Purpose Calling
A year of building, transformation, and trusting your gut.
It’s been a year since my last blog post, and what a year it’s been!
This is a story of what can happen in 365 days when you follow your gut, stay consistent, and have the courage to do the work you're meant to do.
Whoa, hold there one second, that sounds deep right? It is!
I consider myself a deep person. Whenever I get the chance, I love to talk about the universe, galaxies, love, nature and math. So yes, it’s deep but don't worry, let’s not go there yet. There’ll be time for that soon :)
First, a brief recap…
My last blog post was a reflection of my experience at last years’ Ethereum Community Conference aka EthCC, held in Brussels.
The word that defined it all?
Focus.
One whole orbit around the sun later, I can say that all that focus, was the fuel that sparked a fire, a bonfire, a purpose, and a community.
That focus, with time, and care, became growth.
That focus, without me knowing, gave me the energy to keep going - no matter what.
That focus, with love and support, became creativity.
That focus, once out in the wild, helped spark focus in others too…
…and when that happened, it was just pure magic 💜
The path to your calling
Right after EthCC, I felt a calling. On a typical day in web3 life, I was navigating X, aka ‘The Town Hall,’ reading about other attendees’ experiences, highlights, and reflections. Amid the sea of content, a few stood out, and I deeply resonated with the sentiment being shared. In that moment, I felt that after years of focusing on education and onboarding, I had something to offer. If I had the courage, I could contribute to the solution, share my perspective gained through experience, and BUIDL.
And so… I got to work.
What you see here was the first step of something I had never attempted: building something from scratch, in public, on the internet, with internet friends.
The momentum after that post was a whirlwind of continuous, high energy. Messages, reach-outs, replies, and ideas started coming together. Energy was flowing toward a shared intention: creating a meaningful onboarding experience for everyday people. And where better to give it a try than Bangkok?
Since the Ethereum community would already be there, the timing felt right. We could make it happen, together.
If you’ve been following my web3 journey, you know how close onboarding is to my heart. I really care about the process of helping people understand what Ethereum is and connect with its mission.
We started asking ourselves: what does it take for someone to go from zero to builder? What happens when we connect everyday people with hands-on Ethereum activities in just one day? Could we do this in Thai? What activities should we include? Could we create a flow that brings a positive narrative to newcomers instead of the usual memecoins, scams, and zero-sum games?
There were many questions, but each of them was answered as we worked through the experience together.
No turning back
As the days went by, and thanks to the support and work of amazing web3 builders, the vision began to take shape. DMs started rolling in. To channel all the energy and interest, I created a Telegram group, invited everyone who had expressed interest, and spun up a Notion project page to brain dump next steps.
A few weeks later, we had our first call and started cooking. With Cori and Guil from Regens Unite, Ash from Harpie, Caolán Walsh from ETH Dublin, and Didier Krux from Bankless Academy, we formed the initial squad and got to work 🫡.
Throughout the process, many more friends and builders jumped in with ideas, feedback, or support. Huge shoutout to Mews, Luke, Fabio, Lucia, Nat, Cat McGee, Simón, fa3io, Laura, Lianna Adams, Nikola, 0xDeFi, the teams at Glo Dollar, yodl, Fileverse, PizzaDAO, Giveth, Harpie, and POAP, and all the other amazing creators who contributed in their own way.
Almost two months later, the vision was clear and the foundation was in place. With the announcement post and blog out in the world, there was no turning back.
The result? Just before Devcon SEA 7 in Bangkok, we hosted our first full-fledged Ethereum onboarding experience: New to Web3? Start Here.
You can just do things
During the process, I felt blind to some extent. I mentioned to my friends in a DAOnboarding community call “I’m just following a reaaaaaally bright light at the end of the tunnel, but as I go, it’s really foggy. Can’t really see the path but I just know we gotta do it. It feels right”.
It was a weird sensation, but at the same time, I felt incredibly calm.
No distractions. Just trust.
As Queen Margherita of Italy would say… avanti, sempre avanti.
Was I a bit crazy when it all started? Yes. How was I going to host an event in Asia, where I had never been, in Thai, the local language, with no funding in sight? The truth is, I couldn’t do it alone.
But WE, as a community, absolutely could.
And we did.
It was a day we’ll never forget — and hopefully, the attendees won’t either.
We connected with local universities, and around 120 people joined us. The audience was a great mix of people completely new to Ethereum and mentors who volunteered to make sure no one felt lost, alone, or left behind.
There were keynotes, panels, in-person blockchain games, live workshops, and festival-style booths with onchain activities and missions for each attendee. We wrapped it all up with pizza from PizzaDAO and did our best to connect curious participants with other parts of the Ethereum ecosystem so they could continue their journey from SheFi to EthPadThai, Regens Unite, Bankless Academy, and more.
As a cherry on top, each part of the onboarding process was verifiable onchain thanks to a specialized decentralized app developed by Didier Krux.
Every activity, workshop, and booth had a mission. Thanks to the app, the day turned into an accessible, live gamified experience with mentors and friends, in a beautiful location surrounded by nature that invited everyone to come together and share good vibes and knowledge.
