Losing Spark
Losing My Career Spark at 35: Why I Still Love Creating, But I’m Done with Digital Marketing
Bila orang cakap pasal losing spark, usually orang akan fikir pasal percintaan, hobi, atau kehidupan secara umum.
Tapi bagi I, the spark I’m losing right now is in my career.
I’ve been working in Social Media Management and Digital Marketing for a decade now. Sepuluh tahun, guys. It’s a huge chunk of my life. Tapi sekarang, pada umur 35 tahun, I perasan yang I dah tak rasa joy atau semangat bila bangun pagi nak hadap kerja ni macam dulu.
And if I'm being 100% honest, at 35, the thought of starting over or pivoting to something entirely new can feel terrifying.
It’s Not the Creativity—It’s the Corporate Grind
Here’s the thing I want to make very clear: I haven’t lost my spark for creating.
I still love content creation. I love brainstorming fresh ideas, crafting stories, and building things from scratch. That spark is very much alive, and I honestly think it's something I will never ever lose.
What drains my soul and what officially killed my passion for this industry is the endless algorithm chasing and having my creativity constantly stifled by management.
When you spend years pitching innovative, out-of-the-box ideas only to be told to "just follow the boring corporate template" or "chase whatever viral trend TikTok is pushing today," it gets exhausting. Working in a space where you aren't allowed to fully leverage your creativity takes all the magic out of the job. It turns something you used to love into a soul-crushing assembly line.
What’s Next? Planning the Exit Strategy
Instead of just sitting here complaining and draining my remaining sanity, I’m actively planning my next move if and when I decide to leave the digital marketing world for good.
If I'm going to jump ship, I want to pivot into something where I can be 100% hands-on and passionate about what I create. Right now, there are two main paths I’m exploring:
Starting a Fashion Business: Building a brand, designing pieces, and curating an aesthetic where my creative direction isn't micromanaged by a client or corporate board.
Selling Food (F&B): Cooking and feeding people brings a different kind of instant, tangible joy. Food is pure passion and creation at its finest.
Both options allow me to stay a creator, but on my own terms.
Starting Over Isn't Failure, It’s Renewal
For a long time, I stayed in social media management simply because I had already invested 10 years into it. Sebab rasa sayang kat 'years of experience' tu, kan?
But staying in an industry that constantly suffocates your creativity just to protect a resume or a title isn't sustainable. Changing direction at 35 isn't starting from scratch, it’s starting from experience. Every single skill in marketing, branding, and content creation that I built over the last decade will directly fuel my next business, whether it's fashion or food.
So, to anyone reading this: have you been losing the spark in your career lately? Are you holding onto a path just because you've been doing it for a long time?
If your environment is killing your creativity, maybe it's time we stop trying to fix the spark in the wrong room and go build a fire somewhere else.
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