Genre: Opinion/Argumentation

Magic happens outside the comfort zone It's not easy to pause a career on the upswing in order to gain new skills. It's a risk. But one I deemed worth taking. Life is both easier and more difficult in the Arabian Gulf than in the West. Salaries are higher; titles grander; competition less. But creativity is also less, as well as digital expertise -- and these are the two things that inspire me the most and drive my career forward. I worked hard in Saudi Arabia to create big ideas in a conservative market, to stay on the cutting edge in a place that always seemed a little far away from the buzzing hubs of the advertising world. But I worked so hard that I ended up as a Regional Creative Director, managing two offices in two cities, adding these countries on the creative map globally, learning a lot about management and the creative process along the way. My next step was Dubai, where there was more creativity and more competition but few opportunities for me to take my craft to the next level. Because suddenly, almost overnight, I found the entire industry going digital and only a few digital experts leading the way. I knew I needed to be one of them. And to that, I needed to pause my career -- rent the house, sell the car, relocate the housekeeper, gather up my family along with my humility -- and return to school. I could barely breathe as I approached my boss in Dubai to hand in my resignation. But I had to do it: there were sources of information out there in the world that I needed to draw from. I chose Vancouver Film School's Digital Design program because it is one of the best in the world. And because it is located in the city where my wife was born, so we had some infrastructure already set up there. My most important lesson was to be fearless by learning more. Because of that I learned that code is not scary and it's important to speak the language of developers. My other important lesson is to keep doing one small design, idea or any experiment that keeps you discovering new creative landscapes. And what finally completed the circle was a speech given at our graduation by my mentor, a talented senior instructor in Communication/Interactive Design. He said: "Here is a guy who was living a life as an industry leader in a very successful career and he decides to come back to school. And, some might ask, "Why?" I would answer, "Because he wanted to make himself better. He wanted to become a better designer. He knew his strengths, but more importantly, he was aware of his weaknesses. He knew if he wanted to switch gears into a career in interactive, he was going to have to make a huge leap, and go back to school to be the designer he truly wants to be." That has come to fruition and he has the body of work now to prove he's ready. Saadi accomplished what he set out to do, and he did it because he dedicated a year of his life to this goal. proving that it's never too late to fulfill your passion and live the life you know in your heart, you need to live." In highlighting my story, this instructor was effectively sending a reminder to all of us graduating that day -- of the importance of taking risks in order to better ourselves; that the ultimate struggle of every person is to face our own weaknesses. My story does not end here. I don't yet have a job to prove the fruits of my risk and I don't know where my career path will ultimately take me. Nobody ever does. But I am happy with my new digital skills and am putting them to good use doing better work than I have ever done before.