Guillaume Jounel

My name is Guillaume (pronounced gee-yom). Born deaf in one ear, with very high myopia, messy teeth and countless allergies, life seemed to be against me — yet my eagerness to learn and discover never left.

When my grandpa gifted me a laptop, I became completely passionate about technology and learnt to code very early. From animated movies and VFX to carnivorous plants, papercraft and French desserts, I've always loved to build, learn, grow and create. I even repaired iPhones as a side hustle, to the point where repair shops threatened to make me stop.

I got into AI in high school, then went on to an engineering degree, where I met the love of my life. I kept expressing my creativity through photo, video and DJ student associations. With family roots reaching all the way to French Polynesia, it's no surprise I love travelling and I was fortunate to go to Greece, Illinois and California during my studies. I built a platform that scams scammers, which got me hired in Sydney, Australia. Then came a crazy startup journey that felt like living inside the Silicon Valley TV show. Everything moved fast and exceeded anything I could imagine: awards, exponential company growth and invaluable learnings. Along the way, I fell in love with Australia, its people, its flora and fauna, to the point of becoming Australian.

On the side, I kept discovering new hobbies: growing mushrooms, brewing kombucha, making tempeh, running, swimming, surfing. Over time, I realised that life is short, and that my golden prison, as enjoyable as it was, might not give me enough space, time and diversity to express my creativity. There were too many things I wanted to do, and more money wouldn't help if I couldn't claim back more time.

Back in the day, "make the world a better place" was on nearly every software engineer's resume: mine was no exception and I meant it. Yet, while I remain passionate about technology, I've been disappointed too often by its unmet promises. So I'm now on a path toward a simpler, more creative and nature-connected life, exploring food, growing things and handcrafting, hoping to find a place where I can feel the mana and unleash my full potential.