How the "Changer" Label Transformed a Career — How Meeting People Expands the Possibilities of Challenge
For anyone who wants to change but can't quite take that first step — who wants to challenge themselves but fears failure. Yumiko Homma, who works at a major food manufacturing company while doing side work at TIMEWELL, gained the confidence to challenge when she earned the title of "Changer." A lifelong introvert, Homma took one small step without fear of failure, and gradually turned it into big change. Her motto: "When in doubt, go!" Here is her story — and in it you'll likely find the nudge you've been looking for.
Profile
Yumiko Homma
Marketing Department, Project Manager
Originally from Ibaraki Prefecture. Joined a major food manufacturer's sales division as a mid-career hire in 2012. Cares deeply about delivering smiles and happy moments to customers through building great shelf displays at retailers. At TIMEWELL, she hopes to leverage what she loves to create meaningful encounters between users and their "likes."
Profile The Roots of Being an Introvert — Finding a Place to Belong by Accepting the "Odd One Out" Gaining the Confidence to Change the World Through the "Changer" Label How AI Transformed Her View of Work — The Expanding Possibilities of Communication with Generative AI Toward a World Where Challenge Is Normal — An Engineering Challenge and an Ideal Vision for the Future Conclusion
The Roots of Being an Introvert — Finding a Place to Belong by Accepting the "Odd One Out"
— Could you start with a brief self-introduction?
Homma: In my day job, I work in the sales division of a food manufacturing company. My main role is sales to major retailers — I put together promotional proposals for our products. In my personal life, camping is my hobby. I'd love to go once a month, though finding the time is a challenge.
— What kind of activities do you do at TIMEWELL?
Homma: At TIMEWELL, I mainly handle content operations for TIMEWELL MEDIA. Recently I've been focusing on interview articles. I had a little experience with writing work before, but figuring out how to incorporate AI and building a systematic approach has been completely new territory — and I'm really enjoying it.
— Have you had any discoveries through working on interview articles?
Homma: I'm actually a naturally shy person. I've always had a sense that talking with people isn't really my thing. But at the same time, I've always been fond of people — which seems contradictory. For a long time I didn't know why that was, and I never thought too deeply about it.
But as I accumulated experience doing interview articles, something clicked for me. I discovered that I genuinely love listening to people talk.
Even with people I've known by sight for years — when I sit down and really hear their stories, I often discover sides of them I'd never imagined. And meeting people introduces me to things I never would have known inside my own world. Through those experiences, I come to understand people more deeply and feel more warmly toward them — and my perspective and the boundaries of my world expand. The feeling of actually understanding another person is exciting, and it feeds my sense of purpose.
— What were you like as a child or student?
Homma: I was shy from early childhood. One episode has always stayed with me. In kindergarten, I only had one or two friends. It was a rural area, so there were only about twenty kids in the whole school — but even within that group, I'd stick with other shy kids and we'd play quietly together. Neither of us was particularly fond of kindergarten, so we tended to be absent, which meant that when I did show up, the other person might not be there, and I'd end up alone.
There was a kid who lived nearby, a childhood friend — the popular, energetic type who was always at the center of things. When she'd see me by myself, she'd come over and say, "Yumi, let's play!" But when I'd see all her friends gathered behind her, it would suddenly feel scary, and I'd say "I'm okay." Deep down I really did want to play with them — but I was too scared to go, and I still remember that.
I also found it easy and comfortable to play with non-humans — dolls, dogs. It was a rural area in the old days, so there were dogs running loose in the neighborhood, and one of my favorite games was endlessly chasing one of those dogs through the trees.
— Did that personality carry through into adulthood?
Homma: Honestly, no matter what organization I joined, I always had the sense of being slightly out of place. As I got older I developed more social skills, but I always felt like I was somehow floating a little above the group. And not in a good way — (laughs).
That said, now that I'm past forty, I've been able to accept that about myself. When I conduct interviews, everyone has such rich individuality and conviction — and I've come to think maybe I was just looking at the surface and assuming everyone else was normal and I was the weird one. On top of that, I've come to feel that as long as I can be a little useful to someone — even if I am a bit out of place — that's enough.
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Gaining the Confidence to Change the World Through the "Changer" Label
— Was there a turning point that led you to take a closer look at yourself?
Homma: One turning point came when I started part-time work in high school. At the time, my taste in music was too niche for my peers — I couldn't connect with the crowd around me. But once I had part-time income and could start going to music events regularly, I met friends who loved the same music, and I thought: "Oh, I'm not weird at all."
Having children was another turning point. I actually gave birth at twenty, which meant I came to the workforce late — I got my first job around twenty-eight. Going through parenting shifted me from being protected to being the protector, and I think that made me a little stronger. Though I was still terrible at the PTA and all the social obligations that came with it — (laughs).
Once I became a working adult and took on a sales role, I turned out to have more of a knack for it than I expected, and my confidence built up gradually. I started to enjoy being around people. And my current main job, before COVID, was at a company with an extraordinary amount of after-work socializing — having more chances to drink with colleagues was also part of what made interacting with people feel enjoyable.
— After entering sales, what led you to start your activities at TIMEWELL?
Homma: Before TIMEWELL, I first encountered Hamamoto-san through a new business program called "CHANGE." I thought he was remarkable, and I've admired him ever since. What surprised me about CHANGE was seeing the speakers there juggling multiple titles and roles at once. I kept thinking, "How does one person manage to be involved in so many things?" It looked incredibly cool, and I started to crave that kind of way of working. As I continued developing business proposals in the program, the desire to start something of my own also took shape, and it was the first time I became aware that things like side work and portfolio careers were actually possible.
