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How I quit my job and built a $8K/mo YouTube business — Transcript

by Tika Ghafar · 6,803 words · 938 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00In 2024, I quit my banking job to go all
0:02in on building a business through
0:04YouTube. Back then, I honestly had no
0:06guarantee that any of this would work. I
0:08had zero content creation experience and
0:10zero business background. All I knew was
0:12that I wanted to build a life with more
0:14freedom, more control over my time, and
0:16the ability to make a living doing
0:17something that I genuinely loved. Within
0:192 years after quitting was when I made
0:21my first 8K month and with a relatively
0:23small channel. And for the past year,
0:25I've been living exactly the life that I
0:26quit for, digital nomading around
0:27Southeast Asia, having time and location
0:29freedom, and doing work that I find
0:31meaningful. If you're someone who wants
0:32to use YouTube as a vehicle to grow a
0:35business, [music] then I'm going to walk
0:36you through every phase of my journey
0:38from when I first started my channel up
0:40until now. And for each of those phases,
0:41I'm going to talk about how I was making
0:43money, how much and through what
0:45sources, the biggest mistakes that I
0:47made so that you can avoid them, the
0:48best things that I did that you can
0:50apply to grow your own channel and your
0:52own business faster, and the really
0:54important mindset shifts that helped me
0:55to keep going no matter how hard things
0:57got.
1:03Now, in my thumbnail, I said that it
1:05took 2 years, but that was from the
1:07point when I officially quit my job to
1:09where I'm at now. The full journey took
1:113 years. I was posting YouTube videos
1:13for a whole year before I quit. And I
1:16was posting on like a weekly basis, and
1:18that period of my life was honestly
1:20very, very challenging. So, I just want
1:22to paint like a a picture of what that
1:25chapter of my life looked like. I pretty
1:27much spent 95% of [music] my time
1:31working on YouTube when I wasn't doing
1:33necessary things like working my
1:35corporate job and going to the gym and
1:37meal prepping and just like stuff like
1:38that. So, I would script my videos like
1:41before I started work, when I was on the
1:43commute to work and back, when I was on
1:46my lunch breaks, and I would edit my
1:48videos like after coming back home from
1:50work. Like I'd go to the gym straight
1:52after work, and I'd get home around like
1:547:00 or 8:00 p.m., and that's when I
1:55would start editing my videos for like
1:57an hour or two, and I would do that like
1:58maybe a couple nights a week. My
2:00weekends were YouTube packed, too. Like
2:02I would film on Saturdays, and then I
2:04would do my thumbnail, and like every
2:06couple weeks, I would also use my
2:08weekends to just like come up with
2:10content ideas and do my content
2:12strategy. And when I wasn't actually
2:14making videos, I was learning how to
2:17make videos, and I was learning all
2:18about content and business, and I would
2:20listen to all of these podcasts and
2:22watch all of these YouTube videos to
2:24just learn as much as I could. Like I
2:26could, you know, my time was consumed
2:27[music] by this dream that I had. So,
2:30money-wise, this is what that first
2:32phase of my journey looked like. I was
2:34primarily making money through like the
2:36traditional, typical creator ways, so
2:39through AdSense and brand deals and
2:41affiliate links. But the reason was
2:43because I had no clue about business
2:45back then. So, I just did what I saw
2:47every other YouTuber doing. And just to
2:50get the numbers out, AdSense that year,
2:52I got a total of $3,081.66.
2:56Almost all of it came from three videos
2:58that popped off. So, one got 100K views,
3:01380K views, one over 500K views. For
3:04brand deals, I did like a handful, maybe
3:06five or six, and I got two to $300 per
3:10brand deal. And for affiliate links, so
3:13negligible, like I didn't even keep
3:14track of the numbers because of how low
3:16it was. So, the total for that year was
3:17roughly 3.5 to 4K. And that is quite a
3:21nice amount for someone who is just
3:23starting out, who has no clue what she's
3:25doing, but it's certainly not enough
3:27money whatsoever to quit your job and go
3:29full-time. So, the best thing that I did
3:31in phase one was working in little
3:34chunks throughout the week. That helped
3:36me a lot because I didn't wait for like
3:38a full Saturday to be free for me to
3:40even start writing my next YouTube
3:43script. I would write my scripts, like I
3:45said, like on the train, on the way to
3:47work, during my commutes, whilst I was
3:49having breakfast before going to work.
