Woman who quit $300K-a-year corporate job to become a YouTuber explains why being a content creator is so much better - despite the 84 per cent pay cut

A woman who quit her $300,000-a-year corporate job to become a YouTuber has explained why she prefers being a content creator - despite taking a 84 per cent pay cut.

Nischa Shah, 30, from San Diego, California, spent nearly a decade rising up the ranks as an investment banker.

But earlier this year, she decided to leave the corporate world behind after realizing that the high-paying position 'wasn't fulfilling for her' and that her 'motivations' had become 'driven by a paycheck.'

She now runs a YouTube channel that teaches others about 'personal finance' and 'how to use money to live a life authentic to you' - and even though she's making a lot less, she finds the change of career 'liberating.'

A woman who quit her $300,000-a-year corporate job to become a YouTuber has explained why she prefers being a content creator - despite taking a 84 per cent pay cut

Nischa Shah, 30, from San Diego, California, spent nearly a decade rising up the ranks as an investment banker - but earlier this year, she decided to leave the corporate world behind

She recently shared her journey in an essay for Newsweek - in the hopes of inspiring others to stop 'striving for a prestigious job' to fit in with 'societal expectations,' and instead, do what truly makes them happy.

While chatting with the publication, Nischa explained that she spent the last nine years 'climbing the corporate ladder in investment banking, securing promotions, taking on additional responsibilities, and negotiating for higher pay and bigger bonuses.'

She described her early years at the bank as 'fun, intellectually stimulating, and packed with learning opportunities.'

But over time, she said the excitement was 'replaced by a feeling of stagnation and misalignment' - which began to 'take a heavy toll on her mental health.'

'I realized that the corporate world, at its core, owes you nothing beyond a paycheck,' she explained.

'Even though I found myself on the fortunate side of things at one point, the fear of the tables turning constantly played in the back of my mind.'

The former banker recalled one time early on in her career that her 'mentor, who had dedicated nearly two decades to the industry,' was fired - and immediately, Nischa was offered her position.

'One evening, while we were both working late, her phone rang. After a brief conversation, she left her desk and never returned,' she wrote. 

The decision came after she realized that the high-paying position 'wasn't fulfilling for her' and that her 'motivations' had become 'driven by a paycheck'

And even though she's making a lot less money, she finds the change of career 'liberating'

'Moments later, my manager summoned me and told me that I was promoted, explaining that my new role would closely mirror hers, covering the same clients.

'The revelation that she had been let go by HR, at the very moment I was being promoted, was jarring and made my supposed moment of celebration feel low.'

She said the incident was an eye opener for her, describing it as a 'pivotal moment that would forever change her perspective on her career path.' 

'The saying "you're only as good as the hours you can dedicate" became truer than ever,' she added.

'I had a lack of control over my own time, leading me to the conclusion that true financial independence was unattainable because my financial life was controlled by someone else.'

Nischa said she eventually started to realize that she was no longer 'passionate about assisting CEOs of large corporations or engaging in billion-dollar transactions' - but instead, she longed to 'inspire and motivate others.'

That led to her starting her YouTube channel in 2021, in which she taught her viewers everything she had learned about finances from her years at the bank.

It was an instant success, and she now has more than 993,000 subscribers. She also created her own spending tracker to help followers budget their money.

Earlier this year, she officially walked away from her job for good to focus on growing her new business.

'Living according to societal expectations, and striving for a prestigious job and salary simply because it's what most people yearn for, was not fulfilling for me,' she continued.

'It has been the best decision I've made to work on something that is [mine]. The freedom, flexibility, ownership I get makes me feel excited in a way that I never felt when I was working my day job. 

'Being able to help people get from where they are to where they want to be, while getting paid for it, is something I will never take for granted. Nothing tops it.'

The banker-turned-influencer explained that her income dropped by roughly 84 per cent - but she doesn't have any regrets.

'My income [isn't] directly tied to the hours I work [anymore], but rather, to the impact I make, which is liberating,' she gushed.

She shared her journey with Newsweek - in the hopes of inspiring others to stop 'striving for a prestigious job' to fit in with 'societal expectations,' and do what makes them happy

'I embraced what I truly loved and came out of my comfort zone. My passion for a greater purpose became my sole focus, leaving no room for concern about others' opinions.

'My path may not suit everyone, but I hope that by sharing my experience, I can inspire others and provide the courage needed to pursue dreams that they may have delayed or doubted.'

In a separate interview with Business Insider the YouTube star explained that she made sure to 'set herself up financially' before quitting her six-figure bank job.

She opened up about some of the ways she ensured she would manage despite the pay cut - which included investing her earnings in the stock market and building up a real estate portfolio. 

'Diversify, start early, and be consistent with it. That is the recipe to get to where you want to by the time you retire,' she shared when asked what her advice was to others. 

But she is also honest about how she had to make some 'lifestyle changes' to make her lower salary work. 

'I had to make some lifestyle changes, which you have to do,' she said. 'It might be going out less, it might be cutting back on the social calendar, it might mean living at home so you can put more money into this passion project if you're really serious about leaving the corporate world.

'[But] I thought, there is nothing more fun than making videos, so it didn't even feel like a hard decision turning down social plans.

'I'd rather have worked on this more than doing 97 per cent of things people would consider "fun." It wasn't hard to motivate myself to do it.'