Freedom from job titles, Seoul, Singapore, Bali, and Adobe MAX!

I think we are more than our “job titles.” There’s more to life than what you to do create shareholder value. 

I spent the majority of my school years and early career believing that the longer I spent doing something, the better I’ll be. I trapped myself at my desk, studying and working. I thought I can only enjoy life when I go on vacation, or a promotion. 

I sacrificed travel, friendships, and overall life experience to study for that stupid exam or chase for that promotion so I can satisfy my ego. Now, I like to joke at SAT stands for “Stupid Ass Test.”  

Sometimes LinkedIn can make it seem like working in FAANG (it’s MANGA now) is so sexy. Also going the VC route as a founder is so sexy. 

August 2022 was a major turning point. That was when folks Design Buddies brought together tried to break it apart. It hurt deeply because I hate disappointing people. I was also on my first vacation since ‘rona and they knew I wouldn’t have good wifi (I still had a wonderful time vibing in the glaciers in Alaska)

No matter how hard I try to help people, there will always be people who disagree. I’ve learned to be content with that. 

I stopped making it my life’s purpose to chase whatever general society determines as success, like climbing the corporate ladder.

After going to 30+ countries since then, I decided that there is more to life my job. San Francisco is also not the center of the world.  

I really appreciate my time as a UX Designer in tech - helped me grow my skills and I met many great people from my company. But I want time and location freedom. 

I’m not anti 9-5 jobs. It works well for some people but I just wanted something different. I believe working in tech was a wonderful experience and would recommend it to anyone interested. Working in tech helped me learn from others, fail in a relatively safer environment, and build up a ton of savings.

Ever since I quit my corporate job in April 2024, I’ve been able to take Design Buddies further. We hosted a conference, got a creator house, launched an educational program, hosted parties around the world, and much more.

I’ve also got to tour around Europe, Canada, East Coast US, and now vibing around Asia with no return flight!

In mid September, Justin and I went to Seoul, then Singapore, and now we’re in Bali co-running a creator villa for a month. In between, I’m flying to Miami for Adobe MAX. After Bali, we’re headed to Bangkok with no return flight yet. Maybe more Asia, but I’ll be in South America and Antarctica this mid to end December!

We got to host meetups wherever we went thanks to our community!

Seoul: Thank you Hannah for helping me host our founders and designers meetup. Thank you Startup Alliance Korea for the venue! 

Singapore: Thank you to Natalie, Toby, Qi Jie from Singapore Product Design for hosting with me, Alwyn for our venue at Open Government Products, and Stan from Taskade for sponsoring our food. 

Also honored to meet Design Buddies members who also came to our event in Singapore last year! Stay tuned for some big events in Singapore with Design Buddies around Fall 2025 👀

Bali: I came into Bali knowing no one. I put together a party in 4 days and over 30 people came to our party at Bunny Villa!

Join our next one, kawaii Halloween party, happening on Sat Oct 26: https://lu.ma/halloween-bali 

Miami: Thank you Adobe for sponsoring my entire trip to Adobe MAX and for all the VIP tickets/yacht parties. Anyone else going to Adobe MAX? Please reach out~ 

I’m Grace Ling, and I do many random things. I founded Design Buddies (150,000+ members, 2 million+ on socials). I draw, travel the world, host events, run, and more. I’ve been to almost 40 countries. I travel around the world to speak at conferences and throw parties. I create content to document it all.

I hope you slay your day! Let’s stay in touch: LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Twitter.