3:50And I wouldn't wait until the weekend
3:52for me to be able to edit my YouTube
3:55videos. Like I did that after work,
3:57before going to bed for like one to two
3:59hours one day, and then one to two hours
4:01another day. And so, breaking up my
4:03tasks made it way more manageable,
4:05[music] and you get to chip away bit by
4:08bit at your work until, you know, by the
4:09end of the week, all of those hours
4:11would have accumulated, and you would
4:13have had a YouTube video ready to post.
4:15And so, for anyone going through that
4:16first phase right now, like I would
4:18highly recommend doing that. In terms of
4:20biggest mistakes, honestly, like I made
4:22so many in that first phase because I
4:24was still like everything was so new to
4:26me, and I was learning how to make
4:27content, and I didn't really know what
4:29was important when it comes to growing a
4:32channel. I didn't really know what to
4:34focus on. I just felt like I had so much
4:36to learn. But, here's what I wish I'd
4:38known. I wish that I knew the importance
4:41of research and ideation when it comes
4:43to [music] planning your YouTube videos,
4:44and also the importance of packaging. I
4:47think I knew the importance of
4:48packaging, but I just didn't know
4:50exactly how to create good packaging,
4:53like how to formulate good titles, how
4:55to make good thumbnails. Research and
4:57ideation is half the battle, and if you
5:00have a winning video idea or winning
5:02video concept, that significantly
5:04increases your chances of your video
5:06performing well. And when you have a
5:08winning video idea plus really good
5:11packaging on top of that, and by a
5:12packaging, I mean your title, thumbnail,
5:15and hook, that does all of the heavy
5:16lifting when it comes to videos that get
5:18views on YouTube. Not knowing how to do
5:21this well from the get-go really just
5:23cost me so much time, energy, and stress
5:26because a lot of the time I would be
5:27working so hard, putting all of this
5:29effort, you [music] know, into these
5:31videos, and I really wouldn't have a
5:33clue as to why this one flopped or why
5:36this one performed a little better. And
5:37now that I fully understand like
5:39research and ideation and [music]
5:40packaging and how to do those, I'm
5:43making leaps now with my content instead
5:45of baby steps like I was before. My
5:47biggest struggle back then was just the
5:50uncertainty of it all. When you're in
5:52the early days of working on this big
5:54dream, whether that's building a channel
5:56or building a business, you really have
5:58no idea how long it's going to take,
6:00whether any of this is going to be worth
6:02it because there's no guarantee of
6:03[music] success, and you don't have a
6:05timeline for how long you have to be
6:07grinding and working at this dream. And
6:09one of the biggest questions I get is,
6:10how do you keep going when you're
6:12constantly battling all of this
6:15uncertainty? So, one of the biggest
6:16things that helped me when I was going
6:18through that initial phase of my journey
6:20was just learning [music] and
6:23understanding and accepting how this
6:26whole YouTube thing and business thing
6:28was going to be much harder than I
6:30expected to be and take much longer than
6:32I wanted to. And I just kept hearing
6:34this from all of these people that I
6:36watched online like the Hormozis, Cody
6:38Sanchez, you know, all these
6:39entrepreneurs that have made it. All of
6:41them say the exact same thing. It takes
6:42years. And so, very early on like I
6:44accepted this and because of that when
6:47things did feel really hard and when
6:49things would take longer than I would
6:51want it to, I would be like, yeah, okay,
6:53like this is what I expected and I would
6:55just kind of like get on with my day as
6:57opposed to like fighting it and
6:58resisting it and feeling bad about it
7:00because that's really where people
7:02struggle. So, if it feels hard for you
7:03right now, just know that it's because
7:05it is hard and you're not supposed to
7:07feel any other way about it. Just
7:10because something doesn't feel easy or
7:12doesn't feel good in that sense doesn't
7:15mean you're doing the wrong thing or
7:17that you're doing it badly. I think it's
7:18important [music] to not fight that
7:19feeling and not waste any energy on that
7:22so that you can direct all your focus
7:23and your energy on the things that do
7:25matter which is taking action on your
7:27goals. [music] There's this one quote
7:29that I heard from this podcast that
7:31really just changed the way that I think
7:33about things. This person called Jimmy
7:35Carr said, "Everyone is jealous of what
7:36you've got. No one is jealous of how you
7:39got it." Everybody wants the success,
7:41you know, they want the successful
7:42YouTube channel, the successful
7:44business, the dream body, the dream
7:45relationship, but nobody wants to endure
7:48the long hours and the sacrifices needed
7:51to get there and the hard work and the
7:54grind. And so, you really need like a
7:55worthwhile goal that is meaningful
7:58enough to you that you're willing to
8:00suffer through all of those things for
8:03it, to actually do the work that is
