When Life Gives You Lemons, Slay
And drink that Lemonade, with grace
A harsh reality I learned at the age of 27 is: trying to stay comfortable is ironic.
Every single day, all of us daydream thousands of times. We dream about becoming the next celebrity, the next Steve Jobs or even the next Nelson Mandela. Our fantasies show us Macbooks, sold-out music albums, Oscars, and Google Glasses. It shows us the results only, and in most cases, we do not think about the effort or the process that these hard-working individuals, who had introduced great inventions or had been awarded for them, had gone through to reach their goals.
Let’s be real. How many times did your parents catch you in your bedroom, singing and dancing, using a stick or your iPhone as a mic, and pretending to be Taylor Swift or Adele? Moreover, while doing so, did you stop, in the middle of a chorus, to think about how “Poor Taylor had to stay up all night to make sure that every metaphor, every word that she had written made sense?” Alternatively, do you think about how much vocal training Adele has to undergo, before every concert, to ensure that she will hit every high note gracefully?
When reality hits, we realize how much effort and discomfort we would have to go through in order to reach that greatness. A lot of work would have to be done, so we start backing out, back to our happy comfort zones.
Most of us believe in phrases like, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade” but only in theory. When life starts handing us real lemons and discomfort, we are shocked by how sour those lemons can be. And we don’t like that; we don’t like pain. So we come to the conclusion that the best way to survive this whole life journey business is to avoid the lemon trees as much as possible.
The “comfort zone” is life’s biggest trap
The reality is that life will give you more lemons and more discomfort; life will keep throwing rocks at you; and life will keep handing you battles, concerns, and struggles. And because you want to avoid the painful experiences as much as you can, life will find a way to get you out of that comfort zone. And you, my friend, will struggle.
I am not here to teach you life lessons or to speak to you as a role model. I do not even qualify to be a role model yet. I have not discovered a cure for a rare disease or built an incredible invention. I am writing to you today because I have a story. A story about how I traded my life to step into the shoes of ghosts.
A story about how I went from being artsy, without any background in tech, to You.i TV, one of the hottest startups in town.
How I lived uncomfortably…
I moved from Syria to Canada five years ago, to study Graphic Design. I wasn’t escaping the war, and I was not a political or a humanitarian refugee. Syria was still a peaceful place, and I left it just a couple of months before the civil war started. I just wanted to study Design in a place that I knew would give me a good foundation to be successful as a designer. My goal was to get a diploma and go back home to start my own design studio. However, life had a different plan.
The Syrian civil war started, and that was a very depressing stage in my life. I was in complete denial and couldn’t accept that that was indeed happening.
At that time, the idea of living somewhere other than home for the rest of my life was not acceptable. It’s not that Canada was bad, but it was just so different. Not only it was so cold, but it was also very quiet. I am from Damascus, the oldest capital in the world; I am used to hectic, busy streets, traffic, noise, and a fantastic Mediterranean weather. It was a tremendous change for me.
Back then, I did not understand English the way I do today, so you can imagine how awkward and hard it was for me to have a decent conversation without sounding like a complete idiot. Moreover, I did not like anyone in my class, I did not get along with any of them, and I did not get why comic books were so cool to some people or why everyone was so obsessed with hockey. I did not find the jokes they told funny, and I got to the point where I preferred not having any contact with anyone from school.
I worked twice as hard to be considered half as good. Everything I drew, created, or wrote was reflected by the Arabic culture, not the culture that I currently live and represent. This approach made my ideas and concepts hard to grasp. Not only did I have to learn design but I also needed to study the Canadian way of thinking to create something meaningful and impactful for my audience, the profs.
There was nothing wrong with Canada. I was just having what any psychologist would call a “cultural shock.”
It was annoyingly different, and I didn’t fit in.
The only friends I had back then were my MacBook Pro and the design assignments I was asked to do in college. Most of my time was spent either on design or on Skype with family and friends — crying.
If only I had known then how many blessings life would pay me in exchange for the pain and the discomfort I felt, I would not have shed a single tear.
Two years later, I was able to prove to my teachers and peers that I was a talented, creative, and innovative designer. The college collaborated with a local design agency in Ottawa to host a Behance portfolio review night for the students, to help us mingle and network with industry professionals. I was very nervous and anxious as I was not confident enough. I was afraid of mumbling while speaking or not explaining my portfolio pieces clearly; and of course, that’s what happened.
My first portfolio review was terrible. I failed to make any sense, and the designer who was evaluating my stuff wanted to walk away as soon as he could. He eventually lied to my face and told me he had to run to the washroom; he never came back. That is how sad it was.
It was one of the most irritating, embarrassing situations I have ever experienced. I almost went back home after this review as I was so discouraged and cynical.
