The clock showed 6:15pm and I had just had my early dinner. Still overthinking about the future, still regretting my resignation decision, still not knowing what to do with my life. It was already February 2026. I couldn't believe I had survived several holidays while unemployed: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Eve, and then Chinese New Year, Ramadan, and Eid in a couple of days. Fuck, I'm overthinking again. Okay, focus.
So I tried lying down on my bed, no phone, just staring at the ceiling. For 3 minutes, then 5 minutes, then 10 minutes, then suddenly I got an idea. I'd create a one-page website proposing to Gary Vee. Because I remembered Gary Vee owns VeeFriends, which started as a bunch of cool character designs to be sold as NFTs (correct me if I'm wrong), then became big, with a comic book, trading cards, the whole thing. That's aligned with my skills in every way.
The Plan
The idea was to propose a new character and new trading card design. So as motivational gurus out there say "don't waste your time," I didn't. I got my ass off the bed, back to my desk, and started designing and building the website. I spent two days, well, it says two days but split into 3 hours each. First I had to draw the character, then design and build the website.
The Reply
The next homework was to find Gary's email. It didn't take me that long because he's famous. Then I sent the email to him and to the VeeFriends team. Three minutes later Gary Vee himself replied, and he said: "men check out rudy maybe we can use him at times."
Damn, I couldn't believe it. The busiest inbox in the world replied to my email within 180 seconds. That's awesome. I'm proud of myself that I caught his attention.
The Outcome
Long story short, I didn't get the job, didn't get the part. Someone at VeeFriends kindly gave feedback about my design proposal, they didn't need any new characters, and suggested I come up with a better trading card design. Which I did. I sent them another new proposal with a better trading card design, but they said they didn't have any open roles for me. End of story.
But I'm proud that Gary replied to me in three minutes. I guess that's one of my biggest achievements in 2026. Thanks Gary. Maybe some other time.