Thoughtworker Spotlight: Rae Abunahla

An engineer of the renaissance, Rae Abunahla is a Software Engineer by title, but his journey extends far beyond the confines of code at 思特沃克软件技术（中国）有限公司 Canada. Driven by the realms of innovation and social studies, Rae bridges his technical skills with his passion for product, strategy and design. Embracing his toolbox of wisdom and versatility, Rae thrives in the unknown, confidently running workshops, collaborating with clients and driving exceptional outcomes alongside passionate teams.?

Outside of work, Rae is out and about, going on runs, traveling and enjoying music festivals. As a strategic thinker with a variety of hobbies, can you guess what his favourite product is? It might not surprise you that he has a passion for both digital and analog products.?

Learn more in this week’s Thoughtworker Spotlight!

Tell us about what you do in 50 words or less

I work as a Software Engineer on the regular, but lately, I’ve been involved in more product-related work. This means that outside of coding, I’m collaborating with cross-functional teams, running workshops, engaging with clients and driving the overall strategic direction of a product or project!

What’s the most interesting challenge you're working on?

As someone who is fueled by social studies, product, and strategy with a huge undercover nerd living inside him, I find it challenging to bridge the connection between the two. I appreciate my natural aptitude for technology, but I also find myself being involved in all other types of work, whether it be product, business strategy or design.

I feed off of the diversity of it all, and have recently learned to embrace being a jack of all trades. My engineering school called it the “Renaissance Engineer'', and I’m really enjoying defining what that means for me, despite the challenges along the way. This is particularly challenging given the nature of work today, where pigeonholing and specializing are considered effective strategies.

What inspired you to have the career you have today??

I ended up picking technology because all my friends decided to study computer science in university, and at the time, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. So, in a way, it’s more like my career chose me. I’m not usually very go-with-the-flow when it comes to life decisions, but I lucked out on this one!

What achievement are you most proud of in your career to date?

I fear there are too many to count, but I can say with confidence that the achievements I’m most proud of are likely due to the wonderful teams I got to work with! A good passionate group of folks to work with can truly make the biggest difference in delivering exceptional outcomes!

If you could go back in time and give yourself career advice, what would it be?

Calm down. Don’t overthink titles, companies or where a good place to start is. Overthinking leads to stagnation. Just go for it anyway, and you’ll get closer to what you actually want.

Stop looking at what other people are doing. Comparison will rob you of joy.

Just breathe, go do work you find fulfilling and detach yourself from your work ego. It’s all going to work out and you’re going to look back and ask yourself what you were even worried about in the first place.

And also, you were right about your first manager.

What do you love to do outside of work?

I really loved ballet, but after dropping out of dance school, I had to fill my time with other hobbies. I found that I really enjoy running, reading, travel, music festivals and most importantly, yapping with my friends.

If you were stuck on a deserted island, what album, movie, and book would you take with you?

Album – The Slow Rush by Tame Impala (There are easily 10 alternative options though this is a criminally difficult question)

Movie –? Nyad or Sound of Metal - I can’t pick!

Book – Are You This? Or Are You This? A Story of Identity and Worth by Madian Al Jazerah

And finally, what’s your favorite product and why?

Digital - While I'm tempted to say Spotify, there is still room for improvement in the product. So, I will say Headspace. I’m really passionate about mindfulness and meditation, and I find that Headspace does it the best right now. From the onboarding journey, to the educational journey and the ongoing engagement, there’s so much good that came out of that product for me!

Analog - I’ve been learning a lot about vinyls and CDs, fascinated by how they’re made, how they work and are read. It blew my mind just as much as Bluetooth did! How did we come up with that?!