8:04required to get you to that point. And
8:07so, yeah, just going back to what I
8:08said, just accepting that things are
8:10going to be hard and you're going to
8:11have to do a lot of hard things and work
8:12hard for a really long time and also
8:14just sacrifice a lot of things. When you
8:16expect that and you understand that is
8:19the price of entry to get to where you
8:21want to be, then, you know, it it makes
8:23it emotionally easier to go through
8:26those hard days, especially when your
8:28dream is so far into the horizon that
8:30you can barely see it. Like you're at
8:32the very start of your journey and the
8:33goal is just like,
8:34>> [music]
8:35>> you know, a million miles away. That's
8:37really um that's really helped me. And
8:38by the way, if you are a small YouTuber
8:40who wants to turn YouTube into a
8:42business one day or maybe you are a
8:44business owner already, but you just
8:46want to use YouTube as a vehicle to grow
8:48your business and get more clients
8:50organically, then my Creator Accelerator
8:51program was designed to help [music] you
8:53do exactly that. This is where I help
8:54you to grow faster, gain clarity on your
8:56content, attract the right audience and
8:58also turn YouTube into a sustainable
9:00income source. So, if you did want to
9:02find out more, you can check out the
9:03link in the description below and apply
9:04if it feels right for you. Currently,
9:06the program is actually full right now,
9:07but you can sign up for the wait list
9:09and you'll be the first to know once
9:10spots open up.
9:14So, phase two of my journey was me
9:16quitting my corporate job and moving to
9:18Australia. So, I worked my banking job
9:21in Malaysia for 3 and 1/2 years and I
9:23burnt out so hard during that time and I
9:27trust me, I would have quit a lot sooner
9:29had I not been bonded to that company,
9:31meaning that I was contracted to stay
9:33there for 3 and 1/2 years and if I were
9:35to quit at any point like before that, I
9:37would need to pay a penalty [music] of
9:39half a year's worth of my salary. So, 6
9:42months of salary. Insane. So, yeah, I
9:44burnt out so hard from that job and in
9:46April of 2024 was when I officially
9:49quit. I decided to make my crazy first
9:52move. Well, actually, my first crazy
9:54move was starting a YouTube channel. The
9:56second crazy move was moving to
9:58Australia with just a suitcase and a
10:00dream. The reason why I moved to
10:02Australia was like sort of like this
10:04yolo move in a way of like, I'm tired of
10:07being here. I'm so burnt out from my job
10:08and burnt out from being in Malaysia and
10:10I just need a new environment. I was
10:12researching online like what were my
10:14options and I found this thing called
10:16the working holiday visa in Australia,
10:18which lets you stay for a whole year and
10:19you can work pretty much any job like
10:21part-time or full-time. And so I
10:23thought, "Oh, what a perfect opportunity
10:25to like move to a whole new country,
10:27have a new environment, and also be able
10:29to work and give myself some financial
10:33runway." Because at that point I still
10:35wasn't earning sustainable money from
10:37YouTube. And I'll talk about the numbers
10:39in a little bit. But yeah, when I moved
10:40to Australia, I worked part-time [music]
10:42initially at a gym as a receptionist and
10:45then I transitioned into a sales job, so
10:48[music] selling gym memberships. And
10:50that helped me to earn money for my
10:51basic living expenses, for rent, for
10:53groceries, whilst giving me more time
10:56and energy to work on building my
10:58channel and my business. [music] So
11:00money-wise from YouTube, from AdSense I
11:02earned $2,606.29.
11:06And if you remember, that was actually
11:08[music]
11:08less than what I earned in my first year
11:10because I didn't get as many like viral
11:13videos and didn't get as many views. For
11:15brand deals, I stopped taking them on
11:17almost entirely because I was fully
11:20committed to building the business side
11:22of things as opposed to relying on
11:24traditional sources of creator income.
11:26And this was also when I first started
11:28my coaching program and I started off
11:30with like offering one-off calls to
11:32people and charging like $99 an hour
11:36[music] and then eventually transitioned
11:38into like a 3-months program where I
11:40could actually help people achieve a
11:42specific transformation instead of just
11:44like, you know, consulting them through
11:46one-off calls. And so by early to mid
11:482025, I was making between $500 to
11:51$3,000 a month. And I remember that
11:54first 3K month was so crazy because that
11:56was triple what I was earning in my old
11:58corporate job. And that was the point
12:00where I really felt like, "Okay, this is
12:02something that I see this working." It
12:05was my first sign of like, "Wow, I could
12:07make this into something financially
12:08sustainable." And looking back, the best
12:11thing that I did during that phase was
12:13to not get caught up in uh trying to get
12:16brand deals and caught up in going viral
12:18and getting tons of views and trying to
12:20earn money primarily through AdSense.
