About Me: How Scooping Dog Poop Made Me A Freelance Web3 Writer

Note: I'm in the process of re-writing this story entirely, but you can check out the first draft or "flow of consciousness" version below:

Steve Jobs famously said at Stanford’s 2005 Commencement that you can never connect the dots of your life looking forwards, only looking backwards. He said this to encourage us to follow our hearts, even if it leads us off traditional paths of success. 

Today, I am happy and still forging my own path. Two years ago, during the height of the pandemic, I was feeling lost and depressed. I had just graduated college, and I didn’t know what to do with my life. 

Today, I’m a freelance web3 writer producing engaging, well-researched articles that help web3 brands accelerate mass adoption of their products. I’m also a customer success manager at a tech startup. Two years ago, jobless and desperate, I started a dog poop scooping business.

Everyone was telling me it was a terrible idea. In retrospect, they were right. I’m allergic to dogs. It wasn’t likely to work out. 

But I had just finished listening to Job’s speech, so I was determined to succeed at this business. Once I started trusting that everything would fall into place through luck and hard work, one thing led to the next. 

If I had never started scooping dog poop, this website would’ve never existed. I would’ve never found a fulfilling career in customer success. I would’ve never re-discovered my passion for writing. I would’ve never found GameStop’s stock and had the confidence to throw my life savings into it at $38 pre-stock split. I would’ve never found my passion for customer success and web3. 

Here’s the full story. 

I graduated college in my parent’s Colorado basement at the height of the pandemic in 2020. I was struggling to apply for jobs. I got rejected from the few jobs that I did apply to. 

I felt like a failure and a disappointment to my Asian parents. I coped with these feelings by wasting countless hours on mobile video games. 

Jobless and desperate, I started a backyard dog poop scooping business. 

I was genuinely excited about this business idea. I thought, “most dog owners are busy & tired of scooping dog poop. I’ll scoop the poop in their yard for $12 so they can enjoy a clean yard and have more time to spend with their family.” 

After buying poop scoopers, gloves, and trash bags, I practiced by scooping dog poop from my friends’ backyards. 

To get clients, I also spent my time studying copywriting, branding, and marketing. I created a logo and website with Wix, a no-code website builder. By chance, I saw that Wix was hiring customer care experts, so I decided to apply. 

To my surprise, one week after my website went live, someone actually filled out my dog poop clean-up request form. I was ecstatic. All my marketing efforts paid off. I can do this. 

But on the same day a few hours later, I got an offer letter to join Wix’s support team. After reflecting, I accepted Wix’s offer because working remotely would give me the freedom to eventually move out of my parent’s basement. 

I directed the woman who filled out my clean-up request form to a competitor. Sadly, I shut down my poop scooping business.

After joining Wix, I started developing an interest in web design. I joined Flux Academy, an online web design school, to improve my web design skills. Eventually, Flux Academy had an opening for a blog writer, so I applied. Unfortunately, I was rejected, but Flux will re-enter the story two years later.  

I started looking for other ways to make money. This led me to discover GameStop stock on Reddit back in January 2021. The reason I had downloaded Reddit in the first place was to connect with other dog poop scooping business owners. 

After a year at Wix, I found a new customer success job at Customer.io. This became the best job I ever had, and I was finally able to move out of my parent’s basement. 

Then, Gamestop started building an NFT Marketplace. In Dec. 2021, I started immersing myself in the web3 space to research why. In the research process, I found meaning in the mission to build a better, decentralized internet where users can own their data. 

Five months later, Flux Academy emailed me to ask if I’d still like to write for their blog. I accepted the opportunity, which re-ignited my passion for writing. I saw an opportunity to combine my two interests in web3 and writing by publishing articles about crypto, NFTs, and blockchain technology. Now, I have this website to feature both the articles I write for clients and for myself. 

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