If you’re curious to know more details check out the my event recap thread here and Didier’s onchain onboarding recap of the app here.
The best part of the whole experience? It was easy, fun and most importantly, in the local language.
Ethereum felt close.
Knowledge was accessible, real, and tangible.
And with that… it was now our turn, it was finally time for Devcon!
My first Devcon
Devcon SEA 7 was a incredibly special. It was both my first Devcon, and first time in Asia. A few years ago, I never would have imagined flying to Thailand in a context like this. But since the moment Devcon was announced at ETHGlobal Istanbul until the moment I set foot in Thailand, everything about it was special.
I had soooo many full circle moments. I met in person two people who were key to my own onboarding journey.
Camila Russo, author of The Infinite Machine, founder of The Defiant, and the first woman I ever heard talk about Ethereum (she's Chilean too) and Cooper Turley aka Coopahtroopah, whose work on the ownership economy and DAOs gave me the confidence to contribute to this space.
I also finally met many friends from Asia and Africa who I had connected with over the years on Twitter, Discord, and X, beautiful humans like AhinoK, Aaron, Paul, Downlore, Pablo, and Miss Purple.
This meant a lot to me. Getting visas isn’t always easy, so being together, in the same place at the same time for a whole week? That was incredibly special.
Thailand was different. It opened its doors and created the conditions for these beautiful encounters. I’m so thankful for that.
Every day after that was intense but incredibly rewarding. Being in the same venue with everyone created an atmosphere of deep collaboration, learning, and growth that I’ll never forget.
With that in mind, it was time to rest, recharge, and continue building the next leg up.
The Importance of Rest
After months of planning, building, and being constantly “on,” I gave myself permission to slow down.
First, we took time to explore the south of Thailand and soak in the breathtaking nature. The views were unreal—just what I needed to recharge.
Then, I spent some quieter months back in my home country, focusing on family. I stepped away from hard commitments and reconnected with the parts of life that don’t happen onchain.
It wasn’t until I slowed down that I realized how much I needed it. I’d been building in Web3 non-stop and working remotely since 2020. And honestly, accepting that rest is part of the cycle didn’t come easy at first.
But I’ve learned this: resting is not a waste of time.
It’s what brings clarity, calm, and renewed intention.
As much as I love building, I’m learning that rest is building too—just in a different way.
It’s how you lay the foundation for whatever’s next.
Smaller scale, same impact
By March, I came back recharged, with a fresh perspective and the same fire still burning. Stepping back gave me the clarity I needed to focus again, organize, map out new content ideas, and keep building.
One of the first things I said yes to?
Bringing “New to Web3? Start Here” to ETH Dublin.
This time, we kept it intentionally small, more intimate, but with the same mission: introducing everyday people to Ethereum in a way that’s clear, hands-on, and human.
The goal for this new edition was to make the event portable and low-cost, while still having strong local impact… and it worked!
Together with Didier, we built an updated onboarding flow that was simple, effective, and full of meaningful conversations.
During the event, people asked real questions, took their first onchain steps, and walked away not just with an Ethereum wallet, POAPs, and an ENS, but with curiosity, clarity, and new friends to continue the journey.
As always, we made it interactive, visual, and inclusive. This time, Didier and I were joined by Saiorsee, a ETH Dublin volunteer I had onboarded last year, now leading with us as a mentor in this new edition of New to Web3. How cool is that
We look forward to following Saoirse’s journey as a local lead in Dublin.
A warm thank you for the ETHDublin team, Caolán, Ryan, Carrie, Prof. Paul Dylan-Ennis and Alejandro for providing a space for the onboarding experience.
Traveler, there is no path. The path is made by walking.
That line has always stayed with me. And after everything this past year, it feels like the perfect summary.
Here are few lessons I’ve picked up along the way:
Taking breaks is productive
It’s OK when the path is not crystal clear, follow your gut, gut is not always reasonable 🤣
Be true to yourself
Be grateful
Uplift those around you, everyone’s doing their best
Celebrate your wins, even if they are small
Consistency is your best friend
Results will come if you focus and stay in your lane
Document your journey (publicly or privately) — it helps you reflect, get clear, stay focused, and move with intention
If you feel low, take breaks, embrace the feeling and speak kindly to yourself to understand why you feel that way
Keep showing up, even if it’s foggy or there is no clear path ahead
Right now, it’s almost the last day of June. The midpoint of the year and a real turning point for me, both personally and professionally.
This blog post is already packed, so no more spoilers for now… but next week marks a big shift.
A new phase is starting, and I’ve never felt more ready to keep going.
What makes it even more special, is that I’m writing these final words just as I arrive for a new Ethereum Community Conference, exactly one year since the one that sparked this whole story.
If that’s not a full-circle moment, I don’t know what is.
To every person who’s been part of this ride: thank you. Whether we met in person, exchanged DMs, built something together, or simply shared a kind word, I carry you with me, close to my heart.
And who knows? One year from now, maybe you’ll be writing your own version of this story.
Maybe we’ll be building something together.
Maybe we’ll connect again, further down the path.
That’s all for this edition…
For now, just remember two words:
Keep going.
The Universe is watching.
With love,
Ornella 💜