I later bumped into a guy who was holding a bottle of beer which almost spilled all over my portfolio. We laughed about the incident and started chatting about mixed topics such as hockey, sushi, Ottawa, Syria, and even Obama! We did not speak about anything that related to design whatsoever. He suddenly asked me, “Oh, by the way, do you have a portfolio?” I said, “ Yes, I do! Do you wanna take a look?” He smiled and asked, “Isn’t that what we are here for?”
I started presenting my portfolio, and I was very confident and articulate in a way that I never thought I would be. He loved my projects; I saw that in his eyes. He was impressed and asked me if I was interested in doing my co-op placement at a gaming company where he worked. It was one of Ottawa’s coolest places to work at: Fuel Industries.
I was a star that night!
Not only did I get an offer for a co-op placement, but because my performance was exceptional, four designers wanted to give me a Behance Appreciation Coin. That night was not the end of my story; it was just the beginning.
At Fuel, I learned a lot about UX design; my interest in technology grew and so did my desire to know more about user experience. Unfortunately, there weren’t any job openings at Fuel for a full-time position. But, my fellow designers encouraged me to apply to You.i TV, where I got my first job as a Product Designer.
I worked vigorously to get that job. I did not have a lot of industry experience to back me up, and I knew that I had to bust my ass off to get the position. The interview was great, but the hiring manager asked me to do a visual design and a motion graphics test. I was asked to re-design one of the company’s apps and to bring the designs to life by animating the app’s content. Buttons, and transitions, using After Effects;
In five
fucking
Days.
I was still completing my co-op placement at Fuel. I had a part-time retail job and some school assignments to finish before I graduate. So if you are a designer reading this, you know that the only way to pass this test is to avoid the mental clutter which comes with working fast, and turning into a zombie.
I don’t know how I did it, but I managed to create a kick-ass design and a smooth motion piece that got me the job. All I know is that I barely slept. And, I became the first junior ViD person on the team.
You.i
My first day at You.i TV as a visual designer, had not been easy. I was a junior professional, who had no idea about how to be a designer. I also didn’t speak English well or had dealt with a boss or a client before. And most importantly, I was not technical. I mean, not at all. I was so bad at technology that I didn’t even know what the word ‘console’ meant. For some reason, somewhere along the way, math, science and I didn’t make the best match and I decided that I didn’t have what it takes to be tech-savvy.
I was quite shy on my first day. I was staring at my co-workers, thinking to myself, “What am I doing here?” I felt so small, inexperienced, and woefully unqualified. I was the first junior designer. Everyone else on the team were experts. They knew what they were doing. Man, that was not fun.
After six months of trying to learn the technology, I gave up. I went to an interview with another company who is famous for building e-commerce websites, and that sounded less intimidating to me than TVs.
I could not go without letting my boss know; he was a great manager who always sought to help me succeed. I told him that I don’t feel valuable enough to the team and that I am going somewhere else. He wanted me to make the decision that is right for me, but, at the same time, he asked me not to give up and promised me great learning opportunities and higher responsibilities.
This was a defining moment in my life; I could just run away to get another job, or I can push myself into discomfort and watch my life explode into greatness.
My manager looked me in the eye and said, “Do you want to give up? Or do you want to be patient, and allow yourself time to grow? I will leave this up to you. You’re still a young professional, and if you’re leaving because you think you’re not good enough, then don’t. That’s not the right reason to quit.”
That’s when I realized that I had to be willing to face those challenges because that was what was necessary for me to grow. Therefore, I decided to give myself a second chance.
The following six months were eventful. I decided to push myself at learning different technologies and You.i TV’s engine. I worked on Treehouse Go, a video streaming app for kids by Corus Entertainment. I worked alongside one of the senior designers, Matt Emond, to whom I owe so much for being a fabulous mentor and for teaching me everything I know about design. I was successful in every aspect: supporting Matt, producing high-quality work, delivering on time, collaborating with devs, being there for the team to meet deadlines, understanding the technology behind our apps. I did everything right! I was never more proud.
After that project, my managers gave me more projects, more responsibilities. I later became one of the visual design leads in the team. Life was finally paying me back, and it felt awesome!
So really, the only thing I did to succeed was choosing the hard option; making the decision to feel awkward, to face rejection, to fail, to feel pressured, to hustle. I kept telling myself that I would make it, maybe not instantly, maybe not that day, but I would get there. I realized that I could accomplish anything if I was the master of my own mind.
I might win, and I will learn, but I will never lose.
Great things don’t magically just happen. Get up! Climb the long ladder to achieve greatness. You won’t get to your goals watching TV or by sipping cocktails on a beach; you have to do the work and feel tired. Don’t get discouraged when life doesn’t go as planned and takes you in an entirely different direction. Instead, have faith, and start accepting life’s challenges and welcome them with open hands.
When life gives you lemons, slay the shit out of them, then get some champagne.
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