S1E33: The Hobby That Wouldn't Die: From BCG Strategy Consultant to Full-Time Animator

What if you had a great, financially lucrative job, but knew that something was missing? Anthony Koithra spent over a decade at Boston Consulting Group—one of the top three strategy firms—working on massive national projects, all while making films on weekends and recruiting 20 colleagues for a 48-hour film festival.
 
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In this honest conversation, Anthony reveals the real grind of consulting life: living out of suitcases, working in airport offices for European airlines, and the constant tension between financial security and creative fulfillment.

Anthony shares how he finally made the leap from a lucrative partner track to full-time animation, why he calls creativity "the hobby that wouldn't die," and his advice for having multiple careers over his working life.

If you've ever felt trapped between what you "should" do and what sets your soul on fire, this episode will give you permission to take the scenic route—and maybe even a roadmap for how to weave in and fund your creative dreams along the way.

Key points:  

• Anthony's journey from engineering to animated filmmaking shows how creative passions can be pursued alongside traditional career paths, even when growing up in cultures that emphasize "responsible" careers like engineering, medicine, and law.  

• The 2008 financial crisis forced career flexibility, leading him from New York to Dubai when US opportunities were limited, ultimately teaching him to turn disadvantages into advantages.  

• His consulting experience at BCG provided valuable skills in storytelling, visual communication, and running professional services businesses that now inform his creative work.  

• Building financial runway through corporate careers while keeping lifestyle inflation low was key to his successful transition to full-time animation.  

• People can easily have 5-6 different careers over a working lifetime - Anthony spent 12 years in consulting and became an expert, but emphasizes careers can have multiple phases.  

• His animated films focus on outsider perspectives and immigrant experiences, using genre settings like robots and vampires to explore themes of empathy and belonging.  

• Real-time animation in game engines like Unreal and Unity has democratized filmmaking, allowing solo creators to do work that previously required teams of 400-600 people.  

• Anthony distinguishes between learning environments (which he found less engaging) and earning/making environments (where he thrived through project-based work). 

• Despite being naturally risk-averse, he found ways to take calculated risks by building financial security first, then gradually transitioning to creative work.  

• Having a supportive partner who encourages creative pursuits was essential to his ability to make the career transition successfully. 

Resources:  

• Boston Consulting Group (BCG)