Howdy, I'm Taylor. I'm a 20 something former management consultant and ivy-league grad from California turned solopreneur in New York City, and I love making videos that follow all of the above. Stick around š
00:00It is not clickbait. I quit my management consulting job, but there is more to discuss.
00:10Why did I quit? Will I be starting a new job? Will I be doing YouTube full-time?
00:14Why do I never say where I work? My thoughts on conventionally stable versus unstable jobs?
00:18What's my favorite flavor of ice cream? So let's get into all of it.
00:30The squat right here, shall we? Would you believe that this is New York City? The green spaces exist, you just gotta find them.
00:48I'd originally planned to make my own coffee at home for that little montage, but then I wouldn't have an excuse to come sit out here with you guys.
00:53Anywho, hello guys. This is Taylor. I am a full-time YouTuber at the moment. I'm from LA.
00:59I'm now living in New York City. If you're new here, I usually start these videos out with,
01:02I'm a full-time management consultant and part-time YouTuber, so that's why I made a big deal out of that.
01:07So yeah, I officially quit my management consulting job. I say officially because I actually haven't been working for a minute.
01:12I took over a month off of work before officially leaving, and during this time off, I really evaluated what I want to do with my career moving forward.
01:19And in the meantime, I pretty much went all in on YouTube.
01:22You guys might have noticed that I've been posting pretty much weekly for the last, what, two months or so?
01:27And that's because I actually have time to make the videos now.
01:29And posting videos more consistently and feeling finally like I could give them my all in terms of upping my production quality
01:35and taking the time to learn how to just improve my editing so I can make my videos more engaging has just been so much fun and so rewarding.
01:42So I reflected on what I want to do for the rest of my life. Just kidding, not the rest of my life, but for the next couple years.
01:46Whether that be staying at my previous firm after taking the time off and reflecting, doing YouTube full-time,
01:51looking for a different consulting job elsewhere, or going into a totally different industry.
01:55So I noodled on this a lot, as you might imagine.
01:58When it comes to the question of doing YouTube full-time, I mean, I have been for months now.
02:02Surprise! Like and subscribe for zero dollars to show support.
02:04Let's turn that 81.5% frown upside down.
02:07But doing it full-time without anything else on the horizon is a bit different.
02:10The thing with YouTube and other kind of unconventional 1099 jobs or contract work is that you typically earn a different amount each month.
02:16In my case, I earn a different amount of YouTube ad revenue each month and a different amount from sponsors each month.
02:22It depends on how well my videos do, how often I post, ad rates, a bunch of things.
02:26Versus my consulting job or any other corporate job, I could count on a paycheck twice a month for the same exact amount no matter what.
02:32So in a lot of ways, the decision on which job to do if I must choose one comes down to
02:36How much more would I have to make from my unstable job, YouTube, compared to my stable job in order to feel comfortable going full throttle with the unstable job?
02:44And if you have a particularly large risk appetite, and I know a lot of people who do, you might even want to go full-time on the unstable job at a much lower income level if you feel confident about its growth potential.
02:53I myself am actually quite risk averse with things like this.
02:55So even when I reached an income level with YouTube that independently financially sustained me,
03:00I still didn't feel 100% confident to do it full-time like I thought I would have if you asked me about this a year ago, interestingly enough.
03:06Another thing to consider that's super important is longevity.
03:09So let's say with YouTube, one makes $200,000. With consulting, you also make $200,000.
03:14It's so obvious for some people to think, oh, well, YouTube's more fun and creative.
03:17If you make just as much from that, obviously do that.
03:19But you really have to factor in longevity. What I mean by that is with consulting, if you choose to stay in it forever,
03:25you will have steady pay increases, high paying increases, by the way, and you could do that forever in theory.
03:30And if you choose not to stay in it forever, there are tons of other high paying jobs within business,
03:34whether that's going into a more specific industry or starting your own business,
03:37that you are a suitable candidate for because of this toolkit that you get from your consulting job.
03:42While with YouTube, there really is no guaranteed longevity.
03:44The way that you can leverage your background in consulting for another job in the business world
03:48is really not the case with YouTube.
03:50Because at the end of the day, YouTube channels typically do not last forever.
03:53It's even difficult to stay relevant for two years.
03:56And there is no one obvious job that's as high paying for you to switch over to
04:00if and when your YouTube channel eventually slows down.
04:02Of course, there are exceptions to this rule.
04:04But by and large, the exit opportunities after having success on YouTube
04:08are not as secure as those after consulting.
04:10So back to the decision making process.
04:12YouTube versus consulting or any of the other options that we mentioned.
04:16There are so many pros and cons beyond just income stability, obviously.
04:19Corporate jobs also come with other perks like health insurance, for example,
04:23which is actually a biggie.
