By Andres Schabelman, author of Captains Wanted
A decade ago, my life was a portrait of extreme corporate triumph. As one of the first thirty employees at Airbnb, I witnessed its transformation from scrappy startup to global phenomenon. Later, as VP of International Expansion at Fiverr, I stood on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as the company went public. Yet, amid the accolades and confetti, a quiet question began to surface: What remains when the applause fades?
For years, I had pursued the milestones society (and my family) deemed important. But beneath the titles and roles, a deeper part of me felt unseen, mostly by myself. Who was I beyond the metrics of success? This question became my compass. It became my compass, partially because of my own feeling of emptiness but also because the universe had a way of letting me know, often quite harshly, that I needed another way forward. I’ve come to realize that path, when I choose to follow it, guides me deeper into the unknown, toward spirit, and to the core of what it means to truly live, with all of my aliveness.
Growing up in New Orleans, the son of Argentine-Jewish parents in a predominantly Colombian-Catholic community, I learned early on to navigate multiple identities. This fluidity served me well in my career but also taught me how easy it is to lose yourself in the masks you wear for others. Rediscovering my core required stepping into the unknown and embracing moments of profound connection and disconnection—moments that stretched my understanding of what it means to be human.
Having traveled to and explored more than ninety countries, the world has shown me its unparalleled beauty and, at times, its brutality. I’ve been held captive by guerrillas and drugged and robbed in foreign lands. Yet, I’ve also sat in ceremonies where the boundaries between self and spirit dissolved, opening pathways to transformation. These experiences taught me to trust what cannot be explained, to surrender to the mystery of life, and to embrace the wisdom found in stillness, presence, and what is flowing creatively from inside of me.
This exploration of self-sovereignty—the art of aligning with your heart and spirit rather than seeking control or external validation—also became the heart of my debut book, Captains Wanted. Written in the second person, the book places the reader directly in the protagonist’s shoes, blending surreal storytelling with personal anecdotes to create an experience that is as much about reflection as it is about narrative. Rather than a purely literary exercise, the book is an experiential blueprint designed to provoke self-reflection and inspire readers to navigate their own uncharted waters through their own discernment. The protagonist’s journey mirrors my own, inviting readers to explore the roles they’ve taken on, question the expectations they’ve internalized, and reclaim authorship of their lives.
Self-sovereignty, I’ve learned, is about listening to the quiet truths that emerge when you strip away the noise. It’s rarely been a comfortable journey, but it’s where true connection resides—to myself, to others, and to the mystery of the world around me.
Today, I tend to value presence over productivity and connection over achievement. At my best, when I am mostly following these truths, I am a creative instrument of Spirit and that which cannot be explained. The lessons I’ve gathered have reshaped my understanding of success. It’s not about destinations but about direction, the courage to chart a course into the unknown, and the willingness to let the journey transform you.
So if it resonates, ask yourself the questions I asked myself: Who am I beneath the masks? And where might I end up if I dared to go toward my heart and the unknown and become the captain of my ship?