💭 “There is a use for me everywhere”

Q. Hello Sean, could you introduce yourself?

Hello, I am Sean, working hard on all sorts of things at VACATIO except development and design.

When I first joined I was in charge of sales. My main job was getting hosts to list on our platform. Now I do a wide range of things the team needs — including the HR work I had been interested in!

Q. I’m curious how you joined. You used to work in content, didn’t you?

That’s right, I originally wanted to be a content creator. For a long time all the experience I built was content-related. But I was not as good at content as I had hoped. Unsatisfied with my own work, I wondered for a long time whether liking it was enough to keep going.

Then I went on exchange, and through a completely new experience I realized: “I was just someone who loved consuming content, and I mistook that love for wanting to be the one who makes it.”

Around that time I came across VACATIO’s careers page. I did not have the confidence to give up content entirely, nor to start truly from zero, so I hesitated. But it was obvious I would regret doing nothing. I was drawn to the line about looking for people who want to do something but do not know what, and I figured the path with less regret was to throw myself at it, so I requested a coffee chat. That is how I joined as an Impact Junior.

Q. After about a year at a startup, do you have any lingering attachment to content?

Will asked me this too, and no, I do not feel regret. I think I am someone who wants to contribute across many kinds of work.

That is why working at VACATIO is fun. There is a use for me everywhere.

At the school broadcasting station where I first did content work, I took on all kinds of roles. School stations are so small that one person takes part in planning, directing, shooting, and editing.

But a real broadcaster is not like that. It is extremely specialized, and I felt it would be a long road before I could work across many areas. At a real station I would have to endure a long time without enjoying it.

Right now, though, I am satisfied because I get to do many different things.

Q. Glad to hear it! Was there a moment that made you want to stay for the long run?

About a month after I joined, I went to meet hosts for a new business we were preparing. I knew nothing at the time, but one thing was clear: meeting customers and hearing their voices is different from working at a desk. And I could clearly see that simply showing up to listen moves customers. It felt like doing real work.

There is one more thing. Last year I told Zeon I was interested in HR. Honestly, our team is very small and we were not hiring aggressively, so there was no separate HR role, and I knew HR did not need many people.

But I wanted to work here with satisfaction, and I judged that the way to do that was to share honestly what I wanted. After that, HR-related work I could do started coming my way. I had no special strength and no relevant career, yet they trusted me with the work, and I was truly grateful for that.

Q. So what kind of person is Zeon to you?

A warm leader. Zeon pays attention to every teammate. He keeps asking whether anything is going on, and if he notices the two of us have not talked in a while, he comes over and starts a conversation. That makes me want to keep working with him.

And when it is time to work, he has charisma. I like that he communicates clearly what is needed. If Zeon says something is necessary, I just accept it and do it. Even when I do not understand it 100 percent, I would do it because I trust him.

Q. What is the most memorable thing from your work?

I once wrote handwritten letters to customers. Five hundred of them, I think? We had launched a service and were struggling because users were not coming.

What I thought at the time was this: “Our customer segment is clearly defined anyway. And that segment rents out spaces. Why not just send everything we want to promote to their property addresses?”

I acted on it right away. Writing letters by hand, pulling the addresses of 500 properties, packaging them. I thought it would be quick, but it was not — it took several days, I think.

Honestly, I am not sure about the effect. I did not feel a dramatic difference. But it was just fun, and it felt rewarding. I think it reminded me once again that our team will do anything.

Q. So what do you see as our team’s strength? That we can do anything?

I can say it with confidence. We are incredibly tight-knit. We trust each other. And we just do it. When we are all together, we are a team that gets anything done. It has only been about a year for me, but I am sure of that.

Q. Then what kind of person would you like to work with going forward?

An honest person. Just last year I was not honest myself. I did not want my shortcomings to show, so even when I had questions I tried to solve everything alone. But that takes an enormous amount of time. Doing it alone takes two hours; asking someone solves it in ten seconds.

So I want to work with people who can admit what they do not know. I think I have become more honest than before. If I do not know, I ask.

This is something I have thought recently: I want to work with people who just do it. People who give it a go, come what may. It is admirable. Do not look for reasons it cannot work — just try. That is something I keep engraved in my own mind.

Q. You seem to have changed a lot. At first you said you worried a lot.

I still do. But it is also true that I have changed. I used to lack confidence, and that has changed a lot. You could say I now have a “let’s just try it” mindset. I think I have grown some guts.

That is why I believe our team will absolutely make it. Everyone is similar. There will be hard times, but together I think we will pull it off anyway, so I am excited.

Q. What future do you picture for the team?

Honestly? We might really beat Airbnb. For now, I hope a world where nobody is unaware of our company, our product, and our team comes soon.

Q. Then I’m curious about the direction you want to grow in.

I want to be “a person who is needed.” Someone the team needs, in any form and for any reason.

If they need someone to loosen up a stiff atmosphere, fine. If they need someone to throw out ideas, fine. If they need someone to keep at something tirelessly, fine. Even being the person who does the work that looks unimportant is fine.

To do that, I think I first have to be someone people are comfortable with. We have to work together a long time, so it cannot be uncomfortable.

Q. Let’s talk about the Jeju retreat. What went through your mind when you heard about it?

Zeon suddenly said we would go to Jeju for two weeks starting the following week. At first it did not feel real, and above all I wondered, “can seven people clear two weeks of their schedules?”

On top of that, I was told I would have to drive there. I am a paper driver. That was honestly my biggest worry. But it turns out nothing is impossible. In the end everyone went, and I drove more than 1,000 kilometers in Jeju over those two weeks.

Q. What was the most memorable moment of the two-week Jeju retreat?

I definitely felt that meeting hosts in person helps far more than working in the office. I got a lot out of sharing the day’s meeting insights together at night. It reminded me that you really do have to hear the customer’s voice directly. We shared what happened in meetings and shared ideas too — it was fun.

Most of all, the best part was getting much closer with my teammates. Living together is different from working together.

Q. Thank you for the interview, Sean. Any final words?

Only last year I was reading my teammates’ interviews wondering what kind of place VACATIO was, and now I am the one conducting them. It feels surreal.

I hope reading our teammates’ interviews made your heart race too — just as mine did last year. If it did, please join our journey, which will take us far! Thank you.