We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Felipe Amaya a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Felipe, so great to be with you and I think a lot of folks are going to benefit from hearing your story and lessons and wisdom. Imposter Syndrome is something that we know how words to describe, but it’s something that has held people back forever and so we’re really interested to hear about your story and how you overcame imposter syndrome.
Overcoming impostor syndrome can be a daily challenge for me. I tend to be a bit of an overachiever, which can be a double-edged sword. It motivates me to constantly push myself, learn new things, and create new art. At work, this drive propels me to find innovative solutions and optimizations for common tasks and production problems. However, it also leads me to compare myself constantly to peers in my field. While looking up to others can be inspiring, it also triggers anxiety, making me feel like I’m not doing enough.
To address this, I must take a pause and engage in a retrospective exercise. This helps me recognize how far I’ve come and curb my impostor syndrome. I reflect on my many small milestones and a few significant accomplishments throughout my professional journey. Doing this exercise regularly, I try to recognize and celebrate every small milestone I reach in my professional and personal work.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
My name is Felipe Amaya. I am a visual effects artist and designer. I currently work for FuseFX NY. There I work on a variety of film and episodic projects. My work is very challenging and rewarding. I have worked on varied projects such as The Changeling, The Diplomat, and American Horror Story among others. I am originally a graphic designer turned visual effects artist who walks a line between art and technical visual effects. I am extremely visually driven but also love programming and parameterization. In a way, this is a way to optimize and make my job easier by finding more efficient and faster solutions to the multitude of challenges that I face every day in visual effects production. I also enjoy working on personal projects to explore visuals and ideas that interest me as well as technical concepts that I enjoy or that are new to me and need to study.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Something I’m truly grateful for and what continues to propel me forward is my relentless curiosity. I have a genuine passion for learning new things, whether they’re related to computer graphics, design, visual effects, or entirely unrelated fields. This thirst for knowledge has been a constant companion, nurturing my mind and driving me forward throughout the years.
Additionally, I possess a keen interest in finding “the path of least resistance” in everything I do. This inclination toward efficiency has sparked my interest in automation, parameterization, and optimization. By embracing these principles, I’ve been able to work smarter, not harder, effectively tackling challenges in my field.
Lastly, I’ve worked diligently to cultivate discipline over the years. While it’s a daily struggle, I’ve made it a personal commitment to see tasks through to completion. I firmly believe that consistent effort, even in small doses each day, accumulates over time and ultimately yields significant results.
Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?
When I’m feeling overwhelmed, I find it crucial to just hit stop. The more intense the pressure, the more vital it becomes to pause. There are moments, especially in the fast-paced world of visual effects production, where I feel like I’m in a relentless race against time. Deadlines loom overhead, and every passing second seems precious. This urgency is particularly palpable when I’m deep in problem-solving or debugging a technical challenge.
In such moments, the best course of action is to halt immediately and step away, even if it’s just for a minute, or perhaps 10 or 20. Even if I’m not actively pondering the problem at hand, I’ve found that my brain might be subconsciously detangling the issue. It’s astonishing how many times I’ve been fruitlessly rushing to find a solution, only to step back, take a breather, and return minutes later to discover the answer waiting for me. In those instances, what had seemed insurmountable just moments before suddenly becomes clear.
Taking a break not only offers a fresh perspective on the problem but also allows my mind to recharge. It’s a chance to alleviate the stress created by the problem that you needed to solve.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://felipeamayaq.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/felipeamayaq/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/felipeamayaq/
Image Credits
All images are my own
