Megha Tripathi Shook Up Her Career in the Great Resignation and Found a Passion for Web3

POPSUGAR Australia is dedicating the month of October to featuring the next generation of inspired thinkers and courageous individuals who are building and manifesting a brighter future — because the next gen is unstoppable. We will deliver personal essays from young Australians who are making a name for themselves, as well as inspiring thought pieces and interviews with rising talent in the Web3 space throughout the month. Find all of our pieces here.

I started my Web3 journey during the Great Resignation. Before I get into it, if you’re not familiar with Web3, it’s what people within it believe will be the next big wave of technology. They believe it’s where the world is headed and I, now being a part of it, believe so, too.

My family migrated from India to Australia when I was six-months-old. After going through high school and university in Sydney, I started my career in Human Resources in 2013 and hadn’t taken a break since.

Like so many of my friends, the pandemic gave me some time to reflect on my career path and think about what I was truly passionate about.

So, at the end of 2021, I resigned from my full-time job and booked tickets to travel around the world for three months. It was time for some spontaneity, time to shake things up. I felt as though I had so much to discover about myself.

Most of my twenties had flown by, climbing the corporate ladder, attending social events and weddings; including my own (a highlight, of course). After being on autopilot for eight years, going on a career break felt isolating; as most of my friends were working all throughout the working week with 9-5 jobs.

Amidst this isolation, my husband suggested looking into NFTs in 2021, which I actually laughed off at the time. But then I thought about it; with so much free time and actually owning some cryptocurrency, I decided to purchase my first NFT in early 2022 (it was a picture of a monkey, but not the one that’s worth millions of dollars). Needless to say, that NFT was a scam, but it didn’t stop me from looking into NFTs further.  

What first intrigued me about NFTs was the opportunity they present, to make money in a different way other than working in a full-time job. After a few weeks of researching and making a few mistakes, I realised it wasn’t as easy as it seemed. I bought a few more NFTs and therefore, got access to Discord communities, where I spoke to so many interesting people and realised the true value of being involved with NFTs, are the communities around them.

Nine months on, I can honestly say that this has what’s kept me engaged and has me excited about being involved in this space long-term. The people, along with the potential of the application of blockchain technology to real-world problems. 

Blockchain technology can surprisingly be applied to many real-life problems in industries such as finance, legal, art or sports. However, you don’t need to have a background in these industries to get involved. There are so many opportunities to work or contribute to Web3 projects (whether it’s remote or in-person, freelancing or full-time) across a wide range of skill-sets.  

It’s been incredible having a wide range of new experiences, with the standout being a trip to New York for NFT NYC. I knew it was the right decision as soon as I landed in New York and saw the billboard for NFT NYC in Times Square. The NFTs I owned gave me access to exclusive parties where I got to meet some extremely talented women from all over the world and also see Madonna & Ke$ha perform in person.

As a woman entering this space, it did feel very daunting at the beginning of my journey. Here are some steps that I took to establish myself, that hopefully can help you too:  

• Don’t be afraid to reach out to people — the Web3 community is super friendly and it’s not unusual to cold message people on LinkedIn, Twitter or Discord.  
• Engage in self-learning — there are some great YouTube videos explaining the basics as well as Web3 communities focussed on educating people on Web3/NFTs. I asked lots of questions to the community — everyone is super supportive!  
• Find communities you love — there are a lot of communities out there and I found that supporting women-led projects was where I wanted to be. You will find NFTs in almost every area of interest out there – sports, music, digital art, education, philanthropy, travel etc!  
• Find ways to contribute — once I found what I loved, I became Discord moderator for the projects, spoke on Twitter spaces and contributed in different ways to different projects.  

Being a woman of colour, I was unsure of my place in this community. I was pleasantly surprised to see how inclusive the community was, especially the women-led projects I have predominantly been involved with. Now that I am back home in Sydney, I am focusing on building on what I have learnt from the last nine months.

I’m working with multiple projects on making a difference in Web3 — from building a Web3 Compensation Survey (through xCollective) to support pay transparency in Web3 to being a Community Lead for a project that focuses on amplifying other women-led NFT projects (through WoW Pixies DAO).