This whole digital nomad thing requires a lot of energy. Like, a lot. I’m constantly juggling full-time work, navigating new destinations and figuring out new routines, planning my next trip and staying in touch with people I love… plus I write for Wait A Minute Now and really really really want to grow that. So, unfortunately, Next Train Out took a back seat.
Since I’m home and am on a TEN-DAY holiday, I thought I’d catch you up on what I’ve been up to, where I’ve been and all that.
Work
Boy has this been a challenging year at work. When I was first hired more than two years ago, I was hired to create content for TrekkSoft’s blog and email campaigns. Somewhere between then and now, I stumbled into the wonderful world of product management (thank you Intercom) and then discovered the magical world of product marketing.
Ever since discovering the actual term “product marketing”, I’ve been obsessed. I think it’s because I’ve found a way to define the problems with my work and I’ve found a whole corner of the internet where people are writing and discussing things I’ve been thinking about for so long.
The good thing about working in a tight-knit team is that I’m able to take charge of issues I want to fix or improve and work on them till I’m satisfied. So today, as a Senior Content Writer at the company, I create content for everything – from lead generation to nurturing and customer acquisition, to customer activation to customer retention and even write copy for the software. It is a lot of work and it is all very diverse but I love it. I love being able to focus on a different part of the customer journey while having a clear picture of the overall journey too.
I manage our social media, write, design, edit and publish ebooks, checklists, blog posts, sales material, web copy, emails and newsletters, and even run webinars. I’ve also been editing support pages for the software and writing for the software itself (e.g. naming a button or a feature – it’s surprisingly difficult!)
These new challenges have led me to study up on product management, product marketing and learning how content can enhance the overall user experience. It’s been the only thing on my mind. I love being able to read something relevant tonight and apply it to my work tomorrow. I’m actually studying these things because I’m interested in them which is a really refreshing way to approach work if I’m honest.
Wait A Minute Now
This project started a with a few friends back in July 2016. It came to me at such a good time, a time when I was eager to get more creative influence and inject some fun into my writing. So when I was asked to join a team of journalists, copywriters and content creators who were bold and beautiful and so damn talented, I jumped at the opportunity.
While it’s only been a few months, I’ve learned so much from Kate and Rathika, the brains and editors behind the site. It’s been interesting to watch them create such a strong brand in just a few months and translating their vision for the site into pieces of content that resonate with so many South East Asian millennials.
Some of my favourite articles include:
- ‘Feel Safe’: The Black Experience in Malaysia by Al Ibrahim about being black and living in KL
- Why I stayed in A Toxic Relationship by Nine. This piece had my heart racing to the beat of her words, I ate every.single.letter.
- Why Science Fiction and Fantasy Can Never Thrive in Malaysia by Azwan Mahzan that got retweeted by BFM!
- Let’s Talk About Sex(uality), Baby, where we compiled coming out stories from Malaysians
- Unfair & Lovely: Life Lessons in Body Positivity and Identity by Rathika Sheila where she shared her moving experience of growing up Indian in KL
- Diwali Reflections: What It’s Like To Grow Up Indian, a photo essay that is both beautiful to read and beautiful to look at
- Parental Depression And Things No One Tells You by Kate Ng about navigating depression along with all the Asian baggage about depression
- What To Expect When Popping Your Menstrual Cup Cherry by me!
From these titles alone, you can probably tell we love pushing the boundaries when it comes to our content and I’ve loved being a part of every second of it.
Where I travelled to
This year has been one hell of a year. 2017 began in Switzerland where I celebrated the New Year’s on a rooftop in Bern in minus whatever degrees, went to London in January (in time for the anti anti-immigration march), Belfast in February, Ireland in March, home in April, Chiang Mai in May, Taiwan in June, Switzerland again in July, Milan in September (thank you Alona!), Ireland again in October, London again in November and made it home in time for Christmas.
I had planned to spend my birthday in Romania and make a trip to Budapest and Vienna but I ended up having too much fun in the Swiss Alps and so cancelled my trips to stay back and explore the mountains.
I think that was one of the best decisions I made this year.
I’ll be home for the next few months while I get my taxes, insurances and bank things in order. I’m planning a big trip next year and so my paperwork needs to be on point or else it’ll all fall apart.
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I think those are all the updates on my life this year and it has been one hell of a ride. There have been so so many ups but also so many terrible lows. But then again, I probably wouldn’t have noticed the ups if I didn’t experience the lows so I guess it all works out, eh?
NEXT TRAIN OUT 