2021 Year in Review

2021 was a year with many changes in my life, which made me want to start a Year in Review tradition.

Here are the things that happened.

Professionally

In December 2020 I accepted a job offer from Spotify and resigned from Klarna. The usual notice period in Sweden is three months and from January until March I was wrapping up some projects at work.

When I was about to leave, I wrote a document sharing everything I learned from my time there, the status of each project I was involved in, and some ideas I had and couldn’t find the time to implement. I shared it with my team for them to use when I left.

In March I joined Spotify to be part of a team in Soundtrap, a company they had acquired in 2017. It was a dream to join one of the companies I looked up to in a developer and design culture.

Although I liked Spotify’s culture and the intelligent people I met there, I noticed I wasn’t feeling fulfilled and learning as much as I thought I could. I realized that one of the reasons for that is the company’s size. It’s no secret that larger companies have so much more processes, projects move slower, and your contribution tends to be smaller.

I always watched the startup world from a distance, reading about their successes and failures, learning about people who were one of the first hires in a company and stayed for many years, contributing to every stage of their evolution.

I decided that it was time for me to take the leap and join one of them.

I applied by reaching out directly to founders and engineers (a perk of startups, you can be direct and have access to every employee).

When I reached out to a friend of mine to know what he was up to, he introduced me to WorkOS. I had a chat with its CEO in which he sold me on their mission and their product.

I applied, had a few interviews and code challenges, met the team, and received an offer, which I then accepted.

As the company is US-based and I was in Sweden with a work visa, I couldn't stay there as the company has to be Sweden-based.

I considered it and thought I was ready to move back to Brazil and work remotely.

I am excited to be part of the team at WorkOS and with my decision.

As this is my first fully remote job, I finally built my home office:

Yes, I left all the messy cables in there for real-life illustration

At work, I’m spending time getting to know about the industry, meeting the folks I work with, and getting my way around the codebase to ship better products.

I also started creating content with more frequency in 2021, my blog had a few posts, and I’m also trying to be more active on Twitter. I want to have a brain backup and also to help other people.

There is so much more I want to accomplish in 2022 professionally:

• To ship exciting products at work;
• To learn Remix;
• To learn Rust;
• Continue learning about Typescript and functional programming;
• Get better at designing user interfaces and making them accessible.

Personally

Although Covid impacted my plans, Sweden was not strict with lockdowns, and we could still move around with some restrictions. I tried keeping in touch with a few close friends that were comfortable hanging out.

In January, I went on a ski trip with some friends to north Sweden. That was my third time doing it, I started getting more confident and going down more steep slopes. It resulted in me almost breaking my arm. I would say it was worth it.

Because offices were closed, three close friends and I decided to rent an Airbnb for a week and work from there. We spent the mornings exercising together and the afternoons having barbecues. Balance is everything.

In July, I traveled to Brazil to spend time with my family. I met an amazing girl, and we started dating.

When I accepted the new job offer, I started looking for a place to settle in my hometown, and my girlfriend and I decided we would move in together. I had never lived with a partner before, it has been working great so far.

In October, I flew back to Sweden to run my first marathon.

That's my dad in the back running a few meters with me to cheer me up

The marathon was super fun and so much harder than I thought, but it was completely worth it! I want to do it again and try to complete it in less than three and a half hours.

I had the chance to bring my parents and girlfriend with me so they could see for themselves the country I lived in for three years, meet some of my friends, and get to know about the Swedish culture I kept talking about.

In early November, I settled back in Brazil and started practicing Jiu-Jitsu. I wanted to do it for such a long time and always postponed it (I am going 4 to 5 times a week because that is how much I love it.)

For 2022 I want to keep focusing on my health and being active, read books, and start a YouTube channel.

I am excited for this new year to come, so follow me on Twitter to join me on my journey.

I hope you enjoyed reading my highlights from 2021 and that we all have an amazing 2022.