How would you feel if you were affected by a layoff on the very first workday of the year due to restructuring? You’d probably feel emotionally drained. And that’s okay; no one wants to lose their job, especially not on the first workday of a new year.
This is usually the time when people reflect on the past year—though maybe it’s just me, and not everyone does this before work fully resumes in January, i.e., set goals and make plans for what’s ahead. You’ve already mapped things out, set targets, and envisioned how the year should go. Then, out of nowhere, boom! You’re out.
Thinking about it now feels strange, because this is exactly where I find myself. But interestingly, the way I feel is quite different from everything I’ve just described.
I have mixed feelings because, on one hand, I fancy the idea of a new challenge somewhere with a truly developer-focused product, and I have already been planning my next move and job search. On the other hand, I don’t like the idea of being laid off at all, especially since this is my first time experiencing something like this.
How I’m Managing This Moment
I do have plans for the year. That said, I’ll be prioritizing finding a new role above everything else right now for the sake of my mental health. This will probably be the first time in the past four years that I’m not actively working or employed by a company, so I’m still figuring out how to navigate this phase. It feels unfamiliar, but I’m confident I’ll find my footing.
In the meantime, I plan to stay intentional and keep building:
Working on personal projects in Rust and MOVE, driven by my growing interest in stablecoin adoption for global remittance.
Exploring and building projects in AI, really interested in AI agents, including MCP and related tooling.
Continuing to deepen my interest in web platforms and infrastructure.
I'm a frontend engineer first before DevRel, so I have also been looking at still working, and that also helps improve my web platform experience due to the fact that I have managed deployment many a time.
I know these are different areas, but my approach is to focus on them one at a time rather than all at once. Although I'm open to feedback and suggestions on how to manage this in the comment section.
What Next?
This is probably the question on your mind, lol! A quick intro about me and what I have been up to over the years. My name is Femi, a developer relations engineer working at the intersection of product, engineering, and customer success. Over the past year, I transitioned from a frontend engineering background into full-time DevRel, where I’ve worked closely with tech leads, CTOs, heads of growth, and product managers to drive developer relations at an organizational level.
Along the way, I’ve worn multiple hats as a frontend engineer, technical writer, and developer educator, helping shape developer experience through documentation, demos, and hands-on education. I’ve also hosted virtual developer events and delivered live demos at community and industry events, all focused on helping developers build confidently and successfully with the product.
Developer-focused event with the WordPress community in Lagos. I did a quick DEMO on how you can set up the Nomba payment plugin on the WooCommerce store.
I’ve also hosted a virtual event on webhooks in payment integrations—you can find the recording on the Nomba Developers
YouTube channel.
In addition, I’ve written technical articles for OpenReplay; you can view my profile and published work here
. I’ve also contributed extensively to technical documentation for devtools and payment solution platforms, with my most recent work being end-to-end payment documentation for a Nigerian startup.
I’m currently looking for my next role and would love to join a developer-first or developer-plus company. If you have an open-source project you’d like me to contribute to as a technical writer, or know someone I should speak with, I’d really appreciate the connection.
You can reach me directly at makurseme@gmail.com
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