I recently posted a status update in our alumni Slack channel—just a quick note on what I’ve been up to since leaving the team. I didn’t expect much, but then Brezo Cordero reached out.
We used to work closely together on the WooCommerce Analytics project. It had been months since we last spoke, and when she offered to hop on a call, I realized how much I had missed that simple, unscripted interaction.
The Logistics of Connection
Being a remote worker means living in the “in-between” of time zones. Brezo is in Wisconsin; I’m in Kuala Lumpur. To find an hour where we were both awake and functional, we had to thread the needle: my morning, her evening.
I originally thought we’d chat for 30 minutes—a quick “transactional” catch-up. But as soon as the video feed popped up and I saw a familiar face from the “good old days,” the timer became irrelevant. We talked for an hour about everything: the new projects we’re building, the chaos of parenting, personal finance, and of course, our old teammates.
The Missing Piece of Remote Work
Remote work is often sold as a list of “pros”: no commute, more focus, and the ability to work from a cafe in KL or a home office in the US. But there is a silent “con” we don’t talk about enough: the loss of social friction.
When you aren’t bumping into someone at the coffee machine or grabbing a quick lunch after a meeting, your relationships can easily become purely functional. You become a profile picture and a series of green “active” dots.
Seeing Brezo reminded me of our team meetup in Tulum, Mexico, back in October 2024. That was the last time we were all in the same physical space before the restructuring in early 2025. Looking back at the photos, I realized I don’t just miss the work we did; I miss the people I did it with.
Why These Calls Matter
In a remote environment, human connection doesn’t happen by accident. You have to manufacture it. You have to be intentional.
The value of this call wasn’t in the “status updates.” The value was in the shared laughter and the reminder that we are more than our GitHub contributions or our Slack bios.
The reality of remote work is a paradox:
- The Bad: It can be isolating, and the “human” part of your coworkers can easily fade into the background.
- The Good: It gives us the infrastructure to maintain a global village of friends. If I were in a traditional office, once I left the job, those friendships might fade. In the remote world, the “office” is anywhere we choose to meet.
A Takeaway for You
If you’re working remotely and feeling like a gear in a machine, my advice is simple: Reach out.
Find that one ex-teammate you haven’t spoken to in six months. Don’t wait for a “reason” or a professional milestone. Just ask for 30 minutes to say hello. You’ll likely find, as I did with Brezo, that 30 minutes isn’t nearly enough—and that’s the best part.
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