Hi, I'm Otávio Nathanael, nice to meet you! I live in Corumbá, Mato Grosso do Sul, where my journey into tech, creativity, and entrepreneurship began.
Since I was 14, I’ve dreamed of having my own business. That dream led me to teach myself English and dive into creative writing, and I was obsessed with fantasy books back then.
In 2018, I enrolled in a degree in Systems Analysis and Development at IFMS, and spent the next three years learning, experimenting, and dealing with all the challenges of trying to build a future from a small town with limited local opportunities.
By 2019, in my final year, I was under pressure. My scholarship was ending, the job market around me felt out of reach, and I was sending out CVs without getting a single reply.
In early 2020, just before the pandemic hit, I had a thought:
"What if I tried remote work?"
I began sending proposals on freelance platforms, often with little hope. But eventually, it worked. I landed my first jobs on Upwork, and everything started to shift.
One of my first clients was a startup in the US, where I started as a Python tutor. Over time, I took on new responsibilities, helping build and actual products.
A couple of months later, I secured my first full-time developer contract with a company in London. I worked on systems that helped new businesses get up and running, contributing to both development and quality assurance.
I kept growing, moving to another company where I got to explore different roles, from solution architecture and data analysis to team management and sales operations, across projects in Brazil and abroad.
These years gave me a broad, hands-on education: I learned to code, to listen, to lead, and to deliver real solutions to real problems.
But something still felt missing.
In 2024, I spent most of the year in psychotherapy, reflecting deeply on my life, values, and direction. That space allowed me to reconnect with old dreams and make peace with past decisions.
I remembered how much I loved writing. Fiction, essays, ideas. For years, I had set that aside to focus on a more “viable” career, but the urge to create never really left.
Today, I balance both worlds: I build products, run experiments, and help early-stage teams move forward. And I write to make sense of things, to connect, and to explore new possibilities.
Whether I’m working with code, content, or strategy, my focus is the same: clarity, care, and meaningful outcomes.