12:21Like the best thing that I ever did was
12:23just to completely forego that and focus
12:26fully on just growing the business side
12:29of things. Because when you are a small
12:30channel, the only way that you can make
12:32sustainable income from YouTube is if
12:35you actually build a business from it,
12:37something that you have full control
12:38over, something that you own. You know,
12:40you're not getting a paycheck from
12:42someone else or like a brand to pay you.
12:44And that means your income is also less
12:46views-dependent. With AdSense and brand
12:48deals, like you don't control them. Your
12:49income depends on the algorithm and on
12:52the brand's [music] budget. And like
12:53with YouTube videos, you can't predict
12:55how well exactly it'll do. Like maybe
12:58it'll get 5K views or 50K views or like
13:00500K views, and you just never know. And
13:03so like having your [music] income and
13:05your ability to pay rent based on
13:07something as inconsistent and as
13:10unpredictable as that is a very
13:11stressful way to live in my opinion.
13:13Yeah, it's like you just basically need
13:15to keep going viral. Like my first year
13:17in AdSense came almost entirely from
13:19three videos. And when I didn't get
13:21those same hits in year number two, my
13:23income just dropped even though I was
13:25working as hard if not harder. The other
13:27smart thing that I did back then was to
13:29not like quit my 9-5 cold turkey without
13:32any other sources of income planned
13:34after that. Yeah, the fact that I took
13:36on the gym jobs in Australia, that was
13:39really good for multiple reasons. Like
13:41if you currently have a corporate job
13:43right now, that is your safety net. And
13:46that is one of your biggest advantages
13:48because then you can use the money that
13:50you earn through your job to reinvest
13:52into your channel and your business that
13:55you're trying to grow. And for me, when
13:56I was working the sales job in
13:58Australia, that was the point when I was
14:00trying to do so many things at once. I
14:02was working that job Monday to Friday
14:039-5. It was a full-time sales role. And
14:06then in my spare time, when I wasn't
14:08doing sales at the gym, I was doing
14:09sales in the weekends for my own
14:11coaching business. And I was also making
14:13content throughout the week. And it was
14:15kind of like when I was working my
14:17corporate job and balancing making
14:18YouTube videos every week. It reminded
14:20me of that period but like times three
14:22because at this point like I had a
14:24business that I was trying to [music]
14:25grow. So I had even more moving parts
14:27and it really helped to have that income
14:29from [music] the gym jobs because I used
14:31that money to help pay an editor to edit
14:34my videos so that I could focus more
14:36energy on getting clients for my own
14:38business and also like planning out
14:40content and doing my landing page and
14:42doing all these other things. So yeah,
14:43use your job to your advantage. Don't
14:45quit prematurely, please. And also like
14:48the fact that I got a job in sales was
14:50so crucial for that stage or that phase
14:53of my journey because if you're planning
14:56to grow any sort of business, the number
14:58one skill that you really need to learn
15:00is sales and having that sales job was
15:03so good because I essentially got paid
15:05to learn those skills, to learn the
15:07foundations of how sales works and even
15:09though I was selling gym memberships, I
15:11could immediately apply all of those
15:13learnings to my own business directly
15:16and genuinely having those skills
15:17[music] helped me so much to get my
15:19first clients as quickly as I did. Yeah,
15:22that's something I would highly highly
15:23recommend. Just prioritize learning that
15:25skill. The biggest mistake that I made
15:27during that phase of my journey was
15:29wanting success now. Like I wanted the
15:3210K months now and to be honest like I
15:35put a lot of pressure on myself back
15:36then because I sort of like created this
15:39made up arbitrary timeline in my head
15:41that okay, within this one year that I'm
15:43in Australia by the end of it like I
15:44need to have made it because I think my
15:47fear was like I didn't want to have to
15:49go back home to Malaysia after my visa
15:52was done and have nothing to show for
15:54it. I felt like I didn't want people to
15:55look at me and think like oh my god, you
15:57know, Tica, she made this whole big deal
15:59on the internet announcing that she's
16:01quitting her corporate job and going to
16:03pursue this thing and you know, a year
16:05later she's still like not successful
16:07[music] and hasn't made it. Or worse yet
16:09like oh, look at her. She just came back
16:11and had to get another corporate job.
