How to Work in Tech Without Losing Your Soul

It’s not as hard as you think

Billy Frazier
5 min readOct 19, 2022
Man sitting with his hands behind his head while staring at a laptop.
Credit: Pexels

These days, whenever you hear the word “tech,” it’s easy to get a bad taste in your mouth.

How can you not cringe whenever you read about billionaires shooting themselves into space or tech behemoths forcing warehouse workers to pee in bottles?

As someone who has been in this industry for roughly a decade, I’m here to say it’s not all bad — there are still plenty of opportunities for people who want to make money while still doing good.

Here are a few tips for working in tech without losing your soul:

Put your oxygen mask on first.

What exactly does this mean? The first step is acknowledging there is nothing wrong with wanting to make money. By now, I’m sure you’ve heard vision statements and messaging from tech companies that want to change the world or make it a better place. That’s great, but companies also exist to make money — it’s a fundamental part of capitalism and participating in the free market. Without money, they won’t be in business long enough to do much good. As someone who wants to work in tech, there is nothing wrong with wanting to get your piece of the pie. Sure, you hear plenty of tech bros claim “Money isn’t everything,” but there’s a good chance they…

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Billy Frazier
Billy Frazier

Written by Billy Frazier

Principal experience designer, writer, and leader who’s fumbling forward through a creative career while helping others do the same. fumblingbook.com