Then I attended TIMEWELL's launch party — alone, for some reason. And when I heard the tagline "Go all-in on what you want to do," it really hit me. At the time, I was sick of the surrounding conventional wisdom that "you get paid precisely because you grit your teeth and do things you don't want to do" — so that message felt genuinely compelling.
— What changed for you after participating in the CHANGE program?
Homma: CHANGE truly lived up to its name — it "changed" me. People who've been through CHANGE are called "Changers," and gaining that title gave me an internal permission slip that said "it's okay to do something audacious enough to change the world." This is entirely my own self-constructed rule — but by affirming "of course I should, because I'm a Changer," I started building genuine confidence.
After all, if you want to change something that hasn't changed in decades, you sometimes need to be bold — and as a Changer, I've taken that on as my mission (laughs). Which means I just have to do it.
— Tell us about your activities at your main company as well — you're actively involved in business competitions and the union.
Homma: Yes, I actively apply to internal and external business competitions. In the internal competition, I've made it to the semifinal — which only about ten percent of applicants reach — and still been eliminated. I've struck out in outside contests too. But I've been able to keep going with a positive attitude. Failure comes with the territory, so what matters is whether you can update yourself after you fail. I'm a late bloomer by nature — what counts is whether I've grown compared to yesterday.
The same applies to my union work — the learnings from CHANGE and from a subsequent program called Shido have had a major influence there. In that world, I came to understand that what matters is action, not eloquent theories or dreamy plans. "Do whatever it takes to reach the goal — that's passion, and passion moves people." I've lived that. I genuinely feel like the world does change — so even if someone thinks "who does she think she is?", I'm not going to lose to people who just talk without acting.
— It's hard to believe you were ever shy.
Homma: Maybe so. But one thing that's been true of me for a long time is that I can act confidently when it's been defined that "this is the kind of situation where you do this." At karaoke, for example — it's a place for singing, so I can sing without embarrassment. But I can't hum to myself on the street. That feels embarrassing (laughs). I have a baseline fear of being seen as weird, but when something is defined and labeled, I feel safe. That's exactly why getting the titles of "Changer" and "Doer" (what Shido graduates are called) mattered so much to me.
How AI Transformed Her View of Work — The Expanding Possibilities of Communication with Generative AI
— You've been at TIMEWELL for about a year now — what's kept you going, and what do you value about being there?
Homma: CHANGE felt like it changed my life, and TIMEWELL has done the same. When I joined TIMEWELL and became part of the content team, I learned how to use AI.
Being able to use AI advanced every part of my work and personal projects. I used to wonder, "How does anyone manage to do so many things at once?" But with AI, I feel like it's completely possible. And I've stopped spending time agonizing over things. Even starting from a hypothesis, I always get to a conclusion one way or another — so I can go straight to action.
It also gives me alternative perspectives on my own biased thinking, and I have the feeling of gaining a powerful ally who never complains. If I hadn't come to TIMEWELL, I probably still wouldn't be using AI — in that sense, it was a whole new world for me.
— Is there a TIMEWELL service you'd recommend?
Homma: The AI articles on TIMEWELL MEDIA are incredibly educational for me. What I find particularly wonderful is that the latest international AI developments — content that only exists in English — get translated into readable Japanese and shared with the audience. And it doesn't feel biased or cherry-picked; it covers a wide range, which means readers have options and can form their own views. There's also content personally selected by Hamamoto-san, who knows AI deeply — that alone makes it worth reading.
And since I write a lot of articles related to WARP myself, I'd also recommend WARP. Through building apps, you gain the ability to take your imagination and give it real form — so I'd recommend it to any challenger who wants to change the world.
Toward a World Where Challenge Is Normal — An Engineering Challenge and an Ideal Vision for the Future
— Is there anything you want to do going forward?
Homma: In my main job, I've been significantly rethinking a business proposal I've been working on for a long time. Through the union work I mentioned, I realized that what I was learning there could encompass, in a much broader way, a service for patients with illness that I'd originally been developing — so I've been merging those two threads, which I'd been treating separately, into one integrated approach.
On top of that, I felt a kind of frustration about the fact that despite working on business proposals since 2026, I still hadn't managed to bring anything concrete to life. So I decided that even something small counts — I want to actually produce something tangible. Right now I'm taking programming lessons, aiming to connect them into a concrete output: an application.
When I was learning to code and was told "code is just another language," I thought: this is what it feels like to gain another spoken language. So I want to take that skill and use it not just for business proposals, but to communicate more smoothly with people, build connections, and make technology feel like something personal and close.
— Finally, what message would you like to share through this article?
Homma: TIMEWELL's vision is to "build the world's number one challenge infrastructure." I think that's wonderful — and I hope I can keep helping lower the barrier to challenging yourself, both at TIMEWELL and beyond.
Even someone like me gets approached seriously sometimes: "I want to try something, but..." And my rule in life is: "When in doubt, go!" "Always hit the accelerator!" Sure, sometimes that leads to unpleasant experiences. But if you at least got to do what you wanted to do, that's a net positive.
Nothing changes if you do nothing. But challenging yourself changes your world and your life for the better. And if someone as shy and introverted as me can transform — then anyone can carve out their own path in the world.
Conclusion
Through this interview with Yumiko Homma, we got to witness a woman who was once deeply introverted go through a genuine self-transformation via the challenges she took on. The feeling of being "out of place" that she carried from early childhood is now something she embraces as part of her individuality — and she's found ways to channel it in everything she does.
What stood out most was how earning the title of "Changer" gave her permission to act, clearing away hesitation; how encountering AI at TIMEWELL opened up possibilities she had never seen; and how all of those experiences have fed into her life's work and her next challenges.
Challenge changes your life. Yumiko Homma's story is powerful proof of that.
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