A New Chapter

Hello, dear readers!

I’m ecstatic to share the news that…

…I’ve moved to Helsinki, Finland!

I’ve made no secret that my career plans in game development would go through a training period into the job market in Portugal, as I’m quite averse to sudden change, and by the time I graduated I was still dealing with anxiety, depression, impostor syndrome — y’know, all that jazz — and moving to a new professional situation and countries would probably have been way too overwhelming at that time, but that after about 2 years into the field I would like to go and venture to a place where the game industry is much more established and meet new faces in this industry.

I’m extremely thankful that I managed to get a job in Lisbon at Doppio Games right after graduating, and that my teammates and especially the studio’s CEO Jeferson and CTO Chris were such experienced and kind and patient mentors that allowed me to grow and make mistakes and give me a voice — an all around a great work experience that I do not take for granted. I’ve grown into a more confident and assertive professional due to my team, and that niggling impostor syndrome voice is much more silenced and in the back of my mind (I still have bouts of depression sometimes which I “thank” a previous boss for…).

After my long time partner got an amazing offer to work in Helsinki in late December 2021, I was hesitant to broach the subject of moving in with him with my bosses, but my worries were in vain as Fortis (which had acquired Doppio by this time) went above and beyond to help me transition to a new country and continue working for them while ❤️ keeping love alive ❤️ (please note a joke-y voice there 😅), so I could make this big change while keeping some familiar grounding elements, which I am so grateful for as it makes this move much less daunting.

I’m really, really excited to continue the work I’ve been doing at the studio, but now 2 hours ahead of Lisbon, in a country where indoors is warm all seasons and I won’t literally freeze to death while proverbially chilling at home ba-dum tss.

I will still work on WPGI — we aim to reach beyond women working in Portugal but also Portuguese women working abroad — so it still makes total sense for me to continue that project as a liaison for Portuguese expats in the games industry. If you haven’t done so already, please do visit our website soon (I am still building it in my limited spare time) and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram, and join the LinkedIn group and our Discord server for discussions (PM us on these platforms or email us to get the link)!

Onwards to a new chapter in my life!