16:13And yeah, I was just so concerned with
16:14what people thought about me and that
16:16was when I really started to grind even
16:19harder and put more pressure on myself.
16:21And so yeah, at that point I just really
16:22burnt out super hard. Like there was a
16:242-week period where I could not do
16:26anything. Could barely do the basics of
16:28just like taking care of myself, eating
16:30food. Yeah, getting out of bed was a
16:32struggle. I was sleeping like 10 to 11
16:34hours every night. It was not a great
16:36time. It was all just from this made-up
16:38timeline and made-up deadline that I had
16:40in my head. Did not exist whatsoever. A
16:42mindset shift that really helped me
16:44after going through that was this quote
16:46that I heard from Tom Noske. So, he's
16:49basically saying how one day you'll be
16:50grateful your success took way longer
16:54than you wanted because someday not so
16:55long from now all of this is going to
16:57work out and everything it took to get
16:59there will have been worth it. In that
17:00moment you'll be grateful you were
17:02forced to wait because when you reach
17:03success prematurely, you're not going to
17:05have the skills, the nervous system, and
17:07the ability to hold on to it. You'll
17:09underestimate the work that's required
17:11to keep you at that level of success and
17:13it's all just going to come tumbling
17:14down as fast as it came. So, I
17:16paraphrase bits of that but you kind of
17:18get the point. I can only really say
17:20this in hindsight but I am super super
17:22glad that my channel didn't blow up back
17:24then when I really really wanted it to
17:26and that my business didn't take off
17:27back then because at that point I still
17:30was not yet the kind of person that had
17:32the ability to handle this success. I
17:34wasn't the kind [music] of person that
17:35could yet make 10K a month and to make
17:38it sustainably. And so because I didn't
17:40have the skills, the ability, the
17:42nervous system, and the the capability
17:44really to achieve that goal. Like I
17:46would have just let everything crash to
17:48the ground because I wouldn't have been
17:49able to sustain it and maintain it. So,
17:52we're back in my apartment. Honestly,
17:54the heat just got way out of hand and
17:57normally I would be able to last a whole
17:59filming session no problem and in fact
18:01like I love filming at the beach because
18:02I feel way more inspired being in that
18:04environment whereas it's a lot more
18:06boring at home but uh yeah, the heat
18:07just got too much today and just needed
18:10to be inside with some AC. But going
18:12back to where we left off.
18:16So, phase three was moving back home to
18:18Malaysia. I went back for 5 months and
18:20this was after my visa for Australia
18:22ended. And at that point, like, I really
18:24just had no clue what I was going to do
18:27in terms of my life situation. So, I
18:29didn't know really where I wanted to
18:32live and what I wanted to do. And the
18:34other reason why I moved back home with
18:35my mom was to also save on money and
18:38save on rent because at that point I
18:40didn't have my gym jobs in Australia
18:42anymore. And that was the point where I
18:43fully fully took the leap and like quit
18:45[music] all other forms of employment in
18:48order to just like stabilize things with
18:51the business. I decided to move back
18:52home. And for someone who's approaching
18:5430 to move back home after being
18:56independent for so many years, it's
18:58challenging [music] for sure. Yeah, it's
18:59hard not having your own space and your
19:02mental health does like dip a little
19:03bit, but uh yeah, I just really needed
19:05to go back home to figure myself out.
19:07And at this point it was when I made my
19:08biggest business mistake. I pivoted my
19:11offer and my channel. [music] So, with
19:13business, it's very normal for you to
19:15have fluctuations. You are going to have
19:18tons of ups and downs. With a corporate
19:20job, you have the stability of having a
19:23predictable paycheck every single month,
19:25but with business it's like you could
19:26have your lowest month in February and
19:28then your highest month to date in
19:30March. You know, it's more of a roller
19:32coaster. Business for me was doing
19:34pretty well and it was growing between
19:37like January to April, but then April to
19:39June was when things really started to
19:41slow down. Yeah, that was the point
19:43where I just my brain went into
19:46catastrophe mode because I started
19:48thinking all these thoughts like, oh my
19:49god, do I need to go back to a corporate
19:51job? Like, maybe was this going to be
19:53just a dream all along? And I felt like
19:55maybe I'm just not in the right
19:57business. If I had [music] a sexier
19:59offer or a sexier program that promises
20:01a more sexier thing, maybe that's what I
20:03should do. And so yeah, I I completely
20:05changed my offer, my target avatar,
20:07[music]
20:08everything. To be very frank with you,
20:10that new business did not do well. I had
20:14just one client from that program and it
20:17took me 3 months to make the pivot with
20:20my content, pivot my offer, did a bunch
20:23of target avatar [music] interviews. I
20:25also like planned this whole launch and
20:27everything. And honestly, it was more or
20:29less like crickets. It was such a low
20:31point for me, and I spent an additional
20:343 months after that trying to get more
20:36clients for that particular business.
