The Bros welcome Venkat Murali to the show. Venkat is a bit younger than the Bros; he's 32. He's also newly married to Enoch's cousin. And he has a fascinating story to tell.
Born to Indian immigrant parents, Venkat grew up in Chicago where he still lives. He attended University of Illinois, Chicago. While there, he says he leaned into Indian American tropes by studying computer engineering. He also started working with a competitive dance troupe.
Venkat had dance since he was a child. In college, his crew of fellow dancers and the work they put in, was one of the things that kept him balanced and sane. He explains some the differences between bhangra and Bollywood. It mostly goes right over the Bros heads.
After college, Venkat went to work in software development while still keeping a toe in the bhangra dance world. In fact, he lead and choreographed his own troupe for several years.
Eventually, whether through burnout or boredom, he discovered that his job wasn't scratching an itch for him. He needed to seek out something more creative which led him to User Experience (UX).
So at a young age, with nothing to lose, he quit his well-paying job and took an intensive UX workshop. And after that he transitioned into a career in UX freelancing.
This could have been the end of the story, but after a couple years of that Venkat felt that old sense of dissatisfaction. But at this point, he was a little older, he was in a serious relationship, and he had more to lose.
But Venkat, with help from his lovely, supportive partner, decided to follow his heart and step away from another promising, well-paying career and take the time he needed to figure shit out.
That was two years ago. He's still figuring it out. Luckily he had build a nice cushion of cash while he was burning himself out through his 20s. And he's been doing some work to develop an online promotion business for a DJ/producer friend of his.
But he's mostly been taking the time he needs to figure it all out. He's been going to therapy. He's playing a lot. He's meditating. He's doing the work.
He can feel the end of this chapter coming. His cash cushion won't last forever. And the Bros can't wait to see where he goes next as he continues to dance with life.
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