04:24And it's especially complicated here in the United States.
04:27So it's not something that should be treated as an afterthought, if I may say so.
04:31Retirement benefits like 401k matching, maybe expensed meals, travel points.
04:35And perhaps the biggest one of all, for me at least, is a social context.
04:39Let me explain.
04:40Now that I've been doing YouTube full time for a few months,
04:42I have really come to realize how isolating of a job it is.
04:45I write my video outlines and scripts alone.
04:47I film alone.
04:47I edit alone.
04:48And that editing is the time intensive process, let me tell you.
04:51And I post alone.
04:52Post Malone.
04:53And unless you live with other content creators,
04:55which in itself I assume would open up many a can of worm,
04:58you really don't have co-workers per se.
05:00And it might not be obvious in the moment,
05:01but when you're going into an office or an atmosphere
05:04where you're surrounded by co-workers who are working towards the same goal,
05:07I think that's huge.
05:08Professionally and socially.
05:09With YouTube, yes, you can meet other creators.
05:11And I've been doing that and that's been awesome.
05:13And you can collaborate with them, but I still think it's different.
05:15Because even if you and your other YouTuber friends
05:17do have the same goal to grow your own channels,
05:20again, even if you're throwing collaborations in there,
05:22it is still a very individualistic job.
05:24And by and large, I have found it very lonely to keep it real with you.
05:27Because I like my workplace gossip.
05:28I like being around other people and forming those genuine in-person connections
05:32that I just do not think you can form the same way online.
05:34The most obvious pro, I think, of YouTube and other similar jobs, though, is the freedom.
05:39I am my own boss.
05:40I don't have to answer to anyone.
05:42I set my own hours.
05:43I face the consequences of my own actions.
05:45That's a big one, actually.
05:46And it's truly amazing.
05:48I will say, if you are a one-man show, which I am,
05:50you have to be very self-motivated and able to hold yourself 100% accountable.
05:54Otherwise, I would say it is borderline impossible to sustain.
05:58But if you are self-motivated and entrepreneurial and have this genuine interest and excitement
06:02to work towards this goal for yourself, it's pretty much the dream job.
06:05I mean, I get eight hours of sleep every single night pretty much without fail.
06:08If a friend, let's say, asks me to dinner last minute,
06:10I can pretty much always drop whatever I'm doing and go because I'm working on my own deadline.
06:14Of course, I might have to find a few extra hours the next day to make up for that,
06:18but you get the idea.
06:19The flexible schedule really is a dream.
06:21So I decided to quit my consulting job for a number of reasons.
06:24Some of them are personal, but by and large, after taking time off,
06:27I arrived at the conclusion that YouTube just made more sense for me
06:29compared to where I was and how I was feeling about it.
06:32I'm not turning my back on consulting as a whole.
06:34I still think that it's a great first job out of undergrad,
06:36especially for those who don't totally know what they want to do long term.
06:39Fun fact, John Legend became a consultant right after graduating from Penn.
06:42So I guess you could say we're twinsies.
06:44Of course, he went on to become an international music sensation.
06:47We'll see about that one for me.
06:48Jokes aside though, it is a good job.
06:50You learn a ton of hard and soft skills in a very condensed amount of time.
06:53Is it a perfect job?
06:54No, no job is perfect.
06:55And I have plenty of my own criticisms about consulting as I've alluded to before.
06:59But it is a great first social and professional stepping stone right out of college at the very least.
07:04And if you're in the minority of people who stay in it for many years, that's great too.
07:07You can make a lot of money and hopefully have a good work life balance after some time.
07:11And what's in store for me, you're asking?
07:12Thank you for asking.
07:13Will I be doing YouTube full time for the foreseeable future or will I be starting a new job?
07:17After heavily weighing the pros and cons that you and I have just discussed,
07:20I did interview for another job.
07:22I received an offer and I will be taking that offer.
07:24I am happy to say though, I will not be starting that job for a few more months,
07:27at which point I will tell you more about it.
07:29But in the meantime, more YouTube full throttle.
07:33It's cringy, I know.
07:34And of course, I will still be continuing YouTube once I start that full time job as well,
07:38because in an ideal world, I will do both for as long as it makes sense to.
07:41And finally, why do I never say the name of my firm?
07:43It's not because I'm not allowed to.
07:45It's truly because I want my opinions about consulting as a profession to be received
07:49and dependent of my specific workplace.
07:51That's why.
07:51If you guys want to take a guess what industry my next job is in, leave a comment below.
07:55I read them all, so it'll be fun to see what you guys think.
07:57Like and subscribe for zero dollars.
07:58And until next time, Turtle out.
08:00And my favorite flavor of ice cream is Ben and Jerry's Tonight Joe.