20:38And so, all in all, I wasted 6 months
20:41doing that whole business detour. And
20:43so, the biggest lesson that I want
20:45anyone watching this to take away from
20:48this phase of my journey is to not
20:50switch lanes. It's honestly like the
20:52most rookie mistake you can make in
20:54business. I remember watching so much
20:57content from Alex Hormozi and Cody
20:59Sanchez and all of these like really
21:01successful people in business saying
21:02that, "Don't switch niches. Don't switch
21:05businesses." This is one of the biggest
21:07pitfalls, especially for newbie
21:09entrepreneurs. As soon as they feel like
21:11things are slowing down slightly with
21:12their current business, or as soon as
21:14things feel kind of hard, that's when
21:17they're like, "You know what? I'm just
21:18going to abandon this whole project and
21:20start a completely new one." Every time
21:22you switch lanes, you essentially go
21:24back to square [music] one, and you have
21:26to rebuild an entire business all over
21:29again. New content, new audience, new
21:31offer. What you should actually do is
21:33fix and tackle that bottleneck head-on
21:35so that you learn the skills to overcome
21:37that specific problem, which will allow
21:39you to get to the next stage of
21:40business. But, if you switch lanes, the
21:43problem is that you're going to reach
21:44that same stage again just in this new
21:47business. And because you never learned
21:48the skills on how to fix that particular
21:50problem in your old business, you're not
21:52going to be able to solve it this time
21:53round again. [music] And you're going to
21:55end up just starting a whole other
21:56business and going through that same
21:57vicious cycle over and over again. Or if
22:00it's not the same problem, you're going
22:01to run into other problems, and you
22:03can't keep running away the moment that
22:04things get hard, or the moment when
22:06things start slowing down. And that was
22:08exactly what I did, unfortunately. In
22:10terms of money, I was barely earning
22:12anything through [music] my coaching
22:14business in those 6 months because that
22:16offer flopped, and I had to go back to
22:18relying on brand deals. [music] I was
22:20just really lucky at that point that I
22:22had a brand reach out to me and offered
22:24to pay me the highest amount that I've
22:26ever gotten on a brand deal before. And
22:28so for each integration, I was being
22:30paid 1,500 USD and I did like three or
22:32four of those. And so that helped to
22:34keep me afloat whilst I was bumbling
22:36around and just messing up my entire
22:39business. Yeah, going on this whole
22:40detour. But from going through that
22:43experience, I went through enough pain,
22:45[music] enough confusion, and enough
22:48desperation that I wanted to seek
22:50professional help. Like I really just
22:52wanted a coach to help me through what I
22:55was going through cuz I was so stuck and
22:56I didn't know how to go from here. I
22:58really did not want to go back to a
23:00corporate job, guys. I was willing to do
23:01whatever it takes. And so that was the
23:03point where I decided to make my first
23:06ever big girl investment. [music] I paid
23:08$6,000 for a business/content coach and
23:11that was the best decision I ever made
23:13in my journey. And I just want to point
23:15out how 6,000 USD in my currency of
23:18Malaysian ringgit is like 25k. So
23:21imagine like the feeling of paying that
23:23money. It didn't feel like 6k to me. It
23:25felt like 25k if that makes sense. That
23:27amount was almost half a year's worth of
23:30my salary in my old corporate job. So it
23:32was a big amount of money for me. And so
23:35the biggest mindset lesson that I wanted
23:36to impart for this phase of my journey
23:39is that instead of penny-pinching and
23:40saving every dollar, invest in yourself
23:42instead. I've heard this time and time
23:44again from female entrepreneurs that I
23:46really look up to, people like Leila
23:47Hormozi and Emma Grede and Cody Sanchez.
