Going Back to What I Do, Maybe

I've jumped around in careers since I was 18, but I mostly stayed in the media / entertainment industry. My background consists of;

• An award winning musician (Guitarist for a band called Disagree), with cameos playing for the likes of Zee Avi (pre album launch), Hunny Madu and others.
• Events executive, learning the ropes for corporate events and even a whole festival (Rock The World 10).
• Television and Broadcast executive, working in Astro under Hitz.TV when it was trying to become bigger than just a music channel. Fun times here leading to the creation of amazing IPs and events!
• Video Producer, working under Jehan Miskin and learning the ropes in the production industry. This is where I began gaining experience as a director and editor on the side doing small little videos here and there. After that, I ended up in BFM 89.9 - The Business Station as their only video content creator. The shot above was when I finally had an intern, Josh Wong , and we went to Melaka on a private plane to shoot Freda Liu and Adeline Choong . At this point, I put on an 'entrepreneur hat' and did as much as I could with the video department. Video content grew, viewership grew, and branded content and sponsorship grew.
• Radio producer and co-host - Still under BFM, but I realised I had some free time, so I learnt how to use the radio control panel, managed a few shows, and even co-hosted a show with Adeline and Richard Bradbury - That Time Of Night!
• From there, I became a Creative Content Director for a small company for a short time, before being offered a position back in Astro, heading a content creation department under Jastina Arshad. This was the most corporate job I ever had! I learnt more about business, finances, P&Ls, budgeting, strategy and so so so so much more.
• Around this time, I did pick up skills in digital art design, photography, animation, website design and wordpress development, a bit of coding and bla bla bla...anything creative that didn't require words.

At this point, I wasn't even 30 yet.

After Astro, I focused my time on Storage Bloc Sdn Bhd and FlyBear Pick and Pack Fulfillment - two companies totally outside my comfort zone.

But, of course, at that time, both company's were unable to reach a point where enough profit could be made to sustain my monthly monetary obligations and commitments.

So, on the side, I was doing a lot of freelance jobs as a video creator. I say video creator cause I did a lot of the work - writing, shooting, directing, producing, editing, etc. I even tried to open my own company, which couldn't take off due to, well, the pandemic.

I gave up

After trying so hard to continue video production, I gave up. Clients weren't coming in, I wasn't getting anymore jobs, and apparently some of the work I put my heart and soul into wasn't to the clients' liking.

I fell into a deep depression, feeling like I had been rejected by a world I gave up my life for. Maybe it was me thinking I was better than what I was. Maybe I didn't actually have the skills to live outside of the companies I left behind. Maybe I wasn't worth it? I don't know. It was painful, that's all I know.

I stopped making videos and focused time and attention to my other companies.

Even until now, even though I know I have a lot of skills in regards to shooting and editing, just thinking about getting back into it is triggering.

I did take a job or two where I did have to shoot videos, but the passion is definitely gone. My hobbies now are just doing random stuff like sewing, clay sculpting, painting, and working out!

Maybe I should Go Back To It?

So, at this point, Flybear is a fulfilment service provider. However, like I have said many times, I want to find a way of being irreplaceable. I want the company to be so valuable that we would be the last partner our clients would cut out during bad times.

After taking a look at what's out there, a part of me feels like maybe the lowest hanging fruit would be to offer my services as a video creator. I have the skills, so beside the crippling trigger shooting brings, why not?

I did tell myself that I would never go back to this world, but maybe this world is unescapable? If I can use my skills to help companies grow their sales through content creation, then I become a bit more irreplaceable.

However, if you guys know any other ways of helping my clients, please let me know - cause for me, doing this is almost like a last resort!