For someone who joined Big Immersive not too long ago, I can tell one thing for sure. Everyone comes here because they need a job, but why they ‘stay’ is a whole lot more than just a paycheck at the end of every month. If you’re able to manage your work in the working hours, you will see that the work-life balance in this company is incomparable. Which is probably one of the reasons why you’ll see that the company has a good retention rate, and everyone who comes here, becomes a part of this Big Immersive fam.
Big Immersive a.k.a. BiM wasn’t always a team of 130+ people, it in fact started with a very small team. Azeemi (former CEO, now Chairperson), Nabeel Hassan (now CEO), Rafeh Rauf (now COO), and Asad Shams (CCO) were the guys who had laid the foundation of the company roughly six years ago from a tiny room. Soon after, Ahmed Zafar, Salman Amjad, Mushi, Hammad Fozi, and many others joined the team. I thought, why don’t I go have a chat with each one of them and find out what Big Immersive was like in the beginning, starting with Maryam Younas (Sr. CG Artist), and Muhammad Huzafa (Sr. Unreal Developer).
First I went to the Dev department where we’ll find Huzafa sitting in that corner, he had some stuff to share, some I will share, but most of it will go to the grave with me (jk jk). Any how, so Huzafa started off at BiM way way back and here is how the little chat about the old times went:
R: So you joined Big Immersive in the “basement days”, how was it in the beginning and did you make friends instantly? How did it go in the start?
Huzafa: I came from a company of two people so it was already fun for me here, the team was comparatively bigger and there was more to learn here. Nabeel did my orientation, Asad, Nabeel and Ahmed Zafar really helped me in the start. I miss old times but I am really happy where I am today.
R: Who did you make friends with immediately? Are they still here and most importantly are you guys still friends?
Huzafa: Salman Amjad! He was my first friend here, he’s still my best friend. Our friendship evolved even further in all this time, now our wives are good friends with each other (they even have the same names :O, friendship goals eh?). He sits right next to me, in fact you’re on his chair right now 😛
The chat with Huzafa ended on a sweet note, he loves being in Big Immersive and appreciates the freedom to work and explore different avenues and the learning opportunities that come along the way. Next thing, I went to Maryam Younas, who I bother on and off and take “Behind The Scene” pictures of her work and make videos, she only finds out about it after they go on Twitter 😀 or never 😀
The first thing I noticed on Mariam’s desk is this uber cool mandala mouse pad, her space does look like one of an artist’s little den. Mariam is sweet to always pause and give me a few minutes in between her work and she did the same this time. Here is how it went:
R: Maryam, do you remember your first day in Big Immersive? How did it go? Tell me everything!
Mariam: I actually knew Mikki bhai from before since he was my senior in university, he trusted my work and already loved this company, he’s actually the one who brought me here. When I first came here, Mikki bhai helped me gell in with the system and Maria and Zainab became my instant friends, we still are good friends!
R: Do you miss the start? Your old seat, office, people?
Maryam: “The Basement?” It was SUCH a GOOD time, the team was smaller and everyone was so connected, I really miss those days. I still remember we had a tiny ‘concept art competition’ back in the day, it wasn’t a big deal, me and Mikki bhai were competing against each other and I won :D, and on top of that, Asad gave me a Thousand rupees on winning! It was just so sweet!
And on that note we wrapped up our little chat and I thought I should let Mariam deal with her work. Until next time!