After years in a high-paying management consulting role in Australia (and working across the UK), I made the bold decision to quit. In this video, I open up about why I left the corporate world, what consulting life was really like, and what’s next for me in this new chapter of my career. If you're considering leaving your job, feeling burnt out, or just curious about the realities of the consulting industry, this is for you.
🚀 Topics Covered:
#Life in Big 4 / MBB consulting #Burnout & mental health in corporate #Why I walked away from a six-figure salary #My new path: Entrepreneurship, tech, or content creation? #CareerChange #ManagementConsulting #LifeAfterConsulting #ManagementConsulting #QuitMyJob #LifeAfterConsulting #CareerChange #UKJobs #AustralianJobs #Big4Consulting #WorkLifeBalance #ConsultingExit #EntrepreneurJourney #SixFigureJob #FinanceCareers # Career change # Quit corporate job # Management consulting # Life after consulting # Consulting burnout # Why I left consulting # Big 4 consulting exit # Corporate to entrepreneur # Lifestyle design UK # Work-life balance Australia # Finance & consulting career # UK career switch # Australian career journey # Ex-McKinsey, BCG, Bain # Post-consulting life #Management Consulting
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.
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