23:50They all say the same thing. In order to
23:53earn more, you actually need to spend
23:55more. And by spending more, they mean
23:57investing [music] in yourself, in
23:59bettering your skills and knowledge, in
24:01business, and in sales so that you can
24:03increase your earning potential. Emma
24:05Grede, who is the co-founder of Good
24:07American and Skims, she broke this down
24:10really, really well in this podcast
24:12episode she did where she talks about
24:14what you need to do at every decade of
24:16your life as a woman in order to build
24:18serious wealth. And in your 20s, she
24:21says that, you know, people make this
24:22big mistake of thinking that they just
24:24need to earn as much as possible and
24:26save as much as possible. But really,
24:29you need to be spending that time
24:30learning valuable skills and making
24:33yourself valuable, and you need to spend
24:36money in order to do that. You know, in
24:38my 20s, I definitely was brainwashed by
24:41society to think that, okay, I just need
24:43to get myself the highest-paying
24:44corporate job, and then if I penny-pinch
24:46enough [music] and budget in a smart
24:48way, invest my money, like that's going
24:49to be me sorted. Like, that's going to
24:52cap you at a certain level of wealth.
24:54What is really going to skyrocket your
24:56wealth is developing really valuable
24:58that people are going to be willing to
24:59pay lots and lots of money for down the
25:02line. And so, that was exactly what was
25:03going through my mind when I invested in
25:06my first [music] business/content coach.
25:08I was like, you know what? I am
25:10investing to learn the skills, and I'm
25:12going to make sure that I make my return
25:14on investment. Like, [music] I was
25:15confident I was going to do that.
25:19Phase four is where I'm at with
25:21everything at the moment with my
25:23business and life. So, I have been
25:25digital nomading around Southeast Asia
25:27now for the past [music] year, and I've
25:29lived in Chiang Mai in Thailand, and
25:31I've been living in Da Nang, Vietnam for
25:33the past 8 months. So, I'll be moving to
25:35Chiang Mai very soon for like another
25:37couple months, and then after that, who
25:38knows? There is a bunch of other places
25:40that I do want to check out as well.
25:42This year, I did the most amount of
25:43traveling. Like, I went to Bali on a
25:452-week solo trip, and I also went to
25:47Bangkok. I also went home a couple times
25:49to see friends. you remember from the
25:51last phase was when I royally just
25:53screwed up my business by doing this
25:55whole detour. I invested in that
25:57business mentor, and within a few months
25:59of doing that and then re-pivoting my
26:01business back to what it was before,
26:03essentially, but just doing it better, I
26:05ended up earning the most amount of
26:07money that I ever had in my business.
26:09So, it was March of 2026 this year when
26:11I had my first 8K month, which is
26:14honestly so insane. And to think that
26:16this happened just 2 years after
26:18quitting my corporate job is insanity to
26:20me, and it was also a huge turning point
26:23that made me believe like, okay, and
26:25this is truly the year that instilled a
26:27lot of confidence in me that I'm on the
26:29right path, that I'm doing the right
26:31things, and that I can 100% get to where
26:34I want to go as long as I just keep
26:36going. Uh my Grab delivery just came.
26:38Ah.
26:39Give me a second. Just got to go grab
26:41lunch for a second. Got my food
26:43delivery.
26:44This is like
26:46I think the best part about
26:49doing this whole thing, like building my
26:51own business,
26:53and being able to live this life of
26:55freedom, if you will. This is lunch for
26:58later when I uh actually finish filming.
27:01But honestly, like this is one of the
27:02nicest parts of living this digital
27:04nomad lifestyle, especially when you're
27:06living in Southeast Asia, where
27:07everything is obviously way more
27:09affordable than it is in the West. And
27:11if you're someone who is building their
27:13own business and is earning a certain
27:15level of money, then you [music] can
27:17definitely live such a comfortable life
27:19in Asia. Order really like yummy,
27:21healthy foods like this through Grab.
27:23Life is way more convenient, and you can
27:24stay healthy and all all the rest. I'm
27:26just trying to think of where we left
27:27off before. I think I was talking about
27:29how this year was really the first year
27:32where I felt like, "Okay, I can
27:35definitely do this." Like when I first
27:37started my business when I was in
27:38Australia, and like I was getting money
27:41every single month from it, but it
27:42really that was the point where I was
27:43like, "This is possible. I can make
27:46money on my own terms, and I no longer
27:49need to go back to an employer if I
27:50don't want to." And yeah, that was uh
27:53really the first taste of possibility
27:55for me. And now this year just really
27:57cemented that, especially with like
27:59these new milestones in my business and
28:01where I'm at. I don't want this to come
28:02across as like some big flex, as if I'm
28:05I'm not saying that I've made it, you
28:07know, or that I'm this super successful
28:10guru person that you have to listen to.
