Coffee and Graveyards.

This is how most people in my network would continue the phrase, “Your associations with Olga…”

Last year, I spent countless hours in webinars, online courses, and interactive sessions. Attended networking events. Included personal connection stories - specifically, Why me and Why now.

Mentioned my penchant for creative writing, foreign languages, and heavy, “eclectic” music.

Caused subtle confusion by my all-black, spiky outfits (think Metal meets Corporate Goth), so I dubbed my style as Couture Goth.

And yet, most people would remember Coffee and Graveyards.

#PersonalBranding ☕🪦

Or, due to the controversial, non-dinner topic nature of my stories, readers would describe my work morbid. And then, sensing the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel, they’d feel hopeful and call me a Morbid Optimist.

I’m ok with that. Outside opinions don’t change who I am.

There were people in my life who had tougher choices to make. Take decisions, that would often be irreversible. To such people, I dedicate most of my work. Anyone struggling with matters of life and death, remember: you are not alone.

As a recovering corporate employee, I’ll probably have a lifetime of stories on interactions of humans and tech. (More on my business website and LinkedIn). I write to explore personal traumas and recovery patterns. As an INTJ, I always look up to other humans who fill me hope and yes, morbid optimism.

Thank you for stopping by. Drop me a note or a DM @olgagabris_

Everyone is fighting their personal fight. With the unfolding of the global pandemic, social unrest, mass layoffs, and violent political events around the world, it's easy to succumb to depression leading to dark, suicidal thoughts. Being aware and open to clues given out by coworkers, friends and family members can help them cope and, as a result, save lives.

Even with the official statistics released by CDC, the identification of suicide as the cause of death is not that easy or reliable since the real intent is not always evident, or it can be intentionally disguised due to cultural or religious reasons. (Source: www.bu.edu)

With my writing, I want to bring awareness to problems numerous individuals face in their lives, even if externally these people seem successful and happy.

“Best of” my departure blog from the big tech.

I used Save the Cat - Feature format to format my blog.

Image by Olia Gozha

  • A proverbial fork in the road within my tech-driven personal roadmap came to life in late fall 2021, when the departure of our CIO made it clear that IT monthly newsletter, driven by the CIO org, may no longer exist.

  • So I pondered: is there a world where our department’s Gazette could live? A place to highlight and reflect upon all the wondrous things behind the scenes?

    With the blessing of my then-manager, the Gazette startup was launched.

    And, it had to be a Gazette because a “newsletter” is so pre-2020!

  • So, the course was set. PM’ing by day, nerding out by night. Even if the Gazette editorials didn’t take that long, I thought: what if injecting more writing into my work was also an option?

  • Enter 2022. Feeling more comfortable with the plethora of the data sets our team had to juggle, as well as new projects and priorities added to the mix, I was also pulled into storytelling deeper. Not only from the Gazette editor perspective, but also writing my own stories whenever a long weekend or a holiday break was in sight. I’ve been doing that since the age of 7, after all. And being true to myself while doing what I love felt like coming home.

  • Time cut: 2023. This was a year I promised to myself to really get serious about writing, get training, and get to work. Many of the evenings (up until 10pm) and weekends were all about screenwriting classes, workshops, and webinars. If I couldn’t attend some, I was eager to watch the recordings once available.

  • I had no idea what I was doing. With my degrees in Linguistics, Digital Marketing, ITSM management, and an MBA, I’ve never taken a single screenwriting class until 2023. Some of the mistakes I’ve made were so cringe-worthy. And yet, I kept on going.

    Sometimes, you really need to start from scratch. The keyword is to start.

  • Empowered by my wild wit and beginner’s luck, I’ve submitted to a few screenwriting competitions. With more rejections than acknowledgments, I’ve placed in a Screencraft competition Semifinals - twice - but haven’t progressed further.

  • One other competition, specifically for dark and “unconventional” scripts, has also rejected my TV pilot for “low marketability due to its niche content”…. So it was a major blow.

  • Not that sure of my ability to write anything (a doubt that sadly hits all creatives at some point), I went to a BraveMaker film fest in Redwood City in July of 2023, to “get out of my hermit’s cove” and to practice what most introverts are terrified of - networking.

  • There, I met other creatives who work on their own projects. Projects that don’t fit the mold. For some, it takes years to make a meaningful connection. For others, it’s quicker - there is no one way to do it. No shortcuts, no magic formulas. We all have to walk this road to get to a destination.

  • Fast-track to the end of 2023, the Thanksgiving week to be precise, I’ve come up with an idea to convert one of my short stories into a screenplay for a short film. By some universal coincidence, there was a pop-up weekend pitch session with the very people at BraveMaker I met in July. I pitched, they listened. I was excited, they were too. We now have a short film in the works, and the filming is set for Spring 2024.

  • And this is what contributed to my decision to leave the big tech.

    This appetite and willingness to chase even the wildest dreams.

    At the very start of 2024, I’m focusing all my energy to screenwriting and related creative outlets.