00:00All right, so I quit my job. I quit my job as an associate solutions architect working at AWS.
00:07This decision was not an easy one at all because in AWS, I really liked my team.
00:15I liked the work I was doing and for the most part, I had a great time. It felt like
00:22almost
00:2210 years in the company, even though I've only been there for two and a half years.
00:26And that just goes to show how much I was able to learn and develop and build up my technical
00:32skills as well as make an impact on things that I was passionate about. I got to help out a
00:37lot of
00:38customers and I also got to start programs internally within the company on early career
00:43initiatives and women in tech. And so I really found it hard to say goodbye to everyone. But the
00:52reason I decided to leave is to actually do YouTube full time. This YouTube channel is almost like my
00:59second identity. So five days a week, I was a solutions architect. And on the weekends, I would
01:05be tech with Lucy and record videos, write scripts, and edit and publish them. So it was almost as if
01:13I had two identities for the past two years in my career. And what I really liked is how these
01:20two
01:21identities really complemented each other. Well, my YouTube channel helped me with my personal branding
01:27at work. And it was great to meet people at work who have come across the channel and go like,
01:32wait, you're tech with Lucy. I thought that was pretty cool. And also what I was learning at work,
01:37and my perspective as a solutions architect was really helpful in making videos for the Tech with
01:43Lucy channel. And in turn, that helped a lot of people land a job in the cloud industry and helped
01:48people get AWS certified and build the technical skills. As you can tell, I really liked both sides
01:54of this two part identity. So both the solutions architect role and my role as a content creator on
02:00YouTube. And so for the longest time, I did both. I worked seven days a week. And whenever I had
02:06free
02:06time after work, I would plan out the next video idea. But what ended up happening was as my
02:11responsibilities at work continued to increase, and my YouTube videos continued to require more effort
02:18and time as well, I found it extremely hard to balance both. It came to a point where I really
02:24had
02:25to just take a step back and ask myself, do I want YouTube to be a side hobby and something
02:31that I'll
02:32continue to do alongside my role? Or do I potentially want to do YouTube full time?
02:39So here comes the question, why did I choose to do YouTube full time, as opposed to keeping
02:44it as a side hobby and focusing on my main career? Well, first of all, YouTube is just really,
02:51really fun for me. I really like the creative process behind making videos, you know, storytelling,
02:57thinking about a way to teach something in a way that's easy to understand. It's something that I
03:02really enjoy that whole process. But also, when people watch the videos and get value out of it.
03:08The cool thing about YouTube compared to other platforms is that once you make a video,
03:12it can continue to show up in search for months and years afterwards. And that brings me on to the
03:18second reason, potential and impact. What I feel like I'm doing with YouTube is I'm building a
03:24repository of information to help people build their technical skills and land a job in the cloud
03:29industry. I base all of my videos off of suggestions from all of you. So, you know, when you leave
03:35a
03:35comment down below and let me know what type of videos you want to see, I look through the videos,
03:41I find the most commonly asked questions, and I make a video about it. So over the past two years
03:45of
03:46making videos my viewers actually want to see, I feel like I've really built trust in the Tech with Lucy
03:50community. And when I decided to quit my job, the channel was growing at around a thousand subscribers
03:55a week. I really believe there's potential to do even more, whether that's making videos more
04:00frequently on YouTube or branching out into other platforms like TikTok or Instagram. There's just so
04:06many ideas going around in my head all the time and I wanted to dedicate some time to work on
04:13YouTube
04:13full-time so that I could actually flesh out some of these ideas and turn it into reality.
04:17The final reason is money. And this blows my mind to say, but currently the YouTube business
04:24pays me more than what I was getting at AWS. So part of the money is from YouTube themselves when
04:30they show ads before my videos and at the end or maybe in the middle as well. And the main
04:35portion
04:35comes from brand deals and sponsorships. So if you've seen me promote a product, maybe like a free
04:42AWS course, these companies I collaborate with would pay me a one-off fee. So with this business model,
04:48I'll be able to continue to make free content for the community whilst having a full-time income.
04:55As I was recording this video, someone sent me a message. They asked me, don't you think it was a
05:00mistake to leave AWS? I mean, how you feel is important, of course, but to me, you're leaving a
05:05position that many people dream of but will never reach. A position with security and benefits.
05:10Essentially, you know, why leave for a trendy YouTube channel? This is quite interesting and
05:15a few people have asked me this already. YouTube, yeah, it might not be around forever and there's
05:21no guarantee that my YouTube business will just keep growing and, you know, continue to succeed.
05:26At some point there may be a decline or maybe at some point I want to go back to having
05:30a job in the
05:31tech industry. During my time at AWS, I learned about something called a one-way door and a two-way
05:36door. A one-way door is essentially a decision where once you make the decision, you can never reverse it
05:43and you can never go back to before you made the decision. Whereas a two-way door is something where
05:48you make the decision, you can trial it out, make a few mistakes and if all else fails, you can
05:54go back
05:55to where you started or you can take the learnings and choose a different path without causing much damage.
06:00So, I view my decision as a two-way door. I walk in and then I can come out if
06:05it's not right for me
06:06or if something goes wrong. I think what's important as well is just knowing your value. I know that the
06:12skills I developed through this whole YouTube journey will still be valuable in the tech industry
06:16if I decide to go back. And these types of risky moves are probably better to do earlier on in
06:21your
06:22career as well. I've just turned 23 this year and, for example, if I do YouTube for three years,
06:27I can still go back into the tech industry and restart my career.
06:32A big thank you to everyone who has been a part of this journey. Whether you've been watching my
06:36videos for a while or maybe you decided to subscribe because you saw my Twitter post about me leaving
06:42AWS, the channel would not be where it is now without everyone's support. I want to end this video by
06:47saying
06:48I'm very very grateful for this opportunity and I know I'm at a very privileged place to just quit my
06:53job
06:54and not worry about the financial side and the long-term future of my career. As always,
06:58please give this video a like to help out the channel and I'll see you in the comments below. Bye
07:02for now!
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