Back in Chicago

Why are we back in Chicago?

Well, some time around March or April 2023, much of the "Big Tech" industry was reeling from sector-wide layoffs. I had many friends and colleagues who were out of work, and sharing stories about failures in corporate interviews. It sucked, and we had to figure out our plan for navigating the economy.

Rice Fields on the road to Izu, about 1 hour from our home in Japan

We had to discuss some hard issues in our home that summer. We were living in Zama City, a beautiful suburban-meets-rural township about 1 hour outside central Tokyo. I would consider myself a new dad. Being a parent is hard enough even in one's home country, let alone somewhere so far away.

A bit of history: Around 2017, my wife and I moved from California to Japan to make a go of "life abroad." I started in a relatively junior role in the Japan section of a large, U.S.-based tech firm. I spoke very little Japanese, and was in love with Tokyo from the moment I stepped off the plane.

I moved up fairly quickly in that role because I have strong technical skills, but our life in Japan was quickly becoming very serious. The realities of supporting a family and home in an unsure economy (while living 6000 miles from any kind of family support) were becoming very real. Go look at the USD / JPY exchange rates for 2021-2023 to get an idea of what we were dealing with.

Around November of 2023, we decided to return to the United States. I was able to find a transfer role in Chicago very similar to the work I was doing in Japan. My work in 2024 is pretty much the same as in Japan -- "AdTech".

Technology -- whether a flavor of Corporate IT, Cloud, or AdTech -- has pretty much always paid our bills. But I'm increasingly looking to entrepreneurial efforts. I like the idea of starting up something as a side-hustle outside of Tech. I may write about that later if I find any success in it. In the mean time, I've been known to take freelance jobs from time to time.

I guess we’re back in the United States because of a number of factors: the economy went sideways, raising a family in a foreign country is hard, and we have different opportunities here. Admittedly, I miss it there a lot still, but I’m hopeful for this next chapter of life

In the coming months, I’m hoping to write more about how my career here develops. If you own a business in the Chicagoland area, and need support, feel free to shoot me a message.