That’s where the real fun began.
I started playing with 3D modeling and animation software like Cinema 4D. I even tried motion capture. I remember filming my parents’ driveway and artificially placing a Lamborghini parked there with C4D. I had started playing Minecraft, still my favourite game to this day, and I had grand visions. Creating a server with friends wasn’t enough. I wanted to build one with millions of players, simulating life where people had jobs, bought houses, lived. I wanted to make short films on YouTube. I wanted to do voice acting. Every penny from my paychecks went toward tech or filming equipment.
Eventually, my ambitions landed me in CÉGEP in 2015, in a program called Intégration Multimédia, a blend of 3D modeling, animation, programming, graphic design, and film. When I learned what the program was about, I knew it was my niche. I thought to myself: “This is the last thing I need to start a business.”
I was wrong.
Because after graduation, I fell into a trap. I landed a well-paid 9-to-5 job before graduating in 2017. Things got easy. I got lazy. Every year, I told myself this job was just a head start, that I’d soon live off my personal projects. Every year, I found an excuse: timing, the market, lack of knowledge, some piece of tech I needed to buy before “production.”
As it turns out, I was lying to myself. Constantly.
I knew there’s no such thing as perfect timing, or having all the knowledge before starting, or owning the absolute latest gear before doing anything. My real problem, at the end of the day, was confidence. I didn’t know how I’d handle criticism. Of my art. My designs. My ideas. I kept telling myself there’s someone out there who already had the same idea, but knows more, has more experience, and will do it better than me.
That kept me in chains for years.
And now here I am. Nearly 10 years in the same 9-to-5 after graduation. Married. A kid on the way. The only projects I’ve ever published are two mobile apps that severely underperformed. They won’t be replacing my day job anytime soon.
Learning my spouse was pregnant a few months ago was a wake-up call. After years in that 9-to-5, I have to ask myself: is this really what I want to do for the next 30 years? Is being chained to a desk the best way to be present for this coming child? I get to ask myself, one more time:
What am I doing with my life?
So here it is. I decided to get back to work and fulfill a young boy’s dream of living off his own projects. The ideas and creativity were never the problem. The confidence was. But I’m realizing that confidence comes from doing, and doing has to come first. That means facing the fear first.
For my spouse. For my future child. And for myself.
I’m all in.
This is my first post. Here I am, out of my comfort zone, pushing myself to finally do something with my life. Check out my portfolio to see what I’ve been working on. Thanks for tagging along. I hope you enjoy the ride.