My Career Break Through

During College, I came to Austin to looking for inspiration. I was lucky to get invited and take a tour at Retro Studios. The Company at that time was working on Metroid, another one of my favorite games from Nintendo. They had an awesome office, with inspirational art and design all over the wall. And everyone I met were so talented at what they do, and to see the passion in their eyes of having a job they love. They talked about several tips to get into the industry. I can sum it up into 3 pillars. Build a Network, Never stop Learning, and Be Hungry for Opportunity.

Build a Network - Back at school I changed up my atmosphere. I wanted to be surrounded by inspirational talent. So I met a few people in school who shared that same passion. Eight of us, and we lived in a 3 bedroom apartment with free electricity. We turned our living room into a work station, desks all next to one another, posters on the wall, and toys everywhere. We look like an Indie Game Studio without a Name.

Never Stop Learning - We were constantly working on our projects and bouncing ideas off from one another, and getting feedback. If someone learned a new trick, they would brag about it and share it with the group. We will all go out to the movies and get inspired from Pixar Films. The best part was our in-house competition, someone makes something awesome, and then we get jealous, which makes us work even harder to beat the other guy. Slowly we realized, we were all growing together, that our classmates took notice. Our friendship and environment open so many opportunities.

Be Hungry for Opportunity - Our school took notice of this, and gave us a part time job to tutor follow class mates. That was short term; we were all focused on getting jobs and internships. After several months looking, I found an internship that pays, to wark as animator making Religious Cartoons. "It was alright". That was my first foot through the door, so I would of taken anything.  A few months later one of my roommates got a job at a start up game company. And, I was super Jealous, but since he was part of my network of friends and who help each other out. He was able to guide me and a few more roommates to get a job there. This was awesome! I Surrounded was by my friends making games and getting paid.

We finally had the guidance we needed to be successful. Having a good Network, Never Stop Learning, and be super hungry for opportunities” Sadly that start up ended after 2 years, and company let everyone go. We all saw it coming and prepared our portfolios to branch out to other companies. We all landed very good jobs that were better than the last. After 10 years in the industry I kept up with my 3 pillars today. And I added a 4th pillar, which is to share my knowledge with everyone one else and help them grow.

Thank You
Juan Domanski, Andy Matthews, Cochey Lee, Valerie Mardorf, Daniel Scruggs, Issac, Rod