Newaz & OutBoi

Until the 10th grade, my mother was the driving force behind my studies. She often reminded me: “If you want to do something big in life, you must be highly educated.” Unlike many children who hid novels inside their textbooks, I never had to. In our household, “OutBoi”—books beyond the classroom—were always within reach. My father, a college teacher, and my elder brother, a journalist, maintained rich collections of literature and religion. Those shelves became my first library, and those books became my first lessons in thinking beyond the obvious. The spirit of OUTBOI was born there, even if the name came much later.

After completing SSC, I reached a crossroads: what subject to pursue and where to study. Most students in our area chose the local college, but my father encouraged me otherwise: “If you want to do something big, start from the capital.” Though I was a science student, I knew my foundation was weak. With hesitation, I confessed to my father that I wanted to switch to Business Studies. His response gave me freedom: “It’s your life—you decide your path.”

That decision took me to Dhaka City College, where I met a mentor who changed my perspective—Shamsul Arefin Chowdhury, who taught Accounting as if it were literature. His style ignited my first professional ambition: to become an FCA. After HSC, I failed to get into Dhaka University but secured admission at Rajshahi University in BBA Accounting. Yet, the subject quickly felt restrictive. I drifted back to my OutBoi habits, and soon enough, Accounting lost its charm. Once again, I approached my father about changing direction. His answer was the same: “Choice is yours.”

This freedom brought me back to Dhaka University, where I chose Marketing. Here, my world expanded in unexpected ways. Beyond academics, I immersed myself in photography, documentary filmmaking, art appreciation, and literature. I read widely, explored endlessly, and pursued learning for its own sake. By the end of my MBA, I realized I had become a jack of many trades but a master of none.

It was only when I began my career in brand marketing that all those pieces came together. Marketing, I discovered, is the discipline of the curious—the one that thrives on connecting dots across industries, cultures, and human behavior. It requires being a jack of many trades, but a master of marketing. Suddenly, everything I had absorbed from my OutBoi explorations—whether literature, film, or art—found its place.

Since then, my journey has been one of continuous learning. From barista training to experimenting with coding in Python and R, from AI training to Full Stack Digital Marketing training, to training from IIM Ahmedabad, from cultural exchanges across countries to endless conversations with people from all walks of life, I’ve kept alive that same curiosity that once led me to my father’s and brother’s bookshelves.

OUTBOI is simply the continuation of that journey. It is my way of curating and sharing what I continue to learn from books and experiences beyond the classroom. It reflects my conviction that while marketing may be my profession, learning is my lifelong passion—and that knowledge, when shared, becomes a journey for everyone.