Our mission

Goodbye, Sunday Scaries. Hello, Monday Magic.

We spend over one-third of our life working. You deserve to look forward to Monday or at the very least not feel physically, mentally, and emotionally ill Sunday nights.

The reality is there are tens if not hundreds of organizations and roles aligned to your interests, skill sets, and values that you may not know about in your current periphery. Someone out there is likely already doing what you want to be doing or something similar.

We’re here to help you discover those career connections and get the unfiltered insights you need to make confident career decisions that enable you to not just survive, but thrive.

What oyster is

• Candid curiosity conversations
• Explore and enrich your career
• Collaborative
• Inclusive of all types of careers
• Be yourself and feel safe doing so
• Emphasizes abundance

What oyster isn't

• Performative networking
• Land a job
• Competitive
• Focus on corporate roles only
• Either anonymous or fake
• Emphasizes scarcity

Why we started oyster

In today’s market where career anxiety is at an all time high, it’s hard enough to find a job. Finding one you love? That feels like wishful thinking.
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At oyster, we’re out to shatter that sentiment.

We were founded on a simple insight: most people limit their career potential to the small circles they know, under the influence of parents, peers, prestige, and limited social feeds.

‍“LinkedIn has that social media effect where you can only see industries that you frequent or are already a part of, so to move beyond requires Googling. It's hard to know where to start.”
— Climate advocate
‍“I took a job at Amazon for the brand name. It was the first time I felt depressed.”
— Recent post-grad
But the reality is there are millions of organizations, and individuals out there in the world who share the same niche passions or have made the pivot you’ve been dreaming of.

‍“I quit finance in New York to be a watchmaker in Andorra. I’ve never been happier and have time to do other things I love.”
— Finance bro turned watchmaker
‍“I give talks at colleges sharing what I do because a lot of people don’t know this role even exists. I love it so much that I literally have to stop myself from working on the weekends.”
— Emerging tech innovation strategist at a small consulting firm
We think small when the world is big. We limit ourselves rather than expand. Why? Well, while the career landscape has changed rapidly (and is continuing to each day), our tools for navigating it haven't. We rely on a fragmented mix of unorganized, performative tools ranging from TikTok influencers to Reddit threads, What'sApp group chats, LinkedIn, and YouTube videos. More often than not these platforms are showing us more of what we already know, it's hard to branch out and discover new connections, roles, and paths.

Also changing, the overall work/cultural landscape:

• People are pivoting more, staying put less. As we change, we're realizing our careers should too.
• Work is no longer just a 9-to-5. It’s side hustles, multi-hyphenate paths, and freelance freedom.
• People are tired of social media platforms that promote doomscrolling and divisiveness.
So where are the solutions that meet this moment?

Enter oyster. Our team has crafted not just the product experience and its underlying technology, but the mission, community, and movement. We've run focus groups, conducted over 100 user interviews, and gathered stories — the appetite for oyster is there. Our platform reflects the current work and cultural landscape and where it's headed.

We support you at every stage of your career journey from identifying your next step, to syncing with others on how to grow your niche side-hustle, to figuring out how others in your role are actually using AI:

• Because careers aren't linear, they're lifelong journeys.
• Humans aren't one-dimensional.
•People crave honest, intentional connections.
oyster is here to help you unlock a career where you’re not just surviving, but thriving.

Launching 2026. Find your path, find your people.

Our core value: kindness

The major social media platforms dominating our lives today weren't built to foster genuine human connection. Instead, they prioritize divisiveness, comparison, and performative interaction over togetherness, positivity and authenticity. It's easy to forget that Facebook began as a platform to rank women based on appearance, a troubling origin that speaks volumes.

oyster is different.

We are the first large-scale social platform built around a mission that matters: helping people unlock careers where they can both survive and thrive through candid human conversations. We intentionally designed our platform to live up to the potential of social media as a force for good. The result is a kinder, more constructive experience where you can feel safe and empowered.

No toxicity. No fakeness. No hate.

Just people, helping people with purpose.

Sentiments that represent oyster

Life is full of possibilities. You just need to know where to look.
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Joe Gardner
from Disney Pixar's Soul
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Chandler Bing entered his profession in that most relatable of ways: He got a job because he had to, and he failed to get a better one, and that failure extended over a period of years, and soon enough, through inertia’s bland inevitabilities, Chandler’s job became his career...(he's) the character whose job earns him the most and gains him the least.

"On Chandler Bing's Job" The Atlantic
by Megan Garner
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There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure.

from 'The Alchemist'
by Paulo Coelho
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Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

Steve Jobs
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People love what other people are passionate about. You remind people of that.

Mia to Sebastian
in the film La La Land
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Please do what you love in life. So many people, they always say how 'I would do this but' or 'I can't because'. You already fucking lost.

Logic
on his song 'Last Call'
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I want to watch Shloe’s movies and I want to see Mark’s musicals and I want to volunteer with Joe’s non-profit and eat at Annie’s restaurant and send my kids to schools Jeff’s reformed and I’m JUST SCARED about this industry (finance + consulting) that’s taking all my friends and telling them this is the best way for them to be spending their time. Any of their time. Maybe I’m ignorant and idealistic but I just feel like that can’t possibly be true. I feel like we know that. I feel like we can do something really cool to this world. And I fear — at 23, 24, 25 — we might forget.

Excerpt from Marina Keegan's essay
‘Even Artichokes Have Doubts’
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Yes, I had a heart attack. I would quit but I’m too old to find another job and I don’t have enough savings to retire. I feel like I am working at my own casket.

Stanley Hudson
from the tv show The Office
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(dw oyster is here
to help you Stanley)

Our Job Is To Taste Free Air. Your So-Called Boss May Own The Clock That Taunts You From The Wall, But, My Friends, The Hour Is Yours.

Dr. Ricken Lazlo Hale, PhD
from his book 'The You You Are'

There is no glory in a grind that literally grinds you down to dust.

Elaine Welteroth
from her book 'More than Enough'