28:13But I'm not going to lie, like I do feel
28:16like internally I've made it in a lot of
28:18ways because like I've achieved a life
28:21now that I've always wanted for myself.
28:23And you know, the whole reason why I
28:25started this whole YouTube and business
28:27journey was because I wanted to have
28:29more agency and control over my life,
28:31and I wanted to do work that I found
28:32meaningful and that I loved and spent
28:34most of my time doing that. And I wanted
28:36to have the freedom to be wherever I
28:38want and travel if I want to and you
28:41know, live my days the way I want to
28:43essentially. I don't think I was ever
28:45asking for much. If there's anything
28:46that I want to instill in this chapter
28:49of the video is that you're not asking
28:51for too much when you want more than
28:53just a few weeks of paid leave a year.
28:56You're not asking for too much if you
28:57don't want to like ask for permission in
29:00order to take a break from work. You're
29:01not asking for too much if you want to
29:03be paid what you are actually worth
29:06[music] because with corporate like you
29:07always have this ceiling over you. Yeah,
29:09you only get paid as much as your
29:11employer is willing to pay you
29:13essentially. But yeah, in terms of the
29:14money aspect of things, so my business
29:16earns between 3 to 8K a month. 99% of
29:19that comes from my business. So I earn a
29:22shockingly small amount from AdSense and
29:25I don't do any brand deals whatsoever
29:27now because I'm just fully focused on
29:29building my business. But yeah, AdSense
29:31brings me like maybe $100 to $150 a
29:33month on average. It's really not a lot.
29:36Just to reiterate this point from
29:37before, the best thing that I ever did
29:39was to not get so caught up in chasing
29:41brand deals, trying to go viral. I
29:44turned down tons of brand deals in the
29:47past. Like every week I get at least two
29:49or three emails of brands asking [music]
29:52me if I want to collaborate with them.
29:53It's hard to say no to initially because
29:56it's kind of like, you know, someone's
29:57wanting to give you this money. To be
29:59fair, like doing a integration in your
30:02video is not difficult at all and it's
30:04kind of like "quote unquote" easy money
30:07if you will. It's certainly way easier
30:09than building your own business. Like
30:11that's so much harder and there's way
30:13more skills involved. Really key thing
30:15to remember is that if you are doing
30:16brand deals and that's your primary
30:18source of income, you don't have control
30:20over that. You're controlled by that
30:21brand's budget and how much they're
30:23willing to offer you for that
30:25integration. Whereas with your own
30:26business, you get to set the prices. And
30:28also my experience with being a small
30:30creator and doing brand deals is that
30:31they will try to lowball you and you
30:33have to like renegotiate your worth,
30:35which honestly just gives me the ick.
30:37It's like kind of when you're trying to
30:38negotiate a salary with an employer.
30:41It's just yeah, it's not ideal. Yeah,
30:42the good thing about that is that it
30:44takes the pressure off of making content
30:46now. Like I can go weeks without posting
30:49a single video, but that's perfectly
30:51fine [music] because my business and my
30:53income is not views dependent. Whereas
30:56like, you know, if you are relying on
30:57AdSense, you are relying on brand deals,
30:59you have to constantly be posting and
31:01you need to be getting like tons and
31:04tons of views every single month for you
31:06to be able to earn enough revenue to
31:08live full-time off of that. So yeah,
31:10hopefully this video helps you in some
31:11way if you are in the middle of going
31:13through this journey yourself. I really
31:15just wanted to paint like a very real
31:17picture by sharing my story so that you
31:19kind of know what to expect going into
31:21this whole thing so that you can see
31:23like all the highs and all the lows, the
31:25reality of what it means to grow
31:26business through YouTube. I also wanted
31:27to be transparent about like how much
31:29money I was earning and through what
31:31sources. And also I hope that the
31:33mindset shifts really help you no matter
31:36what stage you're at. If anything, I
31:38think that was what helped me the most
31:40is just getting into the right state of
31:41mind and having the right values and
31:43having the right beliefs. And that
31:45honestly was what ultimately carried me
31:47forward to the next phase. Let me know
31:49if this helped you in the comments. If
31:51you did want to check out more videos
31:53about how I became a full-time YouTuber,
31:55learn more about my journey, then I'll
31:58post a link to a video here that you can
31:59check out. Okay, guys, take care and see
32:01you in the next

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